Nick Lee (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)The Olympic Trials are one of the most pressure-packed, reward-or-bust events on American soil. Everyone here is good. And lifelong dreams are on the line.
With the qualifications just to get in the tournament being so stringent, every last one of the competitors deserves our praise. But the following is a list of the performances that awed us the most. A little bit of surprise, a pinch of 'wow,' and a good bit of wrestling over expectations, here are our top exploits from this year's Olympic Trials.
Victoria Anthony - 50kg WFS
Vicki twice represented the US at the World Championships and wrestled for bronze both times. She was also 2nd at the 2016 Olympic Trials. So it's really not a shock she made the finals.
But I'd argue that she wrestled at a higher level than I've ever seen her. She was a vortex, teching in three of her four bouts without yielding a point and beating #2-seed Alyssa Lampe in the other.
She lost to 2018 World Silver Medalist Sarah Hildebrandt in the finals, but man, 'Vicki Vortex,' 'Vicki the Vet,' 'Vicki Mouse,' whatever you want to call her, she looked as good as ever.
Macey Kilty - 62kg WFS
Ok, so Kilty has medaled five different times at Worlds in three different age levels. Four of those five she made a final. But they weren't Seniors. So while we all knew she was talented, most of us probably thought she was still a little too young. Only no one told Macey that. She damn near did the damn thing.
Her biggest win was over Maya Nelson, the #1 seed and Junior World Champion, in the challenge tournament's finals, 5-0. But then she had veteran Kayla Miracle, who has a similar resume to Kilty, but is a tad more experienced and certainly the odds-on favorite. Kilty took match #2 to the surprise of the crowd to set up a showdown for all the marbles.
But it was a brief match #3 where Kayla scored early and Macey was clearly injured. In a tear-jerking moment, Macey tried to continue to wrestle, almost as if she refused to believe that her limbs could be in tatters. Thankfully she would acknowledge the situation for what it was and default before any more damage could be done.
Part' youthful optimism for the future' and part' best version we've ever seen of her,' Macey's performance was awesome.
Kylie Welker - 76kg WFS
Three amazing things make Welker's story at Trials crazy. First, she's just a Junior. In high school! She, like Peak, was the last qualifier to get into the trials. She lost to Kennedy Blades at Last Chance at 68kg but then moved up to 76.
You pickin' up what I'm layin' down here? A Junior in high school that was the last seed in the tournament moved up a weight and made Olympic Trials finals! Unreal.
Jesse Porter - 77kg Greco
Under normal circumstances, Porter probably wouldn't make this list. He's been a proven commodity having spent years high on the ladder. However, he, too, had to go through the Last Chance tournament just to get into the field.
His total resume gave him the #10 though and he went on and beat two guys (RaVaughn Perkins and Pat Smith) that made previous World Teams, to make the finals.
He then beat Peyton Walsh in two straight bouts to become the Trials Champion. He still has to qualify the weight for Tokyo, but what a run.
Ronna Heaton - 53kg WFS
Ronna became a fan favorite in 2015 with her ever-present smile and unconventional style that led her to the Cadet World gold medal. In 2016, she finished with a silver at Cadet Worlds, but her results have been up-and-down since.
She entered the Trials as the #5 seed. First, she blanked the 4-seed (Alex Hedrick) 4-0 before pinning both the #1 seed (Dominique Parrish) and #3 seed (Katherine Shai) to make the finals. There she fell to World Champion Jacarra Winchester. But it was a fantastic performance and a reminder that Ronna is still a contender at any event.
Jenna Burkert - 57kg WFS
By now, most of the wrestling world knows that Jenna lost her mother a few weeks back. Making the Olympic Trials finals in conjunction with that would be 'impressive' and inspiring on the surface alone. But Jenna didn't just sneak her way into the finals; she was on fire and pushed the only American woman to ever win Olympic Gold to the brink.
Burkert posted consecutive 11-0 techs before unleashing a headlock from hell on Alli Ragan, the six-time World Team Member, to get the fall in the first period.
In the best-of-three finals, Burkert scored a takedown on Helen Maroulis with :30 left in the second match to force a third and decisive bout. And though Maroulis would get the fall to end Jenna's run, Burkert's run was sensational.
Braxton Amos - 97kg Greco
There was a lot to consider with Braxton. His story checked a lot of boxes. Youth? Late qualifier? Remarkable performance? Yep. All of those. And not to mention he was the only human being in both the Greco and Freestyle brackets.
Braxton hasn't yet wrestled a single college match and yet wrestled his way into both tournaments and, in Greco, into the finals. He beat the #1, #2, and #3 seeds by fall, 8-6, and 8-2, respectively.
He fell to G'Angelo Hancock in the best-of-three finals, who might be just the best pound-for-pound Greco talent in America.
Benji Peak - 67kg Greco
This is one of just two picks on this list to not make the best-of-three finals. But it was sensational.
Let's start with the fact that Peak was the last qualifier to get into the trials. He lost in the Last Chance finals to Lenny Merkin, who, you guessed it, would be his first-round opponent a week later. Benji teched him, starting a wave of dominance. In his next two bouts, he blanked the 3-seed (Jamel Johnson) and 2-seed (Ray Bunker). He reached the finals with a cumulative score of 26-0.
In the challenge tournament finals, he fell to Ellis Coleman, 7-3, but rebounded to take true 2nd and make the National Team.
Kennedy Blades - 68kg WFS
Where do you start? Perhaps with the fact she's just 17? Maybe that she won Last Chance? Maybe you throw in that the person she beat - nay - teched, at Last Chance (Kylie Welker) also made the finals (at 76kg).
Kennedy Blades destroyed the bracket 26-1, going through Final X competitor Alex Glaude and teching World Team Member Forrest Molinari.
Blades would fall in the finals to World Champ Tamyra Mensah-Stock but not without a fight.
The contention that she is the best high school prospect ever bears resemblance to…
Gable Steveson - 125kg MFS
Saying Gable Steveson is the US Olympian for Tokyo probably surprises you very little. I picked Gable to win the Trials and probably a decent size percentage of the American fan base did as well. Frankly, it was a two-horse race with him and Nick Gwiazdowski.
But this isn't entirely a 'surprises' article. It's also an 'impressive' article. And there wasn't much in Fort Worth more impressive than Gable, who not only won the Trials at the age of 20, but dispatched Gwiz, a man who has been our guy for three years and medaled twice at the World Championships.
And he did it with relative ease, taking match #1, 10-0, before seemingly being on auto-pilot in match #2 for a 10-4 win.
Frankly, in a tournament that is crowning America's best, Gable did more than that; he put the world on notice.
Nick Lee - 65kg MFS
Now Willie, how can you say Nick Lee's performance was more impressive than Gable's?
Well, I'm not saying Nick Lee is better than Gable. But his blitz of the field (aside from his one loss to champ Jordan Oliver) was wholly more surprising and revelatory.
Just two weeks after winning NCAA's in an upset over a top-seeded undefeated Jaydin Eierman, Lee lost to Oliver in the quarters before ripping through the backside in a run that had all of the wrestling world gasping.
Lee teched Nahshon Garrett, who made a World Team at 61kg, before beating the two pre-tournament Olympian favorites at the weight - Zain Retherford and Yianni Diakomihalis. And he didn't just win; he ripped through those three by a cumulative score of 38-14.
Lee was wide open - constantly on the attack and apparently unafraid of the dangers taking a shot on Yianni typically presents.
Can he replicate it going forward? Who knows. But two things are for sure - there's another player at 65kg for the foreseeable future and he's a treat to watch.
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