Up Or Down? To Which Olympic Weight Goes The Tweeners?
Up Or Down? To Which Olympic Weight Goes The Tweeners?
As the weight classes shrink from 10 to 6, we take a look at the wrestlers in the non-Olympic weights and where they might next compete.
The conclusion of the 2023 Senior World Championships signals the start of the final chapter of the 2024 Olympic cycle. Worlds in Belgrade was the first Olympic qualifying event for national federations, and the last World Championship before the Paris Summer Games.
The Olympic year also sadly shrinks the number of senior level weight classes from 10 to six, as only six weight classes are contested at the Olympics in all three styles: men’s freestyle, women’s freestyle, and Greco-Roman.
For the moment, we will focus the attention of this blog on what that will mean for the American men’s freestyle wrestlers and to which weight class they might move, either up or down, to continue their quest for Olympic glory in 2024.
The Weights
For reference, the non-Olympic weights are, in kilograms: 61, 70, 79 & 92
The Olympic weights are, still in kg: 57, 65, 74, 97 & 125
For those less metrically inclined, the non-Olympic weights in pounds are: 134.2, 154, 173.8 & 202.4.
The Olympic weights in pounds are: 125.4, 143, 162.8, 189.2, 213.4 & 275.
The Olympic Weight Incumbents
The inbetweeners will face major obstacles whether they opt to move up or down a weight. We'll highlight the most prominent foes awaiting these tweeners in the Olympic weights below.
57: Zane Richards, Thomas Gilman, Nick Suriano & Spencer Lee
This is by no means an exhaustive list of Olympic contenders, however, all four of these wrestlers can lay claim to being strong contenders to making the USA Olympic Team at 57kg. Zane Richards made the 2023 World Team, Thomas Gilman made the 2022 World Team (where he won silver and has three other Olympic & world medals to his name), and we'd be --correctly-- yelled at by swarms of fans if we don’t mention Suriano or Lee as contenders.
65: Nick Lee, Yianni Diakomihalis & Joey McKenna
Lee made the 2023 World Team, Yianni won silver at the 2022 Worlds, and McKenna has been a contender on the senior level since 2018 when he made Final X. McKenna also recently was runner-up at the 2023 US Open. 65 is often a weight that produces surprises, so look for new names to establish themselves in the next 12 months at this weight.
74: Kyle Dake & Jason Nolf
There are countless other worthy contenders to mention but Dake and Nolf have faced off at Final X in both 2022 and 2023, with Dake winning both times. Dake will have a bye to the finals of the Olympic Team Trials by dint of his 2023 world silver medal. Dake’s already legendary career also includes four other world gold medals and an Olympic bronze.
86: David Taylor & Aaron Brooks
David Taylor will also be sitting out with a bye to the finals of the OTT thanks to his medal-winning performance in Belgrade this summer. Taylor has made five of the last six world or Olympic teams at 86 kg, with an injury preventing him from making the 2019 team, and only a loss to Hasan Yazdani in the 2021 world finals kept Taylor from being undefeated, both domestically and internationally from 2018 until now.
Brooks has not yet earned the accolades that Taylor has, however, he did win the 2023 US Open at 86 and represents a formidable challenge to anyone else attempting to dethrone Taylor.
97: Kyle Snyder & J’den Cox
Kyle Snyder, the third medalist at the 2023 Worlds in Belgrade, and thus the third wrestler to have a bye to the OTT finals, has owned 97 kg in the United States since 2015. Not only has Captain America made every world or Olympic team since 2015 (when he was just 19 years old) but he has never failed to earn a medal at a World Championships or Olympic Games.
J’den Cox has plenty of hardware himself, with five world medals and an Olympic bronze. Although all of those medals were at either 86 or 92kg, J’den moved up to 97 after the 2022 Worlds and won the 2023 US Open at that weight. Unfortunately, an injury kept Cox and Snyder from wrestling this past summer at Final X.
Though it’s technically possible, we’re assuming no one is bumping up from 92 (or any other weight) to 125.
