Member's of the U.S. men's freestyle team pose for a photo (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)That's unlikely, but there are more than a few wrestlers on the squad who have chances to earn World medals. Below is a look at those odds when looking outside the U.S. and taking into account the highly talented opponents the American side is likely to face.
The numbers here are likely to change as the summer progresses and wrestlers young and old show what they are capable of accomplishing at the international level.
Read up and stay tuned.
57 kilos: Tony Ramos
Gold: 5 percent
Medal: 15 percent
The freshest face on the U.S. men's freestyle team. Tony Ramos takes over for Angel Escobedo at 57 kilos in 2014. An NCAA champion for Iowa in 2014, Ramos doesn't have a ton of national freestyle experience. He chose to sit out the U.S. Open and has only made the weight once and is down from a collegiate weight of 133 pounds.
Tony Ramos made his first U.S. World Team at 57 kilos (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)I like Ramos, in the right place, to win a match at the World Championships, but to make it past the names listed below in what will undoubtedly be one of his first international tournaments is highly improbable.
Look for Ramos to go overseas before the World Championship to get more time training in foreign rooms and in one or two mid-level tournaments. How he performs there will give all wrestling fans a better indication of his future performance.
Top wrestlers: Vladimir Khinchegashvili (Georgia), Rasul Kaliev (Kazakhstan), Damdinbazar Tsogtbaatar (Mongolia), Viktor Lebedev (Russia), Artyom Gebekov (Russia) or Nariman Israpilov (Russia)
65 kilos: Brent Metcalf
Gold: 20 percent
Medal: 60 percent
One of the more impressive American wrestlers of the 2014 season, Brent Metcalf finished undefeated at the World Cup in Los Angeles and managed a victory over world No. 1 Magomed Kurbanaliev of Russia. That win didn't count on the official record as it was goodwill and above weight, but that Metcalf could wrestle with the top guy was evident.
Before his recent success Metcalf has struggled in his most recent high-level international tournaments -- 2013 World Championships and Ivan Yarygin Invitational. At Worlds he lost a lopsided decision to Iran's Mehdi Taghavi and at Yarygin he dropped an odd match to Soslan Romanov, who he'd actually beaten twice before.
Metcalf is wrestling well and showed at the 2013 Ivan Yarygin that he can handle big tournaments, when he finished second. Like almost all the Americans, Metcalf's tournament will be decided by who he faces in the first two rounds. Lucky for him Taghavi won't be competing in 2014 as he's missed the qualifications tournaments to make him eligible. Also to his favor is that two of the top four ranked wrestlers in the world are former NCAA finalists in Franklin Gomez and Boris Novachkov. His familiarity with their styles should limit any stumbling blocks.
The most concerning early-round matchups for Metcalf would be a second-round matchup with Kurbanaliev, or meeting an upstart Iranian with little video in the first round. He will also need to be ready for whoever the Mongolians send, as they tend to have a style drag-and-scramble style similar to Russia's Romanov.
Top wrestlers: Magomed Kurbanaliev (Russia), Franklin Gomez (Puerto Rico), Servet Coskun (Turkey), Borislav Novachkov (Bulgaria), Jang Jin-Hyeok (North Korea), Ganzorig Mandakhnaran (Mongolia)
74 kilos: Jordan Burroughs
Gold: 95 percent
Medal: 95 percent
Not much needs to be written about Jordan Burroughs' career and what he is capable of at the 2014 World Championships. He has faced his toughest opponent in David Taylor and came away with hard-fought victories. At the international level there are only a few guys who can give him issues, but few who can outright beat him more than twice out of 10 times.
His biggest threat will be two-time European champion Aniuar Geduev, who he beat at a Beat the Streets event. Geduev looked awesome in Finland and has the type of build that could give Burroughs some trouble. Iranian stalwart Akbari will have to fight his way back onto the team after a disappointing 2014 campaign, leaving serviceable Reza Afzali Paemami as the more likely opponent.
Burroughs is not a sure thing. Injuries, illness and off days happen to everyone, but as we learned in 2013 even those types of setbacks might not stop what is looking like what could become one of the greatest Americans to ever wrestle internationally.
