Bryce Hasseman (in red) earns a win at the Dave Schultz Memorial International. Larry Slater photo.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. â€" The two-hour, late afternoon freestyle practice had ended and all the wrestlers had walked off the mat.

Except one.

Bryce Hasseman still had work to do.

The chiseled Hasseman jumped up, grabbed a rope at the far end of the Olympic Training Center wrestling room and began pulling his 200-pound frame up on it.

Extra work like that is what Hasseman hopes can propel him to a spot on his first U.S. World Team this season. Hasseman had his best season last year, finishing a close second to Jake Herbert in the 2009 World Team Trials.

Herbert went on to win a silver medal at the World Championships in Herning, Denmark. Hasseman had a front-row seat at the event after making the trip as a training partner for the U.S. freestyle squad.

Hasseman is gearing up for the U.S. Open on April 23-24 in Cleveland. He recently moved back down to 84 kg/185 lbs. after spending much of this season wrestling up a class at 96 kg/211.5 lbs.

“Absolutely, I think I can win a World Championship this year. I know I can,” Hasseman said. “I beat the World silver medalist and the World bronze medalist last year. I’m big enough and I’m strong enough, and I definitely think my skills are there. It’s just a matter of going out there and doing it.”

The powerful Hasseman may be the biggest and strongest 84 kilo wrestler in the World. With a natural weight above 200 pounds, the 6-foot-1 Hasseman chose to move up a weight class early this season.

He enjoyed success at 96 kilos. He won the Hargobind International in Canada and placed second in the Dave Schultz tournament at his new weight class.

During a recent overseas trip, Hasseman chose to drop back down to 84 kilos.

“I thought maybe 96 was the weight for me and I was starting to grow into the weight class,” he said. “I felt like I was big enough, and I had a couple good tournaments at 96 kilos. We went on a trip to Europe. My first match, I wrestled a guy from Turkey and I didn’t move him as well as I should’ve. That’s when I decided to go back down a weight class.”

Hasseman moved back down to 84 the next week for a tournament in Ukraine and later stayed at 84 for the Alexander Medved event in Belarus. He fell short of placing in all three events in Europe.

“I believe 84 is still the right weight for me,” he said. “I’ve had better results in that weight class. If I manage my weight, I’m the biggest 84 kilos wrestler in the World. I can use that to my advantage.”

In addition to winning one match against a World silver medalist in Herbert last year, Hasseman also beat Azerbaijan’s Sharif Sharipov last year. Sharipov won a World bronze medal in 2009.

“I know I can wrestle with anybody in the World,” Hasseman said. “I have no doubt about that.”

Hasseman spent last season in Iowa City training with former U.S. Resident Freestyle Coach Terry Brands. 

“I was with Terry for four years,” Hasseman said. “He knows me and knows what I have to do to be the best. It’s been a rough road for me at times this year without him in my corner.”

Hasseman returned as a resident-athlete this year in Colorado Springs. He said one of the main reasons was because there were more training partners in his weight class at the Olympic Training Center.

“Bryce has been looking real good lately,” U.S. National Coach Zeke Jones said. “He’s real physical. He’s strong and powerful. He’s really brought his energy level up. He knows having an attacking mentality is when he’s had his most success. He really believes in order for him to win a World title he has to be at 84, and I think he’s right. He’s back at the weight class where he has had a lot of success.”

Hasseman gave Herbert a tough battle in the best-of-3 match finals at the 2009 World Team Trials in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Herbert won the first match 0-1, 3-2, 1-0.

Hasseman came back to win match No. 2 by scores of 0-1, 1-0, 3-1.

Herbert then earned a 1-0, 1-1 win in the third and deciding match to earn a trip to Denmark.

“We had great matches,” Hasseman said. “I had to go through the mini-tournament, and he sat out until the best-of-3 because he won U.S. Nationals. I made some huge mental mistakes in the matches I lost to Jake. I didn’t build on my leads in the first and third matches, and it cost me. The second match, I did build on my lead, and I won that match.”

Hasseman beat Herbert in 2007 and 2008, but was just 1-3 against him last year. He also lost to Herbert in the semifinals of the 2009 U.S. Nationals in Las Vegas.

Hasseman, who competes for the New York Athletic Club, said he was impressed and inspired by what Herbert did at the World Championships.

“Jake wrestled like the old Americans used to wrestle,” Hasseman said. “He came after guys, wrestled hard and got guys tired. That Russian Jake beat in the semifinals was so tired I thought he was going to have a heart attack. He scored a lot of points, and that’s what you need to do.”

Being so close to making the World Team in 2009 is something Hasseman has thought about a lot this season.

“It drives me a lot â€" it has to drive you,” he said. “I go back and look at the film on those matches and it’s frustrating to watch. I needed to keep attacking. I very easily could’ve been on the World Team. Seeing Jake get second in the World, and knowing how close I was to beating him, is motivation enough for me.”

Hasseman knows there are plenty of tough wrestlers in the U.S. at 84 kilos, including two-time NCAA champion and past National Team member Chris Pendleton.

Hasseman placed third the past two years at the U.S. Open. He was fourth at the 2008 Olympic Trials.

“You have to be ready to scrap every time you go out there,” Hasseman said. “I’m feeling great right now. I’m ready to go. I’m looking forward to competing at the Open.”