The Tweeners With 2023 World Medals
Three wrestlers won medals at non-Olympic weights at the 2023 World Championships. They will receive a bye to the semifinals at whichever weight they choose to compete.
61: Vito Arujau
Arujau tore through the 2023 World Championship 61kg bracket to win gold, just as his father Vougar did at the 1991 Worlds. Vito wrestled 57kg as recently as October of 2022, where he went 0-1 at the U23 World Championships. He made Final X before that, losing two bouts to Thomas Gilman.
Arujau did beat 2023 World Team Zane Richards in the semifinals of the 2022 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament, which would suggest he’d be a strong contender to make the Olympic team if he moved down.
Somewhat tempering those expectation is a 2-0 loss he suffered to Abakarov of Albania at the Budapest ranking series tournament in July of 2023 up at 61kg. Abakarov is a 2023 bronze and 2022 gold medalist at Worlds at 57, though, so if Arujau can find a way back down to 57, he’ll be a contender to both make the Olympics and medal in Paris.
Watch Vito's gold medal match from Belgrade:
70: Zain Retherford
Retherford made his first world team in 2017 at 65kg. That was in the midst of laying waste to the 149-pound NCAA championship brackets of 2016, 2017 & 2018. Zain made another world team in 2019 at 65kg, but didn’t win his first medal until he bumped up to 70kg.
The Zain Train chugged along to a silver medal in 2022 and then struck gold in 2023, all up at 70kg. Another bump up would not be out of the ordinary for international wrestlers of Zain’s caliber. You can find many examples of successful wrestlers climbing weights and winning such as Frank Chamizo, Hasan Yazdani, David Taylor, etc. Two more relevant examples might be 2023 world bronze medalists Khetag Tsabolov of Serbia (by way of Russia) and Daichi Takatani, both of whom won world or continental medals at lower weights in their careers.
If Retherford cuts back down to 65kg, he’ll have to run the gauntlet, both domestically and internationally, which will include two of his Nittany Lion Wrestling Club teammates, Nick Lee and Beau Bartlett. Of course, up at 74kg he’ll see Jason Nolf and Kyle Dake, so there’s really no escaping Olympic-caliber competition in the NLWC room.
Watch Retherford win his first World Gold Medal:
92: Zahid Valencia
Valencia made his first world team at 92kg and promptly won a bronze medal, but it was only after he lost to Aaron Brooks in the 2023 US Open finals at 86kg that he made the move up to 92. By Valencia’s own admission, he weighed several kilograms under 92 for the enter 2023 World Championship, so it is likely he will be back down at 86 to take another crack at Brooks, Taylor, and the rest of the field.
Even More Tweeners
79 Kilograms
Chance Marsteller: Chance made the 2023 World Team by defeating Jordan Burroughs at Final X. Although Marsteller has spent most of his time at 79, he did win the 2020 Last Chance Qualifier at 74kg and went 1-2 at the 2020 Olympic Team Trials. That cut may no longer be possible, though it's also worth mentioning that Chance is already one of the shortest -- but also strongest -- 79 kilogrammers in the mix,
Jordan Burroughs: An already legendary career at 74 was augmented by two more world golds at 79 in 2021 and 2022. 2023 was the first year Burroughs wasn’t on an American world or Olympic team since 2010 (due to Marsteller's Final X victories). Though he never wrestled internationally at 86, JB did suffer a narrow 4-4 criteria defeat to David Taylor, the reigning Olympic and World champ and pound-for-pound #1 wrestler in the world at 86, so a move up wouldn’t be the biggest shocker.
Watch Burroughs vs Taylor from 2021:
Alex Dieringer: A razor-thin loss to Marsteller at the 2023 US Open finals kept Dieringer out of Final X. Dieringer moved up to 86kg last cycle, so it’s expected he’ll bulk up again.
David McFadden: McFadden took third at the US Open. McFadden tested the 86 waters in 2020 at the Olympic Team Trials Qualifier but has been at 79 before and after.
