Significant Senior domestic events have a purpose that is separate from their main responsibility of providing a competitive venue. Results are important, especially when World Team Trials qualification is involved, but it’s more than that. On an annual basis, what these tournaments also do is render an overall picture of how the United States program is currently functioning. Big events are snapshots of the level of wrestling. Individual matches per bracket represent the “micro”, whereas the tournament as a whole (that is, all you see combined among the weight classes) encompasses the “macro”. 

In real time, a tournament such as the 2023 U.S. Open, therefore, holds the potential to answer a rather pressing question: “What do these American Greco-Roman Seniors look like amid the slew of leadership changes they have endured over the past nine months?”

The U.S. is in rebuilding mode, just not when it comes to the actual wrestlers themselves. What they are attempting to reconstruct is a different attitude geared toward development and inclusion, which are both laudable concepts even if not exactly new or unique. But timing as it pertains to the actual competitive season has purportedly taken a back seat. The 2023 World Championships will deliver the first chance for nations to qualify weight classes for the Paris Olympics. While that is the premier objective for virtually all relevant international Greco-Roman programs across the globe, the U.S. is not looking that far ahead. It is a “one thing at a time” method they have preferred as of late. This is a departure from the traditional degree of prioritization a qualifying Worlds used to command. Instead of encouraging a gauntlet aimed at achieving such a lofty goal five months from now, the Americans are focused on improving step-by-step and addressing each new challenge as they arrive. 

In that sense, the 2023 U.S. Open for Greco-Roman is equally about selecting one half of the competitors for Final X as it is for forming their roster for the Pan-Am Championships. Nothing more, nothing less. 

U.S. Open Greco-Roman Entry List Comparisons

The participation numbers according to the registration list is fitfully encouraging. As of press time, only one weight category boasts fewer entries compared to last year (82 kg). Every other bracket will produce more competitors than it did in 2022, which is something United States Greco sorely needs if the program is to plod forward in the long and short term. 

2023 (2022)

55 kg: 11 (8)

60 kg: 19 (15)

63 kg: 17 (15)

67 kg: 38 (23)

72 kg: 28 (23)

77 kg: 26 (24)

82 kg: 18 (23)

87 kg: 17 (10)

97 kg: 19 (18)

130 kg: 22 (14)

More Numbers

Of the 15 men who were on either the ‘21 or ‘22 World Teams, or both, 11 are registered for the impending U.S. Open. By extension, 25 current members of the U.S. National Team are likewise slated to be in the mix. 

43 of the 70 placewinners (which we’ll define as those who placed in the top seven) from last year’s Open are also registered, including six returning champions. 

These top-tier athletes will appear and perform up to standard, because that’s what they do, what they always do, as sincere professionals. They are the names and faces who, on a near-annual basis, attract the most viewers, the most conversation, and are tasked with – even if unwittingly – representing the skill and progress of the program at large. Their individual aspirations certainly matter and deserve their own stories; but in a nation where Greco-Roman is often shuffled to the side, or treated as a vaporous afterthought, the U.S. Open offers them the best chance to garner notice. In 2023, that is perhaps a more pressing issue than ever before. 

Wrestlers To Watch, And Why

Although more than a few of American Greco-Roman’s best-known athletes are mentioned below, it cannot and should not be all about how they may perform on the biggest domestic stage. Therefore, observers should keep their eyes glued on several others who reside on the periphery, as it is during events like this one when they have their best chances to shine. 

55 kg

Brady Koontz (TMWC/Dubuque RTC) — A two-time Final X runner-up and former main rival to Max Nowry, Koontz’s time to take over at 55 appears imminent and will likely begin this week in Vegas. Can anyone stop him from top par terre? 

60 kg

Max Black (NYAC/NTS) — One of several holdovers from the U20 World Team on the list for this tournament, Black was also second at the ‘22 Open to multi-time World Team member/Olympian Ildar Hafizov. Another year under his belt, plus a dash of overseas XP, should equate to another solid performance. 

Randon Miranda (Unattached) — Miranda, who has acquired plenty of accolades over the past seven years, is once again in a functional, full-time training environment surrounded by good coaches and good partners. An outstanding technical counter-wrestler whose ability to score from odd exchanges can astonish. 

63 kg

Mike Fuenffinger (Army/WCAP) — Low-hanging fruit it is to include Fuenffinger, who already owns a pair of National titles. But since he has not competed in a couple of years, getting a feel for where he is at both physically and tactically is mandatory. An all-around terrific (and strong) wrestler.  

Xavier Johnson (Army/WCAP) — A very similar story to Fuenffinger, but for different reasons. Johnson came over to Army following the awful dissolution of the All-Marine Team as a full-time entity. He is now just entering his prime years as part of the country’s most stacked program. 

Hayden Tuma (Suples) — Tuma (yet another recent national champion) when healthy is the most explosive and formidable lightweight in the entire country. Nothing more really needs to be said, other than that 63 has previously on occasion fit him like a glove. 

67 kg

Lenny Merkin (NYAC) — One thing missing from Merkin’s profile has been a dependable, everyday training facility. Now a resident at the Olympic Training Center, that is no longer a problem. The overhooks are strong with this guy. A throwback to a bygone era, Merkin’s old school mechanics have a tendency to get the job done. 

Robert Perez III (Sunkist) — The most naturally-inclined young Greco-Roman athlete in the United States is Perez, whose feel for the style’s nuances surpasses most of his elders. It also helps that he is a diligent student of the game, and it helps all the more that he has given several stout foreigners exceedingly tough matches. 

72 kg

Britton Holmes (Army/WCAP) — Although a national champ and Final X runner-up in ‘22 at 77 kg, Holmes is deciding to give 72 another try after having left the weight class four years ago. Everyone knows the deal with Holmes: there is no nastier competitor in the country, and the only wrinkle these days is that his technical skill has caught up with his aggression. 

