Greco News

Monday Roundup: TRIALS WEEK; 16 USA Athletes Recognized by UWW

brady koontz, 2022 world team trials schedule
Brady Koontz -- Photo: Tony Rotundo

For the second time in eight months, it’s “Trials Week”, as the 2022 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament gets underway this coming Saturday at the Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa.

The Challenge, or “mini” Tournament, will see nine returning World Team members attempt to take the next step in the selection process, which comes in the form of the Final X Series next month. G’Angelo Hancock (97 kg, Sunkist, world #5, 5PM #1) is the only holdover from the ’21 roster who is not required to enter the Trials Challenge Tournament. That is, of course, because Hancock earned a World bronze in October.

not all roads lead to gold, jim gruenwald

On Monday, USA Wrestling released the seeds for all ten weight categories. But there is one hitch: on-site registration. Friday, May 20 stands as the deadline that truly matters. Although the registration fee will climb to $100 per athlete, it is plausible that one or two well-known names who are indeed qualified manage to slide in right under the wire.

As for the overall participation of this year’s World Team Trials Challenge Tournament, the numbers leave a lot to be desired. At press time, only 81 total athletes are in the matrix (73 of whom are currently ranked on 5PM).

World Team Trials Quick Notes

  • 81 athletes (as of 5/17/22).
  • Nine returning World Team members (see list below).
  • Four recent Olympians — Ildar Hafizov (’08, ’20), Jesse Thielke (’16), Alex Sancho (’20), and Ben Provisor (’12, ’16).
  • 55 and 63 kilograms currently hold the most entrants (10); 82 and 87 kg both boast six.

Returning WT Members in ’22 Trials

55 kg: Max Nowry (Army/WCAP, 5PM #1)
60 kg: Dalton Roberts (Army/WCAP, 5PM #1)
63 kg: Sammy Jones (NYAC, 5PM #1)
67 kg: Peyton Omania (CYC, 5PM #3)
72 kg: Patrick Smith (Minnesota Storm, 5PM #1)
77 kg: Jesse Porter (NYAC, 5PM #1)
82 kg: Ben Provisor (NYAC, 5PM #1)
87 kg: Alan Vera (NYAC, 5PM #1)
130 kg: Cohlton Schultz (Sunkist, 5PM #1)

USA Wrestling WTT Seeds Per Weight Category

55 kg

  1. Max Nowry (Army/WCAP)
  2. Brady Koontz (TMWC/Ohio RTC)
  3. Dalton Duffield (Army/WCAP)
  4. Drew West (IL)
  5. Jacob Cochran (NMU/NTS)
  6. Camden Russell (MWC)
  7. Jakason Burks (MWC)
  8. Cole Smith (Army/WCAP)
  9. Jonathan Gurule (NMU/NTS)
  10. Dominic Robertson (All-Navy)

60 kg

  1. Dalton Roberts (Army/WCAP)
  2. Ildar Hafizov (Army/WCAP)
  3. Dylan Koontz (TMWC/Ohio RTC)
  4. Randon Miranda (Rise RTC)
  5. Max Black (NMU/NTS)
  6. Mitchell Brown (Air Force RTC)
  7. Phillip Moomey (Spartan Wrestling RTC)

63 kg

  1. Sammy Jones (NYAC)
  2. Jesse Thielke (Army/WCAP)
  3. Mason Hartshorn (West Coast Greco RTC)
  4. David Stepanyan (NYAC/NTS)
  5. Corbin Nirschl (MWC)
  6. We Rachal (IRTC)
  7. Aidan Nutter (NYAC)
  8. Logan Savvy (NYAC)
  9. Ty Lydic (Knights WC)
  10. Diego Romero (NMU/NTS)

67 kg

  1. Alex Sancho (Army/WCAP)
  2. Alston Nutter (Sunkist/NTS)
  3. Lenny Merkin (NYAC/NJRTC)
  4. Peyton Omania (NYAC/CYC)
  5. Nathan Moore (UNCO)
  6. Morgan Flaharty (NYAC)
  7. Jessy Williams (Spartan Wrestling RTC)

72 kg

  1. Patrick Smith (Minnesota Storm)
  2. Benji Peak (Sunkist/NTS)
  3. Michael Hooker (Army/WCAP)
  4. Jamel Johnson (Marines)
  5. Brody Olson (NMU/NTS)
  6. Eddie Smith (Pickaxe WC)
  7. Ryan Wheeler (Colorado Mesa WC)
  8. Noah Wachsmuth (Cobra)

