Three of the eight US Senior Greco-Roman World Team members are recognized by the global governing body ahead of Paris. Not too bad, although arguments could be made to the contrary. Otherwise, United World Wrestling’s July Greco-Roman rankings do not offer a lot of changes for the Americans.
G’Angelo Hancock (98 kg, Sunkist), who is currently preparing to take part in two World Championships this summer, sees his stock remain stable while Ben Provisor (85 kg, NYAC) has made his way back into the international spotlight after a brief hiatus. Hancock, who has enjoyed an incredible year altogether, originally entered the rankings earlier in 2017 and climbed a bit. In March, he came in at 18th and then moved up to 17th in the late spring, which is where he remains. Provisor also appeared in the rankings (at 20th) for the first time this year in March coming off of his win at the Dave Schultz Memorial a month prior, but was dropped soon after. Following his win at the Pan Ams in May and an impressive silver at the Tbilisi Grand Prix in June, he’s back and like Hancock, all the way up to 17th.
Geordan Speiller (80 kg, Florida Jets, world no. 14) dips just a little in the latest edition of the United World Wrestling Greco-Roman rankings after surging as high as ninth, though he was dropped to 12th in June. Speiller returned to competitive action at the Schultz with a win and then grabbed another gold at the Granma Cup in Cuba before earning a silver medal at the Hungarian Grand Prix. In April, Speiller was upset by eventual runner-up John Stefanowicz (Marines) in the semifinals of the World Team Trials. He got back out there at the University Nationals early last month with a tournament victory that included a fun finals match-up with fast-riser Jon Jay Chavez (NYAC).
Patrick Smith (71 kg, Minnesota Storm) rings in at 20th for the second consecutive month and sees no change in his ranking. Most recently, Smith won his first bout at the Tbilisi Grand Prix over 2013 Thor Masters Invitational runner-up Tigran Torosyan (ARM) but fell in the next round to 2016 World Champion and 2017 top seed Balint Korpasi (HUN, world no. 2) on two passivity calls to finish 12th. Earlier this year, Smith earned a bronze at Thor Masters himself and put together a dominant performance at the Pan Am Championships to come away with his third straight gold at that event. Cheney Haight (80 kg, NYAC) arrived in the rankings for the first time this year with June’s edition at 18th, but was left off this month’s update.
Hancock, Provisor, and Smith are current US World Team members.
US APPEARANCES IN JULY UWW GRECO-ROMAN RANKINGS
71 kg
Patrick Smith (Minnesota Storm, world no. 20)
80 kg
Geordan Speiller (Florida Jets, world no. 14)
85 kg
Ben Provisor (NYAC, world no. 17)
98 kg
G’Angelo Hancock (Sunkist, world no. 17)
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