Noah Wachsmuth (OTC) — Wachsmuth had a most startling finish to last season. After a disappointing Open, he required the Last Chance Qualifier to make the Trials — and then went on to make the National Team by placing third at said Trials. None of it was a fluke. Wachsmuth has put in the work for several years and he is simply that good. 

77 kg

Payton Jacobson (Sunkist/NTS) — In ‘22, it all came down to watching how Jacobson might fare against the US’ top Seniors. In ‘23, it is more about watching to see if Jacobson might go on the kind of run that leads to a title. His work ethic is that intense, his ability, that serious. 

RaVaughn Perkins (NYAC) — The regal, elegant Perkins is possibly in the midst of the last Olympic push of his remarkable career. His injury history reads like an abstract for medical students, yet so few know about it because he has done all he could to obscure that information. Dangerous, responsive, and beholden to an extraordinarily high wrestling IQ, if Perkins is physically sound then a big tournament could be on the horizon. 

82 kg

Andrew Berreyesa (NYAC) — On Wednesday, it will have been more than two years since the last time Berreyesa competed in a Greco-Roman tournament (‘20ne Last Chance). He was at the time tracking as an eventual World Team-level threat. All of those pieces are still in place, and he is more than young enough to re-assimilate seamlessly. 

Fritz Schierl (Minnesota Storm) — It is difficult to find a tougher and more potentially dynamic competitor than Schierl in this weight category. He is adaptable, experienced, and armed with a great attitude. He is also training on a daily basis within a room full of big-time competitors, thus making him a very interesting candidate this week. 

87 kg

Zac Braunagel (IRTC) — What a trying proposition it will be for those who have designs on outworking Braunagel, or flinging him into precarious positions. Braunagel does not bail or capitulate to half-meaningless tie-ups the way so many on the younger end of the spectrum do. If par terre is not a red-alert problem area for him, he has to be seen as a candidate to place very high. 

Tyler Hannah (Combat WC) — “Truck” is not yet supposed to challenge for the top spot but that is not a dealbreaker. He’s a fluid Greco-Roman wrestler who, aside from his folkstyle moonlighting, knows where his body needs to be when matched up with the older, more physically-mature antagonists who are usually in the hunt at these tournaments. 

Barrett Stanghill (Minnesota Storm) — Like Fuenffinger, like Berreyesa, Stanghill has not been in the fold for two years. But his mere presence alone is a win for this bracket. Stanghill was inching ever-so-close to breaking out prior to the pandemic. His life is not the same as it was then, nor is his training environment. Shouldn’t matter much. As long as there are three officials and someone keeping score, Stanghill will veer right back into competition mode and make it count for something. 

John Stefanowicz (Navy-Marines RTC) — A new location, new coaches, new partners, and — in keeping with what has been a constant theme for this Open — coming off of a hiatus, many may wish to catch how 20 Olympic Team rep Stefanowicz stacks up against the current collective at 87. It is not as though anyone will take him lightly, nor should they. He is expected to vie for the title regardless of whether or not ring rust is a concern among some. 

97 kg

Nick Boykin (Sunkist) — The phrase “two-time national champion” should prove sufficient. Boykin is and has been a force with which to be reckoned. Beholden to a signature style that is equal parts athletic and cerebral, opponents can become flummoxed when attempting to commit to static positions against him. Boykin doesn’t play that game very much. He creates motion quite well for a big man, which ignites what is an underrated grasp for commandeering transitional opportunities. 

Christian DuLaney (Minnesota Storm) — The word is that DuLaney’s body has firmly and fully embraced the jump back up to 97. So much so that his strength has gone through the roof. A National Team member at 87, DuLaney has done his part in establishing himself domestically, and he was already a physical specimen when depleting to the lower weight. A growing skill set in conjunction with enhanced viability suggests that he could find himself in the finals. 

Josef Rau (TMWC) — After suffering a controversial loss in the Olympic Trials finals, and the bitter heartbreak that goes along with it, the idea of Rau returning to his beloved style once appeared far-fetched at best, practically impossible at worst. Well, here he is. And he is here because there are only so many things one can take away from a man whose familiarity with pain exceeds his experience with pleasure. Particularly a man who, despite the wounds, still has the passion to come back for more. An inherently dangerous prospect for his opponents.The narrative might be that winning this tournament isn’t the sole objective for him. But if it happens, no one will be surprised. Not even a little bit. 

130 kg

Adam Coon (NYAC/Cliff Keen) — He will be the most-watched Greco-Roman wrestler at the 2023 U.S. Open. By default, that will be the case. From a sporting perspective, checking in to see how Coon’s methods might be influenced by new coach Momir Petkovic should give the hardcores a deeper degree of purpose when breaking down his matches. 

Luke Luffman (IRTC) — Former Cadet and Junior World Team member Luffman is the kind of young heavyweight who, against the right dance partner, can make heavyweight Greco a lot more fun for viewers. Luffman is athletic, with terrific hips, and seeks actual scoring holds regardless of the score. He increases with confidence in-match but assertiveness right from the whistle could make a sizable impact in how he performs, especially when taking the entire 130 landscape into account. 

Brandon Metz (ND) — It would be wise for the lot at 130 to see Metz as a front-runner. Coon, Cohlton Schultz, Tanner Farmer, and Donny Longendyke are all positioned higher, obviously, than Metz, and for good reason; and Metz is not in actuality seen as a favorite in Vegas by any stretch. But sleeping on him is an egregious error. Metz is potentially a key part of the future in this weight class, as well as a known and respected commodity who can turn the lights out on guys before anyone realizes what just happened.