Looking Back And Forward At 70kg
Looking Back And Forward At 70kg
Looking back on 70kg at the U.S. Open and forward to the World Team Trials in Lincoln, Nebraska
It was nearly impossible to fully process every aspect of the 2017 U.S. Open as it was happening in Las Vegas. There were so many upsets and incredible matches, fascinating storylines playing out, and goals being accomplished.
A week or so later and with a clear head, it's time to glance back at the Open, what it meant for each weight, and also look forward to World Team Trials in Lincoln, Nebraska, on June 10th.
We're now up to 70kg, going over Open results, listing current trials qualifiers, and projecting the seeds. Complete brackets and archived matches for the Open can be found on FloArena.
Jason Nolf - NCAA champ
Nazar Kulchytskyy - Open runner-up
Chase Pami - Open 3rd place
Alec Pantaleo - Open 5th place
Jason Chamberlain - Open 6th place
Tommy Gantt - Open 7th place
James Green won his first U.S. Open, with three shutout techs en route to the semifinals. But those opponents aren't likely to make it through the challenge tournament. It is his wins over Jason Nolf and Nazar Kulchytskyy that could provide a preview of the best-of-three series in Lincoln.
Between the semis and finals, Green gave up nine points to those two opponents, eight of which came in the second period. While this means he never trailed in either bout, it also means both his team and the teams of potential finals opponents need to examine if there are second period weaknesses in Green's game that can be exploited.
Kulchytskyy should be the top seed for the challenge tournament after making the finals, setting himself better than he ever has to make a national or world team. With a pin and three techs by a 10-0 score to get to the finals, Nazar established himself as one of the best 70kg in America this year. He will also be helped by the fact that he'll be the only wrestler in the challenge tournament to get a first round bye.
Coming in as the two seed? Chase Pami, after doing something that is extremely rare at NCAAs, let alone at the senior level. He lost his first match, then won seven in a row on the backside to get bronze. In classic Pami fashion, the grizzled veteran gave up some points, but out-freestyled the college guys transitioning into freestyle.
Of course at WTT, Pami won't have the luxury of losing a match, it's do or die to make a world team. Additionally, he'll have to prepare for some adjustments from Jason Nolf, because a match similar to the one they wrestled in Vegas could be scored and officiated differently next month.
What makes Jason Nolf so exciting in folkstyle is also what may come back to bite him in freestyle. Because Nolf is always moving, always attacking and unafraid to leave himself open by committing fully to attacks, he sometimes gives up position, which can turn into points.
That is precisely what happened in the Pami match, but he also got doubled against Isaac Dukes and lost some upperbody positions to James Green. Just as he was the most interesting X-factor heading into Vegas, the case remains the same to see how many adjustments Nolf can make in the six weeks between the Open and the Trials.
One of the fun revelations from Vegas was Alec Pantaleo. Similar to Seth Gross, he made the junior world team last year, but did it with far less freestyle experience than Gross. Pantaelo looked absolutely massive for the weight, and twice beat Jason Chamberlain, who walked into Vegas as the two seed.
Chamberlain is currently training at Fresno State, and it sounds like the Valley RTC are closing to announcing their coach. He's had a strong season to this point, finishing fourth at the Farrell, second at the Schultz and sixth in Vegas. The story on all his losses has been pretty much the same, the guy who beat him has just a little more offense.
Tommy Gantt split matches with Chase Pami at the Open, and outlasted Jason Welch for seventh to qualify. He was a part of the Wolfpack WC's second place finish among RTC programs. The only opponent Gantt struggled with was Nolf, which based on projected seeds is who he will see in the first round in Lincoln.
Looking ahead to the last chance qualifier, we could see guys like Jason Welch, Hunter Stieber, Dylan Ness and Nate Carr JR make one last run at this weight. Based on Vegas results, Welch is the favorite to come out of a bracket like that in Minnesota. The last chance trials qualifier will be LIVE on Flo, with 70kg wrestling on Saturday, May 20th.
