World Team Trials preview at 75 kg/165 lbs. in Greco-Roman
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by Taylor Miller, USA Wrestling
Kamal Bey lifts an opponent for a throw at the 2016 Dave Schultz Memorial International.
Andy Bisek won two World bronze medals for the U.S. competing at 75 kg/165 lbs. However, the newly appointed Northern Michigan assistant coach is not expected to compete at this year’s World Team Trials, leaving the spot to likely be filled by one of youngsters coming onto the Senior Greco-Roman scene.
Consistently challenging Bisek at the weight was Geordan Speiller, who will make the move up to 80 kg/176 lbs. this year. The absence of Bisek and Speiller makes way for U.S.’s youth to take over.
Top competitors Kamal Bey and Jesse Porter took a different route than most U.S. youth wrestlers, foregoing the traditional college wrestling experience in order to pursue Greco-Roman wrestling full time.
The two have clashed in three tournament finals recently, with Bey taking home the gold in each of them. In February, Bey defeated Porter in the Dave Schultz Memorial International finals, 5-3, in their most recent meeting. That outcome was much closer than Bey’s 9-0 technical fall over Porter in the U.S. Senior Nationals finals in December.
Prior to that, the two battled it out for the 74 kg/163 lbs. spot on the 2016 Junior World Team. Porter took the first bout in a best-of-three finals series, but Bey responded with two-straight wins to earn the World Team spot and went on to finish eighth in the world.
Bey, a five-time Fargo finalist and 2015 Junior Greco National champion, moved from his home state of Illinois to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., last year and has shown tremendous improvement.
In his first tournament as an OTC resident athlete, Bey finished fourth at the 2016 Dave Schultz Memorial International. Since then, he has collected three international gold medals and a Senior Greco national championship. Most recently, he won gold at the Junior Greco-Roman Austrian Open before earning bronze at the respected Grand Prix Zagreb Open in Croatia in March.
Porter, a New York native, went straight to full-time Greco by way of Northern Michigan University.
Similar to Bey, Porter won two international medals last month, earning bronze in both the Zagreb Open and Junior Austrian Open. Porter has also picked up international medals at the 2017 Dave Schultz (silver), 2016 Bill Farrell (bronze) and 2016 Klippan Cup (bronze) in Sweden. Nationally, he was a 2016 University Nationals champion and a 2017 U.S. Senior Nationals runner-up.
Earning a third-place finish at Senior Nationals to earn a bid to the Trials is Greco veteran Kendrick Sanders, who has a wealth of international experience and success.
The Florida native owns six international medals, including four gold, all of which were won on U.S. soil. He is a two-time Bill Farrell champion and a two-time Dave Schultz winner. His silvers came from the 2015 Schultz and 2011 Pan-American Championships.
Sanders is a three-time University Nationals champion and a 2014 U.S. Open champion. A three-time National Team member and two-time Olympic Trials qualifier, Sanders has yet to make a Senior Greco World Team.
Michael Hooker is also one to look out for. Recently winning gold at the Armed Forces Championships at 71 kg, Hooker is expected to come up to 75 kg for the Trials.
In 2015, he earned the finals win over Sanders at the Dave Schultz Memorial International. A three-time Armed Forces champion, he also represented the U.S. in both freestyle and Greco-Roman at the World Military Games in Korea that year. He finished 10th in freestyle, while taking 13th in Greco. His most recent international outing was the 2016 Dave Schultz Memorial International, where he finished fourth. He was a Div. I wrestler at Chattanooga before joining the Army WCAP program.
2015 World Team Trials runner-up Dillon Cowan is registered to compete at the weight. Cowan was named the Armed Forces champion at 75 kg in February and won bronze at the 2017 Dave Schultz Memorial International. Cowan also owns a silver medal from the 2016 Schultz. He was second to Andy Bisek on the Senior National Team a few years back.
Other notable qualifiers to look out for include Alex Ortiz and NMU’s Colin Schubert, Michael Donato and Corey Fitzgerald. Ortiz, who competed in college at Minnesota, has consistently been a challenger in the major Senior-level events and has improved with the specialized Greco-Roman training he gets with the Minnesota Storm.
The World Team spot at 75 kg will be determined April 29, along with 59 kg, 71 kg and 85 kg at the 2017 U.S. Greco-Roman World Team Trials in Las Vegas.
