World medalists Green and Punia headline FloWrestling's eight-man 150 pound bracket this Friday

Graphic courtesy of FloWrestling

Two months ago, FloWrestling hosted an eight-person men’s freestyle bracket at 195 pounds, attracting some of the top senior-level talent in the country. On Friday, Flo is hosting another bracket, this time at 150 pounds. Once again, the weight class is stacked with some of the best wrestlers on the planet, all vying for the $25,000 first-place purse. The matches kick off at 8 p.m. EST and can only be streamed live on FloWrestling.

Below, let’s work our way through the bracket, top-to-bottom, and take a look at some of the elite wrestlers we can expect to see.

No. 1 seed Bajrang Punia
Indian superstar Bajrang Punia is the No. 1 seed in the bracket. The first international wrestler to make an appearance in the Flo weight class tournaments, Punia is in the middle of a month-long training camp with the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club.

Punia placed third at 65 kg at the 2019 World Championships in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan and locked up his spot as India’s representative at the Tokyo Olympic Games. He is also a 2018 World silver medalist and a 2017 U23 World silver medalist. Punia is making the most out of training and competing in the U.S., and it was recently announced that he will take on Zain Retherford at the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club’s next event on December 22.

No. 8 seed Pat Lugo
Punia’s opening round challenge is Pat Lugo of the Hawkeye Wrestling Club. Lugo was the No. 1 seed at 149 pounds going into the 2020 NCAA Tournament. While Lugo is just embarking on his Senior freestyle career, he did pick up a nice victory over Luke Pletcher, the No. 1 seed at 141 pounds going into the NCAA Tournament, 5-0, at the Beat the Streets Chicago Rumble on the Rooftop this June. Lugo, a 2019 All-American for Iowa, is a 2017 Junior World Team Trial runner-up and a 2015 Fargo Junior finalist.

No. 5 seed Anthony Ashnault
Anthony Ashnault looks to emerge out of the topside of the bracket as the No. 5 seed. Ashnault is a four-time All-American and 2019 NCAA champion for Rutgers currently training with the NJRTC and the Scarlett Knights Wrestling Club. Months after winning an NCAA title, Ashnault made his first National Team, reaching the 70 kg World Team Trials Challenge Tournament finals before falling to James Green and suffering an injury that kept him off the mats for months to follow.

In March, Ashnault made his return, winning the 2020 Pan Am Championships in Ottawa, Canada. He also brought home a Pan Am Championship title in 2019.

No. 4 seed Evan Henderson
The Spartan Combat RTC’s Evan Henderson garnered the No. 4 seed in the bracket. A two-time All-American for UNC, Henderson is a fixture on the Senior level, finishing runner-up at the 2020 Senior Nationals in his last outing. He is a 2018 Bill Farrell International champion, a 2015 University Nationals champion and recorded numerous placements at overseas international events over the course of his career.

Ashnault and Henderson wrestled once in folkstyle during the 2016 NCAA season, with Ashnault coming away with a 7-4 victory.

No. 3 seed Jordan Oliver
Moving to the other side of the bracket, the Tar Heel Wrestling Club’s Jordan Oliver netted the No. 3 seed. Oliver, a two-time NCAA champion, three-time finalist and four-time All-American for Oklahoma State, consistently performs amongst the World’s top wrestlers. Although the numerous-time National Team member has yet to make a Senior World Team. Over the past year, Oliver exhibited some of his best wrestling to date, winning the 2019 Bill Farrell International, the 2019 Senior Nationals (outscoring his opponents 50-0) and finishing runner-up at the 2020 Matteo Pellicone in Rome, Italy, only falling to Bajrang Punia, 4-3, in the finals.

No. 6 seed Alec Pantaleo
Alec Pantaleo of the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club will face off with Oliver in the opening round. Pantaleo is a late replacement for the PRTC’s Joey McKenna, who withdrew due to injury. Pantaleo, a three-time All-American for Michigan, was a member of the 2016 Junior World Team and the 2019 U23 World Team.

Earlier this December, Pantaleo helped the CKWC bring home a title from the FloWrestling/Titan Mercury RTC Cup, recording a 4-0 record, notching wins over NCAA All-Americans Matt Kolodzik, Tariq Wilson, Kevin Jack and Brayton Lee.

No. 7 seed Bryce Meredith
Three-time All-American and two-time NCAA finalist Bryce Meredith enters the bracket as the No. 7 seed. Meredith, who wrestled collegiately for Wyoming, recently took on Seth Gross at WRTC Underground No. 1, falling, 10-7, in a tightly contested bout. Meredith’s most recent placement was a third-place finish at the Cerro Pelado in Cuba in February. He is also a 2019 Dave Schultz Memorial third-place finisher and took sixth at the 2019 U.S. Open.

No. 2 seed James Green
Five-time World Team member and two-time World medalist James Green rounds out the bracket as the No. 2 seed. Green was a four-time All-American at Nebraska and currently trains with the Southeast RTC.

While Green, who is the current World Team member at 70 kg, competed at 74 kg for both the 2019 Alans in Russia and the 2020 Matteo Pellicone, he recently dropped to 65 kg (with an allowance) at the FloWrestling/Titan Mercury RTC Cup. There, he logged a 2-2 record with technical fall victories over Brayton Lee and Anthony Echemendia. Both his losses came on criteria to No. 2 on the National Team at 65 kg Yianni Diakomihalis, 4-4, and 3-3. Green previously wrestled at 65 kg for the 2016 Olympic Team Trials, and it will be interesting to see what he decides to do going forward.