2017 Junior and Senior World Team Trials

Looking Back And Forward At 61kg

Looking Back And Forward At 61kg

Looking back at 61kg at the U.S. Open and forward to the 2017 World Team Trials in Lincoln

May 5, 2017 by Wrestling Nomad
Looking Back And Forward At 61kg
It was nearly impossible to fully process every aspect of the 2017 U.S. Open as it was happening last weekend in Las Vegas. There were so many upsets and incredible matches, fascinating storylines playing out, and goals being accomplished.

A few days later and with a clear head, it's time to glance back at the Open, what it meant for each weight, and also look forward to World Team Trials in Lincoln, Nebraska, on June 10th.

We started off at 57kg and now move up to 61kg, going over Open results, listing current trials qualifiers, and projecting the seeds. Complete brackets and archived matches for the Open can be found on FloArena.

61kg Trials Qualifiers

Logan Stieber, bye to finals
Kendric Maple, Open champ
Brandon Wright, Open runner-up
Josh Kindig, Open 3rd
Cody Brewer, Open 4th
Seth Gross, Open 5th
Joe Colon, Open 6th
Chris Dardanes, Open 7th
Cory Clark, NCAA champ

The big story coming out of Vegas was the surprise finals run by Brandon Wright, a former high school stud who went on to be a two-time NAIA national champ at Grand View. He put together a special day on Friday, but ran into a buzzsaw named Kendric Maple in the finals. The rise of a guy who was once a Fargo champ way back when can only help our depth in this country.

Speaking of Maple, I mentioned in my preview that there was some concern about freestyle rust because he hadn't competed since November of 2015. That did not appear to be the case, as he put up 57 points in five matches.



Maple should now be the top seed for the challenge tournament in Lincoln, as world champ Logan Stieber sits in the trials finals. We knew Maple would be huge for the weight, and we know his leg attacks might be just a little bit better than they were even two years ago.

Coming into the tournament, Jayson Ness was the top seed after third at the Bill Farrell. But he went 1-2, losing to Johnni Dijulius in one the tournament's biggest upsets, and then Andrew Hochstrasser on the backside.

Finishing in third and having his best senior level tournament to date was Josh Kindig, a former NCAA finalist for Oklahoma State now training at UNC. Kindig came in as the seventh seed after going 2-2 at both the Bill Farrell and Dave Schultz. Like his 57kg training partner in Chapel Hill, Kindig peaked at the right time and threw up double digit points in four of his matches.

Just like I said in my preview, these 61kg put a hurting on the scoreboard. Even with two losses, Cody Brewer averaged over 11 points a match, including 23 total those losses. Like the rest of the Open placers, Brewer's placement will likely match his seed at the trials.



Seth Gross came in as an interesting dark horse, coming off an NCAA finals run after making the junior world team last year. He ended up fifth, but had to fight claw his way through the bracket to do so. Gross was down 6-0 to Shelton Mack in his first match before going on to win 16-8, and was nearly pinned by Darrius Little in his first consolation match. Joe Colon was close to teching him before Gross stormed back, only to ultimately lose 16-12.

The Jackrabbit sophomore did not use his hip tip as frequently as I expected. Counters and scrambles still accounted for most of his offense, but he continues to have an unorthodox style for freestyle. No longer junior eligible, Gross is at a great size for the weight and can provide both depth and different looks for the current group of top guys in this country.

Joe Colon forfeited out after losing to Colon in the semis, putting him in position to be the five seed. His double unders and upperbody attacks were on full display this weekend, including his tournament opener against Joey Lazor. Going up to 61kg may be a better weight for him moving forward.

Chris Dardanes and Cory Clark round out the qualifiers to this point and could be the lowest seeds, pending who shows up for the last chance qualifier. Looking at that event, guys like Johnni DiJulius, Shelton Mack, Andrew Hochstrasser and Joey Lazor could all show up for the final WTT spot.


Projected WTT Seeds

Logan Stieber - bye to finals

  1. ​Kendric Maple
  2. Brandon Wright
  3. Josh Kindig
  4. Cody Brewer
  5. Joe Colon
  6. Seth Gross
  7. Chris Dardanes
  8. Andrew Hochstrasser
  9. Cory Clark