By Jeff Johnson

Everything you need to know about women's 65, 68, 72, and 76kg brackets at the 2019 U.S. Open.

65 Kilograms

This weight can make a case as one of the best weights at this year's open. Although there are only six wrestlers registered at this time, the quality far outweighs the quantity. The top three finishers in last year's event are all slated to be in Vegas, and are the same top three from last years World Team Trials.

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The defending champion is Julia Salata. The 2018 Open champ was kept off the world team by being upset in Final X, but she was dominant at the Open, controlling eventual world team member Forrest Molinari 5-0. She is fresh off a gold-medal performance at the Pan Ams this past weekend and looking sharp heading into Vegas.

Watch Salata win a stop-sign in the video below:

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The aforementioned Molinari is a recent addition to the Hawkeye Wrestling Club and will be looking to maintain control of this weight domestically in 2019. She’ll be looking to build off her appearance at the World Championships last fall with hopes of capturing her first U.S. Open title.

Finishing third behind Salata and Molinari last year was Jaydin Laurent. In addition to her third-place finish at the Open, Laurent went on to represent Team USA at the Junior World Championships in 2018 as well.

A pair of accomplished age-level wrestlers will be looking to prevent the same top three finishers this year and start making names for themselves at the senior level. Maya Nelson, a 2017 Junior World champ captured a title at the Schultz earlier this year. Macey Kilty boasts three world-level medals including a cadet title in 2017 and a junior silver last year.

Prediction:

1) Salata 

2) Molinari 

3) Kilty 

4) Nelson

68 Kilograms

There will be some new faces at the top of the podium this year at 68 kilos. As of now, none of the top five finishers from 2018 have registered. One of America’s best and most exciting wrestlers competes at this weight, but returning champ and world bronze medalist Tamara Stock has already accepted her spot in Final X and will not be in Vegas to defend her title. 

You can watch her dominate last year's finals here: 

The 10-athlete field includes a pair of returning place winners from last year's Open, the highest of whom is Anna Naylor who wrestles for the powerhouse NWCA program Cumberlands University. She finished sixth last year after reaching the semis. She knocked off the No. 2 seed who went on to finish third, so we know she has it in her to improve on that placement.

New Jersey’s Skylar Grote is the other top finisher from 2018, as she took home seventh place. Her 10-0 tech for seventh can be seen here.

Return entries from 2018 include Lena Flanagan and Chloe Rogers. Neither were able to win a match last year. The rest of the field includes Adrianna Orozco, Alma Mendoza, Anatil Smalley, Marilyn Garcia, and Rachel Allar.

Prediction: 

1) Naylor 

2) Grote 

3) Allar 

4) Rogers

72 Kilograms

The championship match in 2018 was a razor-thin 6-5 battle between eventual World Team member Erin Clodgo and Iowa native Rachel Waters that you can relive here: 

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Clodgo is not entered this year, but Waters is and will be looking to move up one more step to the top of the podium in 2019. Waters was also the runner-up to Clodgo at Final X last year.

Half of the 2018 Open place-winners return to Vegas. In addition to Waters, fourth-place finisher and 2018 Junior World teamer Alyvia Fiske comes back as a top contender. Fifth-place finisher Jerzie Estrada, and eighth-place finisher Alexis Gomez add depth and experience to the weight class.

Perhaps the biggest story here is the return to competition of Victoria Francis. Francis just completed a one-year suspension for anti-doping violations dating back to 2017. Prior to the suspension, Francis was one of the top upperweights America had to offer. She has a Junior World bronze, a runner-up finish at the Olympic Trials in 2016, and a spot on the senior World Team, among other accolades. She could be the favorite here.

Prediction: 

1) Francis 

2) Waters 

3) Fiske 

4) Estrada

76 Kilograms

This weight class was dominated in 2018 by the return of one of the all-time greats, Adeline Gray. She dominated the Open, along with everything else she entered, on her route to her fourth world title. 

Like Stock at 68, Gray has accepted her spot in Final X and will not be entertaining fans in Vegas this coming weekend. Her Final X opponent from last year, Korianahe Bullock, will be the favorite in 2019. She is the highest returning placer from 2018, having finished fourth at last year's event.

Nobody else from the 2018 field is expected in 2019, opening the door for some fresh talent to emerge. Among the favorites to do so is Peyton Rigert, who finished third at the Schultz this season. The field is rounded out with Dave Hart, Emily Cue, Kenya-Lee Sloan, and Paige Baynes.

Prediction: 

1) Bullock 

2) Rigert 

3) Sloan 

4) Baynes