If this guy wins at freestyle OTTs, it means we have the best chance at a medal...POST-MORTEM

[maligned 528]

OTT freestyle "this guy gives us reason to hope" Post-Mortem:

 

57:

Who I thought inspired hope if he'd won: Garrett

 

Where is the hope meter now?: About as low as it would have been had Ramos won again.  Dennis has a great gut if he can get on top, but I struggle to hope that he'll have the offense to end up on top of many medal contenders at the world level.  

 

65:

Who I thought inspired hope if he'd won: Stieber, Pico, or Green, for various reasons (in retrospect, Retherford also)

 

Where is the hope meter now?: About as low as it would have been had Metcalf won again--probably even lower in my view.  Molinaro absolutely deserves the spot, but he has the same deficiency as Metcalf--lack of world-class offense--without as much world-class experience to utilize his top-notch defense as fully as Metcalf could.  With the depth of freakish studs at this weight worldwide, I think Molinaro can qualify the weight, but I'll be even more shocked by him than I was this past weekend if he comes back with a medal.  We needed offense and athleticism at this weight to have a puncher's chance and we didn't get it, unfortunately.

 

74:

Who I thought inspired hope if he won: Burroughs

 

Where is the hope meter now?:  All I see is gold.

 

86:

Who I thought inspired hope if he won: Taylor, R. Perry, or Cox

 

Where is the hope meter now?: Much, much higher than if the downward-trending Herbert or the undersized Dake had gotten through.  Cox is for real and is only getting better.  He had this performance with a few weeks of freestyle prep.  I can't wait to see his next steps with a few months of prep and a world qualifier under his belt.

 

97:

Who I thought inspired hope if he won: Snyder

 

Where is the hope meter now?: Very high.  This weight will have at least 4 other killers from Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Ukraine (2 of which didn't have their probable reps at the worlds Snyder won, and will come in as slight favorites over the kid).  But the kid just keeps impressing more and more.  I can't wait to see him at Rio.

 

125:

Who I thought inspired hope if he won: Tervel

 

Where is the hope meter now?: Lower than in 2012 because of the neck and back issues, but still higher than Rey or Gwiz or anyone else would have inspired.  He'll still bang with all the top guys except Akgul of Turkey.