Junior Worlds - USA Freestyle Preview

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Yet again, Team USA is rolling out a very strong men’s freestyle team for this year's UWW junior world championships in Macon, France. Last year saw four US medals for a team that placed fourth overall and scored 40 points.

Spencer Lee will once again be the spark plug at the top of the lineup. He is looking to defend his 50kg title in a surprisingly deep field. Since winning that gold, Lee has commmitted to wrestle for Iowa and appears fully healed from his shoulder injury.

Without a doubt, the three-time Pennsylvania state champ has the best leg lace in the country, and judging by the results, very well could have the best in the world.

Following Lee is Daton Fix at 55kg. Fix beat out Lee for the 54kg cadet world team spot last year and would end up winning the bronze medal. He also was silver at the Youth Olympic Games in 2014.

When Fix is in a pinch, he pulls out his trusted inside trip, which we saw work last year when Mark Hall pinned an opponent from Azerbaijan with it. He has the most matches of anyone on this team against foreign competition.

For two straight years, America sent Joey McKenna at 60kg and had about as varied results as you could get. This year, we will see South Dakota State’s Seth Gross, an NCAA qualifier at 141.

Gross is accomplished in freestyle within this country, having won three Fargo titles and making the 2012 cadet world team. This weight has been very tough the past two years, producing guys with successful results at the senior level.

Gross wins shootout to make junior world team


One of two big wildcards on this team is 66kg Alec Pantaleo. The Michigan All American is unquestionably the most veteran in folkstyle of any team member, but these world championships will actually be only his sixth career freestyle tournament.

Yet Pantaleo is set up to have success at worlds. He is in his final year of junior eligibility at one of the best RTCs in the country at Cliff Keen WC. It will be very interesting to see if he can hold center and blast double to the same degree of success he has in folkstyle.

Gross won’t be the only Apple Valley wrestler on this squad, as Mark Hall made his second consecutive junior team at 74kg. He’ll be looking to rebound as he did not place last year, especially considering he was the cadet world champ in 2014.

Hall is one of the best counter wrestlers America has had at any age level the past few years, although he will need to turn on the offense to win a medal in France. The Penn State recruit has relied very heavily on big moves to win freestyle matches against top flight competition.

Hall pins Azerbaijan in round two last year


Zahid Valencia holds down the 84kg spot for the second year in a row. After a year of wrestling senior level guys trying to make the Olympic trials, Valencia's next crack at junior worlds could very well end in a medal. It all depends on how quickly he can convert his swing single into takedowns.

He was very light last year in Brazil and had the unfortunate luck of losing to a Russian in the quarterfinals who then would lose in the semis, meaning the Sun Devil was not pulled back into repechage. Another year of bulking and neutral work will hopefully pay off in a rematch with Musalaliev, the Russian who knocked Valencia out last year and would go on to get second at Yarygin back in January.

The Musalaliev match was very strange, and even saw a rare par terre start. Valencia lost 7-4 in a match that saw him get a takedown and two cautions against the Russian. Musalaliev gave up caution points for a hard club and a caution-and-one fleeing the mat, while he scored two takedowns of his own, as well as a stepout and a gut wrench.

Zahid takes out NCAA champ Myles Martin


Like Pantaleo, the other question mark on this team is 96kg Kollin Moore. It was quite the turnaround for Moore, as he went from 7th at UWW Junior nationals to winning world team trials. He follows in the footsteps of his Olympic gold medalist teammate at this weight, hoping to replicate Kyle Snyder's junior level success of a gold and bronze medal.

Before Jordan Wood steps foot on a Lehigh mat for the first time, he will be competing in his first junior world championships. The 120kg stud was on the 2014 cadet team with Hall and Lee, where he was the silver medalist at 100kg.

As a member of the Lehigh Valley WC, Wood works out with Zach Rey constantly. You have to imagine no one in this field will have the same kind of tree trunk thighs as Rey, meaning Wood has a good deal of experience finishing shots the way he'll need to in order to make a deep run on Sunday. If he finishes the way he has been, right in position to shelf a leg lace, he will be one of the most dangerous wrestlers in the bracket.

Men's freestyle closes out the week on Saturday the 3rd and Sunday the 4th. Weigh ins for 50kg, 60kg, 74kg and 96kg happen on Friday at 10:15 am central time, while 55kg, 66kg, 84kg and 120kg weigh ins are at Saturday at 10:15 am central time.

Men’s Freestyle roster
50 kg/110 lbs. – Spencer Lee, Murraysville, Pa. (Young Guns)
55 kg/121 lbs. – Daton Fix, Sand Springs, Okla. (Team BIG)
60 kg/132 lbs. – Seth Gross, Rosemount, Minn. (Jackrabbit WC)
66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Alec Pantaleo, Canton, Mich. (Michigan RTC)
74 kg163 lbs. – Mark Hall, Apple Valley, Minn. (Minnesota Storm)
84 kg/185 lbs. – Zahid Valencia, Pico Rivera, Calif. (Sunkist Kids)
96 kg/211.5 lbs. – Kollin Moore, Burbank, Ohio (Ohio RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
120 kg/264.5 lbs. – Jordan Wood, Gilbertsville, Pa. (Lehigh Valley WC)
Assistant Freestyle National Coach – Brandon Slay, Colorado Springs, Colo. 
World Team Coach – Mitch Hull, Sun Prairie, Wisc. 
World Team Coach – Jamill Kelly, Redwood City, Calif.
Coach – Chris Bono, Brookings, S.D.
Coach – Jon Reader, Brookings, S.D.
Coach – Zeke Jones, Tempe, Ariz.
Coach – Chris Pendleton, Tempe, Ariz.
Coach – Jeff Buxton, Easton, Pa. 
Coach – Tom Ryan, Columbus, Ohio
Coach – Josh Churella, Ann Arbor, Mich. 
Coach – Cael Sanderson, State College, Pa.

Saturday, September 3: Men's Freestyle 50kg, 60kg, 74kg, 96kg
3am CT: Qualification Round and Repechage
11am CT: Medal Matches
U.S. Wrestlers: Spencer Lee, Seth Gross, Mark Hall, Kollin Moore

Sunday, September 4: Men's Freestyle 55kg, 66kg, 84kg, 120kg
3am CT: Qualification Round and Repechage
11am CT: Medal Matches
U.S. Wrestlers: Daton Fix, Alec Pantaleo, Zahid Valencia, Jordan Wood

Junior men's freestyle team highlight