2017 World Team Trials qualifiers at 75 kg/165 lbs.
’16 Olympian – Andy Bisek, Marquette, Mich. (Minnesota Storm)
’15 CISM Military World Games medalist – Justin Lester, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP)
’15 Vantaa Cup medalist – Taylor Walsh, Cherry Hill, N.J. (Hoosier WC)
’16 University Nationals champion – Jesse Porter, Clifton Park, N.Y. (New York AC/NMU-OTS)
’16 University Nationals runner-up – Colin Schubert, Brussel, Wis. (NMU-OTS)
’16 University Nationals third place – Jayshon Wilson, Quantico, Va. (U.S. Marines)
’16 Pan American champion – Geordan Speiller, Oviedo, Fla. (Florida Jets)
’16 Bill Farrell champion – Kamal Bey, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids)
’17 U.S. Senior Nationals third place – Kendrick Sanders, Homestead, Fla. (New York AC/NMU-OTS)
’17 U.S. Senior Nationals fourth place – Alec Ortiz, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm)
’17 U.S. Senior Nationals fifth place – Mason Manville, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP)
’17 U.S. Senior Nationals sixth place – Corey Fitzgerald, Green, Ohio (NMU-OTS)
’17 U.S. Senior Nationals seventh place – Michael Donato, Brooklyn, N.Y. (NMU-OTS)
’17 Dave Schultz highest U.S. medalist - Dillon Cowan, Marquette, Mich. (U.S. Army WCAP)
’17 Armed Forces Championships third place – Tyler Westlund, Polar Grove, Ill. (U.S. Air Force)
*NOTE: 2017 NCAA Division I qualifiers, ’17 NCAA Division II All-Americans, ’17 NCAA Division III All-Americans, ’17 NAIA All-Americans, ’17 Junior College All-Americans and ’17 NCWA finalists are all qualified for Greco-Roman World Team Trials
2017 U.S. Senior Nationals results at 75 kg/165 lbs.
1st - Kamal Bey (Sunkist Kids) tech. fall Jesse Porter (New York AC), 9-0
3rd - Kendrick Sanders (New York AC) dec. Alec Ortiz (Minnesota Storm), 8-4
5th - Mason Manville (U.S. Army) tech. fall Corey Fitzgerald (NMU-OTS), 8-0
7th - Michael Donato (NMU-OTS) win by injury default Jayshon Wilson (Marines)
2016 Olympic Team Trials results at 75 kg/165 lbs.
1st - Andy Bisek (Colorado Springs, Colo./Minnesota Storm) dec. Geordan Speiller (Oviedo, Fla./Florida Jets), two matches to none
Bisek dec Speiller, 6-2
Bisek dec Speiller, 4-0
Challenge Tournament
1st - Geordan Speiller (Oviedo, Fla./Florida Jets) dec. Cheney Haight (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC), 7-0
3rd - Corey Hope (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) dec. Dillon Cowan (Colorado Springs, Colo./Army WCAP), 9-6
True Third - Cheney Haight (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) technical fall Corey Hope (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC), 10-0
Andy Bisek won two World bronze medals for the U.S. competing at 75 kg/165 lbs. However, the newly appointed Northern Michigan assistant coach is not expected to compete at this year’s World Team Trials, leaving the spot to likely be filled by one of youngsters coming onto the Senior Greco-Roman scene.
Consistently challenging Bisek at the weight was Geordan Speiller, who will make the move up to 80 kg/176 lbs. this year. The absence of Bisek and Speiller makes way for U.S.’s youth to take over.
Top competitors Kamal Bey and Jesse Porter took a different route than most U.S. youth wrestlers, foregoing the traditional college wrestling experience in order to pursue Greco-Roman wrestling full time.
The two have clashed in three tournament finals recently, with Bey taking home the gold in each of them. In February, Bey defeated Porter in the Dave Schultz Memorial International finals, 5-3, in their most recent meeting. That outcome was much closer than Bey’s 9-0 technical fall over Porter in the U.S. Senior Nationals finals in December.
Prior to that, the two battled it out for the 74 kg/163 lbs. spot on the 2016 Junior World Team. Porter took the first bout in a best-of-three finals series, but Bey responded with two-straight wins to earn the World Team spot and went on to finish eighth in the world.
Bey, a five-time Fargo finalist and 2015 Junior Greco National champion, moved from his home state of Illinois to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., last year and has shown tremendous improvement.
In his first tournament as an OTC resident athlete, Bey finished fourth at the 2016 Dave Schultz Memorial International. Since then, he has collected three international gold medals and a Senior Greco national championship. Most recently, he won gold at the Junior Greco-Roman Austrian Open before earning bronze at the respected Grand Prix Zagreb Open in Croatia in March.
Porter, a New York native, went straight to full-time Greco by way of Northern Michigan University.
Similar to Bey, Porter won two international medals last month, earning bronze in both the Zagreb Open and Junior Austrian Open. Porter has also picked up international medals at the 2017 Dave Schultz (silver), 2016 Bill Farrell (bronze) and 2016 Klippan Cup (bronze) in Sweden. Nationally, he was a 2016 University Nationals champion and a 2017 U.S. Senior Nationals runner-up.
Earning a third-place finish at Senior Nationals to earn a bid to the Trials is Greco veteran Kendrick Sanders, who has a wealth of international experience and success.