Carter Starocci: Starocci’s only international tournament was the 2022 U23 Worlds where he won bronze. He’s also undefeated in folkstyle at 174-pound since March of 2021. Where Carter wrestles next in freestyle is one of the biggest mysteries of the Olympic year.
Other 79kg contenders: Alex Marinelli (US Open 4th), Michael Kemerer (US Open 5th), Taylor Lujan (US Open 7th), Devin Skatzka (US Open 8th)
61 Kilograms
Nahshon Garrett: Like a slightly younger 133-pound NCAA champion from Cornell, Garrett has looked phenomenal at 61kg, ripping up the WTT Challenge Tournament. It was only when Garrett had to wrestle the aforementioned younger Cornellian at Final X (we’re talking about Vito by the way), did his world team run come to an end. Garrett has wrestled down at 57kg though not since 2020. He also has the frame to acquire the mass to wrestle 65kg, should he choose to.
Daton Fix: Fix is no stranger to international competitions, have wrestled in his first U17 Pan-Am Championhips back in 2013. He made the senior world team in 2019 at 57 and then again in 2021 at 61 where he won a silver medal. Best guess is that Fix drops back down for Paris.
Austin DeSanto: The DeSanimal is just getting his sealegs at freestyle and has already made waves at 61, finishing third at the 2023 WTT Challenge Tourney. The first time he weighs in at a weight other than 61 will be for the first time in his freestyle career.
Seth Gross: 2022 61kg world teamer Seth Gross has a Bill Farrell title at 57 in 2019 and at 65 in 2022. Where might he enter in 2023 is anyone’s guess!
Other 61kg contenders: Nathan Tomasello (WTT 4th), Joe Colon (2018 World Bronze)
70 Kilograms
James Green: After a brief stint as USA men's freestyle developmental coach, Greezy announced he was returning coming out of retirement to compete again. Green is a seven-time world teamer and two-time world medalist at 70 but will likely skinny down to 65 again as he did for the 2016 and 2020 Olympics.
Tyler Berger: Just as the three-time All-American climbed up the NCAA podium steps until his runner-up finish as a senior in 2019, Berger had his best freestyle season yet when he finished a runner-up at Final X four years later. Berger moved up to 74 at the OTT Last Chance Qualifier in 2021 and will likely be back up for the Paris Games.
Watch Berger win the 2023 Open:
Alec Pantaleo: Injuries have hampered Pantaleo recently, cutting his freestyle season short in 2022 after he won the US Open. In 2023 he finished third at the Open and then made the national team as the third man on the 70kg ladder. Pantaleo tried his luck up at 74 last Olympic cycle, but we shall see if he goes up again.
Other 70kg contenders: Jarrett Jacques (US Open 4th), Hayden Hidlay (US Open 5th)
92 Kilograms
Mike Macchiavello: 2018 NCAA champ Mike Macch once again ascended to the top of the podium at the 2023 US Open. His march to the World Team was stopped by Zahid Valencia at Final X. Macch wrestled 97 as recently as the 2022 Bill Farrell so it’s a good bet he moves up again for the 2023 Farrell or other future events.
Kollin Moore: Moore finished as runner-up at both the 2023 Open and the 2023 Team Trials Challenge Tournament. Like Macch, he’s ping-ponged between 92 and 97 in recent years so expect to see him back up at 97 going forward.
Nate Jackson: It wasn’t too long ago that Jackson, who finished third at the Open and the Team Trials Challenge Tourney, was wrestling at 79kg. But his steady climb up the divisions is why we expect Jackson’s next move will be up and not down.
Other 92kg contenders: Eric Schultz (WTT 4th), Jay Aiello, Morgan McIntosh
The Bill Farrell Memorial International is the next USA Olympic Trials Qualifier event and it's less than two months away, so we won't have to wait too long to get some answers about where some wrestlers are going. Tune in November 17 and 18 to watch the action!