The college season just concluded and that means it's freestyle season! It's time for the best college wrestlers to make the quick change over and attempt to make a world team. With that in mind, the below article breaks down the college wrestlers with the best shot at winning the US Open in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 26-30. For those who might not be familiar with the process, the winner of the US Open at every weight automatically qualifies for Final X - the final wrestle-off between the top 2 wrestlers in every weight taking place June 10. The winner of Final X then goes on to compete at the World Championships in September. 

Spencer Lee, 57kg

Yes, Spencer Lee lost to Matt Ramos at NCAAs and yes, he hasn’t yet registered for the US Open. That doesn’t change what he could do on the freestyle circuit this year and moving forward into the Olympic trials next year. If healthy, Lee could challenge the best in the world at 57kg including 2021 world champion and reigning world silver Thomas Gilman.

Coming into college, Lee was a 3-time age-level world champion winning a cadet world title in 2014 and back-to-back junior world titles in 2015 and 2016. Then, in December of 2019, Lee blitzed through Senior Nationals to qualify for the Olympic Trials with impressive wins over Vito Arujau (14-4) and Nathan Tomasello (8-2). Since then, fans have been waiting for Spencer to return to the senior level, and if he’s in Vegas at the Open, he’d be the favorite to make Final X.

Spencer Lee's win over Vito Arujau at the 2019 Senior Nationals:

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Pat Glory, 57kg

After winning an NCAA title at 125 pounds, Glory shared his intention to continue to compete and will attempt to make the world team at 57kg. Glory’s accomplishments in freestyle aren’t as vast as in folkstyle but it’s worth noting that he made the U23 world team in 2021. There he lost a wild, and competitive 11-11 match with eventual bronze medalist Ahmad Javan (IRI). Javan notably reached #7 in our International rankings in June of 2022 after defeating world silver medalist Alireza Sarlak. We saw in Tulsa that Glory shouldn’t be underestimated and we shouldn’t be surprised if Glory shows out in Vegas to make Final X.

Pat Glory's match with Ahmad Javan at the 2021 U23 World Championships:

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Vito Arujau, 61kg

When Vito Arujau is wrestling his best, he might be the best 61kg wrestler in the entire world. Arujau’s dominant wins over Daton Fix and Roman Bravo-Young at NCAAs proved that fact and build excitement for Aruaju’s upcoming freestyle season.

For the last two years, Arujau has been #2 on the ladder at 57kg behind Thomas Gilman. Now up at 61kg, Arujau will once again be a favorite to make Final X and challenge to make his first world team. Prior to this year, many would have said Arujau’s best style was freestyle based on his age-level world medals - Aujau won silver in 2016 at the cadet world championships and silver in 2019 at the 2019 junior world championships. 

Arujau's win over Daton Fix in the 2023 NCAA Semi-Finals:

Daton Fix, 61kg

Daton Fix will be a favorite in any tournament he enters regardless of weight or style. Though Fix placed 4th at NCAAs, he won a world silver medal at 61kg in 2021 and was runner-up to Seth Gross at last year’s Final X. When Fix is wrestling his best, he’s a dangerous freestyle wrestler with big move potential on his feet and a high-scoring top game in par terre. The Open could be the perfect opportunity for Fix to get back to his winning ways and remind everyone he’s one of the best in the world at 61kg.

Daton Fix's win in the 2021 World Semi-Finals over Arsen Harutyunyan:

Roman Bravo-Young, 61kg

It’s been a while since we’ve seen Roman Bravo-Young enter a freestyle tournament. In fact, the last time we saw it was at the 2019 junior world team trials. There he made the finals but lost to North Carolina’s Jaime Hernandez - 10-5. Obviously, 4 years have gone by in that time period and we’ve seen RBY make huge gains in that time. RBY’s 2 NCAA titles and 2 wins over Fix show he’s capable of making a world team at 61kg.

Andrew Alirez, 65kg

Could Andrew Alirez carry his momentum from his recent NCAA title run into the freestyle season? As impressive as his performance was this season, many have expected that from Alirez because of his past performances IN FREESTYLE. 

