Just because it isn't college wrestling season doesn't mean you can't watch your favorite team's athletes compete. The World Team Trials Challenge Tournament is one of the best tournaments of the year. As of right now, there will be 44 schools represented including several non-D1s. 

Below is a list of all the schools with their former, current, and/or future wrestlers who will be competing. Several of the top schools are listed at the top, with the rest below sorted alphabetically. 

Penn State

61 kg - Nico Megaludis

65 kg - Beau Bartlett

65 kg - Nick Lee

70 kg - Zain Retherford

74 kg - Jason Nolf

79 kg - Vincenzo Joseph

79 kg - Carter Starocci

86 kg - Mark Hall

Penn State will have 2 current wrestlers, 3 former wrestlers who now train at NLWC, and 3 former wrestlers who now train at different clubs competing. Beau Bartlett is the only current wrestler competing. Although as a 2021 Junior World bronze medalist, Bartlett is coming into this tournament with freestyle experience, he’s realistically looking to compete to get into the top-six at best.

Nick Lee, Zain Retherford, and Jason Nolf are the three Penn State guys still training in State College. Making it to the semifinals is the best Lee and Retherford can do as the finalists at their weights will compete in a best of three series at Final X. Lee will probably be the four-seed (although he has an argument to be higher) and have to beat Kendric Maple in the semis to make it to Final X. Retherford will also probably be the four-seed and have to beat Alec Pantaleo to make it to Final X. 

Jason Nolf will be the odds on favorite to win the 74 kg bracket. His biggest competition will most likely be NCAA and Junior World champ David Carr. Nolf beat Carr 10-0 at the Olympic Trials.

Nico Megaludis currently competes for the Pittsburgh Wrestling Club, Vincenzo Joseph for the California RTC, and Mark Hall for the Pennsylvania RTC.

Iowa State

65 kg - Ian Parker

74 kg - David Carr

86 kg - Julien Broderson

86 kg - Marcus Coleman

86 kg - Pat Downey

125 kg - Kyven Gadson

With Iowa and UNI only bringing two guys each, Iowa State will be the largest Iowa school represented in Coralville. David Carr and Kyven Gadson have the best chances of making it far in this tournament. Carr will likely be a top-four seed with the main opposition being Jason Nolf, who he lost to 10-0 at the Olympic Trials. Gadson will be moving up to 125 kg after spending most of his post-collegiate career at 97 kg and trying 92 kg at last year’s WTT. It will be interesting to see how the extra pounds affect the 2015 NCAA champion and if he can surprise some people.

Watch David Carr win his 2019 Junior World gold medal below.

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Arguably the most interesting registrant of the entire tournament is former Cyclone wrestler Pat Downey. Downey was a 2016 All-American for the Clones placing 5th in 2016. Focusing on his MMA career, Downey hasn’t wrestled a match since the Olympic Team Trials in April of last year. While he went just 1-2, he beat Aaron Brooks 11-0 and only lost to Bo Nickal and Zahid Valencia.

Oklahoma State

65 kg - Dean Heil

65 kg - Carter Young

70 kg - Jordan Oliver

79 kg - Brayden Thompson

79 kg - Alex Dieringer

The Cowboys will be well represented across the middleweights in Coralville. Multiple-time national champions Jordan Oliver and Alex Dieringer have since moved on from Stillwater, but are the Cowboys' best shot at getting someone to Final X besides Daton Fix. Alex Dieringer is coming off of a down performance at the US Open where he lost to Vincenzo Joseph on a late lat drop.

Watch the highlights from Alex Dieriner’s loss to Vincenzo Joseph below.

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Cowboy fans aren’t just going to want to keep an eye on Ringer at 79 kg, high school junior and OSU commit Brayden Thompson will be competing. Currently #1 in the nation at 170 lbs, Thompson is coming off of a strong performance at the Senior US Open where he took 6th place.

Carter Young was the breakout star of the 2021 World Team Trials when he took 3rd at 61 kg with wins over Seth Gross, Tyler Graff, and Nahshon Garrett. Now up at 65 kg, it will be interesting to see if he can come close to a similar performance. 

