Predict the 2020 Olympic Team

[spladle08 559]

I do agree Yazdani is a bit underrated due to his loss to Taylor last year. I would favor Yazdani in a rematch. He was clearly the more skilled wrestler, just wasn’t in as good of shape as Taylor. I think he is definitely one of the top pound for pound wrestlers in the world, but Sadulaev is #1 on everyone’s p4p list. Sad would definitely be a least a little tougher match up. Yazdani is not a big 86 so Cox would have a huge strength advantage if he can handle the cut. He sweats so much, it probably wouldn’t be hard for him to get down lol

Yeah Yazdani is "better" than Taylor. Apples to apples... but 2x now his conditioning didnt hold up at all.

 

I do think skill for skill, Cox would beat him.

 

I want to see him vs. Both our guys in 2020, it likely wont but i wouldnt mind :) .... when he initially moved up. I thought he had a solid advantage over Saduleav, however the bruising styles of both with his limited tank, I think I've changed my mind.....

 

Oh yeah.....and War Sharifov

 

[scramble 141]

2 hours ago, The Genius said:

As an Iranian I hope Cox moves to 86kg because Yazdani has major issues with DT, but I think it would be better for the US if Cox moved to 97kg. Cox already beat DT and Dake in trials (2/3 each I think?), so we can't just say his results are inflated because of a weak division to dismiss him (even though it is true in itself, 92kg is very very weak). Cox looks huge and very strong at 92kg, so I feel like 97kg would be better for him than 86kg at this stage of his career. 

JB/Dake is the real tough call, both are incredible in their own right. 

In regards to Yazandi and feeling it is better for him to wrestler Taylor than Cox, I disagree.  I get that he lost to Taylor and there is the shape factor, but Cox is so freaking hard to score on.  There are probably a handful of guys in the world p4p that have as good of a defense.  His flexibility is insane.  It is absolutely freakish that a guy with his strength and muscle density has his degree of flexibility.  He can defend singles with a full split and maintain balance with his leg as high as his head. I don't think Yazandi can score on him the way he does with against others.  Also Cox is much better now than he was 2-3 years ago.

I think Cox goes 86kg.  

Edited September 22 by scramble

[scramble 141]

57 Fix (Close pick for me if Suriano gives it a go)

65 Yianni

74 JB

86 Cox

97 Snyder

125 Gable

[bnwtwg 141]

The best team, in my opinion as the reigning official forum officianado, would be:

57- Fix

65- Yianni

74- JB

86- Dake

97- Cox

125- Snyder

To be very clear this will not happen. It is simply my opinion for what the best team would be. I have some strong opinions:

1) Dake is the wild card. I think he would win 86 but not sure if he can suck down to 74 and beat JB. Nice to to finally have a Russian problem two Olympics in a row.

2) Cox is huge. Holy crap I wonder how much he is cutting to make 203 at this point. Snyder is huge for 213. He is stronger but as he has finally “filled out” (because 230+ and about 6% body fat is filling out??) he seems to have lost a touch of his pliability. I only mean at the world champion level - Snyder is a world destroyer and is still on the GOAT path

3) I don’t know who wins between Cox/Snyder but US loses if the loser of that bout can’t challenge for 125 then it’s a travesty. That according to the thinking that Taylor goes 86 and Cox goes 97.

4) Olympic weights are stupid and so f’ing unfair.

 

[The Genius 182]

11 hours ago, scramble said:

In regards to Yazandi and feeling it is better for him to wrestler Taylor than Cox, I disagree.  I get that he lost to Taylor and there is the shape factor, but Cox is so freaking hard to score on.  There are probably a handful of guys in the world p4p that have as good of a defense.  His flexibility is insane.  It is absolutely freakish that a guy with his strength and muscle density has his degree of flexibility.  He can defend singles with a full split and maintain balance with his leg as high as his head. I don't think Yazandi can score on him the way he does with against others.  Also Cox is much better now than he was 2-3 years ago.

I think Cox goes 86kg.  

The factor is the weight cut, Cox already looks massive at 92kg and at this stage of his career with the weigh ins it's hard to imagine he could make 86kg without sacrificing at least some performance. 

[CaliWrestler 45]

I have to take KD vs JB now just found out wife is due in December 2019

this sucks, good for them but side note even if KD is a little complainer I would love to see him at 74 olympics 

[wrestlingnerd 2,367]

Who’s wife is due in December, JB’s or KD’s? 

[Katie 615]

9 minutes ago, wrestlingnerd said:

Who’s wife is due in December, JB’s or KD’s? 

Apparently JB’s. 

