2017 U.S. Open Wrestling Championships

2017 World Team Trials: Women's Freestyle Preview And Seed Analysis

2017 World Team Trials: Women's Freestyle Preview And Seed Analysis

Seed analysis and preview for the 2017 World Team Trials in women's freestyle

Apr 25, 2017 by Wrestling Nomad
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We've been focusing on the men's freestyle U.S. open a lot, but also this weekend is the world team trials for our women. Team USA was third at every world championships last quad and looks to continue their fantastic results this year in Paris.

We wanted to examine the potential seeds and preview each weight, using the March senior level rankings from USA Wrestling as a starting point. The trials are Friday and Saturday, with both starting at 9am Pacific, LIVE on Flo.

Complete entries are available on FloArena, which will eventually become brackets. The schedule can be found here, and as a reminder, FloZone returns on Friday for the entire day!

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48kg

  1. Victoria Anthony, Sunkist Kids
  2. Erin Golston, New York AC
  3. Marina Doi, Titan Mercury
  4. Tayler Resuriz, Bearcat WC
  5. Allene Somera, U.S. Army WCAP
  6. Regina Doi, Titan Mercury
  7. Breonnah Neal, King University
  8. Amy Fearnside, Titan Mercury
  9. Cody Pfau, Titan Mercury
  10. Autumn Gordon, Bearcat WC
This weight seems to be easy to seed at the top, with Victoria Anthony the unquestioned 1 seed and frontrunner to be our 48kg rep in Paris. Not only did she win Senior Nationals in December, she has had the best season of any American here, winning the Bill Farrell and Ukrainian Memorial with a bronze at the Golden Grand Prix.

The two seed is also easy to figure out, with two-time junior world medalist Erin Golston trying to break through and make her first senior world team. Golston's only domestic loss since the Olympic Team Trials is to Anthony. After that, it becomes a little murkier.

Marina Doi was third at Senior Nationals, but has a 6-0 loss to her King teammate Breonnah Neal at OTT. Allene Somera lost to Resuriz (registered at 53) in December, but had two wins over Regina Doi. She could be the hardest to seed, as these are her only results domestic or international this year. Neal beat Fearnside in the WCWA finals. Pfau won University Nationals, but went 0-2 at the Dave Schultz.



53kg

  1. Haley Augello, NYAC
  2. Whitney Conder, U.S. Army WCAP
  3. Michaela Hutchison, Titan Mercury
  4. Samantha Klingel, U.S. Army WCAP
  5. Dajan Treder, Jamestown University
  6. Cady Chessin, Menlo College
  7. Cassidy Jasperson, Aires WC
  8. Christina Powell, Missouri Valley WC
  9. Maria Vidales, Emmanuel College
  10. Charlotte Fowler, Campbellsville University
Another clear cut top two in this weight, featuring a 2016 Olympian and a three-time world team member. Haley Augello is moving back up to 53kg, where she has spent most of the past three years. Though she was our 48kg rep in Rio, she has never beaten Conder, who represented America at the 2011, 2014 and 2015 world championships.

Augello's primary action since the Olympics has been winning WCWAs and taking bronze at the Ukrainian memorial. Conder was second at the Olympic Trials, and has also competed at the Golden Grand Prix and Klippan Lady Open. Whichever one gets top seed, these two appear to be on a collision course for the final.

Michaela Hutchison is not expected in Vegas. Treder pinned Klingel at OTT last year and was in the Vegas finals against Conder in December. Chessin was in the consi semis of OTT, but Jasperson has been at more USAW events the past few months. Tayler Resuriz, Amy Fearnside, Autumn Gordon and Ronna Heaton are all ranked at other weights but registered here.