77 kg

  1. RaVaughn Perkins (NYAC)
  2. Jesse Porter (NYAC)
  3. Kamal Bey (Army/WCAP)
  4. Britton Holmes (Army/WCAP)
  5. Alec Ortiz (Minnesota Storm)
  6. Payton Jacobson (Sunkist/NTS)
  7. Tyler Eischens (CARTC)
  8. Fritz Schierl (TMWC/Ohio RTC)
  9. Jack Ervien (Viking WC)

82 kg

  1. Ben Provisor (NYAC)
  2. Spencer Woods (Army/WCAP)
  3. Tyler Cunningham (MWC)
  4. Ryan Epps (Minnesota Storm)
  5. Tommy Brackett (Unattached)
  6. Ben Lee (Viking WC)

87 kg

  1. Alan Vera (NYAC)
  2. Timothy Young (IL)
  3. George Sikes (NYAC/NTS)
  4. Tyler Hannah (Combat WC)
  5. Christian DuLaney (Minnesota Storm)
  6. Austin Craig (All-Navy)

97 kg

  1. Nick Boykin (Sunkist/Ohio RTC)
  2. Braxton Amos (Sunkist/Wisconsin RTC)
  3. Luke Sheridan (Army/WCAP)
  4. Khymba Johnson (NYAC)
  5. Haydn Maley (Beaver Dam RTC)
  6. Guy Patron (Dubuque WC)
  7. Brady Vogel (Dubuque WC)
  8. Chad Porter (Sunkist)
  9. Timothy Eubanks (NMU/NTS)

130 kg

  1. Cohlton Schultz (Sunkist)
  2. Tanner Farmer (NYAC/IRTC)
  3. West Cathcart (NYAC/IRTC)
  4. David Tate Orndorff (TMWC/Ohio RTC)
  5. Courtney Freeman (Marines)
  6. Kaleb Reeves (IA)
  7. Ronald Dombkowski (BK WC)
  8. Tom Foote (NYAC)

’22 Trials Schedule

All times CT.
FLOWrestling will carry the live broadcast for each session.

Saturday, May 21
10:00am-3:00pm — Preliminaries, quarterfinals, and beginning of consolation rounds
4:30pm-7:30pm — Semifinals (97 kg)
4:30pm-8:30pm — Consolation rounds continue

Sunday, May 22
10:00am-1:30pm — Semifinals (Final X qualifying round for all weight categories except 97 kg), consolations, consolation semifinal, and third-place matches
2:30pm-6:30pm — Best-of-three final for 97 kg; winner faces Hancock at Final X in June.

More Ranking Info

United World Wrestling’s slate of annual Senior continental championships continues this week with the African version of the event taking place in El Jadlda, Morocco. Europe, Asia, and Pan-American championship tournaments have already been held thus far, which have heavily influenced UWW’s “Ranking Series” point distributions.

However, it is the Pan-Am event that is in the spotlight for the moment since that is where Team USA delivered a successful performance by overwhelming the field en-route to the team title. The Americans had four champions and three bronze medalists; but even those who did not place still received points; and with UWW now expanding their ranking limitations for public consumption, said points (even in small numbers, and in highly-populated weight categories) can put an athlete’s name out there internationally for all to see.

Pan-Ams Ranking Impact

Brady Koontz (55 kg, TMWC/Ohio RTC, 5PM #2) came through with gold at the Pan-Ams and therefore is now slotted at #23 in the World rankings with 5,000 points. Back in the UWW rankings discussion is fellow champion Randon Miranda (60 kg, Rise RTC, 5PM #3). 60 was a more-than solid field earlier this month, giving Miranda 10,000 points along with #25.

“Turbo” Ty Cunningham (MWC, 5PM #5) earned his first Senior international medal by placing third. What that did was put Cunningham 28th in the “Ranking Series” following his maiden Pan-Ams voyage.