Some things are more important than wrestling and it’s great for JB and his family. That said, juggling three small children might be a factor in his training.

For KD, getting his weight down and staying healthy might be factors. I think he has a small child of his own, or maybe soon will.

Who knows, maybe Mekhi ends up representing us in Tokyo.

Edited September 23 by Katie

[wrestlingnerd 2,367]

Dake has a little daughter but that didn’t seem to impact his performance at all, while JB does not have the same history, obviously. I think partly that’s due to how involved his wife is in his preparation. I remember several interviews including one in a JB documentary in which her role as full-time “manager” (for lack of a better word) was quite apparent. 

I agree Mekhi is a relevant wildcard in this conversation. Hard to see him winning it all but taking out one of the big guns and thereby altering the outcome of the trials would not surprise me at all. 

[Frank_Rizzo 312]

57kg - Suriano - style is picture perfect for international wrestling - can't move him and can't be scored on

65kg - Yianni - after a year of only free, he beats all comers easily

74kg - Dake - second best wrestler in the world right now

86kg - Cox - third best wrestler in the world right now

97kg - Snyder - no credible domestic challengers

125kg - Gwiz - he's our guy until proven otherwise

Edited September 23 by Frank_Rizzo

[NJDan 436]

12 minutes ago, wrestlingnerd said:

Dake has a little daughter but that didn’t seem to impact his performance at all, while JB does not have the same history, obviously. I think partly that’s due to how involved his wife is in his preparation. I remember several interviews including one in a JB documentary in which her role as full-time “manager” (for lack of a better word) was quite apparent. 

I agree Mekhi is a relevant wildcard in this conversation. Hard to see him winning it all but taking out one of the big guns and thereby altering the outcome of the trials would not surprise me at all. 

Plenty of athletes-- and people in all walks of life-- perform at a high level while having a family.

[wrestlingnerd 2,367]

Just now, NJDan said:

Plenty of athletes-- and people in all walks of life-- perform at a high level while having a family.

Agreed, but my only point was that last time JB had a kid, he got sent to the BBQ line at the Olympics. One data point does not make a trend, but it is both wonderful for JB as well as concerning for overzealous fans like some of us. 

[Katie 615]

1 hour ago, NJDan said:

Plenty of athletes-- and people in all walks of life-- perform at a high level while having a family.

Getting woken up all night every night, changing diapers, feeding them, bathing them, dressing them, going to doctor’s appointments, buying car seats and food and toys, etc. That’s a lot. And kids are so wonderful they change your priorities. 

I don’t know for sure that a newborn (plus two small kids) will negatively affect his performance. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it did.

Edited September 23 by Katie

[mspart 153]

It will really be interesting that's for sure.  We have world champions that will have to go against each other unless something unforeseen happens.  The Oly trials will be killer. 

mspart

[Ogalthorpe Haywood 206]

On 9/21/2019 at 8:21 PM, The Genius said:

DT is a strong favourite for Gold in 2020 at 86kg so it would be silly to replace him now in my opinion. On the other hand, Snyder is now a significant underdog at 97kg so the time is right to see what Cox can do at 97kg. 

At 74kg I think Burroughs was superb, he had a very tough run and lost on criteria because of a last second step out. But JB is 0-2 against Sidakov now and Dake is a monster so I want to see Dake at 74kg.

Dake-Taylor-Cox is an incredible mix. 

Clearly should be Yianni at 65kg too. 

No idea about 57kg or 125kg though. 

Why clearly Yianni at 65kg, he has to be Zain when it counts and hasn’t been able to do that. He’ll also have to get by a healthy JO which I’m interested in seeing. 

[Ogalthorpe Haywood 206]

51 minutes ago, Katie said:

Getting woken up all night every night, changing diapers, feeding them, bathing then, dressing them, going to doctor’s appointments, buying car seats and food and toys, etc. That’s a lot. And kids are so wonderful they change your priorities. 

I don’t know for sure that a newborn (plus two small kids) will negatively affect his performance. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it did.

And don’t forget what Mick told Rocky “women weaken legs” 

[GoNotQuietly 719]

57 - Fix

65 - Yianni

74 - Burroughs

86 - Dake

97 - Cox

125 - Gwiz

[GoNotQuietly 719]

On 9/22/2019 at 12:03 AM, bnwtwg said:

The best team, in my opinion as the reigning official forum officianado, would be:

57- Fix

65- Yianni

74- JB

86- Dake

97- Cox

125- Snyder

To be very clear this will not happen. It is simply my opinion for what the best team would be. I have some strong opinions:

1) Dake is the wild card. I think he would win 86 but not sure if he can suck down to 74 and beat JB. Nice to to finally have a Russian problem two Olympics in a row.