Dake and Burroughs Officially Register! | Their all-time series

55kg

  1. Sarah Hildebrandt, NYAC
  2. Becka Leathers, Titan Mercury
  3. Kelsey Campbell, Sunkist Kids
  4. Jacarra Winchester, Titan Mercury
  5. Dominique Parrish, Scotts Valley Wrestling Academy
  6. Hanna Grisewood, King University
  7. Ronna Heaton, Sunkist Kids
  8. Deanna Betterman, Sunkist Kids
  9. Brieana Delgado, Aries WC
  10. Gabrielle Weyhrich, Bearcat WC
As a non-Olympic weight, 55kg tends to be more in flux than the first two weights. Sarah Hildebrandt made her first senior world team and will walk in as the top seed. Kelsey Campbell won in December in Vegas, but then lost to Becka Leathers at the Dave Schultz in February. Campbell has two razor thin wins over Winchester in December and February.

Dominique Parrish was third at Senior Nationals, losing to Winchester in the semis. She was second last month at University Nationals behind Leathers, up at 58kg. Hanna Grisewood is not currently registered, while Heaton and Betterman both will be down at 53kg.

Gabrielle Weyhrich and Rachel Archer (ranked 10th at 58kg) have both signed up. Also registered is Brenda Reyna, a 2016 junior world team member and Fargo champ who has not wrestled freestyle competitively since August of last year.

The projected semis here are among the most interesting so far. Hildebrandt has wins over Winchester in each of the past three years, though Jacarra has been steadily improving and has proven she can take down the two-time WCWA champ. Leathers blew the match open late against Campbell in February and could be poised to make her first senior world team after moving to the OTC full time earlier this year.



58kg

  1. Helen Maroulis, Sunkist Kids
  2. Kayla Miracle, Sunkist Kids
  3. Randi Beltz, Titan Mercury
  4. Teshya Alo Titan Mercury
  5. Areana Villaescusa, U.S. Army WCAP
  6. Lauren Louive, Hawkeye WC
  7. Cheyenne YoungbloodMissouri Baptist University
  8. Megan Black, Bearcat WC
  9. Alicia Reyes, Missouri Valley College
  10. Rachel Archer, Aries WC
The Olympic champion is poised to move up a couple weights, which means we could see her try to topple another giant in Kaori Icho. Make sure you block off some time to watch episode 1 of "Girls Can't Wrestle" to learn a little bit about Maroulis' early life.

For Kayla Miracle, the question comes of whether she should stay at 58kg or go up to 60kg. It seems like she would be the 2 seed at either weight, having won Senior Nationals at 58kg in December, and University Nationals at 60kg last month. After losing to Randi Beltz at OTT, she teched her 10-0 at the Farrell and 9-2 at the Dave Schultz. For Beltz, her losses this year are to Miracle, Leathers and Jenn Page.

Alo seems like the biggest question mark. She won a cadet world title in 2014 and then won the Trials qualifier in December of 2015, but lost in the OTT semis. Her only action since then was up at 63kg for Universities, where she lost to Maya Nelson.

U.S. Open Previews: 57kg | 61kg | 65kg | 70kg | 74kg | 86kg

60kg

  1. Alli Ragan, Sunkist Kids
  2. Jenna Burkert, U.S. Army WCAP
  3. Francesca Giorgio, Simon Fraser
  4. Arian Carpio, Sunkist Kids
  5. Koral Sugiyama, Campbellsville
  6. Shelby Hall, Campbellsville
  7. Jennifer Anderson, Simon Fraser
  8. Alejandra Rodriguez, Southern Oregon University
  9. Carla Ponce, Aries WC
  10. Kalyn Schwartz, Southern Oregon University
With the new seeding format in place, along with Helen moving up to 58kg, it makes sense for world silver medalist Alli Ragan to go 60kg this year. She may also face the tough task of making scratch weight and competing in back-to-back weeks, as the Pan Am championships for the women are on May 6th.

Burkert was a 2014 world team member at this weight and won Senior Nationals, teching her way through that bracket in Vegas. Giorgio didn't wrestling in any USAW events this season, and lost twice to Sugiyama at WCWAs. This weight is set to be littered with athletes still in college. It is very possible the WCWA placement may give us a rough guide of how these seeds will shake out.



