Red95

That makes those unbalanced brackets even worse. I have no problem with the bye to the semis but it would tough even with plenty of rest. Whoever wins the Yianni / Mendez match is going to have a tough time with a fully rested Retherford 8 hours off the scale.

Anyone know if the 65kg and 86kg "quarterfinal" matches prior to Retherford and Valencia are happening in this session?

Seriously. Anyone taking the time to post here should spring for the $6. Just don’t forget to cancel within 30 days.

Vito and Yianni are the same age. Not sure Vito waiting for Yianni to be past his peak is a good strategy.

Burroughs is on the Mt Rushmore of USA wrestling so it would be unwise to look past him. He absolutely could win OTT but he too has lost a step and has a few landmines on the path to the finals and many of them will be tougher than Marstellar was last year. But it’s going to be fun to watch!

Tough crowd. The guy has medaled at every world championship and Olympics since 2018 with four golds, a silver, and a bronze. Good chance that Paris is his last rodeo (assuming he wins OTT). He may have lost a step or two but even so he’s still better than most of the world. He’ll be ready to go.

With the Gomez loss Cornell locks in 2nd place team finish. Only ~100 points out of first!

Close... There are actually three different events with similar names but different purposes / formats. 1) The Pan American Games, which, as mentioned above, happen every four years, contain multiple sports, and are like a mini-Olympics (currently underway in Santiago, Chile) 2) UWW Pan-American Championships, which happen every year (including Olympic years) and as far as I know are open to all member countries. Next up in Acapulco, Mexico Feb 21-25, 2024. These do not impact Olympic qualification. 3) UWW Pan-American Olympic Games Qualifier, which happens in Olympic years only and is open to any country that didn't qualify the weight via the prior year's UWW World Championships. Next up in Acapulco, Mexico Mar 1-3, 2024 (some sites say Feb 29 start). Top two finishers in each weight qualify. Any country that doesn't qualify the weight can go to the last-chance UWW World OG Qualifier in May 2024 in Istanbul.

Vito!!! Breaks is string of world silvers and brings home the gold!

According to this UWW tweet, Sidakov qualified “AIN” for the Olympics. Is that correct? Are Russia and Belarus separate AINs or does AIN only get one slot per weight? The whole thing stinks.

As awful as everyone seems to think Dake looks, he is in the finals (again) and did so out of a bracket that was supposed to be brutal. He’ll be well rested and ready to go tomorrow. Should be a great one.

Noon EDT

Exactly. The tough thing with that format is only two wrestlers qualify. It's fine if the best wrestlers in the Americas placed where they should at worlds the prior year. But let's say a good Cuban misses the podium at worlds then ends up on your side of the bracket at the Pan Am qualifier. All of a sudden you're on your way to last chance under immense pressure. It's a bit like the backside at NCAAs. There are a ton of guys who were AA caliber wrestlers but hit the #2 seed in the blood round and end up on the outside looking in.

FYI for those looking for a refresher on qualifying for Paris 2024 Olympics. As in past years, you really, really want to place top 5 at Worlds this year - the two other options (regional qualifier + last chance qualifier) are full of landmines and are very draw-dependent. https://olympics.com/en/news/pathway-to-paris-2024-wrestling-qualification-system-explained What is the wrestling qualification pathway to Paris 2024? All of the 288 quotas will be allocated during three phases. Phase 1: 2023 Senior World Championships Five quotas for each of the 18 Olympic weight categories - a total of 90 quotas - will be allocated at the 2023 Senior World Championships. The four medallists (gold, silver, bronze and bronze) from the 18 categories at this event will each obtain one quota place for their NOC. Plus, a bout between the two losers of the bronze medal matches will take place and the winner will obtain the last quota. Phase 2: 2024 Continental Qualification Tournaments 144 quotas will be defined by the 2024 Continental Qualification Tournaments. Each Continent will organise a specific Olympic Qualification Tournament with the exception of Oceania and Africa that will have a joint Qualification Tournament. The two highest-placed athletes at each Continental Qualification tournament in each of the 18 Olympic weight categories will obtain one quota place each for their NOC. Phase 3: 2024 World Qualification Tournament The last 54 quotas will be decided at the 2024 World Qualification Tournament. The two highest-ranked athletes in each of the 18 Olympic weight categories will obtain one quota place each for their NOC. In addition, a bout will be organised between the two third-placed athletes and the winner of that bout will also obtain one quota place for his/her NOC.

I'm not sure why they messed it up in the moment but Bartlett would have been fine with just a step out and would have still led by a point. But he backed directly out of bounds without even trying with three seconds left, and gave up two points - the step out and the caution and one. At that point with 3s left, there wasn't much he could do.

What Flo is currently showing. Maybe Cael had a talk with the scorer's table?

I think the boneheaded caution and 1 on Bartlett doomed him at the end. He had the lead and backed straight out basically handing the match to Lee.

1pm ET *All times Eastern Wednesday, April 26 1 pm - SR GR prelims, Masters GR prelims 7 pm - SR GR semis and consis, Masters GR medals Thursday, April 27 1 pm - SR MFS prelims, SR GR consis, U17 GR though semis & consis, Masters MFS prelims 6 pm - U17 GR finals, Masters MFS 7 pm - SR GR finals, SR MFS consis 9 pm - SR MFS semis & consis, Masters MFS medals Friday, April 28 1 pm - SR WFS prelims, SR MFS consis, U20 GR prelims, HS Girls Showcase through semis 5 pm - SR WFS quarterfinals, U20 GR semis & consis 7 pm - SR WFS semis, Futures FS prelims, U15 FS prelims 9 pm - SR MFS finals, U20 GR finals, Future FS finals, U15 FS quarterfinals

I believe OTTs are run differently because OSOPC is involved.

Vito 10 hours post weigh ins is much more formidable than Vito 1hr post weigh ins.

Grey is doing great but it’s still too early for a verdict (good or bad). Most of the Cornell wrestlers were recruited by and trained under Koll. Grey of course had a huge part of that recruiting and training but I’m eager to see how the team performs with a full post-Koll lineup in a few years. But clearly Grey has passed a huge hurdle by driving peak performance through the coaching change. That hasn’t happened in many places.

Penn has done a great job building a deep and balanced lineup (multiple EIWA placewinners and NQs) but they haven’t been able to break through to the NCAA podium (2 AAs in the last 10 years). Columbia definitely has talent and has improved quite a bit but probably a step behind Penn. Army/Navy/Binghamton/Drexel/Bucknell have some great wrestlers but haven’t had more than a handful of contenders for a while. It would be great to see AAs again from Harvard, Brown, and some of the others but the bottom half of the conference has really struggled in recent years.

I wonder how much Yianni at 65kg is a factor. Those two have been wrestling each other for years so Vito should have a good feel for his chances. Although I agree it would be a different situation if he could add a few pounds of muscle and maintain his speed.

One more more year. 4th in 2019, ORS in 2020, no Ivy season in 2021, 3rd in 2022, 1st in 2023.

It went to Vito. “Arujau was named Outstanding Wrestler of the NCAA Championships, and Cornell coach Mike Grey was named tournament Coach of the Year.” https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2023/March/18/NCAA-finals-wrap