How The 150 lbs 8-Man Bracket Was Built
How The 150 lbs 8-Man Bracket Was Built
Bratke takes you into the seeding meeting and breaks down how we built the 150 lbs 8-man bracket.
The bracket is officially set and the countdown is on until the 150 lbs 8-man bracket goes down deep in the heart of Texas. Before we handout over $55k in payouts, we wanted to take you guys into the seeding meeting and breakdown how we built the bracket.
Watch the FloWrestling 150 lbs 8-Man Challenge LIVE
Friday, Dec 18, 2020 | 8 PM ET
#1 Bajrang Punia (India)
One of the biggest draws in sport, Bajrang Punia, grabs the top spot in the bracket thanks to bringing home hardware from the past two World Championships. In 2018, Punia was the silver medalist at 65kg in Budapest, and in 2019, was bronze at 65kg in Nur-Sultan. Also of note, Punia has two wins over Jordan Oliver and a win over Joey McKenna.
Watch Bajrang win a tight one over Joey McKenna back in January.
#2 James Green (Southeast RTC)
You may be saying to yourself, "Wait, isn't James Green a two-time world medalist as well?" Yes, he is. However, those medals came in 2015 when he won bronze at 70kg in Las Vegas, and in 2017 when he was silver at 70kg as well in Paris. In his past two World Championship appearances, he finished in 13th on both occasions. While he did take two losses at the RTC Cup, both came to Yianni Diakomihalis, who owns wins over Punia and Oliver. Finally, Green is 2-0 all-time against Jordan Oliver on the Senior level.
Watch Green beat Oliver at the 2016 non-Olympic weight World Team Trials finals.
#3 Jordan Oliver (Tar Heel Wrestling Club)
Two-time NCAA champion, Jordan Oliver, fits in nicely as the three seed as he has never beaten Punia or Green but is a combined 7-0 against Joey McKenna, Evan Henderson, and Bryce Meredith.
Watch Oliver roll past McKenna in the 2019 Senior Nationals finals.
#4 Evan Henderson (Spartan Combat RTC)
With Joey McKenna having to pull out due to injury, Henderson slides up one spot from his original seed at #5. Henderson gets the nod over NCAA champion Anthony Ashnault due to his recent success on the Senior level. Since the beginning of 2019, Henderson has competed in nine legit Senior-level tournaments. He finished in the top three at six of those tournaments, and four times was in the finals, most recently at Senior Nationals in October. That's an incredibly consistent run, and at this point, a stronger resume than Ashnault, Meredith, and Pat Lugo.
Watch Evan Henderson beat Jaydin Eierman at the 2020 Senior Nationals.
#5 Anthony Ashnault (NJ RTC)
2019 NCAA champion, Anthony Ashnault, also moves up one seed from his original placement in the bracket. His Senior-level results are limited due to an injury suffered in the 2019 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament finals match against James Green. However, making the finals of that tournament and beating U.S. Open runner-up Hayden Hidlay and Final X runner-up Jason Chamberlain along the way is a big deal. Ashnault gets the nod over newcomer, Alec Pantaleo, because of this performance. Pantaleo was in that bracket and failed to place losing to Chamberlain in the quarterfinals and Brandon Sorensen on the consolation side.
Watch Ashnault beat Chamberlain at the 2019 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament.
#6 Alec Pantaleo (Cliff Keen WC)
Three-time All-American, Alec Pantaleo, enters the bracket on a week's notice and slots in the bracket ahead of Meredith and Lugo thanks to his strong freestyle resume over the past few years. Since 2017, Pantaleo has been fifth, third, and fourth at the U.S. Open. Pantaleo also made a U23 World team where he finished ninth and placed at the 2019 Senior Nationals. He recently went a perfect 4-0 at the RTC Cup picking up wins over Matt Kolodzik, Brayton Lee, Kevin Jack, and Tariq Wilson.
Watch Pantaleo take out Tyler Berger at the 2019 Senior Nationals.
#7 Bryce Meredith
While two-time NCAA finalist, Bryce Meredith, has been on the Senior level about as long as Pantaleo, his resume his not as strong. The former Wyoming Cowboy has yet to place at a U.S. Open, and his best results are bronze medals at the Dave Schultz in 2019 and Cerro Pelado in 2020. Meredith has been on a little bit of a roll as of late beating Beau Bartlett and Austin DeSanto. He will be a tough test for Green in the opening round just a few hours after 150 lbs again.
Watch Meredith beat two-time NCAA champion Dean Heil at the 2020 Senior Nationals.
#8 Pat Lugo (Hawkeye Wrestling Club)
Having just finished his collegiate career in March, Lugo has the shortest resume of all of the wrestlers in the bracket. However, he has picked up nice wins over Luke Pletcher and Matt Kolodzik in one-off cards in June and November. While he doesn't have a lot of experience against others in this bracket, two months before he won his NCAA title, Lugo took Ashnault to sudden victory. He also has a believer in a fellow competitor in the bracket that he can shock the world and take out Bajrang in the opening match.
I think Lugo gets it done 🤔
— James Green (@WhoIsJamesG) December 10, 2020
Watch Lugo push Ashnault to sudden victory.