A week or so later and with a clear head, it's time to glance back at the Open, what it meant for each weight, and also look forward to World Team Trials in Lincoln, Nebraska, on June 10th.
We're now up to 70kg, going over Open results, listing current trials qualifiers, and projecting the seeds. Complete brackets and archived matches for the Open can be found on FloArena.
70kg Trials Qualifiers
James Green - Bye to finalsJason Nolf - NCAA champ
Nazar Kulchytskyy - Open runner-up
Chase Pami - Open 3rd place
Alec Pantaleo - Open 5th place
Jason Chamberlain - Open 6th place
Tommy Gantt - Open 7th place
James Green won his first U.S. Open, with three shutout techs en route to the semifinals. But those opponents aren't likely to make it through the challenge tournament. It is his wins over Jason Nolf and Nazar Kulchytskyy that could provide a preview of the best-of-three series in Lincoln.
Between the semis and finals, Green gave up nine points to those two opponents, eight of which came in the second period. While this means he never trailed in either bout, it also means both his team and the teams of potential finals opponents need to examine if there are second period weaknesses in Green's game that can be exploited.
Kulchytskyy should be the top seed for the challenge tournament after making the finals, setting himself better than he ever has to make a national or world team. With a pin and three techs by a 10-0 score to get to the finals, Nazar established himself as one of the best 70kg in America this year. He will also be helped by the fact that he'll be the only wrestler in the challenge tournament to get a first round bye.
Coming in as the two seed? Chase Pami, after doing something that is extremely rare at NCAAs, let alone at the senior level. He lost his first match, then won seven in a row on the backside to get bronze. In classic Pami fashion, the grizzled veteran gave up some points, but out-freestyled the college guys transitioning into freestyle.
Of course at WTT, Pami won't have the luxury of losing a match, it's do or die to make a world team. Additionally, he'll have to prepare for some adjustments from Jason Nolf, because a match similar to the one they wrestled in Vegas could be scored and officiated differently next month.
What makes Jason Nolf so exciting in folkstyle is also what may come back to bite him in freestyle. Because Nolf is always moving, always attacking and unafraid to leave himself open by committing fully to attacks, he sometimes gives up position, which can turn into points.
That is precisely what happened in the Pami match, but he also got doubled against Isaac Dukes and lost some upperbody positions to James Green. Just as he was the most interesting X-factor heading into Vegas, the case remains the same to see how many adjustments Nolf can make in the six weeks between the Open and the Trials.
One of the fun revelations from Vegas was Alec Pantaleo. Similar to Seth Gross, he made the junior world team last year, but did it with far less freestyle experience than Gross. Pantaelo looked absolutely massive for the weight, and twice beat Jason Chamberlain, who walked into Vegas as the two seed.
Chamberlain is currently training at Fresno State, and it sounds like the Valley RTC are closing to announcing their coach. He's had a strong season to this point, finishing fourth at the Farrell, second at the Schultz and sixth in Vegas. The story on all his losses has been pretty much the same, the guy who beat him has just a little more offense.
Tommy Gantt split matches with Chase Pami at the Open, and outlasted Jason Welch for seventh to qualify. He was a part of the Wolfpack WC's second place finish among RTC programs. The only opponent Gantt struggled with was Nolf, which based on projected seeds is who he will see in the first round in Lincoln.
Looking ahead to the last chance qualifier, we could see guys like Jason Welch, Hunter Stieber, Dylan Ness and Nate Carr JR make one last run at this weight. Based on Vegas results, Welch is the favorite to come out of a bracket like that in Minnesota. The last chance trials qualifier will be LIVE on Flo, with 70kg wrestling on Saturday, May 20th.
Projected WTT Seeds
James Green - bye to finals- Nazar Kulchytskyy
- Chase Pami
- Jason Nolf
- Alec Pantaleo
- Jason Chamberlain
- Tommy Gantt
- Jason Welch