United World Wrestling recently released the top 8 seeds for wrestling at the Olympics and that means we're able to determine the top 8 seeds for every weight. Check out the below article for a brief explanation of how the seeds were determined and a breakdown of the biggest storylines for Team USA in each bracket.

How Are Olympic Wrestling Seeds Determined?

It's important to understand how these seeds were set because they differ largely from how seeds are determined in the American wrestling system. Rather than seeding by head-to-head matchups and results (like in America), United World Wrestling uses ranking points earned annually by individual wrestlers to determine the top 8 Olympic seeds. Wrestlers can earn these rankings (or seeding) points at the World Championships, Continental Championships, or two different Ranking Series events. Wrestlers at the Olympics are then seeded by their points. This system encourages the best wrestlers to participate in the events UWW puts on throughout the year. Finally, any of the below seeds can change only if a seeded wrestler does not attend the Olympic Games.

57 Kilograms

1. Stevan Micic, SRB
2. Rei Higuchi, JPN
3. Arsen Harutyunyan, ARM
4. Meirambek Kartbay, KAZ
5. Zelimkhan Abakarov, ALB
6. Aman Sehrawat, IND
7. Wanhao Zou, CHN
8. Gulomjon Abdullaev, UZB

Unseeded 57 kg Wrestlers Listed In Order Of Rankings Points:

• Gamal Mohamed, EGY
• Diamantino Iuna Fafe, GBS
• Aliabbas Rzazade, AZE
• Spencer Lee, USA
• Darian Cruz, PUR
• Vladimir Egorov, MKD
• Roman Bravo-Young, MEX
• Bekzat Almaz Uulu, KGZ

You'll notice Spencer Lee did not accumulate enough points to be seeded in the top 8 - that means he'll be randomly drawn into the 57 kg bracket. Almost all of the top wrestlers at 57 kg are seeded in the top 8 but the bottom side is slightly tougher than the top side. 2023 world silver medalist and 2022 world champ Rei Higuchi, three-time world bronze Arsen Harutyunyan, 2023 U23 world champ Aman Sehrawat, and Wanhao Zou (who gave Lee his toughest match of the year) are all on the bottom side of the bracket. 

While I believe the bottom side is tougher, the top side isn't a cakewalk either. The past two world champions Micic ('23 world champ) and Abakarov ('22 world champ) are on the top side and both are capable of winning gold in Paris. Regardless of where Spencer Lee gets drawn in, he'll likely have to defeat two past world champs on his way to the finals.

65 Kilograms

1. Vazgen Tevanyan, ARM
2. Rahman Amouzad, IRI
3. Ismail Musukaev, HUN
4. Sebastian Rivera, PUR
5. Maxim Sacultan, MDA
6. Haji Aliyev, AZE
7. Islam Dudaev, ALB
8. Tulga Tumur-Ochir, MGL

Unseeded 65 kg Wrestlers Listed In Order Of Rankings Points:

• Georgy Okorokov, AUS
• Goderdzi Dzebisashvili, GEO
• Alejandro Valdes, CUB
• Kotaro Kiyooka, JPN
• Gaku Akazawa, SAM
• Austin Gomez, MEX
• Ernazar Akmataliev, KGZ
• Zain Retherford, USA

Like Spencer Lee at 57 kg, Zain Retherford is unseeded and will be randomly drawn into the 65 kg Olympic bracket. Most of the best guys are seeded but two-time world medalist Ernazar Akmataliev (KGZ) and Kotaro Kiyooka are two contenders who will be randomly drawn into the bracket with Retherford. Kiyooka notably defeated Musukaev at the recent Budapest Rankings Series tournament and also defeated Tokyo Olympic champion Takuto Otoguro at Japan's Olympic trials. 

The top and bottom sides of 65 kg are equally balanced and there won't be an easy draw for Retherford in Paris. The bottom side might be slightly more challenging with the past two world champs Musuakev and Amouzad down there but Mamedov, Tumur-Ochir, and Tevanyan are all past world medalists and gold medal contenders.

