I agreed that the situation is different.
He could have choose DII, I guess you could say that. But that would eliminate his tier that @ReformedPoster said earlier. Who knows, he would have had to wrestle Streck.
I think that IF (there's that word again) he was close enough to 197 he would have avoided Gable IF he had that chance. Also, I am not in his head so who knows?
The process is much easier I would say. Yes less competition. Is he avoiding the wrestlers though? No. The US Open is insane, you win that what do you get? You wrestle again at Final X. In Serbia, he does not have to go through the lengthy process of getting a chance to wrestle at worlds, he makes the team with ease and does not have to worry about not making worlds. This gives him a chance to focus more on international competition.
Zane Richards is wrestling at Final X...Micic is 3-1 against him.