Two-time National champ Hayden Tuma (Suples, 5PM #2) went 1-1 in Acapulco, good for 7th place. Though he did not medal, Tuma’s showing yielded 4,400 points and he now holds the #50 spot at 67 kilograms. ’22 Bill Farrell Memorial gold Rich Carlson (Minnesota Storm) was eighth at the Pan-Ams; he still received 4,000 points due mainly to bracket size, and now owns #46 in the crowded weight class of 87 kilos. It is the same story for Tanner Farmer (130 kg, NYAC/IRTC, 5PM #3). Farmer placed eighth — but brought home with him a 4K haul and is present in the “Ranking Series” at 44th.

tyler cunningham, 2022 pan-american championships bronze

Tyler Cunningham, who is seeded third for this weekend’s World Team Trials Challenge Tournament, earned bronze at the 2022 Pan-American Championships earlier this month in Acapulco, Mexico. The medal-winning performance for Cunningham, his first at an international Senior showcase, also resulted in his receiving 6,500 United World Wrestling “Ranking Series” points, which translates to #28. American Ben Provisor is one spot higher at 82 kilograms, holding onto #27. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

Prior Established Lot

“Wildman Sam” Sammy Jones (63 kg, NYAC, 5PM #1) holds 5,000 “Ranking Series” points, which has him at #29 (previously #42) on the board after garnering gold. Nick Boykin (97 kg, Sunkist, 5PM #2) was a bronze medalist in the tournament, snaring 6,500 points in the process for the #37 spot in his weight category. Boykin was in UWW’s database at #67 — but his position was not publicly visible. Now-four-time Pan-American Championships winner Patrick Smith (Minnesota Storm) climbs from #40 to #33 on UWW’s Greco rankings. Because Smith’s bracket in Mexico was round-robin’ed with five competitors, his points harvest was capped at 5,000.

Up at #32 is ’18 World Team member RaVaughn Perkins (NYAC, 5PM #2), who has been ranked numerous times throughout his career. Perkins’ Pan-Am bronze brought his tally to 9,500 points.

Still Ranked

The seven American Greco-Roman athletes who were listed by United World Wrestling after the post-European Championships “Ranking Series” update have not yet been subject to major movement, though only one wrestler’s ranking remains the same: Hancock, who is still locked in the fifth slot at 97.

Because their point values have not increased during this, the “continental championships season”, six others have dropped, if ever so slightly.

  • Nowry (55 kg) — 13, 500 pts; #11 (previous rank: #10)
  • Roberts (60 kg) — 8, 200 pts; #27 (previous rank: #25)
  • Sancho (67 kg) — 14,300 pts; #21 (previous rank: #20)
  • Provisor (82 kg) — 6,600 pts; #27 (previous rank: #22)
  • John Stefanowicz (87 kg) — 6,200 pts; #34 (previous rank: #29)
  • Schultz (130 kg) — 6,600 pts; #33 (previous rank: #31)

It bears mentioning that Nowry, Roberts, and Sancho were originally on the US roster for the Pan-Am Championships but were unable to compete after Army decided not to send their athletes due to security concerns.

WORLD-RANKED USA GRECO-ROMAN ATHLETES

(*as of 5/17/22)

55 kg: Max Nowry (Army/WCAP) — #11 – 13,500 pts
55 kg: Brady Koontz (TMWC/Ohio RTC) — #23 – 5,000 pts
60 kg: Randon Miranda (Rise RTC) — #25 – 10,000 pts
60 kg: Dalton Roberts (Army/WCAP) — #27 – 8, 200 pts
63 kg: Sammy Jones (NYAC) – #29 – 5,000 pts
67 kg: Alex Sancho (Army/WCAP) — #21 – 14,300 pts
72 kg: Patrick Smith (Minnesota Storm) — #33 – 5,000 pts
77 kg: RaVaughn Perkins (NYAC) — #32 – 9,500 pts
82 kg: Ben Provisor (NYAC) — #27 – 6,600 pts
82 kg: Tyler Cunningham (MWC) — #28 – 6,500 pts
87 kg: John Stefanowicz (Marines) — #34 – 6,200 pts
87 kg: Rich Carlson (Minnesota Storm) — #46 – 4,000 pts
97 kg: G’Angelo Hancock (Sunkist) — #5 – 47,200 pts
97 kg: Nick Boykin (TMWC/Ohio RTC) — #37 – 6,500 pts
130 kg: Cohlton Schultz (Sunkist) — #31 – 6,600 pts
130 kg: Tanner Farmer (NYAC/IRTC) — #44 – 4,000 pts

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