63kg

  1. Elena Pirozhkova, Titan Mercury
  2. Jennifer Page, Titan Mercury
  3. Mallory Velte, Titan Mercury
  4. Maya Nelson, Sunkist Kids
  5. Alexis Porter, NYAC/Bearcat WC
  6. Jessi Kee, King University
  7. Amanda Hendey, Titan Mercury
  8. Ashlynn Ortega, Team FOWR
  9. Desiree Zavala, Southern Oregon University
  10. Solin Piearcy, Menlo University
This is without a doubt my favorite women's field this year. Pirozhkova is up at 69, which makes it more wide open than if she was there. Jenn Page took the weight at both Senior Nationals in December and then the Dave Schultz in February. Her 1 seed is pretty iron clad after having beat Velte 6-1 in the semis in December, though Velte had beaten her 6-3 in the OTT consi semis and 9-6 in the Farrell semis.

Velte has had a great season, winning WCWAs and University Nationals, as well as a fifth place finish at the Klippan Open. Velte got OW at Universtiy's after beating Maya Nelson 7-0 in the finals; she also beat Nelson 10-0 at the Klippan. However, Nelson has been on a stark upward trajectory this year, beating her junior world teammate Alexis Porter several times and making the Schultz finals. She has a real shot to make her first senior national team in the same year she moved to the OTC.

After junior world bronze Alexis Porter, there are a number of girls registered who are coming up or down in weight. Randi Beltz is coming up from 58, Forrest Molinari and Rachel Watters are coming down from 69/75, and Jessi Kee is wrestling 63 this weekend but is going to be our 69kg rep at Pan Ams next weekend.

69kg

  1. Tamyra Mensah, Titan Mercury
  2. Randi Miller, Titan Mercury
  3. Forrest Molinari, Titan Mercury
  4. Niauni Hill, Lindenwood Women`s WC
  5. Kiera Galbadon, Salem, Warner Pacific University
  6. Iman Kazem, Menlo College
  7. Alex Glaude, McKendree University
  8. Hannah Gladden, University of the Cumberlands
  9. Mariah Harris, Campbellsville University
  10. Tatum Sparks, Southwestern Oregon CC
It seems this is the year everyone is moving up in weight, starting with Augello, up to Maroulis and Ragan, and now Elena Pirozhkova back to where she was in 2015, which in turn has Erin Clodgo up at 75kg. Mensah has spent the past year winning Yarygin, another WCWA title and beating Olmypic bronze Elmira Syzdykova on her way to a silver medal at the Golden Grand Prix. But she's never beaten Pirozhkova, who has made a world or Olympic team every year since 2008.

Randi Miller is a question mark and Molinari is down at 63kg, but Niauni Hill is registered, as are Alex Glaude and Hannah Gladden. Like most of the weights this year, it comes down to a clearly defined top two. Pirozhkova's most recent win over Mensah came in Vegas, where she won 4-3 on the strength of a shot clock point, takedown and won challenge. This is a must watch final Friday night.



75kg

  1. Victoria Francis, Titan Mercury
  2. Erin Clodgo, Sunkist Kids
  3. Jessika Rottier, Univ. of the Cumberlands
  4. Julia Salata, New York AC
  5. Brandy Lowe, Bearcat WC
  6. Yvette Garcia, AAJJ
  7. Nahiela Magee, Bearcat WC
  8. Brittany Marshall, Wayland Baptist
  9. Janelle Fuamatu, McKendree Univ.
  10. Hanna Hall, Campbellsville
Francis was top ranked at this weight when the rankings came out at the beginning of March, but has since lost in the University finals to Julia Salata. Clodgo won Senior Nationals and was third at the Schultz, neither of which Francis attended. Clodgo beat Salata and Lowe in December, and beat Rottier twice in February. As the OTT finalist, it seems likely Francis will be given some leeway and only drop to the 2 seed, behind Clodgo.

Rottier was the WCWA champ and had a win over Salata at the Schultz, but also lost to Brittany Marshall at National Duals this year. Lowe was third at Senior Nationals and third at WCWAs, splitting with Marshall there. With three-time world champ Adeline Gray sitting out this year, it is a great opportunity for one of the top four to get world team experience and provide America depth at a weight that will very likely also be without Olympic champ Erica Wiebe.