PATTAYA, Thailand – Four U.S. men’s freestyle wrestlers will take to the mats at the Eastern Sports Training Center on Saturday at the 2012 FILA Junior World Championships in Pattaya, Thailand. 

Adrian Cordova (Colorado Springs, Colo./Coronado H.S.), Earl Hall (Homestead, Fla./NYAC), Alex Dieringer (Port Washington, Wis./Cowboy WC) and Tanner Hall (Meridian, Idaho/NYAC) will start off the United States’ competition in men’s freestyle wrestling.

Cordova, a rising high school senior at Coronado High School in Colorado Springs, will wrestle at 50 kg/110 lbs. and opens up with 2001 Asian Junior Champion Alireza Hatami of Iran. Hatami was eighth at the 2011 Junior World Championships. The winner will face Romania’s Octavian Erhan, Kyrgyzstan’s Adilet Atyrov or Belarus’ Artisom Kalmykov. 

Kalymkov was 21st at last year’s Junior World Championships, while Erhan was fifth at the 2012 European Junior Championships.

Earl Hall, who will wrestle at 60 kg/132 lbs., spent last year training at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs qualified for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials at 55 kg/121 lbs. He opens up with Chang Su Kim of Korea. The winner will face either Jianfeng Wang of China or Valodya Frangulyan of Armenia. Frangulyan has previously wrestled twice at the Junior Worlds, with his best finish coming last year at 17th place. He did finish with a bronze at the European Juniors earlier this year.

Wang was fifth at the Asian Juniors in May.

Dieringer, a redshirt last season at Oklahoma State, will compete at 74 kg/163 lbs. He will wrestle Pasawang Tadsapol of host Thailand. The winner will face either Abdulkadir Ozmen of Turkey or Michail Akritidis of Greece. Ozmen was last year’s Junior World silver medalist, while Akritidis was 22nd at the European Juniors.

Tanner Hall will be making his second straight appearance at the Junior World Championships at 96 kg/211 lbs. He was 20th in 2011 and will open up with Robert Baran of Poland in the opening round. Baran was seventh at the European Juniors in May and finished 13th at the 2010 Junior Worlds at 84 kg/185 lbs.

The winner will face either Magomedgadzhi Nurov of Russia or Giorgi Meshvildishvili of Georgia. 

U.S. freestyle draws for Saturday, September 8
50 kg/110 lbs – Adrian Cordova, Colorado Springs, Colo. 
vs. Alireza Hatami (Iran)
60 kg/132 lbs. – Earl Hall, Homestead, Fla.
vs. Chang Su Kim (Korea)

74 kg/163 lbs. – Alex Dieringer, Port Washington, Wis.
vs. Paswang Tasapol (Thailand)

96 kg/211 lbs. – Tanner Hall, Meridian, Idaho
vs. Robert Baran (Poland)