The Top 5 USA Freestyle Wrestlers at 70 KG

I went to the UWW Freestyle World Cup in Iowa City, and it was awesome. In fact, it got me so amped up that I'm going to be coming at you with a bunch of wrestling content. I'm ranking the top five guys at every weight class, and today we move on to 70 KG (approximately 154 pounds). Let's get to it.

5. Richie Lewis
Lewis won the gold medal at the U23 tournament this past fall, and while that is certainly the best accomplishment at that tournament, the strength of the U23 usually leaves quite a bit to be desired. It's this weird in-between tournament for people who are too old for Juniors but not quite at the talent level of the Senior level guys. I don't really see Lewis as a great threat to take this weight, and considering that he wrestled all year at 165, he might bump up to 74 KG.

4. Frank Molinaro
Molinaro is moving up from 65 KG this year, and I have never been a huge Molinaro believer. In fact, you could probably safely classify me as a Molinaro hater. He manged to take fifth place a couple years ago, but that was his peak in my opinion, and I don't see a move up in weight helping him any. Still, he is a solid wrestler with a lot of great experience, but I just don't think he has the necessary skills to be a true threat at this weight.

3. Dylan Ness
Is this too high for Dylan Ness, a man that has not shown any great success at the Senior level? Yes, it definitely is, but Dylan Ness is awesome, and I will gladly overrate somebody who is incredibly fun to watch. Let's just hope that somebody puts him in a position to scramble, because then we are all in for a treat.

2. Jason Nolf
Speaking of guys that can scramble, Nolf definitely fits that bill, and I would love to see a match between Nolf and Ness. Still, Nolf is coming off of a knee injury, so there is a decent chance he sits this year out. He is somebody who is still learning how to translate his folkstyle skills to the world of freestyle, but he gets better every year, and it certainly wouldn't be surprising if he was giving the top guy a run for his money this year.

1. James Green
Green won the silver medal at the World Championships last year, and he's still the clear favorite for the United States. He seems to run hot and cold as sometimes he can really just fail to get going on offense. Still, he's had an incredible transition to the freestyle world (working every day with Jordan Burroughs seems to be a good thing), and it would be very surprising to see anybody from the United States upset him this year.

Previous Entries:

57 KG

61 KG

65 KG