World Team Trials week is here, and the challenge tournament kicks off this Saturday in Rochester, MN. At 86kg, there will be no one sitting in the finals, as all competitors will have to go through the field to get to David Taylor.

For the past two years, J'den Cox has been the guy at this weight, winning an Olympic bronze medal in 2016 and a world bronze last year. But he has since moved up to 92kg, paving the way for Taylor to be the man sitting in Final X at Rec Hall in University Park, PA.

WATCH 2018 WORLD TEAM TRIALS LIVE ON FLO

WHEN: May 19-20 | WHERE: Rochester, MN

Before Cox, America's last world medal at this weight was Jake Herbert's world silver in 2009. Herbert has since retired, 2014 world team member Ed Ruth has moved on to MMA, and 2013 world teamer Keith Gavin has begun his head coaching career. Even national team members from the past few years such as Kyle Dake and Nick Heflin have gone up or down in weight.

In Final X: David Taylor

WTT Qualifiers

Commentary: Richard Perry assumes the mantle of favorite and top seed at the WTT. He was never an All-American while at Bloomsburg and has yet to place top three at the Trials to make a national team. 

Perry is someone who almost seems to do better overseas, having won bronze and silver medals at the Medved as well as a silver in Ukraine back in February. Additionally, his closest match with Taylor happened internationally, an 8-5 loss in the Paris Grand Prix finals.

His chief competition could come from Nick Reenan. An NCAA qualifier for NC State as a true freshman, Reenan redshirted this past season. The Texas native made two Greco world teams, one as a Cadet and one as a Junior, and has made Trials finals in freestyle as a Cadet in 2013 and as a Junior last year.

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Reenan took the majority of the offensive leg attacks in his round of 16 match with Perry at the U.S. Open last month in Las Vegas. However, he could not turn any of them into takedowns and gave up a couple off of counters. If Reenan is able to make some adjustments to his setups and timing, he will likely have the best chance of anyone of knocking off Perry in Minnesota.

The perpetual wild card is the formerly unattached assassin Pat Downey. Perry is 3-0 all-time against Downey on the Senior level, and Nick Reenan pinned him in the consi quarters at the Open. Given that he lost to Dominic Ducharme in Vegas, it's difficult to picture Downey making a run at the finals this weekend.

WTT Previews: 57kg | 61kg | 65kg | 70kg | 74kg | 79kg

Along with Perry and Downey, the only returning competitor from last year's WTT is Josef Rau, who primarily does Greco-Roman. Rau lost in the U.S. Open finals in Greco but qualified for the Trials by winning the Dave Schultz in March. Included in that Schultz run was a dominant 39-second tech over Reenan. As far as dark horses and smart money goes, Rau is as good a bet as any this weekend.

Penn State appears to be sitting this freestyle season out, as NCAA champ Bo Nickal will not be competing in Rochester and could wind up missing the U23 Trials in Akron as well. TJ Dudley is another question mark: He was fourth at the Open, including scoring the first takedown of the match against Taylor, but has not yet registered.

Ryan McWatters and Austin Coburn round out the field of competitors for this weekend.

Over the past few years, Perry has made steady, gradual, and consistent jumps in his freestyle. At the Open, he showcased his ability to go upper body and hit big moves as well as be patient and score off counters. He should be able to handle Rau's positioning and Reenan's barrage of offense to earn himself two more cracks at Taylor in Final X.

Nomad's Picks

Finals: Perry over Rau, two matches to none

Third: Reenan over Downey