Michigan greats ready for World Team Trials this weekend
5/27 - When people think of the great wrestlers to come
out of Michigan in the past decade the names Simmons,
Churella, and Metcalf immediately come to mind and
this weekend the usual suspects will be battling it out
for a shot at making the 2009 Freestyle National Team.
Not since 2006 has a Michigan native earned a spot on
a national team. In 06 East Kentwood native Joe
Warren earned a spot on the Greco-Roman team and
won the World Gold Medal at 60kg.
This year there are a handful of Michigan natives who
should be in contention to earn a trip to the 2009
World Championships.
The only Michigander who enters as the top seed in his
weight is former Michigan State 4x all-american and
Williamston High School 4x state champ Nick Simmons,
who is the man to beat in freestyle 55kg division after
winning the US National Title at that weight.
The Freestyle World Trials format automatically advances
the weight class champ from this spring's US Senior Nationals to the best-of-three finals. The rest of the wrestlers who qualify to wrestle in the World Team Trials have to get through a challenge tournament to advance to the best-of-three finals. Simmons is the only Michigander who comes in with a spot in the finals locked up.
Former Davison High School 4x state champ and current Iowa Hawkeye star Brent Metcalf comes in as a top contender at 66kg after finishing runner-up at the US Nationals and falling just short of an automatic finals bid. Another former Davison state champ to watch this weekend will be Iowa State All-American Jon Reader, who finished 5th at the US Nationals at 74kg.
While Nick Simmons is arguably Michigan's best bet to earn a World Championships berth this weekend, his brother Andy cannot be forgotten about. Since returning to the mat this winter after a nearly 2-year hiatus from completion, Andy has picked up steam with top 4 finishes at the Dave Schultz International and US Nationals at 60kg.
The other brother tandem to watch is former University of Michigan and Novi High School graduates Josh and Ryan Churella. Both Josh and Ryan finished in the top 6 of their respective weight classes at the US Nationals.
A couple years ago Brandon Sinnott, Wynn Michalak, and Bubba Gritter were the anchors of the CMU lineup, making up one of the most daunting upperweight groups in all of college wrestling, but this year they will be looking to make a mark at the World Trials as the former Chipps and Michigan natives all qualified to compete. Michalak finished 3rd at 96kg at the US Nationals.
Former Michigan All-American Andy Hrovat is not native to the Wolverine State, however, he has lived in Ann Arbor for over a decade as a competitor and coach. Hrovat has been a national team member twice, wrestling in the 2006 World Championships and 2008 Olympics at 85kg. This weekend he will be moving up to 96kg for the first time in his career.
In the Women's division keep an eye on Goodrich senior CC Weber. Weber has emerged as one of the country's top up and coming female wrestlers as she finished 3rd at the US Nationals at 51kg and looks to contend this year in her first ever World or Olympic Team Trials.
Michigan's best bets to make the National Team
1. Nick Simmons - The Williamston native has been living in Corvallis, Oregon since graduating from MSU and he has amassed a ton of international freestyle experience over the past two years. With Olympic gold medallist Henry Cejudo not competing this year, the 55kg weight class appears to be Simmons' for the taking. The only competitor in this weight who has ever beaten Simmons is veteran Danny Felix, who received a coaches wildcard to compete.
2. Andy Hrovat - Hrovat, a.k.a. "Silent H", has been one of the top American freestyle wrestlers since graduating from the University of Michigan a few years ago and while he was upset at the US Nationals last month, he still remains a favorite to make the National Team. He is bumping up to 96kg/211.5, which is higher than he has ever wrestled, but the jump should not hurt him too bad as he beat the current #1 seed Jake Varner twice last year at 185lbs. Unfortunately for the University of Michigan, Hrovat has announced that he will be moving out to Colorado following the Trials to train at the Olympic Training Center. He had been a volunteer coach at Michigan since graduating.
3. Brent Metcalf - Metcalf bounced back well at the US Nationals after suffering one of the biggest wrestling upsets of all time when he was knocked off in the NCAA Finals last March. At the US Nationals Metcalf stormed through his half bracket en route the finals where he lost to Trent Paulson. As usual, 66kg is one of the deepest weights, so Metcalf will have his work cut out for him just making it through the challenge tournament, however, he has proven that he can beat anyone in this weight. Darrion Caldwell, who shocked the wrestling world by beating Metcalf in the 2009 NCAA Finals, received a wildcard berth into the trials, so a Caldwell-Metcalf rematch is possible this weekend.
4. Ryan Churella - Churella has been getting better and better on the national freestyle level over the past couple years and he has emerged as a top contender at 74kg. Travis Paulson is the National Champ at this weight, and while he did beat Churella in the semifinals of the US Nationals this year, Churella has beaten Paulson twice in the past year, so there is no doubt that he can contend in this weight. 2008 Olympian Ben Askren will be back at this weight after sitting out the US Nationals and he will have to go through the Challenge Tournament, so Churella will have a tough road to the finals.
5. Andy Simmons - As stated above, Simmons has looked good since his return this winter. He came back lighter, competing at 60kg/132lbs and the drop doesn't seem to be affecting him as he has knocked off many of the best at this weight. He lost a tight match to former World Silver Medallist Mike Zadick in the US National Semifinals, however, he showed that he can compete with Zadick and he may be one of Zadick's toughest challengers for a spot on the team at 60kg.
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