It’s a bit of a calendar-based anomaly – two U.S. Opens in one year. An accelerated schedule due to an earlier Olympic Trials and two continental championships hosted in the U.S. this spring hasn’t given U.S. wrestlers much of a break.

Even though some of the favorites for this weekend’s U.S. Open in Arlington, Texas have already qualified, it hasn’t stopped them from entering. The top seven wrestlers from the U.S. Open qualify for April’s Olympic Trials in Iowa City.  Rather than sit out and wait until April, wrestlers can also knock out would-be qualifiers from the Trials.

55kg/121 pounds

Olympian Spenser Mango and Army teammate Jermaine Hodge have owned the weight the last several years at the U.S. Open and World Team Trials. Back in June, Paul Tellgren wrestled his way into the finals against Mango. Tellgren will likely have to go through Hodge, a wrestler he didn’t face at either the the previous U.S. Open or World Team Trials. 

Jesse Thielke’s made the move back down to 55kg and placed third at Sunkist, beating Tellgren in the bronze medal match. Hodge beat Thielke in the semis there. A week later, Max Nowry worked his way into the finals before losing to Hodge. Multi-time National Team member Nate Engel finished third at the NYAC, besting Ohio State’s redshirting All-American Nikko Triggas for the bronze. Mango has been challenged, but not beaten in two years by an American at 55kg. He’s taken a loss or two up a weight, but when Mango’s at 55kg, American foes have little success.

Wrestlers looking to punch their ticket to Iowa City include Wyoming redshirt Tyler Cox, up-and-comers Mike Fuenffinger and Dmitry Ryabchinsky. 

Already Qualified: Nate Engel, Jermaine Hodge, Paul Tellgren, Spenser Mango 

60kg/132 pounds

A pair of past World Teamers are the front runners at 60kg. While Ellis Coleman, the top-ranked wrestler at the weight is not competing, Joe Betterman and Jeremiah Davis is the probable final.

Marco Lara’s currently sitting third on the National Team from his placement at last year’s World Team Trials, but lost to Joe Warren and Mango at the NYAC and didn’t wrestle at Sunkist. 

Chad Vandiver comes back down to 60kg after spending time in the fall at 66kg. He’s a past U.S. Open runner-up. Veteran Donny DePatto is in the mix, along with Mark Bradley, who recently wrestled in Las Vegas at the freestyle qualifier. This weight doesn’t have the depth other weights have, probably giving up-and-comers like Eric Chandler a good shot at qualifying for the Trials. Chandler’s rapidly improving under past World Teamer Jason Loukides, as are many of the YES Wrestling entrants. 

Already Qualified: Ellis Coleman, Marco Lara, Joe Betterman, Jeremiah Davis, Joe Warren

66kg/145.5 pounds

Much like Army teammate Spenser Mango, American wrestlers have had very little success against Justin Lester when he’s at 66kg. Lester is on a mission to make his first Olympic Team. A two-time World Bronze medalist, Lester was fifth in at the 2011 World Championships in September. Behind Lester, there is a bevy of quality competitors as the weight is one of the deepest in the nation. At the registration deadline, 29 wrestlers were entered.

As of now, it’s also the only weight class qualified for the Olympic Games.

Lester has had numerous battles with Army teammates Glenn Garrison and Faruk Sahin, a two-time World Teamer, but C.P. Schlatter has emerged as a legitimate threat.  Both Lester and Sahin have weighed in at 74 kg, opening this weight class up to Garrison and Schlatter to emerge with a national title.

World Champion Joe Warren is pre-registered at 66kg, but it’s expected he’ll be back at 60kg come time for the Trials. 

Past Junior National Champion RaVaughn Perkins continues to develop his skillset, but is probably a bigger threat in the next Olympic cycle. 

Josh Castellano wrestled well at the NYAC, taking third. NCAA All-American Bryce Saddoris is entered after last competing at the NYAC in freestyle. 

Already Qualified: C.P. Schlatter, Ben Sanchez, Glenn Garrison, Justin Lester, Faruk Sahin

74kg/163 pounds

Two-time World Teamer Jake Fisher won’t be competing at this weight. He has been recovering from an ankle injury that prevented him from competing at the 2011 World Championships in Turkey. U.S. Open Champion Ben Provisor comes back down to 74kg after wrestling up at 84kg at the Sunkist International. Andrew Bisek won a match at the World Championships filling in for Fisher and recently beat Lester to win the NYAC title. 

