USA Wrestling's biggest bonanza of the year convenes in Las Vegas during the last week of April. And why do so many of the sports' most accomplished competitors in every weight class, style and age level participate? Because there's a lot at stake!

And what impressive stakes there are! And no, we are not talking about the entrees at Guy Fieri's restaurant!

This year's US Open is jam-packed with more top-tier tournaments than ever. You could call it one event but really it's a combination of nine major qualifying tournaments in one, plus showcase tournaments for youth and semi-retired athletes. 

You can check out the schedule of the finals here and below. Make sure you clear your evenings on the weekend as Saturday and Sunday will feature three sets of finals matches each!

Finals Schedule (all times below Eastern)

Wednesday, April 27

U20 Greco-Roman finals - 7:00 PM 

Thursday, April 28

U17 Greco-Roman finals - 6:00 PM

Friday, April 29

Senior Women's Freestyle finals - 9:00 PM

Saturday, April 30

U15 Men's Freestyle finals - 7:00 PM

U20 Men's Freestyle finals - 9:00 PM

Senior Men's Freestyle finals - 9:00 PM

Sunday, May 1

U15 Greco-Roman finals - 5:00 PM

U17 Men's Freestyle finals - 8:00 PM

Senior Greco-Roman finals - 8:00 PM

We'll dig into the stakes for those nine tournaments shortly. If you want more information on the boy's futures (13 and under) tournament, click here. For more info on the girl's high school showcase, click here, and for the Master's tournaments (25 and older subdivided into six different age groups), click here. 

Also for more info on the road to Final X and the 2022 Senior World Team, click here. Lastly, for seeding criteria at the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament, check out section C of this document. 

Senior Men's Freestyle

• #1 seed at the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament - unlike in recent years past, Open winners will not get automatic bids to Final X, however, getting the top seed at the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament is still a huge advantage to making Final X, and a US Open stop sign still holds considerable prestige in an of itself.
• Top-seven qualify for the Challenge Tournament - so if you make the semifinals you are in, but if you win in the bloodround you still have to win at least one more match to qualify for the Trials. Also worth noting is the fact that you can enter the Open even if you've already qualified for the Challenge Tourney, meaning already qualified wrestlers can block their opponents from earning qualifying spots. 
• Seeding criteria for the Challenge Tournament - results from the Open will factor heavily into the seeding at the Challenge Tournament (see the above link for more details).

Senior Women's Freestyle

• #1 seed at the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament - except for some variation as to the alternative tournaments that help you qualify for the Challenge Tournament, men's and women's freestyle World Team selection procedures are nearly identical. 
• Top-seven qualify for the Challenge Tournament
• Seeding criteria for the Challenge Tournament 

Senior Greco-Roman

• Top-six in either freestyle or Greco-Roman tournaments qualify for the Challenge Tournament - You can qualify for the Greco Challenge Tournament by placing at the Open in either style. However, placing in the Open in Greco will not qualify you for the men's freestyle Challenge Tournament. 
• Seeding criteria for the Challenge Tournament - the #1 seed at the Challenge Tournament in Greco is only guaranteed by placing at both the Pan-Am Championships and the Bill Farrell Invitational. Results from the 2022 Farrell results can be found here. 

U20 (Junior) Men's Freestyle & Greco-Roman

• #1 seed at the World Team Trials - the senior level tournaments are the premier events at the Open, but the UWW Junior (now U20, for age 20 and under) and Cadet (U17) tournaments will be of high interest as well. U20 World Team Trials will be held June 3-5 in Geneva, Ohio (alongside the U23 World Team Trials). The U20 World Championships will be August 15-21 in Sofia, Bulgaria. The U20 world team procedures are the same for both men's freestyle and Greco-Roman 
• Pan-Am world team spots - win either the freestyle or Greco tournaments (or both!) and you earn a spot on the U20 Pan-Am team, which will compete at the U20 Pan-Am Championships July 8-10 in Oaxpetec, Mexico. For more on the U20 World and Pan-Am team trials procedures, click here.

U17 (Cadet) Men's Freestyle & Greco-Roman

• World Team spots - this is a straight-up world team trials tournament. The finals will be best-2-out-of-3. Winners will wrestle in the U17 World Championships July 25-31 in Rome, Italy. 
• Pan-Am world team spots - Best combined finishes in both the men's freestyle and Greco-Roman tournaments (the athlete must enter both) make the U17 Pan-Am team and wrestle in the U17 Pan-Am Championships June 24-26 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. For more information on the Pan-Am trials procedures, click here. 

U15 Men's Freestyle & Greco-Roman

• Pan-Am world team spots - Best combined finishes in both the men's freestyle and Greco-Roman tournaments (the athlete must enter both) make the U15 Pan-Am team and wrestle in the U15 Pan-Am Championships November 4-6 in Rio Negro, Columbia. For more information on the U15 Pan-Am trials procedures, click here.

All that, plus an opportunity to catch the best high school girls talent, the top U13 boys wrestlers, and the most passionate and elderly wrestlers of the post-senior circuit on their quest for masters glory. It's a great time to be a USA Wrestling fan!

The Stakes At The Open, Summarized

• It's the biggest and most important Team Trials qualifying tournament for the Senior level athletes. 
• It's the biggest most important team trials qualifying tournament for U20 men, and it's determining the men's U20 Pan-Am teams.
• It's determining the men's U17 World & Pan-Am teams.
• It's determining the men's U15 Pan-Am teams.

What about the women's U23, U20, U17 & U15 world and Pan-Am teams? They will be determined at Women's Nationals May 6-8 in Fort Worth, Texas!

And conveniently, literally every tournament mentioned in this article can be streamed LIVE on FloWrestling.

I suppose some will say the NFL Draft will be the biggest event happening in Vegas that weekend. Well, those people are fools. It is actually the USMC US Open, an indisputable fact upon which all agree!