With USA Wrestling's new and expanded qualifying system for this year's World Championships, even more events have been added to the 2018 calendar.
The next big event is the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament for men's and women's freestyle, set for May 18-20 in Rochester, Minn.
Champions in the 20 weight classes -- 10 in men's freestyle and 10 in women's freestyle -- will advance to the Final X which will determine the world team. The Final X will be held at three separate locations.
There are 20 wrestlers who have already qualified for one of the Final X events. Those wrestlers are either 2017 world medalists or U.S. Open champions in the weight classes without a world medalist.
A total of 152 wrestlers -- 90 in men's freestyle and 62 in women's freestyle -- have earned spots in the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament.
The Final X champions will represent the United States at October's World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
There will be some high-level wrestling where the stakes will be very high in Minnesota. It will definitely be worth checking out.
Here are 10 reasons to attend the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament:
10. The battle at 70 kilograms
Returning world silver medalist James Green knows it won't be easy to make another world freestyle team.
With Green already in the Final X, there will be plenty of top competitors vying for a shot to knock him off.
Leading the list of challenge tournament qualifiers is U.S. Open champion Jason Chamberlain, who has excelled for years in freestyle.
NCAA runner-up Hayden Hidlay placed second at the Open followed by Alec Pantaleo, Dylan Ness, Ryan Deakin and 2016 Olympian Frank Molinaro.
Keep an eye on the dangerous Ness, who will be competing close to home in Minnesota. Molinaro has moved up a weight class this season.
Among the other qualifiers in this class are NCAA champions Kellen Russell and Jason Nolf along with veteran Kyle Ruschell.
9. These girls are good
The women's wrestling program continues to grow and improve in terms of talent, skill level and participants as the "Wrestle Like A Girl" organization continues to make a huge impact on the sport.
The U.S. women finished second in the team race at the 2017 World Championships and U.S. National Coach Terry Steiner has a number of top young girls coming up through the ranks.
There will be some hard-fought battles in Rochester with 10 Final X spots being determined in women's freestyle.
Among the top young stars to keep an eye on are 2017 world team members Victoria Francis and Mallory Velte along with Jacarra Winchester, Alex Hedrick, Rachel Watters and many others.
8. Dieringer doing damage
One of the best matches of the U.S. Open came when Kyle Dake held off Alex Dieringer in a battle of potential world medalists at 79 kilograms.
Now Dieringer, a past world junior silver medalist, needs to win the challenge tournament to earn another shot at Dake in the Final X.
Among the qualifiers in this class are past NCAA champions Jon Reader and Zahid Valencia. It would be interesting to see a Dieringer-Valencia match. Valencia has been on a roll. He won a Junior world silver medal in 2017 before earning an NCAA title this past season.
No doubt, there are some young standouts in this new weight class.
Victoria will look to bounce back from a loss to Whitney Conder at the U.S. Open (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)7. Anthony's road to redemption
Victoria Anthony is determined to come back strong after falling to Whitney Conder in a battle of world team members in the U.S. Open finals.
Anthony, a past world fifth-place finisher, is adjusting to a new weight class of 50 kilograms that is two kilos higher than the former class of 48.
Anthony is undersized at 50, but she is an explosive and powerful athlete who did make the world semifinals at 51 kilograms in 2013.
Veterans Erin Golston and Amy Fearnside will be among Anthony's top challengers. The champion will face Conder in the Final X.
6. Sixty-one will be fun
There was plenty of hype surrounding the competition at 61 kilograms entering the U.S. Open. The deep and loaded class lived up to its billing, capped by Joe Colon's wild, come-from-behind 20-13 win over Nahshon Garrett in the finals.
While Colon will await the challenge tournament winner in the Final X, there are still plenty of studs left to battle for the other Final X spot in Rochester.
In addition to Garrett, that talented group includes Seth Gross, Jon Morrison, Tyler Graff and Nico Megaludis. There will be some great battles in this weight class.