Lester has decided to wrestle up at 74 kg this week, as has Faruk Sahin, adding more talent to this division.

Steve Forrest of the Marines returns to action. Forrest was a surprise finalist at the 2010 World Team Trials, falling to Fisher. He’s been off the mat for a while, so he could be rusty or he could be fresh. Past Junior National Champion Kendrick Sanders finished third at the NYAC, edging the Army’s Tim Bleau. Aaron Sieracki, who made numerous national teams at 84 kg, is down at 74 kg and is capable of a top finish at this division.

Oscar Wood, an Olympian in 2004, hasn’t competed in two years. He will be a real problem draw for younger wrestlers looking to qualify. Wood doesn’t have much to lose, he’s already able to compete in Iowa City.

James Johnson of the Army is a veteran with great quickness and is always a tough draw. Many eyes will be on past freestyle World medalist Andre Metzger. The 50-something Metzger is seriously pursuing his run towards Iowa City. Will he be a threat to place? 

This is the biggest weight class, with 32 preliminary entries.  Keep an eye on Aaron Briggs, John Anderson and Tanner Andrews. 

Already Qualified: Marco Toledo, John Anderson, Jake Deitchler, Jake Fisher, Andrew Bisek

84kg/185 pounds

Storm clouds will circle Arlington, mainly because five of the top competitors at this weight represent the Minnesota Storm. This weight has been devoid of consistency as Chas Betts, Jake Clark and Cheney Haight have represented the U.S. at the World Championships since 2009. 

Clark is entered and will see his first competition since the 2010 World Championships, while his former training partner, Jordan Holm, won the U.S. Open last year and has become one of the favorites.

Holm fell to Haight, Holm’s most recent training partner, at the World Team Trials. 

Those four should lead the pack, but Wisconsin redshirt Travis Rutt is an extremely dangerous draw. He’s a little more unorthodox than many wrestlers who train Greco year-round. Rutt will give you some collegiate style looks. The Army’s Peter Hicks has long been a training parter at the World Championships and has the experience to mix things up. 

World Team member Jake Fisher may enter at 84 kg if he feels he can go, in order to get some matches. 

Already Qualified: Peter Hicks, Zach Nielsen, Cheney Haight, Jake Clark, Chas Betts, Keith Sieracki

96kg/211.5 pounds

The smallest weight class in terms of entries, several wrestlers will have a great opportunity to sneak into the top seven and qualify for the Olympic Trials. Justin Ruiz and Robby Smith aren’t entered, leaving past World Teamer R.C. Johnson as the favorite. Johnson’s starting to return to form, winning Sunkist and the NYAC.
 
After Johnson, Justin Millard and Daren Burns should provide competition. Khoren Papoyan is a known name, having wrestled at the senior level for Armenia since 1996. He’s also one of the few active wrestlers who competed in RealProWrestling. 

The guy to keep an eye on here is Burns’ YES Wrestling teammate, Caylor Williams. The North Carolina native has placed third at Sunkist and the NYAC this fall and is improving quickly. 

Pete Gounaridis qualified for the Greco-Roman national team last year. Moises Hernandez and K.C. Walsh fill out the weight class. 

Already Qualified: R.C. Johnson, Justin Ruiz, Justin Millard

120kg/264.5 pounds

It’s been mentioned previously about Mango and Lester, but to find the last loss Dremiel suffered to an American, you’d have to go back to the best-of-three 2008 Olympic Trials series against Tim Taylor. It was Taylor who also bested his training partner and teammate in 2007 at the U.S. Open.

Byers and Taylor and Brandon Rupp have been 1-2-3 on the ladder for the past several years and that’s not expected to change anytime soon. Perhaps fans should look beyond Byers and Taylor to look at wrestlers expected to challenge for the 2013 Worlds and beyond … assuming this is Byers and Taylor’s last Olympic cycle. 

You never really know. Toby Erickson, Pete Kowalczuk, Rupp, and Joe Sheffield have provided depth, but still haven’t had the big win over Byers. Rupp’s beaten Taylor before. 

Of note are past Junior National champions Niko Bogojevic and Parker Betts, the younger brother of Chas Betts.  

Already Qualified: Dremiel Byers, Pete Kowalzcuk, Jake Kettler, Rulon Gardner