One of the greatest champions in NCAA history faces perhaps the most difficult road to the medal podium in his storied career. Ohio State alumnus Logan Stieber, the 4-time NCAA champ and reigning freestyle world champ at 61kg will face two of the four top wrestlers in the world in the opening rounds of the United Wrestling World Championships tomorrow in Paris, France.
Bracket released for freestyle 61kg. #Lutte2017
LINK: https://t.co/5S1JSg3rRv pic.twitter.com/zLbZYeXIvF
— World Wrestling (@wrestling) August 24, 2017
As the top-seeded wrestler at 61kg, Stieber enjoys a bye in the first round, and will almost certainly face Gadzhimurad Rashidov of Russia in his first match of the tournament. A goodly number of Rashidov's several medals were earned at 57kg, including his 2016 silver medal at the World Cup in Los Angeles and subsequent gold at the European Championships the same year.
The Russian put on quite a clinic when he faced former NCAA champ Cody Brewer at the Ivan Yarygin tournament earlier this year, en route to a Silver Medal finish:
According to FloWrestling's preview, the European champ has grown into his weight at 61kg, and "should be as big if not bigger than Stieber." Flo has Rashidov pegged as #4 in the world at 61kg.
Should Stieber prove up to the task, he'll have no rest in the quarterfinal round of the bracket, the following match will be even tougher, as he projects to face Flo's #1 wrestler at 61kg, Georgian Vladimer Khinchegashvili. With the 2012 Olympic Silver at 55kg and the 2016 Olympic Gold at 57kg around his neck, it's not hard to understand why the wily Georgian is so highly rated.
Even with a handful of world and Olympic medals in his trophy case, he's not necessarily a point-scoring machine, nor all that fast out of the gate when it comes to putting points on the board.
"Time and time again, we have seen Khinchegashvili get put in a hole early only to mount an incredible comeback," Flo's bracket preview notes. "He is one of the most unflappable wrestlers in the world, but so is Stieber. Anyone who watched his world title run in December knows that."
The differences in style could play to Stieber's advantage, as he's been much more focused on scoring points in his recent matches, rolling up a 39-0 tally in four matches at the Spanish Grand Prix earlier this summer. FloWrestling has Stieber ranked as World #3, so it's clear that he's up to the challenge ahead of him, though facing two of the toughest athletes on the global stage.
Stieber's quest for a freestyle world championship at 61kg starts tomorrow with the elimination and rounds and repechage kicking off at 10 a.m. Paris time (4 a.m. EDT), with finals at 7 p.m. (1 p.m. EDT). Other Team USA wrestlers taking the mat on Friday are Olympic bronze medalist J’den Cox at 86kg, and first time World Team members Thomas Gilman (57kg) and Nick Gwiazdowski (125kg).
Buckeye grappler Kyle Snyder's 97kg bracket will also be released tomorrow, and the matches will follow the same schedule Saturday. Streaming will be available via TrackWrestling.
You can download the full 61kg bracket here.
