It's always nice heading into our World Team Trials with the reigning world champion. Logan Stieber will be the the first American, other than Jordan Burroughs, to walk into WTT as the defending champ since 2007.
 
The last man besides Burrough to be defending world champ? That would be current men's freestyle head coach Bill Zadick. Stieber gave Zadick his first gold medal since assuming the role of head coach after the Olympics.

Trials Previews: 57kg | 65kg | 70kg | 74kg | 86kg
 
One of the first questions everyone asked after Stieber rolled through his ridiculous bracket in Budapest was if he would stay down at 61kg or bump back up to 65kg. If Stieber holds down his spot once again, he will be the two seed walking into the world championships in Paris, and is currently ranked 4th in the world.

Make sure to tune in on Saturday, June 10th for all the WTT action. Brackets will be on FloArena, and we go live at 10am central time. On to the full preview.
 

The Qualifiers

Logan Stieber, Titan Mercury
Kendric Maple, Titan Mercury
Brandon Wright, RNO/IPWA
Josh Kindig, Sunkist Kids/Tar Heel WC
Cody Brewer, Titan Mercury/Chicago RTC
Seth Gross, Jackrabbit WC
Joe Colon, Titan Mercury
Chris Dardanes, Titan Mercury
Jayson Ness, Minnesota Storm

Commentary: Kendric Maple showed up to the U.S. Open having not competed since November of 2015. All that layoff did was make his size and technique look that much more impressive, both on film and in person. He was fourth at this weight back in 2015. Maple is especially scary because he can put opponents in a big hole early, which is exactly what you need to do in a weight full of gunslingers.
 
One of the beautiful things about the senior level is that it allows non-D1 guys a chance to flourish, and nowhere was that better showcased than Brandon Wright's run in Vegas. The former Grand View star had never been able to put together the type of post-college tournament like he did at the end of April, but his run to the finals opened many eyes.
 
The only way to succeed in this weight class domestically is to be able to score in bunches, which is exactly what Josh Kindig did at the Open. He had four matches in which he scored in double digits, including 16 in his criteria win over Cody Brewer in third place match.

It certainly helps Kinding that his workout partners include two-time world team member Tony Ramos and Olympic bronze medalist Coleman Scott, who coaches Kinding alongside Olympic gold medalist Kenny Monday.

 
Similar to his Bedlam rival, Cody Brewer averaged over 11 points per match despite suffering two losses. As the likely four seed, we could see a rematch of his 14-7 loss in the Open semis to fellow Sooner Kendric Maple. You have to wonder if the Chicago RTC staff will try to get Brewer to rein in his storm of attacks, and focus on efficient fours from his firemans carry or dumps from short offense.
 
This is where the seeding starts to get murkier. Jayson Ness was third at non-Olympic WTT in November, losing only to Stieber and beating Brewer in his placing match. However, he then went 1-2 at the Open, losing to two guys who did not qualify. The senior level rankings for May also have Ness right behind Cody Brewer, which would translate out to the fifth seed.


 
Ultimately, it is up to the discretion of the seeding committee where to place Ness. I personally believe that Ness had his opportunity to stake a claim to get a seed at the Open and failed to deliver. By going through the last chance qualifier, he doomed himself to having the lowest slot. That would make him the eight seed, setting up a first round match between he and Maple which was supposed to be our final in Vegas.
 
If you make life easier and go by the results of the Open, Joe Colon is your five seed by dint of his 16-12 quarterfinal win over Seth Gross. After losing 6-6 on criteria to Brandon Wright, Colon defaulted out of the tournament. Going back to 2014, Colon was fourth at this weight.

 
That would give us a quarterfinal of Cody Brewer's leg attacks against Joe Colon's upperbody throws. The only previous time these two met was in January of 2014, when Colon beat Brewer 9-7 in UNI's dual with Oklahoma.
 
Looking at the 3/6 quarterfinal, my projections show it will be the hip tip master Seth Gross against Kinding. Both of these guys have made NCAA finals, though Kindig's was up at 149 pounds. Most of their points tend to come off counters or re-attacks, which will likely favor Kindig, as he likes to use underhooks and keep his single leg shots off the mat.


 
Chris Dardanes could end up as the seven seed, which would pit him against Brandon Wright, a matchup we have not seen on the senior level. Dardanes will have a hard time matching the pace, motion and athleticism of Wright.

Right now, the semis project as Brandon Wright against Josh Kindig on the bottom side, and Joe Colon taking on the winner of Jayson Ness and Kendric Maple on the top side. The inconsistency of Wright and Kindig, as well as the uncertainty of where Ness lands in the bracket, seems to favor the challenger to Stieber coming out of the top side.

Projected 61kg 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. Jayson Ness
   

Prediction: Although Stieber has taken a couple losses since being crowned world champ, he is the overwhelming favorite to win the spot again. There's not much to suggest that anyone outside the Ohio RTC room in Columbus knows how to keep Stieber off their legs, and he has the best par terre of anyone in this bracket.

We only have one recorded meeting of Maple and Stieber, and that was when the four-time NCAA champ bumped up to 149 to wrestle Maple in the All-Star Classic. Much like Kindig, it is a wonder that Maple, currently an assistant coach at Purdue, can move so well at a weight so light.



As we've mentioned, there is a great deal of inconsistency at this weight. The safe bet is to take Ness to grab the third and final national team spot, just like he did in November. But I have concerns as to where he is both physically and mentally after his performance in Vegas.

As a wise man once said, shooters shoot. And Cody Brewer shoots more than just about anyone. I'm somewhat rolling the dice here and picking him to finish behind Stieber and Maple, a clean sweep of the podium for Big Ten assistant coaches who are sponsored by Titan Mercury. As for the finals, Stieber sweeps but likely falls behind early in one of the matches, and blows Maple out in the other. 

Nomad's Picks

1. Logan Stieber, Titan Mercury
   
2. Kendric Maple, Titan Mercury
   
3. Cody Brewer, Titan Mercury