In 2018 Alirez made the finals of the junior world team trials with tech falls over Yahya Thomas and Nick Lee. Then in January of 2019 (as a senior in high school), Alirez defeated 2-time national champion Dean Heil 12-4 at the Dave Schultz. And if those performances weren’t enough, Alirez burst onto everyone’s radar at the 2020 Senior Nationals when he defeated Mitch McKee, Joey McKenna, Yahya Thomas, and Evan Henderson (2022 Final X runner-up) to win gold. We've seen how good Alirez looked this year in college, and if he carries that to the US Open, we should expect to see him in Final X against Yianni Diakomihalis.

Andrew Alirez's win over Evan Henderson at the 2020 Senior Nationals:

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Keegan O’Toole, 74kg

Keegan O’Toole is coming off his second straight NCAA title at 165 pounds and brings with him some impressive freestyle credentials. O’Toole won a junior world title in 2021 where he notably pinned Tokyo Olympian Turan Bayramov. That win is especially impressive considering Bayramov won a bronze medal at the 2022 European Championships, was 5th at senior worlds in 2021, and a U23 world champ in 2019. At the US Open, O’Toole will likely have to take out the likes of Vincenzo Joseph and Jason Nolf in order to get to Final X and challenge Kyle Dake. 

Keegan O'Toole's win over Turan Bayarmov at the 2021 Junior World Championships:

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David Carr, 74kg

Though he lost in the NCAA finals, David Carr boasted two wins over Keegan O’Toole in the regular season and has impressive freestyle credentials. Carr won a junior world title in 2019 and is currently third on the ladder at 74kg after defeating Joey Lavallee in a true-third wrestle-off at Final X Stillwater last year. 

The real test for Carr at the US Open will come against Jason Nolf. Each of the last two years, Nolf has dominated Carr with a 10-0 tech at the Olympic trials and a pin at the 2022 world team trials. Carr seemed to have made major improvements this year up at 165. The question now - has he jumped to the next level to take out Nolf? 

Carter Starocci, 79kg

Carter Starocci won his third straight NCAA title in dominant fashion after pinning Mikey Labriola in the finals. Now Starocci has his sites set on being the man to dethrone Jordan Burroughs from the top of 79kg.

Last year Starocci placed third at the world team trials losing only to eventual Final X runner-up Chance Marsteller. However, on his way to third, Starocci recorded impressive wins over Alex Dieringer and David McFadden. Then, Starocci went on to make a U23 world team and where he won a bronze medal. Starocci looks poised to make it to Final X, and even Burroughs expects Starocci to be his biggest challenge this year. 

Starocci's win over Alex Dieringer from the 2022 World Team Trials:

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Aaron Brooks, 86kg

Aaron Brooks is a three-time NCAA champion and looks to be getting better every year. The question now: Has Brooks improved enough to take out Zahid Valencia? We’ll likely get the answer to that if Brooks wrestles in Vegas. Valencia and Brooks last wrestled at the 2019 Senior Nationals where Zahid came out on top in a chippy 6-0 bout. They wrestled again at the Olympic trials where Zahid won again, this time only 6-3. If Brooks enters the Open, we’ll likely see the third matchup between Brooks and Zahid for the right to wrestle David Taylor in Final X.

Brooks and Valencia's match from the 2020 Senior Nationals:

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Mason Parris, 125kg

Fresh off his NCAA title and Hodge trophy, Mason Parris looks ready to defeat anyone in the world at 125kg. While Parris lost to Nick Gwiazdowski in the 2021 world team trials finals, he holds a win over Gwiazdowski from the RTC Cup in December of 2020 and defeated 2022 world team member Hayden Zillmer at the 2021 world team trials. Beyond that, Parris won a junior world title in 2019 where he defeated eventual 2021 world champion Amir Zare in the finals. Parris appears to be ready to take over the heavyweight division, and his reign could begin in Vegas.

Mason Parris' win over Hayden Zillmer at the 2021 World Team Trials:

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Keep track of everyone registered for the US Open here.