2024 Olympic Team Trials Men's Greco-Roman Preview (60, 67, 77kg)
It’s almost here! The field has been set and the eyes of the American wrestling world are ready to collectively focus on State College, Pennsylvania, the setting of the 2024 US Olympic Team Trials. The Trials are always incredible and a must-see for fans; however, this one is a bit more special after the most recent Trials. Delayed by a year, because of COVID, the 2020(1) Trials were moved to Fort Worth, Texas, and did not have the type of crowd that is expected to pack the Bryce Jordan Center this time.
Our previews have been broken down to half of a particular style at a time. Last week, we started with men's freestyle, then moved into women's freestyle. Now we're wrapping up with Greco-Roman. We'll start with the first three weight - coincidentally, none of the first three weights have been qualified for the Olympic Games, so the winner in each weight class will need to head to the Last Chance Qualifier in early-May.
For each weight, we’ll mention the qualifiers, along with how they qualified, and notes about each of the participants, followed by a finals prediction.
60 kg qualifiers
2020 Olympic Team member: Ildar Hafizov
2023 World Team member at non-Olympic weight (55 kg) - Brady Koontz
2022 World Team member at non-Olympic weight (63 kg) - Sammy Jones
2024 Armed Forces champion (55 kg): Billy Sullivan
2024 Armed Forces champion: Dalton Duffield
2024 Armed Forces runner-up (63 kg): Sidney Flores
2021 World Team member: Dalton Roberts
2023 Bill Farrell runner-up: Randon Miranda
Senior Nationals runner-up: Hayden Tuma
Senior Nationals third place: Max Black
Senior Nationals fourth place: Dylan Gregerson
Senior Nationals fifth place: Taylor LaMont
Last Chance Qualifier champion: Phillip Moomey
Right off the bat, we have a gigantic weight class with a ton of depth. Four wrestlers in this bracket have made Senior World/Olympic teams - Ildar Hafizov, Brady Koontz, Sammy Jones, and Dalton Roberts. Hafizov won the 2020(1) Trials with a pair of techs and looks to be the favorite again. He’ll start as the top seed at this weight. Longtime Army WCAP teammate and opponent, Dalton Roberts, will hold the second seed. The two have met a staggering 14 times since the 2018 World Team Trials!! Roberts holds an 8-6 advantage.
Roberts will anchor a bottom half of the bracket that is loaded. Hayden Tuma and Sammy Jones have made the cut down from 63 kg and assume the #3 and #6 seeds, respectively. Both Tuma and Jones have competed in and lost in the last two editions of Final X (at 63 kg). Also on the bottom half are Brady Koontz and Dalton Duffield. The pair met in Final X last year with Koontz getting the win after getting teched in the first bout.
The top half of the bracket is led by Hafizov, but will also feature Max Black and Randon Miranda as the next two seeds (#4/#5). Both have plenty of international experience on the international level - Black has made a pair of U20 World Teams, while Miranda did the same and was also on the 2018 U23 team.
Former DI All-American Taylor LaMont could represent a decent threat on the top half of the bracket as the eighth seed. LaMont had a ridiculous eight-year streak that saw him make an age-group world team, with the only interruption coming during the COVID year of 2020.
Prediction: Ildar Hafizov over Dalton Roberts
67 kg qualifiers
2020 Olympic Team member: Alex Sancho
2021 World Team member: Peyton Omania
2019 World Team member: Ellis Coleman
2023 World Team member at non-Olympic weight (63 kg): Xavier Johnson
2023 World Team member at non-Olympic weight (72 kg): Pat Smith
2018 World Team member at non-Olympic weight (63 kg): Jesse Thielke
2023 Bill Farrell runner-up: Justus Scott
Senior Nationals third place: Robert Perez III
Senior Nationals fourth place: David Stepanian
2024 Armed Forces champion: Peter Ogunsanya
2024 Armed Forces runner-up (72 kg): Jamel Johnson
Last Chance Qualifier champion: Duncan Nelson
So, we said 60 kg was loaded and deep, maybe 67 kg is even better? 67 kg boasts 30% of the 2023 World Team amongst its competitors and six past Senior World Team/Olympic Team members in its field. Alex Sancho was an Olympian in 2021 and is one of three in the bracket, as he’s joined by Jesse Thielke and Ellis Coleman. Sancho has made three of the last four World/Olympic teams at this weight so he’s a slight favorite amongst a bracket filled with potential hurdles.
