peanut

I think all-time and p4p rankings are fun, but they don't really mean much. Too many variables involved. JB and Taylor are both really fun to watch, and they both have proven themselves over and over. That said, if Taylor wins a second Olympic title, it would indeed be special. I think among US wrestlers, only Smith and Baumgartner have done that.

I thought John Smith was a 2x NCAA champ . Don't discount the old man Burroughs was also a two-timer.

Although irrelevant, Brooks would have done well at 92 kg.

What's cool about Taz is that he's only 20 and still went right after Snyder and Sadulaev. Meanwhile in the US it's normal for guys to be 24 and focusing on NCAA titles. Sad.

Seabass is essentially guaranteed a trip to Paris now (assuming he stays healthy). Good for him.

Off the top of my head, I can only think of Gomez, Espinal, Amine, Micic, and Rivera. Are there any others?

The previous qualifying rules where returning medalists faced the WTT winner on the same day as the WTT tournament was an attempt to give a little credit to wrestlers who were proven on the international level. But people cried because their favorite wrestlers were not proven. So now we’re requiring our best guys to compete against the best in the world while simultaneously fending off US opponents who are focusing on them specifically for years. I think the result of the current qualifying system is inferior teams, but — oh well — that’s what US fans want.

Gomez was a world finalist and Espinal was an Olympic finalist

How would Brooks have done at 92kg?

A number of wrestlers from Indiana are worlds, which is incredible given that the state didn't produce an NCAA champ during the modern era until the mid 90s. Here are the wrestlers from Indiana I know about: FS -- 57kg -- Micic (silver/gold) FS -- 65kg -- Lee FS -- 125kg -- Parris (bronze) WW -- 50kg -- Hildebrandt WW -- 62kg -- Miracle Not bad for a lower-tier state!

57- Higuchi 61- Arujau 65- Otoguro 70- Zain 74- Sidakov 79- Nokhodi 86- DT 92- Azarpira 97- Sadulaev 125- Petriashvili

I am not watching worlds this year. I am troubled by the participation of some Russians who appear to have supported the invasion of Ukraine. According to the International Criminal Court, Russia has committed tens of thousands of war crimes in Ukraine. It's also annoying that the US is the only place in the world that has to be pay a middleman in order to access the UWW feed. That middleman, of course, is Flo, and they require an annual subscription to view worlds.

Poll: Who will win gold at 74kg? [Updated 9-12-23]

Well as of today Valiev is out and Sidakov is in. So there goes the poll. I just created a new, updated poll, in a new thread. If a moderator would delete this thread I'd appreciate it.

Thanks for the correction. And you're right: Sidakov was just added to the most recent list of entrants.

Poll: Who will win gold at 74kg?

That's right. Snyder is unbelievable. But Sadulaev is arguably the greatest freestyler of all time.

Sadulaev is the favorite against Snyder but I think Snyder absolutely has a chance. Yazdani, meanwhile, is clearly a dangerous opponent for Taylor and can win on any given night.

Yazdani and Taylor are evenly matched, and Yazdani can win on any given night. Let’s not forget that Yazdani is an Olympic champ and 3x world champ (and 8x world-level medalist) — and he has world class coaches and training facilities.

Final list is out and Magomedov is in. That's pretty big news.

Final list is out and Sadulaev is in. That's pretty big news.

Final list is out and Parris is indeed in. Favorites are Zare, Petriashvili, and Akgul.

Alright so the final list is out. Sidakov is out. Biggest names are Kadzi, Dake, Chamizo, Tsabolov, Demirtas, Salkazanov, Kaipanov, Bekzod. Valiev is also entered, and he should be tough. (He beat Sidakov in July.) Should be a good show.

Uguev is on the final list. Should be a great weight: Higuchi, Abakarov, Aman, Zou, Smanbekov + Richards.

Sadulaev is not yet on the list of preliminary entries, but he recently said on Instagram that he plans to fly to Belgrade and compete. As of now, the list of preliminary entries looks like this: Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (AIN) Sergey SARGSYAN (ARM) Thomas BARNS (AUS) Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE) Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) Ahmed BATAEV (BUL) Nishan Preet RANDHAWA (CAN) Awusayiman HABILA (CHN) Carlos ANGULO (COL) Maxwell LACEY (CRC) Mostafa ELDERS (EGY) Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO) Erik THIELE (GER) Vlagyiszlav BAJCAJEV (HUN) SAHIL (IND) Mojtaba GOLEIJ (IRI) Benjamin HONIS (ITA) Takashi ISHIGURO (JPN) Alisher YERGALI (KAZ) Jaegang KIM (KOR) Lukas KRASAUSKAS (LTU) Radu LEFTER (MDA) Badamdorj BALTMUNKH (MGL) Magomedgadji NUROV (MKD) Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL) Nicolaas DE LANGE (RSA) Strahinja DESPIC (SRB) Samuel SCHERRER (SUI) Utah MANN (TGA) Shatlyk HEMELYAYEV (TKM) Ibrahim CIFTCI (TUR) Murazi MCHEDLIDZE (UKR) Kyle SNYDER (USA) Magomed IBRAGIMOV (UZB)