Tony Ramos has been the closest thing to a consistent lightweight rep for the United States since Sammie Henson and Stephen Abas locked the weight down in the late 1990s and early 2000s. 

Although Ramos has only made two teams (2014 and 2015), he has been the most stable force in a weight class that is ever changing due to growth, rule changes, and the simple fact that the U.S. just doesn’t cut as much weight as did in the past. Every time you think Ramos is ready to pass the mantle for good, the defending U.S. Open champion at 57kg goes out and collectively reminds us all just how tough it is to beat T-Ram.

However, that's not to say Ramos has a clear path to winning back-to-back titles as the 2018 Open gets underway this Wednesday in Las Vegas.

Watch the 2018 U.S. OPEN LIVE on April 25-28

One of the biggest hurdles Ramos will have to face is Daton Fix, the rising Oklahoma State sophomore who—along with Yianni Diakomihalis, Spencer Lee, Gable Steveson, Mark Hall, and Zahid Valencia—is a part of the most anticipated age-level group in memory.

These guys are all ushering in a new era of USA wrestling that is faster paced, more consistent, and more dynamic than we have been in history. Here are three factors that will play a part in who comes out on top in Vegas this weekend.

Mental Edge

If you are underestimating the mental aspects of this sport, you’re missing an extremely important cog in the wheel. The mindset and mentality going into a tournament of this magnitude can be the difference when most else is equal. 

I got to sit down and speak candidly about this subject with Ramos a few months ago. He assured me that his mindset is NOT taken for granted, and addressing mindset is a regular part of his training. When you compound the fact that Ramos has two Open titles and that Fix has just one senior-level match under his belt (2016 Spanish Grand Prix), one would have to give the mental edge to Ramos.

2 Strikes

There are two things that Fix does technically that could wind up giving Ramos major fits. First, is Fix's trap-arm gut. I honestly don’t know how much more I can say about it. Here's the tech breakdown of what we did for Behind The Dirt (watch here). 

The other thing that could cause some problems for Ramos is the fact that Fix can score (or at least threaten to score) without grabbing legs with his hands. Everyone (including Fix) knows that Ramos has one of the best re-attacks from short offense in the game, but it's difficult to get to his re-attack if Fix hits that inside trip on him. 

Add the fact that Fix has a gnarly over-tie slide-by and that equals serious trouble for someone such as Ramos who like to frequently hand fight with a collar tie. If you take a look at the slide-by that Fix hits below, it’s obviously extremely fast. Now, do I think that he's going to be able to score that easily against Ramos? No, probably not. It may, however, negate the collar heavy hand fighting that Ramos uses to wear on his opponents. 

Pace

Who winds up setting the pace of the match is, by far, the most intriguing part of the bout to me. Tactically these two couldn’t be more polar opposites. 

Fix loves to get on and off the mat as quickly as possible. He scores in clusters of four or more, not two, so you can find yourself getting teched before you know it if you’re not careful. Ramos is much more deliberate with his scoring. He manages the clock, the circle, and the rulebook better than anyone in this country. 

If Fix allows Ramos to get close, hand fight, and push him around, it's going to be tough to score late. Here's an example from last year's U.S. Open in which Ramos snuck two points from one push-out exchange simply by putting Nahshon Garrett on the shot clock, getting to a single leg, waiting for the shot clock to expire, and then pushing Garrett out of bounds. It doesn’t get savvier than that.