What’s interesting about this bracket is that the younger wrestlers, the ones that have competed more recently, have received the favorable seeds. Peyton Omania (#2), Robert Perez III (#3), and David Stepanian (#4). That may be the correct way to seed the bracket; however, it makes for some dangerous low seeds. How about a first-round matchup between #8 Jesse Thielke and #9 Xavier Johnson? Then the winner faces Sancho? Or Pat Smith as the #5 seed and Coleman as the #7? Because of this, 67 kg could be a bracket with a bunch of high seeds in the semis and/or finals. On paper, it could look like a bunch of upsets, but in reality, it isn’t the case.
It’s tough to forecast how someone like Coleman will do in this bracket. Obviously, if he’s at or near top form, he could take the entire thing.
Smith is seeking to make his first Olympic Team after making four world teams at three different weights (71, 72, 77). This could be a fourth for him. Last time, during the Olympic Trials process, Smith went up to 77 kg. If the weight cut isn’t too terrible, he could be a very dangerous fifth seed.
The younger generation of stars is led by 2023 US Open champions Perez III and Justus Scott (72 kg). Perez ended up losing a pair of close bouts to Sancho at Final X, while Scott fell to Smith in a brutal three-match series.
This bracket will truly be a contrast in narratives, will it be a changing of the guard for this new era of competitors or one last hurrah for some fixtures on the Greco circuit?
Prediction: Pat Smith over Robert Perez III
77 kg Qualifiers
2023 World Team member: Kamal Bey
2022 World Team member at non-Olympic weight (72kg): Benji Peak
2021 World Team member: Jesse Porter
2018 World Team member at non-Olympic weight (72kg): RaVaughn Perkins
Senior National third place: Danny Braunagel
Senior National fourth place: Aliaksandr Kikiniou
Senior National fifth place (87 kg): Terrance Zaleski
2024 Armed Forces runner-up: Vincent Dolce
Last Chance Qualifier champion: Tyler Eischens
Even though he was a Junior World Champion in 2017 and seen as the future of US Greco-Roman, Kamal Bey is still seeking to make his first Olympic team in 2024. Bey missed the 2020(1) Trials after a USADA sanction for three missed tests. Bey returned to make the world team in both 2022 and 2023, but has yet to earn a world medal on the Senior level. He’ll hold the top seed and remains a favorite despite having a solid group of competitors behind him.
The winner of the 2020(1) Trials was Jesse Porter, who was considered a longshot at the time. Porter proved it was no fluke by earning a spot on the 2021 World Team and had previously been a part of three U23 squads. He could be a dangerous #6 seed.
Meeting Porter in the semifinals is Bey’s 2023 Final X opponent Aliaksandr Kikiniou. Kikiniou made an excellent run to the 2023 US Open finals by defeating past world team member RaVaughn Perkins in the quarterfinals, before running into Bey.
Senior National results played a significant role in seeding as Benji Peak got the second seed after defeating Kikiniou in the semifinals. Prior to that Kikiniou teched Danny Braunagel. They’ll assume the #2, #3, and #5 seeds respectively.
The fourth seed is Perkins who fell to Kikiniou in the semifinals of the 2024 World Team Trials. At Final X, Perkins defeated Payton Jacobson for true-third place and a slot on the national team. A fixture on the Greco scene for a decade, Perkins was a world team member back in 2018.
Though he had to get in through the Last Chance Qualifier, Tyler Eischens has plenty of experience and could be a factor as the seventh seed. The former Stanford and North Carolina national qualifier had made a U23 and U20 world team.
Prediction: Kamal Bey over Benji Peak