The 2025 US Open Wrestling Championships is set to take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the men's freestyle division going down April 25-26. The official pre-seeds for this event should be announced in the coming days but until then, check out the article below for seeding predictions for every weight.

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What Is The Seeding Criteria For The US Open?

Before we get into the seeds, it's important to break down the criteria I used to determine these seeds. First, USA Wrestling has determined a rating system to help rank and seed wrestlers call the PIN (Performance Index). I used the PIN to set the seeds for each weight, and after that I took into account head-to-heads, results against common opponents, and finishes at recent events. As you go through the seeds, you'll see that I explained why I moved wrestlers when their seeds deviated from their PIN rating.

57 kg

57 kg isn't one of the deepest weights at the US Open but Lilledahl should be the clear top seed. He's a two-time age-level world champ, is 2-1 against Daniel DeShazer, and has the highest PIN rating of anyone at the weight. Seeds should fall in line with the PIN rating, aside from Liam Cronin. I chose to seed Cronin above both DeShazer and Courtney because Cronin defeated both at 2023 Senior Nationals.

61 kg

Marcus Blaze should be the top seed as the runner-up finisher at 2024 World Team Trials. At that tournament, Blaze defeated Daton Fix, Nahshon Garrett, and Seth Gross. Though Garrett has a lower PIN, he is undefeated in freestyle against Seth Gross, so I chose to bring Garrett up to the #4 seed. On the other side of things, Jax Forrest has a high PIN rating, but I chose to drop him to the #7 seed because of his loss to Austin DeSanto at the 2024 World Team Trials. I also brought Nathan Tomasello above Ben Davino because of Tomasello's win over Seth Gross at the 2023 World Team Trials. 

65 kg

I didn't change the seeds at all from their PIN ratings at 65 kg. Mendez and McKenna split matches at the Olympic Trials last year with Mendez winning the last match. After that, there aren't many recent head-to-heads that warrant moving the seeds around.

70 kg

I made a few changes to the seeds from the PIN rating at 70 kg. The first was moving James Green above Alec Pantaleo. Green is 8-1 in his career against Alec Pantaleo, but recently lost to Will Lewan at a Ranking Series Tournament in Albania. Because of that result, I left Lewan ahead of Green. I also moved Yahya Thomas up to the #5 seed because of his win over Lewan at the 2024 World Team Trials, but Thomas holds there since he also lost to Pantaleo at that same event.

74 kg

The only change I made at 74 kg from the PIN ratings is moving Jarrett Jacques up to the #3 seed because Jacques defeated Quincy Monday at the 2024 Olympic Trials (5-0). The rest of the seeds fall in line with the PIN ratings. 

79 kg

I moved Evan Wick up to the #1 seed because he defeated David McFadden at the 2024 Olympic Trials (8-2). I also moved DJ Hamiti up to the #4 seed. Hamiti hasn't wrestled freestyle much over the past few years, so if you go just off his PIN rating, he's the #8 seed. However, Hamiti's folkstyle season this past year should prove he deserves to be moved.

86 kg

Parker Keckeisen is the only wrestler I moved at 86 kg. Similar to Hamiti at 79 kg, Keckeisen hasn't competed in freestyle much over the past few years, but his folkstyle resume speaks for itself. Keckeisen has several wins over Dustin Plott, so placing Keckeisen at the #4 seed seemed like the natural fit for him. 

92 kg

Aeoden Sinclair has the second highest PIN rating in this field, but I moved him down to #4 because of his senior-level results. He lost to Jay Aiello at the 2024 World Team Trials, and both Macchiavello and Schultz have past wins over Aiello. 

97 kg

I moved Massoma Endene up to the #3 seed because of his past freestyle results. Endene made the U23 world team last year while defeating Andy Smith and Nick Stemmett. That performance alone is better than anything Gavin Hoffman or Christian Knop (who Endene is rated behind in the PIN) has done in freestyle.

125 kg

I think the seeds should follow the PIN rating at 125 kg. Many of these guys haven't wrestled before, and if they have, it falls in line with how they are rated. It's also worth noting that though Wyatt Hendrickson is coming off a historic win over Gable Steveson in the NCAA Finals, Hayden Zillmer defeated Hendrickson back at the 2022 US Open (8-5).