Top wrestlers: Aniuar Geduev (Russia), Reza Afzali Paemami (Iran), Yabrail Hasanov (Azerbaijan), Ali Shabanov (Belarus)
86 kilos: Ed Ruth
Gold: 5 percent
Medal: 60 percent
Ed Ruth was impressive last week in his performance against 2013 World Team member Keith Gavin. Sharp on his feet, Ruth was too fast to angles against Gavin in what will likely prove to be a changing of the guard.
Ed Ruth defeated Keith Gavin to make the U.S. World Team (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)Ruth can medal, but it is highly unlikely to be gold. Even if he makes it through a bracket that will include either defending World champion Ibragim Aldatov of Ukraine or silver medalist Reineris Salas Perez of Cuba, he almost certainly cannot make it past shoe-in finalist Abdul Rashid Sadulaev, who is by most accounts the most physically dominant wrestler in the world, and arguably the No. 1 or No. 2 best wrestler overall.
Look for Ruth to compete overseas in the coming months and test out his growing (and changing) freestyle game plan. As Cael Sanderson works to specify his attacks from the feet, he will also look to work on Ruth limiting his in-match mistakes. If coach can make that click I really like Ruth for silver or bronze.
Top wrestlers: Abdul Rashid Sadulaev (Russia), Murad Gaidarov (Belarus), Rashid Kurbanov (Uzbekistan), Ibragim Aldatov (Ukraine), Reineris Salas Perez (Cuba), Ehsan Lashgari (Iran)
97 kilos: Jake Varner
Gold: 40 percent
Medal: 75 percent
Olympic champion Jake Varner is back on the mats after what was an 18-month layoff from competing. He's still a bit rusty, but at the U.S. Open and World Team Trials proved that he was still the top guy in the country at 97 kilos.
Looking ahead to the World Championships, Varner will need to get in more international matches to remind him of the size and skill of the opponents he will be facing in Tashkent. His weight is arguably the single most loaded of the entire tournament, with Olympic and World champions littering the upper ranks. Though intimidating for his fans, it's unlikely to phase Varner, who won his Olympic gold in what was then considered to be the toughest weight class of the entire Olympic Games.
To win Varner will have to wrestle well early and face either Reza Yazdani (Iran) or Khetag Gazumov (Azerbaijan) in his bracket as they finished 1-2 last year in Budapest. Yazdani might be the better selection as many Iranian fans love to give the champion a hard time about not winning the Olympic Games. Maybe Varner feels he can match up well against the Lion of Joybar?
It's likely that Varner will wrestle well enough to place -- and gold is still a possbility, though a very difficult outcome to predict for someone still a little rusty from his time away.
Top wrestlers: Reza Yazdani (Iran), Abdusalam Gadisov (Russia), Khetag Gazumov (Azerbaijan), Ivan Yankouski (Belarus), Sharif Sharifov (Azerbaijan)
125 kilos: Tervel Dlagnev
Gold: 5 percent
Medal: 45 percent
One of the most consistent performers for Team USA, Tervel Dlagnev has become a stalwart at heavyweight. He's big and mobile, but has often fumbled to close out big matches and earn hardware. Three times he finished fifth in world-level tournaments.
Tervel Dlagnev defeated Zack Rey in the finals of the U.S. World Team Trials (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)His gold medal chances are made thin by the likely return of 2013 World champion Khadzhimurat Gatsalov (Russia) and the recent rockstar performance of Turkey's Taha Akgul. Both present difficult style matchups. The most talented wrestler in the field might be Komeil Ghasemi (Iran), who also looked impressive in winning the 2014 Asian Championships in Astana and who beat Dlagnev at the World Cup in Los Angeles.
Dlagnev should win matches and if he loses before the finals it will likely be to a finalist. He will have a shot to medal. It just depends on whether he is able to convert the opportunity into more hardware.
Top wrestlers: Taha Akgul (Turkey), Komeil Ghasemi (Iran), Alan Khugaev (Russia), Khadzhimurat Gatsalov (Russia), Aleksander Khotsianivski (Ukraine), Ali Isaev (Azerbaijan)
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