The 2019 U.S. Open is going to be stacked at most every weight, but 65kg, in particular, is not only loaded, it also seems to be the versatile weight class. 

Zain Retherford

Chances are that if you hear the words Zain Retherford and "versatile" colliding in the same sentence the conversation is about his prolific top game. However, his seemingly unending lateral motion allows him to attack both sides of the body with the same single leg. Having a threatening shot that you can fire off is rare at any level, but almost unheard of at the senior level. 

Take a look at Zain's match at this year's Yariguin against two-time world silver medalist Gadshimurad Rashidov of Russia. I realize that Zain doesn't score on his first attempt, but he does force Rashidov, one of the world's best defensive wrestlers, into a 24-second scramble, which more than likely sets up the second attack to the other side.  

Jordan Oliver

If Zain is versatile in the way of being able to attack both the left and right side of the body, Jordan Oliver is his counterpart in that he can attack both the upper and lower half of the body. Oh. And the middle.

(P.S., equally as well.)

If your hands stay on a collar tie for too long you’re almost definitely going to get hit with a slide by. If you stay at mid-range JO’s single and duck can be a real threat. If you don’t respect his level change and down block accordingly, you’ll get trucked over on a double from the outside. And just in case you feel safe in seemingly innocuous ties like a single wrist… he has this. So, good luck with all that. 

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Yianni Diakomihalis

I don’t want to pigeonhole Yianni into being solely a defensive athlete, he’s far more than that. But in the interest of staying on the topic of versatility, it’s important to recognize that vestige front leg. You think you have a great hold of it and then, if it's a folk style match, you’ll hear the ref start screaming danger. In freestyle, you won’t be that lucky—that danger stuff translates to direct points. 

Just as a fun exercise, watch Yianni's NCAA semifinal against Eierman and try and score it as if it were freestyle. 

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Frank Molinaro

Molinaro’s ability to get fours off of his lefty Hi-C (which is a work of art) is that of lore. So much so, that you’d think that he can pretty much do it at will. Whether that’s the case or not doesn’t really matter. The fact is that Frank has become one of the most crafty and calculated wrestlers who have come out of this country in quite some time. 

So, we mentioned the lefty Hi-C, which is Franks biggest offensive threat on his feet, however, one thing that we haven’t mentioned is just how dangerous his head pinch is. In other words, the Hi-C and the head pinch leave you in a serious strategic dilemma. If you decide to be economical with your leg attacks, Frank will hand fight with you long enough to find an opening for the four-point high crotch. If you start firing off shots and one of them doesn't find its mark, that head pinch can turn into four points as well.