Ohio State

61 kg - Jesse Mendez

65 kg - Joey McKenna

65 kg - Luke Pletcher

70 kg - Sammy Sasso

97 kg - Kollin Moore

2021 NCAA finalist Sammy Sasso will be the only current Ohio State wrestler competing. He’s coming off of a 5th place performance at the US Open where he took losses to Jordan Oliver and Doug Zapf. Placing 3rd was incoming Buckeye freshman Jesse Mendez. With Mendez’s performance in Vegas, he should end up seeded in the 6, 7, or 8 range. Sign me up for Mendez vs Seth Gross!

Watch a behind-the-scenes look at Jesse Mendez’s US Open run below.

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Now competing for the Penn RTC, Joey McKenna is in one of the more interesting weights in Coralville. With no returning medalist already waiting at Final X, the finalists won’t wrestle at the tournament, but rather at Final X. McKenna will most likely get the three seed and have to wrestle Yianni Diakomiahlis in the semis to make it to Final X.

Watch Joey McKenna take match one from Yianni at 2021 WTT below.

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Similarly, Kollin Moore will probably have to go through a rival he has split with in the past: Mike Macchiavello. Moore got the better of Macchiavello the last time they wrestled at the Olympic Trials, but as US Open champion, Macchiavello is guaranteed the one-seed.

NC State

57 kg - Jakob Camacho

74 kg - Tommy Gantt

79 kg - Nick Reenan

86 kg - Trent Hidlay

92 kg - Isaac Trumble

97 kg - Mike Macchiavello

125 kg - Nick Gwiazdowski

Second only to Penn State in terms of athletes competing, NC State will be well represented in Coralville. The only wrestler on the list above currently not training in Raleigh is Nick Gwiazdowski, who left in August of 2021 for Cornell. 

As mentioned above, Macchiavello will be the #1 seed but will have to go through Kollin Moore, who beat him 10-0 at the Olympic Trials. Trent Hidlay will be the other big name for the Wolfpack. Hidlay will probably be the three-seed behind Mark Hall and Zahid Valencia. 

App State

57 kg - Caleb Smith

Arizona State

74 kg - Josh Shields

86 kg - Zahid Valencia

Buffalo

97 kg - Sam Mitchell

Campbell

57 kg - Anthony Molton

86 kg - Caleb Hopkins

86 kg - Andrew Morgan

92 kg - Levi Hopkins

Central College

97 kg - Duncan Lee

Cornell

57 kg - Vito Arujau

57 kg - Gregory Diakomihalis

65 kg - Yianni Diakomihalis

Doane

125 kg - Ceron Francisco

Edinboro

74 kg - Peter Pappas

Elmhurst College

97 kg - Joe Rau

Grandview

57 kg - Aden Reeves

Illinois

57 kg - Zane Richards

Iowa

65 kg - Pat Lugo

125 kg - Tony Cassioppi

Lehigh

125 kg - Jordan Wood

Lock Haven

79 kg - Chance Marsteller

Michigan

70 kg - Alec Pantaleo

Michigan State

92 kg - Cam Caffey

Minnesota

70 kg - Michael Blockhus

86 kg - Owen Webster

Missouri

125 kg - Dom Bradley

NDSU

61 kg - Josh Rodriguez

Nebraska

70 kg - Tyler Berger

74 kg - Collin Purinton

97 kg - Tim Dudley

125 kg - Christian Lance

Nebraska - Kearney

61 kg - Daniel DeShazer

North Carolina

65 kg - Evan Henderson

92 kg - Max Shaw

Northern Iowa

79 kg - Taylor Lujan

86 kg - Drew Foster

Northern State

70 kg - Dayne Morton    

Northwestern

70 kg - Ryan Deakin

125 kg - Lucas Davison

Oklahoma

65 kg - Kendric Maple

Penn

70 kg - Doug Zapf

Pitt

125 kg - Demetrius Thomas

Princeton

65 kg - Matthew Kolodzik

Purdue

57 kg - Matthew Ramos

Rider

97 kg - Ethan Laird

Rutgers

70 kg - Anthony Ashnault

SDSU

61 kg - Seth Gross

Southwest Minnesota State

86 kg - Caden Steffen

Stanford

57 kg - Gabriel Townsell

Virginia

92 kg - Jay Aiello

92 kg - Michael Battista

Virginia Tech

79 kg - David McFadden

125 kg - Virginia Tech

Wisconsin

61 kg - Tyler Graff

Wisconsin Whitewater

57 kg - Michael Tortorice