The Stars Align At 74kg For Jordan Burroughs And Kyle Dake

Jordan Burroughs and Kyle Dake are both entered in the U.S. Open with the bye to the World Team Trials finals on the line for the first time. The hype for this tournament has been brewing for five years. You don't want to miss it!

Apr 25, 2017 by Andrew Spey

The Stars Align At 74kg For Jordan Burroughs And Kyle Dake

Of all the storylines brewing in the leadup to this week's U.S. Open in Las Vegas, undeniably the most intriguing potential event is a meeting between Jordan Burroughs and Kyle Dake in the 74kg finals.

Dake and Burroughs have met before, twice in the world team trial finals. Burroughs swept both of those best two-out-of-three series and holds a 4-0 lifetime advantage over Dake.

But this time, it's different.

Burroughs won five straight medals -- including four golds -- at the World Championships and Olympics, from 2011 to 2015. Winning the U.S. Open earns you a bye to the finals of the world or Olympic team trials, unless there is a returning world or Olympic medalist at that weight.

For Dake's entire post-collegiate career, the only way for him to be the Team USA representative at 74kg was to win the team trials challenge tournament, then, on the same day, beat Jordan Burroughs in a best two-out-of-three series of matches.

The 2016 Rio Olympics changed all that. Burroughs was edged out in the semis by Russian powerhouse Aniuar Geduev, then stumbled in the repechage round and failed to medal. Dake, dogged by injuries since winning four straight NCAA titles at four difference weight classes, is now healthy and has the opportunity to face Burroughs on a more level playing field with a team trials bye to the finals at stake.

To see exactly why 74kg is getting all the hype, we should review the weight class' history.

WATCH LIVE | FLOARENA | Schedule | 74kg Preview |

2013

Though he would still have a bye to the trials finals by virtue of his London Olympics gold medal, Jordan Burroughs entered the 2013 US Open anyway and beat recent Penn State grad David Taylor in the finals 3-1, 1-0 (this was back when international matches were determined by winning two out of three two-minute periods.) Dake did not enter the Open, as he was in Ithaca, NY, graduating from Cornell.

At the team trials, Dake beat Andrew Howe in the challenge tournament 4-2 in overtime and earned the right to face Burroughs for a starting spot on the team. Burroughs beat Dake twice in a row but needed overtime in the second match to clinch the series. It should be noted that international rules decided tied matches by criteria and did feature overtime, but USA Wrestling instituted it for the 2013 Open and Trials anyway.

Watch the U.S. Open finals between Burroughs and Taylor below.

2014

Burroughs once again entered the Open despite winning the 2013 74kg title in Budapest, Hungary, (with a broken ankle) and once again beat David Taylor in the finals, this time winning a tight battle 7-6 (the best two-out-of-three periods era is by now officially over). Dake tore a lisfranc ligament in his left foot while training with his Cornell teammates in the leadup to the 2014 NCAA tournament and did not compete.

David Taylor won the challenge tournament at the team trials over Andrew Howe, earning the right to square off against Burroughs with a world team spot on the line. Dake, still convalescing from his injury, did not enter the tournament. Burroughs wins the trials finals two matches to none, 6-2 and 6-5. He'll later win a bronze medal at the 2014 World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Watch Burroughs beat Taylor in the U.S. Open finals for the second consecutive time in the video below.

2015

Both Burroughs and Dake sit this U.S. Open out -- 2014 will be the last time Burroughs enters a U.S. Open until this year. Dake is also recovering from a nagging shoulder injury, which he will have surgery on later. Besides his shoulder and foot injuries, Dake also broke his right hand late in 2013. Which all goes to show just how difficult it is to put together consecutive championship seasons, whether in the NCAA or internationally.

Dake is still healthy enough to beat David Taylor in the finals of the team trials challenge tournament, but he once again loses two straight matches to a rested Burroughs, 6-3 and 14-4. After Burroughs wins gold at the 2015 World Championships in Las Vegas, Dake announces that he will bump up to 86kg to try and make the Rio Olympics. The 86kg weight class is about 189lbs, which is 48 more than 141lbs, the weight at which Dake won his first NCAA title in 2010.

Watch Dake beat Taylor in the challenge tournament finals of the team trials below.

2016

Burroughs, having earned the bye in the trials, once again sits out the US Open. Dake, up at 86kg, beat David Taylor for the umpteenth time in the finals, 11-4. It should also be noted that due to the early schedule of the Rio Oylmpics, the 2016 U.S. Open is actually wrestled in December of 2015.

At the always hotly contested Olympic team trials, Burroughs beat Andrew Howe, the same opponent Burroughs had to get through to make his first world team in 2011 and his first Olympic team in 2012, winning 9-3 and 10-0. Dake came his closest yet to earning his first U.S. team starting spot wrestling at 86kg. In the finals, future Rio bronze medalists J'den Cox beat Dake two matches to one, winning 8-1, 3-5, 4-3.

This is perhaps the healthiest both Dake and Burroughs have been while competing in the same weight class. This is also, again, the first time a bye to the team trials finals is on the line at 74kg since the 2011 U.S. Open.

The stakes couldn't be any higher. We hope you'll join us as USA Wrestling history will be made, one way or another.