Is It Fair How USA Determines The Olympic Team? 

Dake was the most vocal critic for years - but he's been really quiet about this since he became #1.

I agree with most of what you said about the week in between the challenge tournament and 2/3 for OTT. it just makes sense, as the challenge tournament winners are tired from the previous day.

Brooks beat Taylor on limited sleep and having to make weight. Case closed.

The only issue i have is how they do the semi final buy. It puts 2 and 3 seeds at a disadvantage to where their almost like an 8 seed. Much better to draw the bracket by giving the semi buy wrestler the 1 seed and then drawing a buy to the semi rather than having 2 semi finals on one side of the bracket.

I mean, I competed nowhere near that level, but for me, personally, over the course of a long tournament day, I was just felt like I wrestled better and better. More loosened up more sharp.

Olympics needs more weight classes. Period

Nobody was talking about this when Dake had to wrestling through the torment and take on Jordan the final day 🤌🏻

You can’t look at this lineup and not think “the best guys didn’t make it” We got the absolute best wrestlers in every weight class. There will be excuses just like every year. “It should have been Yanni” (it’s always Yanni) “Taylor is actually our best representative” the best wrestler wins. Every time. You cited Aaron and it’s a perfect example of why this works.

Flow wrestling would pick Yanni every year no matter what And they weren’t crying about the system when it benefitted JB

Returning champs should be put into brackets just like everyone else.

It's fair. That's why it's a 2 out of 3 matchup in the finals. The guy who gets a bye to the finals already proved himself at world/olympic level. Of course you get the benefit of the doubt based on FACTS. If you, Mr NCAA champion, deserve to beat him, then you'll win the 2 out of 3 series. Those who think it's not fair have never excelled at an elite level, that's why they say it's not fair b/c they're on the losing side of the series 🤣

This wasn’t the problem at the trials. Rest times were unfair for athletes losing in the first round vs in the 2nd round. Some guys had 3 matches in session 1 vs if you lost your first match, then you won your 2nd, you had 2 really good breaks. That was the most unfair advantage to those trying to make the Olympic ladder.

Love the system…Don’t change it bc it works!

whats the alternative?

Olympics need 10 weight classes and college needs 12 weight classes

When a wrestler qualifies a weight for an Olympic Games they should be the person that goes to the Olympics. As for all the other weight classes, have the national championships, with the winner goes.

It’s the world team trials not the world team tournament. And it’s fun as hell!

Everyone should be wrestling in a tournament. Bye or two are good, beyond that it should not be called a tournament. Your argument makes no sense.

If you're the best in this country you get on the plane and you go to Paris there's nothing fair about it there's no fairness to it if you're the best wrestler in the United States if that weight class you go

I like the best of 3 to decide who goes to the Olympics for those that have medaled in the past.

They need to go back to the old ways and make the US Open important again for the feeding into the WTT.

Good take. Still kind of torn on this process, but I see your point.

Its definitely not fair, but that is the process and it sucks when the new guy goes to a championship wrestling tournament representing team USA and they go out in the first match because they lose to someone that would have lost to World or Olympic medalist!!!

Good take

Regardless of opinion, great analysis. Thank you for the content.

Not fair

Wish Mendez coulda wrestled the winner of alirez/Lee. Then that winner gets the best of 3 with Zain.

You just tried getting on the Olympic team one time and see how you do if you're the best you go if you're not the best you don't go

I'm liking the pyles editorials

It’s an event that happens every 4 years, they should throw everyone in the fire cause if you can’t survive the heat then you won’t survive the Olympics. I will say it does suck when a guy just are happy to be on the team and don’t wanna win medals, which we’ve seen before. That’s probably why Russia just picks their guys despite having a trials themselves.

I have no problem with the way we do it. I just wish with the depth of wrestling we have right now we need more weights.

How are other high level countries doing. As long as we are putting the best wrestler out there.

It's correct 👌

Why don’t you guys talk about those who use the USA’s resources (RTC’s) - but then go on to wrestle for other countries?? That, to me, seems like a much bigger issue than our qualifying system.