It's freestyle season! The U.S. Open is LIVE on Flo this weekend, with every weight starting at 9am sharp on Friday, April 28th. Pacific time of course since it is in Vegas.

We're closing out our previews with the big boys at 125kg. The new breed of hyper athletic, leg attacking heavyweight in college has trickled its way up to the senior level.

Remember, FloZone returns on Friday for the entire day of action. Complete entries can be found on FloArena. On to the full preview.

U.S. Open Previews: 57kg | 61kg | 65kg | 70kg | 74kg | 86kg | 97kg

The Contenders

Zach Rey, Lehigh Valley WC
Nick Gwiazdowski, Titan Mercury/Wolfpack WC
Tony Nelson, Minnesota Storm
Dom Bradley, Sunkist Kids
Bobby Telford, Titan Mercury/Hawkeye WC

Dark Horses

Justin Grant, NYAC
Ben Durbin, Titan Mercury
Braden Atwood, Sunkist Kids/Tar Heel WC
Nathan Butler, California RTC
Garrett Ryan, Columbia University

It won't be easy replacing Tervel Dlagnev, a man who was in the bronze medal match every world championships or Olympic games in which he competed. But that is precisely what coach Bill Zadick and Team USA must do now that Tervel has hung it up to coach for Ohio State.

Zach Rey was the No. 2 guy on the ladder for the last quad, and even got to wrestle at 2015 worlds when Tervel's back was hurt. He is probably the best athlete in the weight, with tree trunk thighs and acrobatic feet making it near impossible to finish leg attacks on him. However, he has been less likely to use his physical gifts on the offensive end. Rey is poised to take the mantle and be the man at heavyweight going forward. That is, unless Nick Gwiazdowski takes it.

Gwiz was quickly identified as someone who ascend to the throne domestically at 125kg, but hasn't quite made the leap just yet. He stagnated at fourth place for all four trials last quad, and lost every year at those trials to Rey: 4-2 last year, 7-1 in 2015, 9-3 in 2014 and 5-2 in 2013.



Domestically this season, Tony Nelson beat Dom Bradley in the Farrell finals with Chad Hanke beating Braden Atwood for third, and then Bradley won the Schultz over Justin Grant, with Ben Durbin taking out Atwood for third.

All five of the top guys have won international medals since the Olmypics: Gwiz was silver at the Intercontinental Cup, Bobby Telford was silver at the Cerro Pelado with Dom Bradley getting a bronze, Rey was bronze at the Paris Grand Prix and Nelson won the Ukrainian Memorial.

The way the current rankings shake out, Gwiz would meet Nelson in the semis. Their only match the past couple years was an 11-0 Gwiz tech in the 2015 Farrell semis. Bradley and Telford would meet in the quarters, a match we have yet to see in freestyle, with the winner getting Zach Rey.



Looking back at the results on Rey vs Gwiz makes it seem fairly obvious who to pick. But past results don't guarantee future ones, and the year after the Olympics tends to be when goofy or previously unseen things are most likely to happen. Even at the Olympic Team Trials there are some wins people likely forget about, like Justin Grant's 6-3 first round win over Bobby Telford, or Eric Thompson teching Nelson 11-0 on the back side.

On paper, the seeding favors Gwiz in the semis, especially considering Rey had a 1-1 nailbiter criteria win over Bradley in the 2015 challenge tourney finals. No one including myself is going to be all that surprised if Rey continues his winning streak over Gwiz and earns himself a bye to the World Team Trials finals.

What makes me comfortable picking the two-time NCAA champ from NC State over the 2011 national champ from Lehigh was the World Clubs Cup, when Gwiz knocked off Olympic silver Komeil Ghasemi. Now, Ghasemi returned the favor at the World Cup a few months later, but it showed he has the potential to beat guys on that level. This one may change once I get to see the brackets, but for now, I'm going with the Gwizard of Oz.

Nomad's Picks

1. Nick Gwiazdowski
2. Zach Rey
3. Tony Nelson
4. Dom Bradley
5. Bobby Telford
6. Justin Grant
7. Nathan Butler