74kg WTT Preview: The Burroughs Challengers Never End
74kg WTT Preview: The Burroughs Challengers Never End
Isaiah Martinez sits in the World Team Trials finals at 74kg, previews and predictions for that weight in Rochester on May 19th and 20th.
Every day brings us closer and closer to the 2018 World Team Trials challenge tournament in Rochester, MN. Starting on Friday, May 19 and ending on May 20, the Trials will determine the field for Final X.
WATCH 2018 WORLD TEAM TRIALS LIVE ON FLO
When: May 19-20 | Where: Rochester, MN
The first half of Final X in Lincoln at 74kg has been set since last year's world championships in Paris, when Jordan Burroughs won his fourth world title. It is the eighth straight time Burroughs has had the advantage of sitting out to determine if he will make yet another world team.
In the driver's seat to challenge Burroughs is Isaiah Martinez, who is sitting in the Trials finals. The California native has to win two matches against whomever comes out of the WTT field of nine or less.
In Final X: JordanBurroughs
In Trials Finals: Isaiah Martinez
WTT Qualifiers
Weight | Name | RTC | Club | Qualifier |
74kg | Nazar Kulchytskyy | Badger RTC | Titan Mercury | Dave Schultz Champ |
74kg | Vincenzo Joseph | Nittany Lion WC | NCAA Champ | |
74kg | Tommy Gantt | Wolfpack WC | Titan Mercury | Bill Farrell Champ |
74kg | Dan Vallimont | Penn RTC | NYAC | US Open Runnner-up |
74kg | Jake Sueflohn | Boilermaker RTC | US Open 3rd place | |
74kg | Quinton Godley | Wolfpack WC | US Open 4th place | |
74kg | Evan Wick | Badger RTC | Titan Mercury | US Open 5th place |
74kg | Carson Brolsma | Minnesota Storm | US Open 6th place | |
74kg | Taleb Rahmani | Pittsburgh WC | US Open 7th place |
Commentary: It has been eight years since Burroughs came screeching out of college and into our hearts as the green but cocksure world champion. Through a combination of impeccable technique, world class athleticism, tireless work ethic, and the belief that he is truly the best in the world, Burroughs has scaled every mountain there is to climb in this sport.
Burroughs once again waits, perched on his throne from up high, waiting on another young and hungry challenger to take the mat. Last year, my preview for the Open was titled "The King Must Fight," because it was the first time he had to wrestle in Vegas to earn his bye to the finals. This year, he was able to sit and enjoy the action at South Point Arena, but still found some time to work on his positioning in between sessions.
WTT Previews: 57kg | 61kg | 65kg | 70kg
In 2018, there are 10 weights. Kyle Dake and David Taylor are now the favorites in their own weights, Andrew Howe is retired and Alex Dieringer is up at 79kg chasing Dake. That leaves the two men who have met in the past two NCAA finals at 165 pounds.
Martinez, now graduated to the senior level after making junior world trials finals and a U23 world team, won the Open in dominant fashion. The four-time NCAA finalist pinned his first foe, then tore through the remainder of the bracket with four first period techs, outscoring his opponents 41-0.
But the two-time NCAA champ from Illinois never won a title at 165lb. After taking two crowns at 157, he moved up for his junior year, only to fall to Vincenzo Joseph in the finals. Now that his redshirt sophomore is competed, the Penn State star finds himself in the same position that Martinez once saw himself in, having won two titles in two tries. However, Joseph has not wrestled freestyle since the 2016 Junior Trials, when he lost to Jason Nolf and Logan Massa.
Like the rest of the Penn State lineup, there are serious questions as to whether they are competing. However, former PSU national finalist Dan Vallimont will be competing. He did not qualify for last year's WTT.
In the finals of the Bill Farrell, Vallimont was teched by Tommy Gantt 11-0. Up a weight from where he has been most of his career, Gantt picked up his biggest senior level win to date a match earlier. Trailing Franklin Gomez 7-0, Gantt stormed back to win 11-7. Long considered a bad draw due to his pace, Gantt appears to finally be hitting his stride.
Gantt did not wrestle at the Open, just like Dave Schultz champ Nazar Kulchytskyy. Also coming up from 70, Kulchytskyy is in great position to make his first national team, and should be the top seed in Rochester.
Rounding out the list of veterans wrestling in the Trials are Quinton Godley and Jake Sueflohn. Godley, one of Gantt's training partners at the Wolfpack WC, has been a stalwart on the senior level, repeatedly qualifying for WTT. Sueflohn, a 149 in college, has been coaching at Purdue and looks as good as ever.
Sueflohn finished third at the Open, and beat all four guys who placed below him. Finishing fifth was Evan Wick, the redshirt freshman at Wisconsin. Wick is a cradle machine who placed third at NCAAs and was also third at last year's Junior Trials tournament.
A surprise placer was Carson Brolsma, who was a redshirt sophomore this past season for Minnesota. He went 11-5 for the Gophers wrestling three different weights and could be making a strong push to be one of their starters next year. Rounding out the bracket is ACC champ Taleb Rahmani, the seventh place finisher from the Open.
This weight is pretty straightforward for me. Kulchytskyy, Gantt and Sueflohn have all put in the work and are veterans. One of them will wrestle Martinez in the finals and give the young bucks like Wick, Broslma, and Rahmani a goal to work towards. With Joseph not likely to wrestle, it seems Nazar is the best bet to come through the challenge tournament, but won't be able to handle Martinez in the finals.
Nomad's Picks
1) Nazar Kulchytskyy 2) Tommy Gantt 3) Jake Sueflohn 4) Evan Wick
Finals: Isaiah Martinez over Nazar Kulchytskyy two matches to none.