The 2017 world championships are seven weeks away, so it is time we took a look at the projected seeds. Today we're examining 97kg, a weight which should by all metrics feature the match of the year.

Kyle Snyder became the youngest world champ in USA history in 2015, and then became our youngest Olympic gold medalist ever last year; he still has one year remaining at Ohio State.

Bumping up in weight is the only wrestler on the planet, man or woman, to not lose a match since the weight class changes in 2014. Abdulrashid Sadulaev may have two world titles and a title from Rio, but he will not be seeded.

Projected Seeds: 57kg | 61kg | 65kg | 70kg | 74kg | 86kg

Why you ask? Because United World Wrestling decided that points earned would not carry up if a wrestler changed weights. It would be the same case if Snyder dropped down to 86kg, all the points he earned at 97kg would be negated.

It is a rather simple process: points were awarded in Rio, at the non-Olympic weight world championships, and then at the various continental championships based on placement and the size of the bracket. The four people with the most points at each weight in Paris will be separated.

We know Snyder will be the top seed, one of the few weights in which the guy ranked No. 1 in the world will sit atop the bracket. Let's find out who will be separated from him. Every person who has earned points can be found here.
 

Weight	Rank	Name	Country	Points
97kg	1	Kyle Snyder	USA	64
97kg	2	Magomed Ibragimov	UZB	58
97kg	2	Elizbar Odikadze	GEO	58
97kg	4	Magomed Musaev	KGZ	43

Commentary: This was unquestionably the easiest weight class to project. It is difficult to find quality big men, and once a country does, they tend to use them for multiple years consecutively. So for the first time, we will see the four guys who earned the most points actually be your four top seeds in August.

As we have continually pointed out, UWW has not made clear how ties will be broken for seeding purposes. What is also interesting is that, in some ways, the four seed could be considered superior to the three seed. This has to do with the way international brackets are drawn, and that the bottom half is almost always larger than the top half.

So you could have a situation with a bracket that forces the three seed to wrestle one more match than the four seed in order to make the finals. It is an interesting wrinkle to keep an eye on for all weights.

But getting back to the seeds, there is a tie for second place between Olympic bronze medalist Magomed Ibragimov (UZB) and two-time European bronze medalist Elizbar Odikadze (GEO). The latter has proven to be a tough matchup for Snyder, even beating him once at the World Clubs Cup. In his only match against Ibragimov, Snyder won 7-0 in the first round of the Medved in 2016.

Taking the four seed is Magomed Musaev (KGZ), who has earned a medal at the Asian championships four years in a row. His only continental title came in 2012, but he has yet to earn a medal in any trip to the world championships; Musaev is also a two-time Olympian.

Sadulaev is of course the most notable of the unseeded, followed by Reineris Salas Perez of Cuba.

Projected 97kgs Seeds

1. Kyle Snyder (USA), 64 points
   
2. Magomed Ibragimov (UZB), 58 points
   
3. Elizbar Odikadze (GEO), 58 points
   
4. Magomed Musaev (KGZ), 43 points