The second day of the 2018 Cadet World Championships starts early Tuesday morning in Zagreb, Croatia. There will be five weights competing, and the tournament will feature only championship rounds up to and including the semifinals, with repechage and medal matches happening the next day.

A reminder, the scoring system has changed this year. Golds are now worth 25 team points, silvers are 20 points, the bronzes are 15 each, and fifth place is 10 each. Seventh- through 10-place finishes yield eight, six, four, and two points, respectively.

After day one, the USA is in fourth place, behind Azerbaijan, Russia, and Iran. Richie Figueroa and Daniel Kerkvliet are in the finals, with Abe Assad in repechage fighting for a bronze. Below are the brackets and draw analysis for the five Cadets going Tuesday.

45kg: Chance Lamer

This is a very difficult draw for Lamer. He’ll start off with Pavel Sagdy (RUS), and then if Lamer wins, he'll face Luka Gugeshashvili (GEO), the Georgian rep at Euros the past two years. So two tough Europeans right off the bat for the Oregon native. Very simply, Sagdy will keep Lamer on the defensive, though the Russian does not appear to do anything overwhelming or spectacularly. He also seems to have watched what the Americans are doing, as there appears to be a folkstyle influence on top.

The semis opponent will likely be Rafayel Harutyuntan (ARM), the European gold medalist. Harutyunyan not only represents a difficult hurdle to make the finals, but he also will likely keep Lamer out of repechage. The Armenian teched all his Euro opponents in the first period and is probably the favorite to win the weight.

Here are the brackets for Chance Lamer, Matt Ramos and Josh Saunders pic.twitter.com/tCqsPhAJPu

— The Wrestling Nomad (@wrestlingnomad) July 2, 2018

51kg: Matt Ramos

The Illinois native opens with Ioannis Martidis (GRE). Making his third appearance at the world championships, Martidis has yet to medal at the world or continental level. Ramos will likely need to score most of his points off secondary attacks and winning 50/50 positions. If Ramos can take out Martidis, he will next have Mongolia or Bulgaria.

Ismail Pomakov (BUL) is coming up from 48kg, where he was at Euros, as the original Bulgarian rep was teched by Martidis there. The other option is Dashtseren Purvee (MGL), who has twice represented Mongolia at the Asian championships. The three countries ahead of the USA right now in the team standings are all on the top side with Ramos, but he won’t see them until the semis.

Russia and Iran meet first round; the Iranian Seyederfan Jafariangelyer was a bronze medalist in Asia. The winner there will get Ashraf Karimzada (AZE). While this makes life difficult for Ramos, it also gives him a great opportunity to put a major dent in the team race.

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60kg: Josh Saunders

Saunders was very impressive at the Junior level this spring, making the Open finals and getting third at the Trials, so it was no surprise when he made the Cadet team. After a good match with Austria to get him warmed up, he’ll get Asian champ Ravinder (IND). There have been many Ravinders to compete for India, and this one appears to be the latest star with that name. His scores there were 12-4, 6-0, 6-3, and 8-1.

Should Saunders get by Ravinder, an easier match against Greece or Albania in the quarters is in store for him. A win there gets Saunders into a medal match and also gives him a little time before the semis. This is part of why I think Saunders got a "great" draw, which is difficult to say without any tape on Ravinder. But the semis could be against Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, or Georgia, all of which are power counties but none of which has either credentials or experience. Everything is set up quite well for Saunders to make the finals and for his opponent to have to go through a gauntlet to get there.

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71kg: Alex Facundo

It's awfully hard to be concerned about the outcome of a match when Alex Facundo takes the mat. Not because he is undefeated for his life and always wins, but because he always remains calm and very rarely appears to ever be out of matches. Now, that may change at the world level, but his first two opponents don't strike fear in my heart. 

He should take care of business against Poland in round one, and then the potential Armenian in the second round has no accomplishments or information. As for the Ukrainian who faces the Armenian, he is a first-year Cadet who did not place at Euros. Winning those matches would get Facundo into the semis.

The brackets for Facundo and Ferrari pic.twitter.com/gZtUYfINud

— The Wrestling Nomad (@wrestlingnomad) July 2, 2018

Time to nerd out for a bit, but this weight could be big for the team race. Azerbaijan is in first and Russia is tied for second; they meet in the second round. There are three possible continental bronze medalists one of those counties could hit in the quarters, meaning one of those countries ahead of America will not get into repechage if Facundo makes the finals. And on the top side, Asian champ Iran wrestles Euro champ Georgia in the quarters, maxing one of those countries out at 15 points.

What has always impressed me about Facundo is how he looks on his feet. He certainly has holes in his game, but they are typically only exposed against older wrestlers, and those matches are typically close. He is #1 on the 2021 Big Board for a reason, and he can back it up Tuesday.

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92kg: AJ Ferrari

Making his first trip overseas is Ferrari, the Texas native now headed to Blair Academy (NJ). He will get a good feel for the Asian nations early on, having to start with Banzragh Munkhbat (MGL). It won’t be an easy first match, but a good one to get him going before he faces Asian champ Ali Reza Abbasali Abdollahi (IRI).

There is no video of Abdollahi rolling through the field in Tashkent, but he outscored his opponents 33-2 there. Iran is tied for second place as a team, so knocking off Abdollahi could help push America in front as a team. A win in that match would put Ferrari against Fuad Mayilov (AZE) in the quarters. Mayilov is up from 80kg, where he won Euros earlier this year.