Just in case there was any doubt, the country’s foremost “developmental” program is going in heavy for the first-ever U23 World Team Trials.
As of now, there are over three dozen Northern Michigan University Greco-Roman athletes on the roster for the event, which is slated for October 6th-8th at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester, Minnesota. There is not a long turnaround after that, as the U23 Greco-Roman World Championships are scheduled to begin on November 21st in Bydgoszcz, Poland. That’s approximately six weeks for qualifying wrestlers to zero in on the Worlds. However, that should be plenty of time for NMU athletes as the team reconvened earlier in the summer and will also have an allotment of competitors preparing for the Eduardo Campbell Cup in Panama in a few weeks as well as the Dave Schultz Memorial, which has been moved to November for 2017.
The well-established names US fans are familiar with are all on board for the Trials, including Dalton Roberts (59 kg), Randon Miranda (59 kg), Alex Sancho (66 kg), and Jesse Porter (75 kg), but that’s just the tip of the iceberg, simply because the program as a whole is operating with a different level of strength it hasn’t had in quite some time. Last year, Northern placed more wrestlers at the US Open than ever before. Promising Senior competitors like Colin Schubert (71 kg), Curt Calovecchi (80 kg), and Blake Smith (98 kg) have also emerged to the surface in other domestic events. There is just a lot going on in Marquette right now, so it shouldn’t be surprising that the OTS will be represented on a large scale at the inaugural U23 World Team Trials.
All told, NMU is taking a whopping 41 wrestlers to Rochester with ten of them bunched up in one weight class alone (66 kilograms).
Northern Michigan Roster — U23 World Team Trials
59 kg
Dalton Roberts (Two-time Junior World Team member, two-time University National Champion, 2016 Haavisto Cup silver medalist, two-time Eduardo Campbell Cup gold medalist)
Randon Miranda (Two-time Junior World Team member, two-time Junior Greco World Duals gold medalist, 2017 Austrian Open gold medalist, 2016 Austrian Open silver medalist)
Andrew Ibarra (2016 Austrian Open bronze medalist, 2016 Eduardo Campbell Cup bronze medalist)
Patrick Ramirez (2015 Fargo Cadet Greco-Roman National Champion)
Jon Massey
Kyndall Rutz (2014 Eduardo Campbell Cup bronze medalist, 2013 Minnesota Storm Holiday Classic bronze medalist)
Eric Spence
66 kg
Alex Sancho (Multi-time US Senior National Team member, 2017 Grand Prix Zagreb Open gold medalist, 2017 Tbilisi Grand Prix silver medalist, 2014 Bill Farrell Memorial/NYAC Open gold medalist)
Travis Rice (2015 Junior World Team member, 2014 Junior World Team Trials runner-up)
Alston Nutter (2017 Fargo Junior Nationals runner-up, 2015 Cadet World Team Trials runner-up)
Jordan Auen (2016 Klippan Cup gold medalist)
Britton Holmes (2016 Malar Cupen gold medalist)
Mason Hartshorn (2017 Fargo Junior Nationals bronze medalist)
Riley Briggs
Calvin Germinaro (2015 Cadet World Team Trials runner-up)
Aaron Kliamovich
Justin Lien
71 kg
Colin Schubert (2017 University Nationals runner-up)
David Prado (2016 Eduardo Campbell Cup bronze medalist)
Logan Kass
75 kg
Jesse Porter (2016 US Nationals runner-up, 2017 Junior Nationals runner-up, 2016 Junior Nationals runner-up, 2016 Bill Farrell Memorial/NYAC Open bronze medalist, 2017 Dave Schultz Memorial silver medalist)
Corey Fitzgerald (2016 Eduardo Campbell Cup silver medalist)
Josh Anderson
Colby Baker
Michael Donato
Trey Hardy
Ale Kahn
Giuseppe Rios
80 kg
Curt Calovecchi (2017 University National Champion)
Zackery Bickford (2016 Eduardo Campbell Cup silver medalist)
Carter Nielsen (2016 Junior Nationals runner-up)
Ryan Cummings
Keaton Fanning
Greg Kleinsmith
85 kg
Austin Chaon (2016 Junior World Team Trials bronze medalist)
George Sikes
98 kg
Blake Smith (2017 Junior World Team Trials runner-up)
Anthony Riopelle
Byron Schlickenmeyer
Spencer Wilson
130 kg
Marc Leon
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