The New Jersey RTC, Spartan Combat, Ohio RTC, Wolfpack RTC, Minnesota Storm, and the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club are being drawn into pools with a dual meet structure. Titan Mercury, who is not an RTC, is sponsoring the event, which comes with a $200,000 prize for the winning club.
Pool A includes Cliff Keen Wrestling Club, Wolfpack WC and Gopher Wrestling Club, while Pool B is the Spartan Combat RTC, NJRTC/SERTC and the Ohio RTC. Wrestlers from clubs not entered in the competition were allowed to join those in the tournament in an effort to fill out rosters.
The action on the mat is interesting and for a full breakdown of matchups and storylines you can check out InterMat's breakdown and some multimedia content from Flo. While the level of competition is going to be world class the larger story around the RTC Cup is the way in which it looks to rejigger how American wrestlers prepare for their freestyle careers.
The low point for USA Wrestling was the output (and preparation) for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The lackluster performance at the 2008 Games gave USA Wrestling the opportunity to change and find new solutions. Part of that was to create the Living the Dream Fund, which created direct financial compensation for good performance. The other was to create increased traction with the NCAA for RTC growth (and eventually) a more lenient set of rules by which the Olympic athletes could participate in practice.
Add in increased media opportunities for athletes (aka more money) and the number of stable training opportunities available to post-graduate Olympic athletes has grown to the level where additional competitions inside the states are possible. Going forward it's likely that the NYAC and Sunkist will be just one of several competitions each year, rather than the only two cost-effective ways for most post-graduates to get top-level competition.
The RTC Cup has the ability to be an annual event, and the variety of head-to-head duals on other platforms may also prove to provide monthly competitions. The question remains how all these will be affected by a return to normalcy in the spring when the international calendar returns with opportunities for ranking series points and access to European and Asian opponents.
For now we should enjoy this pandemic-primed response by the community. We are adapting as best we can for an uncertain future and in doing so creating an organic structure that should be repeatable for years to come.
To your questions …
James Green is expected to compete at 65 kilograms at the RTC Cup (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Q: Who is competing at the RTC Cup? Any must-see matchups?
-- John G.
Foley: First, the rosters are posted on Flo. They also have a tremendous amount of content around each wrestler and you should go watch. While the United States loves its NCAA wrestlers and most of us know these guys, the fact that they are competing in freestyle is a great opportunity to learn more about their thinking and approach to competition.
I'm tuning into the 65-kilogram matchups between Anthony Echemendia, Yianni Diakomihalis and James Green. This is the big ticket pull. We are going to watch a world silver medalist in Green and potential future world medalists in Echemendia and Yianni. Who will beat who and what will the matches look like? Heaven knows. Creative defenses, blast attacks, and three proven winners in one weekend of wrestling. We are lucky to watch. I'll take Yianni.
The heavyweight trifecta of Gable, Gwiz, and Parris is also one of the more discussed matchup triangles of the RTC Cup. That is a tremendous amount of talent (and heft) for any nation to have, but especially to have it at the upperweights is a gift for the United States. I'd guess Gwiz is the slight favorite over Gable and Parris, but to see Gable go undefeated wouldn't surprise me too much. I'd need to see more out of Parris before predicting that he's winning his weight, but I equally wouldn't be surprised to see him take a match from Gwiz or Gable.
My only fear is that there might be some personnel shifting and we the fans would be denied a marquee matchup.
Q: There will be a couple Cuban wrestlers in Division I. Anthony Echemendia at Ohio State and Yonger Bastida at Iowa State. What are realistic expectations for these wrestlers in their first year of Division I wrestling? Do you think this could be a trend where Division I coaches recruit from outside the country?
-- Mike C.
Foley: The Cubans have arrived! I'm not sure what is happening on the larger level that has led to TWO Cubans in the same year, but it's wonderful for NCAA wrestling to have some international flare. Ohio State and Iowa State are sure to get better because of their presence, but I think the larger NCAA pool of athletes will also benefit from seeing their international style melding with the NCAA rules.
As for what we will see from Echemendia and Yonger you can bet heavily on both being All-Americans. Most fans are aware of Echemendia and know he will compete right off the whistle. Yonger is lesser-known, but is an absolute monster with a slew of big wins in his recent past. In addition to being a junior world silver medalist and U23 bronze medalist, Yonger has wins over Hayden Zilmer, Blaize Cabell, and Kyven Gadson. He can place right away.
There have been a number of wrestlers from foreign countries who've competed in the NCAA championships over the last two decades. Mongolia, Uzbekistan, and Russia are the most prevalent, but it'll be interesting to see if the recent Cuban additions becomes a pipeline, or if it's a coincidence that both were able to make it over in 2020.
If the United States starts adopting collegiate women's wrestling my guess is we'll begin to see an incredible pipeline from Japan, Mongolia, and the Nordic countries and possibly India.
Should be an interesting few years.
MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME
Yonger No. 1
Yonger No. 2
Great Burroughs throwback
Musukaev!
Link: Excellent read from Patrick Wyman
Q: Nice to see some women's matches as co-main events in these recent RTC events, don't you think? The Wisconsin RTC had Sarah Hildebrandt vs. Alyssa Lampe as the co-main event, while the Tar Heel Wrestling Open has Macey Kilty vs. Emma Bruntil as the main event.
-- Mike C.
Foley: Wonderful to see. The women are exciting competitors and I think that every time our consumers have the opportunity to watch they come back. When the consumers get to know backstories they tend to tune in. We've seen that at United World Wrestling. Just this week we hosted a Legends vs. Stars bracket for women's wrestling and there were almost 200,000 votes for just the final matchup. That's insane. Those are NBA numbers.
Our community is growing and the growth is through women's wrestling.
As an example, I love watching Macey Kilty wrestle, but haven't caught much of Emma Bruntil -- and now I have the chance because I want to watch Macey and now I can learn about Emma. It's perfect.
It was great seeing Sarah and Alyssa as the co-main event at WRTC Underground 1. Both world-class competitors.
Q: Legendary boxers Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. recently fought. Both are over 50 years old. What's one match you would like to see between wrestling greats over the age of 50?
-- Mike C.
Foley: Valentin Jordanov vs. John Smith
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