2) Cox is huge. Holy crap I wonder how much he is cutting to make 203 at this point. Snyder is huge for 213. He is stronger but as he has finally “filled out” (because 230+ and about 6% body fat is filling out??) he seems to have lost a touch of his pliability. I only mean at the world champion level - Snyder is a world destroyer and is still on the GOAT path

3) I don’t know who wins between Cox/Snyder but US loses if the loser of that bout can’t challenge for 125 then it’s a travesty. That according to the thinking that Taylor goes 86 and Cox goes 97.

4) Olympic weights are stupid and so f’ing unfair.

 

 

Agree on basically every point here.  This would have us challenging for titles at 74, 86, and 97, and medals at all the other weights aside from maybe 65kgs.  I don't think Snyder can mess with Akgul and Geno, and I'm not actually sure, as much as I love Yianni and Zain, that we end up actually qualifying 65kgs...

[de4856 342]

57, I expect Fix to face a stiff challenge from Gilman, and Lee. Suriano is also in the mix. But if you look at Suriano he's already ripped, and if he cuts to 57, I think he loses any advantage he would have if he stayed at 61. I also expect Garrett to be there as well, and even though he's tough, he is coming off an injury and like Suriano, I think he is better off physically at 61. In the end though, I think if Lee is healthy, I believe we see Fix vs Lee. 

65, I think we see Zain vs Yianni, I know there are other top contenders, but I think these two have separated themselves from the others in this weight. And even though I am a big fan of Zain, I think Yianni overtakes him at some point here in the upcoming months. 

74, JB vs KD, I think JB's age is going to be a factor here, so I think Dake finally gets by JB. 

86, DT, is the guy here, even if J'den drops down, (even though I don't expect him to). I know there are others there like PD3, Heflin, Zahid, Brooks, MyMar, and some others, but DT is just on another level. And even though he's coming off an injury, I don't think it will have an impact on him. 

97, Snyder vs Cox, not really sure how this will work out. But I think Kyle is the underdog here, and he needs to work on his speed, finishes, scrambling, and maximizing his gas tank. If he can, he should be successful. J'den has really improved these last two years and presents a whole set of problems for Kyle. 

125, Gwizz had two really tough matches with Steveson at Final X, so do we ask, was this an outlier, or has Steveson closed the gap? And where does Cassar fit into all this? I think Gwizz, like everyone else, is going to have a very difficult time in getting back to the Senior team. 

 

[bnwtwg 141]

1 hour ago, GoNotQuietly said:

 

Agree on basically every point here.  This would have us challenging for titles at 74, 86, and 97, and medals at all the other weights aside from maybe 65kgs.  I don't think Snyder can mess with Akgul and Geno, and I'm not actually sure, as much as I love Yianni and Zain, that we end up actually qualifying 65kgs...

Snyder would not win - he would get silver or a bronze depending on whether Geno and Akgul are on the same side or not- because I don't think he has the size to beat either. I do believe that both Snyder and Cox probably get the best of Gwiz in the room but I don't have any insight into that, and he is obviously no slouch being a 2x world medalist. But this won't happen so it doesn't really matter other than another fun fantasy matchup

[AZ_wrestling 73]

I think Steveson is our 125 rep. Look at how much he improved from 2018 to 2019. In 2018 he lost to Nelson and got absolutely destroyed by Coon. Fast forward a year and he handily beats Nelson (5-1) and then beats Coon in two straight by a combined score of 21-4. 

I expect similar rates of improvement heading into 2020.  

[CaliWrestler 45]

8 hours ago, wrestlingnerd said:

Who’s wife is due in December, JB’s or KD’s? 

JB wife 6months pregnant already Instagram 

[CaliWrestler 45]

8 hours ago, wrestlingnerd said:

Agreed, but my only point was that last time JB had a kid, he got sent to the BBQ line at the Olympics. One data point does not make a trend, but it is both wonderful for JB as well as concerning for overzealous fans like some of us. 

Can’t agree more!!  Everytime a bun is in Lauren’s oven JB has problems hopefully this was 2019 problem and not 2020 but 3 kids and 1 being a baby I got change my vote 

Edited September 23 by CaliWrestler

[Fishbane 112]

57kg - Spencer Lee

65kg - Zain Retherford

74kg - Jordan Burroughs

86kg - PD3

97kg - J'den Cox

125kg - Anthony Cassar

[lu1979 220]

57kg - S Lee

65kg - Yianni D

74kg - K Dake

86kg - J'Den Cox

97kg - K Snyder

125kg - G Steveson