The rankings posted last week were the baseline to start the seeding meeting for the Olympic Team Trials. Almost all weights had bracketing follow the rankings to the exact spot. 65kg didn’t follow that pattern. Going into the meeting the rankings looked like this:

1. Brent Metcalf, Iowa City, Iowa (New York AC/Hawkeye WC)
2. James Green, Lincoln, Neb. (Titan Mercury WC)
3. Jordan Oliver, Tempe, Ariz. (Sunkist Kids)
4. Jimmy Kennedy, Ann Arbor, Mich. (New York AC/Cliff Keen WC)
5. Reece Humphrey, Columbus, Ohio (New York AC/Ohio RTC)
6. Logan Stieber, Columbus, Ohio (Titan Mercury WC/Ohio RTC)
7. Aaron Pico, Whittier, Calif. (Titan Mercury WC)
8. Kellen Russell, Ann Arbor, Mich. (New York AC/Cliff Keen WC)

Major changes happened in the meeting and the seeds came out as follows:
1. Brent Metcalf, Iowa City, Iowa (New York AC/Hawkeye WC)
2. Jordan Oliver, Tempe, Ariz. (Sunkist Kids)
3. Jimmy Kennedy, Ann Arbor, Mich. (New York AC/Cliff Keen WC)
4. James Green, Lincoln, Neb. (Titan Mercury WC)
5. Logan Stieber, Columbus, Ohio (Titan Mercury WC/Ohio RTC)
6. Reece Humphrey, Columbus, Ohio (New York AC/Ohio RTC)
7. Aaron Pico, Whittier, Calif. (Titan Mercury WC)
8. Kellen Russell, Ann Arbor, Mich. (New York AC/Cliff Keen WC)

Everyone kind of saw the flip-flop of Humphrey and Stieber coming as Stieber has better wins, placed high at US Senior Nationals and won head-to-head. It looked like the move was going to place Stieber in a tough spot of the bracket meeting Jimmy Kennedy in the quarterfinal.

What threw a major wrench into the bracket was James Green falling all the way to the #4 seed. This moved him to the top side of the bracket with Metcalf and Stieber.

Winners From The Move

Jordan Oliver: Oliver gets moved out of a quarterfinal against Stieber and into a matchup with Aaron Pico. Pico showed susceptibility to leg attacks at US Senior Nationals and you have to like Oliver in that matchup. Although, the semifinal looks to be just as tough as before the change for Oliver. You are trading a projected match against James Green for one against Jimmy Kennedy. The real payoff for Oliver is the winner of Stieber and Green taking a crack at Metcalf in the opposite semifinal.

Logan Stieber: Jimmy Kennedy soundly defeated Stieber at US Senior Nationals after giving up the opening takedown. Had Stieber and Humphrey been the only move we would have had that bout as a quarterfinal. Stieber’s path is very similar to what it would have been, but the matchup against Green is more favorable than against Kennedy.

Why Did The Move Happen?

I don’t have any inside information and wasn’t at the meeting so this is all speculation, but they rarely consider results from outside the weight class. Could they have pulled some matches at 70kg from Green’s credentials?

What A First Round!

Frank Molinaro vs Kellen Russell
Logan Stieber vs Bernard Futrell
Zain Retherford vs James Green
Jimmy Kennedy vs Dean Heil
Jason Chamberlain vs Reece Humphrey
Aaron Pico vs Jayson Ness

Are you kidding me? We have fantasy match after fantasy match in the first round. The highlight match to watch is Zain Retherford and James Green. Green looked lethargic in Frisco, TX at the Pan-Am Championships. Zain Retherford is the last person on Earth you want to be lethargic against. We all hate that six weight classes creates such stacked fields, but it will be terribly fun to watch this weekend.

Check out the full brackets here. Follow results all day long here.