If you go back through the years, every World Team Trials has a few brackets that stand out. That could be because of the depth of the weight, or because two juggernauts are expected to meet in the finals.

This year, one of those fields is 86kg. When J'Den Cox won bronze in Rio and broke a seven-year medal drought for Team USA at this weight, he guaranteed himself a bye to the trials finals. His training partner for the Olympics? That would be his likely finals opponent in David Taylor.

It's almost inarguable that Taylor is the hottest wrestler in the world right now, and enters this weekend as the top ranked 86kg athlete in the world, according to our own Seth Petarra. Taylor's commitment to move up in weight was highly scrutinized, but is looking more and more like the right decision.

Trials Previews: 57kg | 61kg | 65kg | 70kg | 74kg

These are two of the most entertaining wrestlers in the world. Cox is frequently described as someone who moves unlike anyone else, a tactician who creates opportunities in the moment and flows freely from one technique to another. Taylor is a wildcat who never stops attacking, scrambling and creating scoring opportunities.

We will be in Lincoln, Nebraska covering both the senior and junior world team trials. Juniors kick off at 10am central on Friday, June 9th. Seniors begin at 10am central on Saturday, June 10th. Brackets will be on FloArena and every match will be LIVE on Flo. On to the full preview.

The Qualifiers

Austin Trotman, Titan Mercury/NWTC
Josh Asper, Navy-Marines Corps RTC
Bo Nickal, Allen, Nittany Lion WC
David Taylor, Titan Mercury
Richard Perry, NYAC/Pennsylvania RTC
Nick Heflin, Sooner WC
Patrick Downey III, Unattached
Kyle Crutchmer, Titan Mercury
Gabe Dean, Titan Mercury
Joe Rau, Minnesota Storm

Commentary: There was some doubt as to whether or not Cox would wrestle this summer or try to play football for Missouri, but he put those rumors to bed in early May. Taylor is the top seed after winning the U.S. Open in dominant fashion.

There is a tremendously interesting semifinal waiting to happen in the challenge tournament, which will pit new Oklahoma assistant Nick Heflin against Rich Perry, currently training in Philadelphia with the Penn RTC. Both are massive for the weight and love to go upperbody. Perry should be the two seed and Heflin the three, matching their placements at the Open



Few things are more enjoyable than big men going flying. Heflin and Perry were launching guys all over the place in Vegas, and this one could be a 14-13 type shootout. The winner of that one would likely lock up the third and final spot on the national team, but it is great to see new guys stepping in to help improve depth at this weight. There has been a mass exodus at this weight, which includes guys like Jake Herbert, Keith Gavin, Ed Ruth and Clayton Foster.

Looking to the possible four and five seeds, we had Bo Nickal and Pat Downey III. This would be a rematch from Vegas, where Downey got the first takedown. But then Nickal responded with a takedown of his own and trap arm to win 12-2. It sounds as though Nickal may not be in Lincoln though.

Comparing J'Den Cox's and David Taylor's International Wins

When he won a junior world bronze medal in 2014, Gabe Dean was looked at as a potential future star at this weight. Now though, it looks like Dean might take some time off and not be in Lincoln. This would put Kyle Crutchmer up to the five seed. Crutchmer may eventually transition into MMA, but for now is looking big after coming up to 86kg from his 174 weight class in college.

Looking at seeds six, seven and eight, it should go in some order of Austin Trotman, Josh Asper and Joe Rau. Trotman looked great during the year, winning the Bill Farrell and Dave Schultz, but had a rough Open. He'll start off with Nick Heflin, and Josh Asper will start with Rich Perry. Former workout partners, Perry won close 3-1 over Asper at the Farrell in November. Former Greco world team member hopes to knock off David Taylor with the same head pinch that worked so effectively for him at the last chance qualifier.

Projected 86kg Seeds

J'Den Cox - bye to finals

1. David Taylor
2. Rich Perry
3. Nick Heflin
4. Pat Downey III
5. Kyle Crutchmer
6. Austin Trotman
7. Josh Asper
8. Joe Rau

Back in 2014, we didn't think we could see a matchup like David Taylor against J'Den Cox. As seniors in high school, Cox was a 220 and Taylor wrestled at 135. That size disparity should still come in to play, with Cox being one of the biggest 86kg in the world, someone who passes the eye test when looking at other top guys in this weight.

While Taylor has been wrestling incredibly lately, there is a difference between high level guys during the world championships and them during the other 11 months of the year. The Sharifov and Yazdanicharati that Taylor beat at the World Cup are not the same ones we'll see in Paris.

This is also the same thing we saw Taylor do in college, where he was more dominant than Kyle Dake during the regular season, but lost to him in the NCAA finals. The magicman is an incredible wrestler, but he can lose to aliens like Dake and Jordan Burroughs. J'Den Cox is one of those aliens.

The third national team spot could be a very important one to the careers of Heflin and Perry. For some reason I favor Heflin, though Perry has made tremendous jumps the past few years, and it wouldn't shock me if either of them got third.

Nomad's Picks

1. J'Den Cox
   
2. David Taylor
   
3. Nick Heflin