nhs67

Hildebrandt has been the one on the attack thus far.

No score one minute in.

Hilde with a Frenchie mouthpiece...

She will face a lady from Turkey, who also gave the Mongolian everything she could handle.

Hildebrandt up in two matches.

Great showing by Kilty... Japan just far too much for her.

Japan in on a deep outside single. Kilty defending well... Japan converts. Leg lace. Leg lace. Another exposure. Another exposure. Over in under a minute.

...aaaaand here we geaux.

Kilty look razor focused on her walkout. Damn it. So does Japan.

Kilty up here shortly.

Guy has his own tinfoil hat to wear. Let him. It helps him sleep.

I called it the same way, unfortunately for Dom. She could very well be the third best in the weight today and she won't get to prove it.

Where could/would he be seeded? He will by using an Oly-shirt so I think he will be a factor for sure.

That's fine. He would be fine. He has the horse at 174 already.

57 - Arujau 65 - Retherford 74 - Dake 86 - Taylor 97 - Snyder 125 - Parris

125 KG I hope we don't see Steveson... although I wouldn't be surprised to see him. If we do he beats Parris in two straight. If we don't, I am hoping we see the next generation at HWT do damage. Hendrickson, Kerkvliet, Cassioppi, and Davison, that is. I want a Hendrickson - Gwiazdowski matchup. We all know that Zillmer and Bradley will play spoiler to someone somewhere unless Zillmer goes back down... which maybe he does something surprising on Cox? I doubt it. I have Parris over... pick a random name out of the hat of the four 'new' gents... Cassioppi... since he will be focusing on Freestyle (haha?)... two straight.

97 KG is going to be Cox winning the challenge tournament then losing to Snyder in the Bo3.

86 KG is interesting in that Zahid Valencia... the guy who lost to Brooks now gets a bye to the semi-finals on the bottom side (HA. HA. HA.). Without monkeying around for it, I think it ends up being Brooks over Valencia in the Day 1 finals to lose to DT in Bo3 Day 2 Finals. There are lot of 79 KG gents that could play spoiler to some of the key matchups. Most of the 92 KG gents are going to head up and just aren't on the level of 86 KG gents (see Valencia, Zahid). Would I be surprised to see Hall beat Brooks topside? No. Hidlay on bottomside to beat Valencia? No. He is the only one I think has the tools to keep it close enough for a late surge aside for Brooks.

74 KG is pretty straightforward. I don't think anyone except JB is making it through that bracket (with a note that Marsteller has said he is going 86 KG). I think Nolf has an outside chance to beat JB and that he will be the one in the Day 1 finals against JB. I don't think Stalrocci will make the semi-finals. I think Dieringer, depending on seed, could play spoiler. That said, my pick is Dake over JB in two straight (again). 74 KG - Dake

65 KG will be just as bonkers to seed. 1 - Lee 2 - Johnny D 3 - McKenna 4 - Kolodzik 5 - Bartlett 6 - Henderson 7 - Ashnault 8 - Lovett 9 - Lugo 10 - Pletcher Where do Pantaleo and Garrett slide in? Pantaleo before McKenna and Garrett after McKenna? Puts it as... 1 - Lee 2 - Johnny D 3 - Pantaleo 4 - McKenna 5 - Garrett 6 - Kolodzik 7 - Bartlett 8 - Henderson 9 - Ashnault 10 - Lovett 11 - Lugo 12 - Pletcher These are guesses, btw. Not sure. Is Oliver giving it a go this time? He could be the 1, 2, 3, or 4 right? Brandon Wright might get a seed in there somehow... not sure how they intend to seed this. Anyways lets assume Oliver doesn't give it a go. I have Lee over McKenna in the top half semi-finals. I have Pantaleo over Johnny D in the QF for the right to see a well rested Retherford in which Retherford wins. I have Retherford beating Lee in the best of three on Day 2. 65 KG - Retherford

I also expect Johnny D to challenge Lee for the right to win at Pan Ams, although I think Lee wins that one again.

All that order can be jumbled up... and I expect it to actually. I expect Gilman to challenge for the right to go to the Pan Am qualifiers and I expect him to beat Richards this time. I am not sure on Arujau and Fix at this point as far as challenging. Both have a season to compete at 133lbs. Both will have difficulty making 57 KG and then competing at 133 against the likes of Nagao and Latona.

Without actually diving in to it to see who will get what seed... I think the topside of will be Richards (1) vs either Fix or Lee (4/5) in the semi-finals. I have Fix or Lee winning that one. It is possible NATO gets seeded over Lee, which pushes Lee to 6th. Not sure there. I don't think Colon gets a good seed. Could be 8/9 and play spoiler to Richards. I think Garrett probably tries to go up again? Not sure. Gross is definitely in there too for a 5/6 seed (maybe ahead of Lee as well?). Richards should be the 1 either way. I think Gilman gets the 2, Suriano the 3, Fix/Lee/Gross some combo of 4/5/6 with NATO possibly being 5 ahead of Gross/Lee. So for 57 KG I have this... and it's just... bonkers... Not sure on Desanto and Garrett as far as weights... 1 - Richards 2 - Gilman 3 - Suriano 4 - Fix 5 - Desanto 6 - NATO 7 - Gross 8 - Lee 9 - Colon 10 - Comacho That is bonkers right? So I have Lee (Sorry @ILLINIWrestlingBlog) VS Fix in the topside Semifinals. I have Gilman-Suriano in the bottom QF for the right to meet Arujau. I think Arujau beats Suriano but not Gilman and I think Gilman-Suriano is a toss-up, but Gilman-Gross is also a toss-up as is Suriano-NATO. Styles make matches. Gilman destroys NATO but not Suriano and Gross is a bad matchup for Suriano, but Gilman isn't. Add in that Arujau is going to be at least a couple/few hours after weigh-ins and fresh. Either way I have Arujau VS a healthy Lee in the finals. I still have faith in Lee. If Garrett goes down then he goes in above Fix at the 4 seed. If Desanto goes up, move everyone up. My guess is Desanto goes down and Garrett goes up. Arujau, weighed in and in a best of three up against Lee? I think Arujau is just too fast and takes it. Recency bias aside... if he makes that decent well... his toughest test will be Gilman who has already had at least two (2) tough matches before he meets him. 57 KG - Arujau

There is a (small) chance Retherford goes 74 KG and not 65 KG, which doesn't really mean anything other than he must win two to get to the Bo3 rather than one.

As a reminder... this is how stupid 57 KG will look (Arujau), 65 KG will look (Retherford), 86 KG will look (Valencia). For 57 KG and 65 KG the topside Semi-final winners will move on the the best of three finals against the bottom side semifinals winner between the 61/70 KG medalists and bottom side quarter-finals match winner. For 86 KG, those winners will face off for the right to meet DT in the Bo3 Day 2.