Isaiah Martinez will look to follow up his U.S. Open title with a title at the World Team Trials (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)5. Imar's quest for gold
There are plenty of wrestling fans who are looking forward to a possible Final X showdown between Olympic gold medalist and four-time world champion Jordan Burroughs and two-time NCAA champion Isaiah Martinez.
How much fun would it be to see those two dynamic and explosive athletes battle for the world team spot in freestyle at 74 kilograms? Plus, they would match up at least two times in a best-of-3 format. Bring it on.
Before that happens, Martinez still has to take care of business in Rochester. He will have to make it past a couple of potentially strong challengers in veteran Nazar Kulchytskyy and two-time NCAA champion Vincenzo Joseph. Martinez lost to Joseph in the NCAA finals in 2017 and 2018.
Martinez looked very dominant in rolling to the U.S. Open title. He has a huge upside in freestyle.
4. Olympian Augello not done yet
2016 Olympian Haley Augello bumped up a weight class last year to make her first world team on the Senior level in women's freestyle.
She ran into a tough foe at the U.S. Open in young standout Sarah Hildebrandt, who downed Augello in the finals en route to being named Outstanding Wrestler.
Augello now has a chance to regroup in Rochester, and with a win there would meet Hildebrandt again in the Final X at 53 kilograms.
3. Zain Train vs. Logie Bear
One of the biggest surprises at the U.S. Open was that past world champion Logan Stieber was upset and finished third in freestyle.
Stieber has moved up a weight class this season and likely will have to beat 2017 world team member Zain Retherford to make the Final X at 65 kilograms.
Retherford just capped his college career by winning a second straight Hodge Trophy. He is a past Cadet world champion.
A Stieber-Retherford finals series would be worth the price of admission. They are two outstanding wrestlers who have excelled internationally.
U.S. Open runner-up Jaydin Eierman, who knocked off Stieber at the Open, also could be in the mix. Local fans can cheer on past Minnesota NCAA champion Jayson Ness, who was fifth at the Open.
The champion at 65 kilograms will advance to face surprise U.S. Open winner Joey McKenna in the Final X.
2. Coon rockets into contention
Adam Coon will make a Senior world team at some point. He's just too good not to. But will this be the year?
Coon had a superb performance at the U.S. Open where he won the freestyle title at heavyweight a night after placing second in Greco-Roman.
Coon only has to focus on freestyle in Minnesota and that may be bad news for his opponents.
Coon downed 2012 Olympic gold medalist Jake Varner, who has moved up a weight class, in the U.S. Open finals. He also beat Cadet and Junior world champion Gable Steveson.
This will be a fun weight class to watch in Rochester with top veterans Dom Bradley and Tony Nelson also expected to be in the mix. Nelson won two NCAA titles for Minnesota.
The champion will meet returning world bronze medalist Nick Gwiazdowski in the Final X.
Will Spencer Lee (right) crash the party at 57 kilograms? (Photos/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)1. Ramos-Fix, Part II? Or will Lee crash the party?
I can't wait to see how it all unfolds at 57 kilograms in Rochester. Two-time world team member Tony Ramos edged Junior world champion Daton Fix to win the U.S. Open in men's freestyle.
A Ramos-Fix finals rematch would be enjoyable to witness, but there is no guarantee that will happen. Especially if 2018 NCAA champion Spencer Lee enters this event.
Lee is a Cadet and Junior world champion in freestyle, and he's had his share of battles with Fix in the past. Plus, he trains in the same room with 2017 world silver medalist Thomas Gilman.
A Fix-Lee showdown would be entertaining to watch. So would a Ramos-Lee matchup in the finals.
The winner in Minnesota will face Gilman in the Final X.
Craig Sesker has written about wrestling for more than three decades. He's covered three Olympic Games and is a two-time national wrestling writer of the year.
This story also appears in the May 11 issue of The Guillotine. The Guillotine has been covering wrestling in Minnesota since 1971. Its mission is to report and promote wrestling at all levels -- from youth and high school wrestling to college and international level wrestling. Subscribe to The Guillotine.
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