Great Article by Trackwrestling on World Team Dilemma and David Taylor Status

[nutman]

Andy Hamilton
Trackwrestling

05/08/2019
   Writing Time: USA Wrestling found a fair solution to a potential World Team dilemma
The conversation began long before Kyle Dake and J'den Cox stepped to the top of the awards podium last October in Budapest.

A potential problem was brewing for USA Wrestling in 2019 — one that burned up Cody Bickley's cell phone battery in recent months as the national teams high performance manager orchestrated calls with the athletes advisory committee to drum up a solution.

For years, USA Wrestling has granted returning World and Olympic medalists a pass to the following year's best-of-three final series in its team selection process. It's both a mechanism USA Wrestling to build an optimal lineup each year and a performance reward for its athletes. In the last three years, 18 of the 19 wrestlers who received the automatic pass were victorious in the Trials finals.

The coveted sit-out position allows athletes to zero in on a smaller pool of potential opponents and gear their training for a short series on one day rather than going through a multi-layered qualification process.

As a result, the national governing body and its constituents needed to come up with an Olympic Trials incentive for winning World medals this year at non-Olympic weights. Otherwise, they might've seen athletes at non-Olympic weights flee this year to their 2020 weight classes to better position themselves for a shot at the Tokyo Olympics, thus leaving the United States with a watered-down World Team.

"Every single World Championships we enter, we enter with the intention of winning," USA Wrestling executive director Rich Bender said last week. "Understanding the realities of our team going from 10 weights to six, we wanted to provide an opportunity for those athletes who wanted to stay at a World weight — as opposed to one of the Olympic weights — that if they have success and bring home a medal for the country, they're going to be rewarded for that in the Trials procedure."

It took a couple years of thought and months of discussion, but USA Wrestling and the athletes advisory committee put together a solution that keeps its core stars at their ideal weights for 2019 and also offers them an incentive for 2020.

If Dake or Cox or whomever wins a medal for the United States at a non-Olympic weight this year in Kazakhstan, they'll get a ticket to the semifinals of the challenge tournament at next year's Olympic Trials.

If Jordan Burroughs, Adeline Gray, Adam Coon or another American wins a World medal at an Olympic weight this September, they'll still get a pass to the best-of-three final series at next year's Trials.

It's a fair solution, maybe the fairest without discarding the medal incentive all together and making everyone start from scratch in 2020. But if 2019 World medalists are getting rewarded in next year's Trials, those who medal at Olympic weights deserve the biggest prize.

Because there's no telling how the cut to 57 kilograms or the climb to 65 kg will affect those who have been competing at 61 kg, for example. Remember James Green at 65 kilograms in 2016? He was a shell of the James Green we've grown accustomed to seeing at 70 kilograms.

"Somebody said: 'I think this is the best solution we can get to, given the scenario we have. I just don't know a better solution,'" Bickley said.



BENDER: NO AGREEMENT YET WITH STATE COLLEGE ON 2020 TRIALS
Contrary to published reports last week, the Olympic Trials aren't booked yet for State College, Bender said.

State College was listed as the location of the Trials on a USA Wrestling men's freestyle selection procedures document, and it's been rumored for weeks as the likely site of the tournament. But Bender said it's not a done deal yet.

"We don't have an agreement yet with State College," he said. "We're required to submit information when we get our Trials process approved by the U.S. Olympic Committee and then required to make that public as soon as it's approved by the U.S. Olympic Committee for transparency reasons, as you can imagine. We're required to put a location of the Trials and that's certainly the hope and the direction we're headed.

"But it's premature to say we're for sure going to State College. We think that's going to be the case, but the reality is we still have some matters to work out, some contractual issues to finalize."



TAYLOR SAYS HE'LL "BE BACK VERY SOON"
David Taylor crumpled in pain Monday night, clutching his right knee after a scramble 25 seconds into his Beat the Streets match with Northern Iowa NCAA champ Drew Foster.

The injury instantly sparked discussion about Taylor's health, whether the reigning World champ will be ready to compete next month at Final X and the World Team qualifying procedures in place if he's not able to wrestle June 8 in Piscataway, N.J.

Taylor tried to continue wrestling Monday after trainers taped the knee, but he stopped seconds after action resumed and pulled the plug on the match. 

"I've got a lot of big things ahead of me," he said Tuesday in a short video message he posted on Twitter. "I had to be smart. I would've loved to continue wrestling, but no doubt I'll be back very soon."

How soon? That remains unclear. He's scheduled to wrestle the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament champion in a month. But winning a medal at last year's World Championships buys Taylor extra time if he needs it.

The USA Wrestling men's freestyle World Team Trials qualifications and procedures document states that returning World medalists who earned an automatic berth into Final X are allowed to request a medical delay. The wrestle-off must occur prior to departure for the 2019 World Team acclimation camp.

The document states: "In case of a delayed final wrestle-off, the national coach and athletes involved shall determine the date, time and place for the final wrestle-off. If a consensus cannot be reached, the men's freestyle sport committee shall make this determination."



TOP PROSPECT IN 2020 CLASS RELEASES VISIT LIST
A.J. Ferrari is arguably the top recruiting prize in the junior class. The Cadet World bronze medalist is the No. 1 overall prospect in Trackwrestling's Class of 2020 rankings.

He might be a 197-pounder in college. He might turn into a heavyweight. 

Either way, the Bergen (N.J.) Catholic star is highly coveted, and for good reason.

Ferrari on Tuesday released a list of schools he plans to visit. The programs that made the cut: Oklahoma State, Rutgers, Nebraska, Ohio State and Penn State.