74 Kilograms

1. Kyle Dake, USA
2. Turan Bayramov, AZE
3. Georgios Kougioumtsidis, GRE
4. Daichi Takatani, JPN
5. Khetik Tsabolov, SRB
6. Feng Lu, CHN
7. Tajmuraz Salkazanov, SVK
8. Bacar Ndum, GBS

Unseeded 74 kg Wrestlers Listed In Order Of Rankings Points:

• Younes Emami, IRI
• Anthony Montero, VEN
• Viktor Rassadin, TJK
• Razambek Zhamalov, UZB
• Geandry Garzon, CUB
• Iman Mahdavi, EOR
• Cherman Valiev, ALB
• Amr Reda Hussen, EGY
• Frank Chamizo, ITA

Dake is the favorite to reach the finals, but won't have an easy road with Takatani at the 4. Dake beat Takatani in a tough, 6-4 match at the 2023 World Championships but has never wrestled Tsabolov. What adds to the intrigue of the 74 kg bracket even more are the unseeded wrestlers. Razambek Zhamalov, Cherman Valiev, and Viktor Rassadin are all Russians representing other countries and will be randomly drawn into the 74 kg bracket. Razambek Zhamalov might be lesser known but he has past wins over Frank Chamizo, and Tajmuraz Salkazanov. Beyond that, Zhamalov also won Russian Nationals in 2020 in a tournament where Sidakov won bronze. 

86 Kilograms

1. Azamat Dauletbekov, KAZ
2. Hassan Yazdani, IRI
3. Myles Amine, SMR
4. Javrail Shapiev, UZB
5. Magomed Ramazanov, BUL
6. Byambasurengiin Bat-Erdene, MGL
7. Dauren Kurugliev, GRE
8. Hayato Ishiguro, JPN

Unseeded 86 kg Wrestlers Listed In Order Of Rankings Points:

• Vasyl Mykhailov, UKR
• Fateh Benferdjallah, ALG
• Jayden Lawrence, AUG
• Vladimeri Gamkrelidze, EGO
• Ethan Ramos, PUR
• Osman Nurmagomedov, AZE
• Alex Moore, CAN
• Aaron Brooks, USA

Aaron Brooks will be unseeded, and because the bottom side is already stacked with talent, it'd be best for Brooks to be drawn into the top side of the bracket - opposite Hassan Yazdani. However, Brooks isn't the only wrestler who will be unseeded - Osman Nurmagomedov is also a medal contender who will be unseeded. Osman Nurmagomedov won a world silver medal last year at 92 kg where he defeated Zahid Valencia. That means there's a chance Hassan Yazdani, Aaron Brooks, Myles Amine, and Osman Nurmagomedov are all on the same side of the bracket at the Olympics. 

97 Kilograms

1. Magomedkhan Magomedov, AZE
2. Akhmed Tazhudinov, BRN
3. Kyle Snyder, USA
4. Ibrahim Ciftci, TUR
5. Givi Matcharashvili, GEO
6. Erik Thiele. GER
7. Alisher Yergali, KAZ
8. Zbigniew Baranowski, POL

Unseeded 97 kg: Wrestlers Listed In Order Of Rankings Points:

• Mostafa Elders, EGY
• Amir Ali Azarpira, IRI
• Radu Lefter, MDA
• Arturo Silot, CUB
• Luis Miguel Perez, DOM
• Awusayiman Habila, CHN
• Nicolaas de Lange, RSA
• Murazi Mchedlidze, UKR

Kyle Snyder will be the #3 seed at the Olympics and will be on the same side of the bracket as defending world champion Akhmed Tazhudinov. This is about as bad of a draw as Snyder could get but it could get worse considering Iran's Amir Ali Azarpira will be randomly drawn into the bracket. At only 22 years old, Azarpira is one of Iran's best young wrestlers and defeated Snyder, 6-3 earlier this season at the Zagreb Open. Snyder has earned 9-straight medals at the World Championships/Olympics but this might be the toughest tournament of his career.

125 Kilograms

1. Amir Hossein Zare, IRI
2. Geno Petriashvili, GEO
3. Mason Parris, USA
4. Taha Akgul, TUR
5. Daniel Ligeti, HUN
6. Giorgi Meshvildshvili, AZE
7. Robert Baran, POL
8. Zhiwei Deng, CHN

Unseeded 125 kg Wrestlers Listed In Order Of Rankings Points:

• Aiaal Lazarev, KGZ
• Jonovan Smith, PUR
• Ashton Mutuwa, NGR
• Diaaeldin Kamal, EGY
• Amar Dhesi, CAN
• Yurii Idzinskyi, UKR
• Yusup Batirmurzaev, KAZ
• Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur, MGL

Mason Parris will be the #3 seed at the Olympics with a potential rematch with three-time world champion Geno Petriashvili looming in the semifinals. Parris and Petriashvili wrestled in the semis at last year's world championships where Petriashvili narrowly defeated Parris, 8-6. Both Parris and Petriashvili will be the favorites to reach the semis regardless of who gets randomly drawn into their side of the bracket so Parris will likely have to take out Petriashvili to reach the Olympic finals.