PNWfan

Prediction: Brooks gets gold. 86kg not the deepest international weight and the combo of his stingy defense combined with ability to score when needed should serve him well in Paris.

I think this was the ideal outcome though for Team USA. If I were picking one guy at 57 & 65 to qualify the weight, I think it would be Spencer and Zain. Only question I had with Zain was the cut, but he seemed to manage it well and has definitely improved his freestyle skills.

Also, kudos to Cox on a wonderful career. He certainly didn’t look to be in the best shape for this tournament and gave a pretty candid interview after he left the shoes on the mat.

I did think Dake looked a little sluggish at last years WC’s, yet he still took home silver. I’ll go with Dake 2-0. Same ole story of Nolf not being able to get to his offense.

My thought too, couldn’t blame Burroughs for losing his temper a bit. The head clubs from Mesenbrink combined with the after whistle activity pissed JB off.

Shane Sparks LOVES wrestling. Not just doing the broadcasting for a paycheck and it is easy to tell by the enthusiasm and knowledge he carries on each call.

Gotta pick Dake, even if he didn’t look to be in top form at last years World’s (still got silver). I think a lot of people on here forget how big of an advantage it is to sit out until the best of three series while everyone else is having to duke it out in the challenge tournament.

In the NCAA wrestling DraftKings has a section titled “individual champions” where m they have individual odds for each wrestler at every weight. Availability varies by state, so not sure how many people are able to bet these depending where you live.

They also had Brooks at +360 when the lines first opened. That has been bet down to +120. Kerkvliet was +250 this morning and down to +150 now. Some good values but critical to get the bets early before the market adjusts.

WWE was briefly removed from his profile but is back on now. Furthermore, he recently posted videos of him wrestling in Minnesota's room with a WWE shirt on. On numerous occasions, he has stated his desire to go for a second Olympic gold, so it would be disappointing for the wrestling community if that didn't end up happening. Totally agree with the previous post that Parris can get bronze, but we all know there is no HWT that moves or has the explosiveness of Gable.

Don’t discount Alirez, clearly he is on the rise and he recently beat Aliyev. Zain could fit in too, though I am skeptical he will be able to make the cut and be his best self.

Top 3 qualify. Both finalists and the winner of repechage. Unfortunately the field will be extremely deep and odds will be against whoever wins 65kg trials to qualify.

Agree that the will he won’t he drama has become a bit tiresome. Still, I’d be thrilled to see him back. He has mentioned numerous times how he wanted to get another Olympic gold, would hate to see unrelated business obligations get in the way.

Gomez broke Lee. Incredibly disappointing that USA will likely not qualify 65kg again for the Olympics.

I noticed Gable Steveson has scrubbed WWE from his social media and has been seen in wrestling rooms recently. Any chance he is gearing up to compete at Olympic trials and go for another gold?

Another loss for Snyder. This really makes me doubt how he can stack up against Tazhudinov and some of the best at 97kg. I'd think he has a good shot to medal in Paris, but gold is going to be tough.

This is what Steveson did in the Olympic finals to get gold against Petriashvili. Knew he couldn't turn him, motioned to ref to go back up to feet which ref granted and the rest is history.

What if Gable makes a run for another gold in this summer? I'd assume at that point there is a more than decent chance he would face Zare or Masoumi, depending on who Iran's Olympic rep is.

Masoumi hasn't seen Steveson's power and quickness. Steveson would need to be careful of those underhooks which gave Parris issues in today's match but I think Steveson beats Masoumi and/or Zare.

AJ Sr. is where all these problems start. Enables the behavior from his kids and moves the family around every time there is a problem. The Lavar Ball comp is spot-on. As long as he is making the choices for those kids, nothing good will come from it.

Any sense if we will see Gable at the Olympic Trials in April to make another run at gold?

JB is heavy favorite in a 2016 Yazdani match. Yazdani’s comeback win against Geduev was blood filled and pretty miraculous.

I would expect Gable to make a run at it too. Everything he has said up to this point indicates he wants that 2nd Olympic gold. Only thing I could see getting in the way would be WWE saying absolutely not (which is a possibility).

Add O'Toole at 74kg.

Totally agree. DT already said he was considering retirement after he won Olympic gold in 2021. I think what had him come back was knowing he still had some great years left as a competitor and that there were "only" 3 years until the next Olympics instead of 4. DT is also an entrepreneur and has a couple daughters that I am sure he would like to spend more time around. He mentioned previously that if he coached, PSU would be the preference, so maybe him and Cael could work something out once Cael is ready to ride off into the sunset.