When you look to the 2015 US Open and the list of hammers that are coming it is easy to let your mind wander on the potential super matches!  Originally I had planned on a Top 10 list. Then I began to actually make the list, and couldn’t pare it down to 10. We'll have superstars Jake Varner, David Taylor, Coleman Scott, Brent Metcalf, Logan Stieber, Tervel Dlagnev, Tony Ramos and more (and more) all in attendace! I could have done top 50 without breaking a sweat because the hammers and combinations are close to limitless. There were a few great match ups left off, but I think this is a great taste for you to see all the potential incredible match ups we could see.

20. David Taylor v. Anthony Valencia-Isn’t even a SMALL part of you curious as to how this could go? Valencia has had moments where I’ve felt completely confident he could go with some of our best Seniors. Some of his performances I’m not so sure. DT is not impervious to be taken down by lesser competition (matches against Jackson Morse and Mark Martin come to mind), so it’s more than possible that Valencia could sneak a takedown or two here.

19. Brent Metcalf v. Jordan Oliver- See what I mean about trying to pare this down to a top 10? Metcalf Oliver at 19! We’ve had the pleasure of watching this one a few times before: 2012 Olympic Trials, 2013 US Open, 2013 World Team Trials and 2014 World Team Trials finals. The current tally is 4-1 in favor of Metcalf. All of their matches have been wrestled at an extremely high level with plenty of excitement to boot.

18. Dom Bradley v. Nick Gwiazdowski-Did you SEE this one last year!? ‘Nuff said.

 

17. J’den Cox v. Kyle Snyder-Will J’den show more urgency this time around than he did in their NCAA semi? Does Freestyle favor Snyder or Cox? Tons of questions surrounding these young superstars.  Word going round is J'Den is FIRED UP for another match. 

16. Reece Humphrey v. Coleman Scott-Their World Team Trials semi was a DANDY at Fargo last year. Who WOULDN’T want to see this one again? They will potentially hit in the finals as they’re the top 2 seeds at 61KG.

15. James Green v. Dustin Schlatter-I’ve made it no secret James Green is one of my favorites. Yet I think Schlatter is the one guy who could potentially take Marable out, not Green. Green struggles with the big hipped, positional guys (i.e. Marable) I’m interested to see where he stands against Schlatter who just won a Pan Am title!

14. Coleman Scott v. Cody Brewer-Bedlam at 61KG! Cody Brewer looked so good at NCAA’s I have no clue what to think about him. I think Coleman’s technical prowess against Brewer’s aggression and variety of attacks would make this a fantastic one to watch.

13. Joey McKenna v. Reece Humphrey-Two of our savviest Freestylers out there in par terre. This is a potential semi final match up based on the pre-seeds. I think Hump is a tough matchup for the Junior World Silver McKenna. McKenna makes his money on top, and we’ve seen Humphrey turned (albeit up at 65 and against Metcalf). Is it possible McKenna could give Reece a run?

12. Cody Brewer v. Kendric Maple-Sooner on Sooner crime! You’d think Maple has the advantage here, but I truly have no idea. The familiarity could make this one a bit more calculated, or it could turn into an all out slugfest between two extremely talented Sooners!

11. Ed Ruth v. Chris Perry-5 NCAA titles between these two and there have always been questions how this match would go. Conventional wisdom says Ed all day, but can you really ever count out Chris Perry.

10. Jake Herbert v. Ed Ruth-If you watched their FPL 5 match, there's no way you wouldn't want to catch this one. ? Once again, ‘nuff said! Herbert looked fantastic early.  Then Ed got to his bread and butter!

9. David Taylor v. Andrew Howe-We’ve seen this for true third at 2013 World Team Trials and again at the 2014 World Team Trials and it’s been David Taylor getting his hand raised.  Howe did upend DT at the 2012 Olympic Trials, however.  With Howe going on a run to the Yarygin finals and Taylor having been off the mat apart from the Yasar Dogu, I wonder if this could be Howe’s opportunity.

8. Anthony Valencia v. Andrew Howe-Valencia struggled with Mark Hall’s defense and strength at Who’s #1.  How will Valencia go against another positional master like Andrew Howe?

7. Tervel Dlagnev v. Nick Gwiazdowski-In my opinion this is the present v. the future for 125KG. Two incredible athletes with excellent offense. I think Gwiaz can keep it closer than more would think. Then again, Tervel can gut with the best of ‘em. That could allow him to pull away.

6. Tony Ramos v. Joe Colon-Last time these two hit, it was a shockingly dominant win for Joe Colon! Since then, Ramos won NCAA’s and made a World Team. You can imagine Colon has been furiously awaiting another shot at Ramos. I want to see Ramos’ adjustments to Colon’s underhooks this time around. I’ve often said Ramos is among the best schematic wrestlers out there. Colon will put that theory to the test.

5. Ian Miller v. David Taylor-Two of the most exciting and dynamic guys out there for a variety of reasons! Miller is one of the best upper body guys in the country. One big bomb and we’ve seen him put away some of our best 74KG’s in the country! (Tyler Caldwell not once but twice) How DT stays out of the ties and gets to his attacks will be fun to watch.

4. Aaron Pico v. Jordan Oliver-There’s about 10 combinations of wrestler v. Pico I could have put on here. Pico is looking to cement his spot as one of the 65 KG elites actually knocking off a World Champion earlier this year. Can Pico’s pace and pressure effect Oliver? Will JO pick Pico apart because of his rampant aggression?

3. Kyle Snyder v. Jake Varner-Like Dlagnev v. Gwiazdowski I think we’ve got the present v. the future here. Snyder is very possible the United States 2nd best guy at 97KG. Varner is head and shoulders above the competition domestically. Varner’s size will be an issue for Snyder. How close is Kyle? Let’s find out!

2. Logan Stieber v. Aaron Pico-As I said, there are so many combinations of matches I want to watch of Aaron Pico it’s ridiculous. This one is a potential quarterfinal match!? Freaking crazy right? Much like the Oliver/Pico match, I’m curious if Pico’s pressure will be used against him. If you come straight forward against Stieber, he has made many guys pay before.

1. Matt McDonough v. Tony Ramos-I’ve wanted to see this one since 2012 when Ramos got 3rd (behind Stieber and JO) and McDonough won his 2nd title. That was the point I really thought Tony could beat Matt. Remember, a few years ago Tony was widely considered to be a more natural 125 pounder but potentially unable to knock McDonough out of the spot. Then Ramos beats JO and many people began to wonder. I’ve thought Ramos could hang with McD for awhile now, but have always been curious how those battles in the room have gone.  Can Ramos stifle McDonoughs uncanny finishing abillity?  Can Ramos get to his re-attacks from Matt's attacks? As the top 2 seeds this could be the potential final at 57KG! Tom in one corner, Terry in another!? Sign me up!  I think the stylisitic differences will be tremendous.