Being a freshman is tough. You're last to get gear, and there is inevitably some type of hazing process (some more innocuous than others). Being a freshman isn't without its benefits, though, at least when it comes to international wrestling. Three of the eight freestyle world team members are in their freshman year on the senior level. One thing that we have seen on the international stage, especially in recent years, is that U.S. athletes fair pretty well in their first campaign on the scene.

There have been 88 men's freestyle world team members since 2006. Out of those 88, 45 of them were on their freshman campaigns. Among those 45 first-timers, 11 of them medaled at the World Championships. That means nearly 25 percent of United States' freestyle wrestlers in that time span have brought home a medal despite never previously competing at Worlds.

55/57kg

The lightweights in the U.S. are in a bit of a drought. They haven't produced a medal since Henry Cejudo brought home gold from Bejing in 2008.

60/61kg

As we move closer to the middle weights, the medal count seems to go up. The U.S. has won three medals in this weight class since 2006 -- all of which were won by freshmen. Mike Zadick started it off with a silver medal in his first year on the team in 2006. Coleman Scott won a bronze medal in 2012. This past December, Logan Stieber won a gold medal at the non-Olympic weight world championships in Budapest.

65/66kg

We haven't had the best showing at the 65/66kg weight classes as of late, only bringing home one medal (albeit gold) in 2006 by now head freestyle coach Bill Zadick. It was not Zadick's first World Championships.

70kg

This is a pretty new weight: 2014 was the first year that it was contested at the World Championships since the '90s. That said, James Green made his first world team in 2015, and he wound up medaling in Las Vegas.

74kg

This is where the trend starts to occur more frequently. We all know that Jordan Burroughs won a world medal in his first outing in 2011, but Donny Pritzlaf also took home a medal (bronze) in 2006, which was his first world team.

84/86kg

J'den Cox made a remarkable run in Rio, losing in the semifinals and wrestling back for bronze in his freshman outing last year. In 2009, Jake Herbert made his first team, and he lost in the finals of the World Championships.

96/97kg

Since 2006 the U.S. has done extremely well at this weight class, but Kyle Snyder is the only first-timer to win a medal at the world championships.

120/125kg

The freshmen upper weights seemed to have a good year in 2009 as Tervel Dlagnev won a bronze medal in Tashkent.

This Year's Freshman Crop

This year's crop of incoming freshmen have some pretty serious shoes to fill. After looking at the numbers, we almost expect that at least one of them will bring home some hardware. But who?

Thomas Gilman - 57kg

Although the U.S. hasn't produced many medals at 57kg in recent years, Gilman has a few things going for him. First, five of the six guys who wrestled for a medal in Rio are moving up in weight. Second, Gilman is riding a serious wave right now. Those two things combined with a wrestling style that most foreigners simply don't like to compete against may spell success for Gilman in Paris.

Zain Retherford - 65kg

The 65kg weight class is almost always the most loaded division in freestyle wrestling, but this year some guys are abandoning the weight to go up to 70kg or are just taking a year off. It's not the mass exodus that we are seeing at 57kg, and it's also easier for most countries to fill the spot at 65kg. If Retherford wants to bring a medal home from Paris, he's going to have to put a furious pace on these guys from whistle to whistle.

Nick Gwiazdowski - 125kg

The fact that no one in the world has seen Nick Gwiazdowski wrestle at the World Championships should play in his favor. He wrestles more like a middle weight than most of his peers, which could take a bunch of people by surprise. I like Gwiz's chances.

Here are all the World Team freshmen from 2006 to now. 

YEAR	KG	NAME	MEDAL
2006	60	Mike Zadick	silver
2006	74	Donny Pritzlaf	bronze
2006	84	Andy Hrovat	none
2006	120	Tolly Thompson	none
2007	55	Henry Cejudo	none
2007	66	Doug Schwab	none
2007	74	Joe Hesket	none
2007	120	Tommy Rowlands	none
2008	74	Ben Askren	none
2008	120	Steve Mocco	none
2009	55	Danny Felix	none
2009	60	Shawn Bunch	none
2009	66	Trent Paulson	none
2009	74	Dustin Schlatter	none
2009	84	Jake Herbert	silver
2009	96	Jake Varner	none
2009	120	Tervel Dlagnev	bronze
2010	55	Obe Blanc	none
2010	66	Brent Metcalf	none
2010	74	Travis Paulson	none
2010	96	JD Bergman	none
2010	120	Les Sigman	none
2011	55	Nick Simmons	none
2011	60	Reece Humphrey	none
2011	66	Teyon Ware	none
2011	74	Jordan Burroughs	gold
2012	55	Sam Hazewinkel	none
2012	60	Coleman Scott	bronze
2012	66	Jared Frayer	none
2013	55	Angel Escobedo	none
2013	84	Keith Gavin	none
2014	57	Tony Ramos	none
2014	61	Jimmy Kennedy	none
2014	70	Nick Marable	none
2014	86	Ed Ruth	none
2015	70	James Green	bronze
2015	97	Kyle Snyder	gold
2016	57	Dan Dennis	none
2016	61	Logan Stieber	gold
2016	65	Frank Molinaro	none
2016	86	J'Den Cox	bronze
2017	57	Thomas Gilman	none
2017	65	Zain Retherford	none
2017	125	Nick Gwiazdowski	none