The Early U.S. Open Matches You Can't Miss

The best early matches of the 2017 U.S. Open for Men's freestyle.

Apr 28, 2017 by Christian Pyles

The Early U.S. Open Matches You Can't Miss

57kg

Tony Ramos vs Roman Bravo Young, R2 - Obviously Tony is a massive favorite, but as talented and fun as RBY is, it's certainly going to be worth tuning in for.

Jesse Delgado vs Frank Perrelli, R1 - These two wrestled not so long ago in Cuba where Jesse was the winner. Delgado is one of the guys I'm most excited to watch this weekend.

Nico Megaludis vs David Terao, R1 - Well these two wrestled in the University Trials finals as well as the NCAA semi's. They're going to get this one out of the way early.

61kg

Joe Colon vs Joey Lazor R1 - Both All American's for UNI, now they'll scrap in round one. #PantherTrain

Johnni DiJulius vs Darius Little R1 - Darius has had more freestyle success, though JDJ is a more known commodity.

65kg

Jordan Oliver vs Jaydin Eierman R1 - Similar to RBY/Ramos, the result can be assumed, but it still is going to be fun to watch.

70kg

Jason Welch vs Alec Pantaleo, R1 - Super solid Pantaleo vs funk-master Welch.

James Green vs Jake Sueflohn, R16 - More teammates wrestling each other. Green will be a big favorite.

Jason Chamberlain vs Mike DePalma, R1 - A pair of NCAA All Americans collide early.

74kg

Alex Dieringer vs Chance Marsteller, R1 - Former teammates, in round 1, again. What are the odds?

86kg

Pat Downey III vs Vic Avery, R1 - A few A few months ago, Pat Downey dominated wrestling conversation with his wild tweeting sprees where he called Bo Nickal and TJ Dudley bums. Later, Pat Downey was kicked off the ISU wrestling team, so much of the talk never had a chance to play itself out. Now Downey will have his shot in one of the toughest fields at the U.S. Open. Downey, a former Jr World Finalist, has wins over Quentin Wright, Tyler Caldwell and Robertt Hamlin. Downey will have a tough challenge in former Edinboro All-American and current Ohio RTC wrestler Vic Avery. Both are absolute brutes, but Downey has more freestyle credentials at this point. Interestingly, these two wrestled in the finals of Senior Nationals.

Gabe Dean vs Kyle Crutchmer, R16 - Two extremely powerful individuals, though Crutchmer will be giving up considerable size.

Bo Nickal vs Timmy McCall, R16 - I'm not sure Bo has wrestled anyone as big and strong as Timmy McCall (as I write this I remember he's coached by Jake Varner and Cael Sanderson and feel like an idiot, but I'll leave it in here anyways) who is continually improving his freestyle skills.

Pat Downey III/Vic Avery vs Pete Renda, R16 - The winner of the Downey/Avery match will likely see NC State's Pete Renda, a former 3rd placer at NCAA's.