The World Team Trials will take place September 11-12 to determine the team that will compete in Oslo, Norway October 2-10. In this article we’ll explore what the top 8 seeds might look like for the competitors at 61kg in men’s freestyle. 

Tyler Graff The One Seed?

Though it’s been 2 years since Tyler Graff took 5th place at the 2019 World Championships, Graff will likely be given preference for being the last 61kg world team member. To make the 2019 world team, Graff defeated Joe Colon in two straight matches after dropping the first in the best of three series at Final X. Take a look below to see how we think the rest of the top 8 seeds will be sorted.

1. Tyler Graff
2. Daton Fix
3. Joe Colon
4. Seth Gross
5. Nick Suriano
6. Nathan Tomasello
7. Shelton Mack
8. Nahshon Garrett 

After Graff, seeding should fall in line with the Olympic Trials seeds and the head to head matchups from those trials. Though Nathan Tomasello and Zane Richards finished above Fix, Colon, and Gross, the latter three forfeited out of the tournament and most likely will not be negatively impacted. Also of note from the Olympic Trials, Joe Colon defeated Seth Gross in a close, 9-8 quarterfinal match. 

Along with the results from the Olympic Trials, Shelton Mack will likely be rewarded for winning the 2021 Senior Nationals. There, Mack defeated Josh Kramer in the finals after Kramer upset Nahshon Garrett in the semis. Though Garrett lost, his overall resume, and that he won the 2018 world team trials, should still land Garrett in the top 8 seeds. 

Tyler Graff's win over Joe Colon to make the 2019 World Team:

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Since he was not able to wrestle at the trials, Nick Suriano is the most challenging wrestler to seed. He does have a head to head win from the 2019 Beat the Streets over Joe Colon. However, Suriano also lost more recently to Seth Gross at the 2019 Bill Farrell. Because of that, Suriano will likely fall just after Gross in the seeding.

Seth Gross' win over Nick Suriano from the 2019 Bill Farrell:

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61kg Most Interesting Weight In Lincoln

The registration list at 61kg is the biggest of any weight in men’s freestyle. With 21 wrestlers registered, there are sure to be upsets in early rounds. Dangerous competitors such as Zach Sanders, Sean Fausz, Jakob Camacho, Josh Kramer and Ethan Lizak will all likely not be seeded in the top 8.  

On top of the total number of participants at 61kg, the number of contenders at 61kg is beyond other weights. Most weights at the world team trials have 2 to 4 clear front runners for the world team spot. 61kg is built different in that there are 6 to 8 guys with a legitimate chance to win the tournament. Beyond that, a number of the contenders at this weight have international accolades proving they can make an impact at worlds in October - Joe Colon won world bronze in 2018, Tyler Graff took 5th in 2019, and Daton Fix is a Junior World champ in 2017. Whoever wins this bracket will earn the right to represent the United States at Olso and should be considered a threat to anyone in the world.