The Florida native owns six international medals, including four gold, all of which were won on U.S. soil. He is a two-time Bill Farrell champion and a two-time Dave Schultz winner. His silvers came from the 2015 Schultz and 2011 Pan-American Championships.
Sanders is a three-time University Nationals champion and a 2014 U.S. Open champion. A three-time National Team member and two-time Olympic Trials qualifier, Sanders has yet to make a Senior Greco World Team.
Michael Hooker is also one to look out for. Recently winning gold at the Armed Forces Championships at 71 kg, Hooker is expected to come up to 75 kg for the Trials.
In 2015, he earned the finals win over Sanders at the Dave Schultz Memorial International. A three-time Armed Forces champion, he also represented the U.S. in both freestyle and Greco-Roman at the World Military Games in Korea that year. He finished 10th in freestyle, while taking 13th in Greco. His most recent international outing was the 2016 Dave Schultz Memorial International, where he finished fourth. He was a Div. I wrestler at Chattanooga before joining the Army WCAP program.
2015 World Team Trials runner-up Dillon Cowan is registered to compete at the weight. Cowan was named the Armed Forces champion at 75 kg in February and won bronze at the 2017 Dave Schultz Memorial International. Cowan also owns a silver medal from the 2016 Schultz. He was second to Andy Bisek on the Senior National Team a few years back.
Other notable qualifiers to look out for include Alex Ortiz and NMU’s Colin Schubert, Michael Donato and Corey Fitzgerald. Ortiz, who competed in college at Minnesota, has consistently been a challenger in the major Senior-level events and has improved with the specialized Greco-Roman training he gets with the Minnesota Storm.
The World Team spot at 75 kg will be determined April 29, along with 59 kg, 71 kg and 85 kg at the 2017 U.S. Greco-Roman World Team Trials in Las Vegas.
2017 World Team Trials qualifiers at 75 kg/165 lbs.
’16 Olympian – Andy Bisek, Marquette, Mich. (Minnesota Storm)
’15 CISM Military World Games medalist – Justin Lester, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP)
’15 Vantaa Cup medalist – Taylor Walsh, Cherry Hill, N.J. (Hoosier WC)
’16 University Nationals champion – Jesse Porter, Clifton Park, N.Y. (New York AC/NMU-OTS)
’16 University Nationals runner-up – Colin Schubert, Brussel, Wis. (NMU-OTS)
’16 University Nationals third place – Jayshon Wilson, Quantico, Va. (U.S. Marines)
’16 Pan American champion – Geordan Speiller, Oviedo, Fla. (Florida Jets)
’16 Bill Farrell champion – Kamal Bey, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids)
’17 U.S. Senior Nationals third place – Kendrick Sanders, Homestead, Fla. (New York AC/NMU-OTS)
’17 U.S. Senior Nationals fourth place – Alec Ortiz, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm)
’17 U.S. Senior Nationals fifth place – Mason Manville, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP)
’17 U.S. Senior Nationals sixth place – Corey Fitzgerald, Green, Ohio (NMU-OTS)
’17 U.S. Senior Nationals seventh place – Michael Donato, Brooklyn, N.Y. (NMU-OTS)
’17 Dave Schultz highest U.S. medalist - Dillon Cowan, Marquette, Mich. (U.S. Army WCAP)
’17 Armed Forces Championships third place – Tyler Westlund, Polar Grove, Ill. (U.S. Air Force)
*NOTE: 2017 NCAA Division I qualifiers, ’17 NCAA Division II All-Americans, ’17 NCAA Division III All-Americans, ’17 NAIA All-Americans, ’17 Junior College All-Americans and ’17 NCWA finalists are all qualified for Greco-Roman World Team Trials
2017 U.S. Senior Nationals results at 75 kg/165 lbs.
1st - Kamal Bey (Sunkist Kids) tech. fall Jesse Porter (New York AC), 9-0
3rd - Kendrick Sanders (New York AC) dec. Alec Ortiz (Minnesota Storm), 8-4
5th - Mason Manville (U.S. Army) tech. fall Corey Fitzgerald (NMU-OTS), 8-0
7th - Michael Donato (NMU-OTS) win by injury default Jayshon Wilson (Marines)
2016 Olympic Team Trials results at 75 kg/165 lbs.
1st - Andy Bisek (Colorado Springs, Colo./Minnesota Storm) dec. Geordan Speiller (Oviedo, Fla./Florida Jets), two matches to none
Bisek dec Speiller, 6-2
Bisek dec Speiller, 4-0
Challenge Tournament
1st - Geordan Speiller (Oviedo, Fla./Florida Jets) dec. Cheney Haight (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC), 7-0
3rd - Corey Hope (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) dec. Dillon Cowan (Colorado Springs, Colo./Army WCAP), 9-6
True Third - Cheney Haight (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) technical fall Corey Hope (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC), 10-0
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