Both past world medalists, Jordan Burroughs and James Green are in the mix to make this year’s Olympic team; both are dropping down from their more natural weight classes

The Huskers have one of the most impressive fields of former wrestlers competing at this weekend’s US Olympic Wrestling Trials in State College, Penn.

Sitting just behind Penn State’s ridiculous list of 17 current, former or future wrestlers competing at Olympic Trials, Nebraska has the second most in the field with six. Cornell also had six wrestlers qualify, but 2023 World Champion Vito Arujau will not be competing. Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma State and Ohio State all have four wrestlers with ties to them in the field.

Nebraska will be led by the familiar duo of Jordan Burroughs at 74kg and James Green at 65kg. After that, there’s former All-Americans Liam Cronin, Tyler Berger, Eric Schultz and Christian Lance competing.

How to Watch

Friday’s action starts with Session I from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. — this will be the challenge tournament prelims, quarterfinals and consolations. In Session 2, there will be the challenge tournament semifinals, finals and consolations from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

On Saturday, Session 3 starts at 9 a.m. and will end at 2 p.m. and will include the first round of the best-of-three finals at each weight with both 57 kg and 65 kg wrestling their second match in this session. In the final session on Saturday, action starts at 5:30 p.m. and ends at 9 p.m. It will be the second round of finals at 74 kg, 86 kg, 97 kg and 125 kg. If needed, the third match of the finals at 57 and 65 kg will be wrestled at the beginning of this session. If needed, the third round of finals matches at 74, 86 and 97 kg will take place after.

The Trials will air on Peacock and the USA Network. Peacock will have coverage of every mat throughout the tournament, while the USA Network will air the finals of the challenge tournament on Friday night and the best-of-three finals on Saturday.

7-seed Liam Cronin

57kg (125 pounds)

First up at the lightest weight is Liam Cronin who hit the ground running after graduating last May as an All-American — Cronin finished fifth at NCAAs as a senior for his first career podium finish.

On the freestyle and Greco-Roman scenes, Cronin has enjoyed a lot of success. He was a seven-time Fargo Junior All-American between both freestyle and Greco and was a Junior Nationals finalist in freestyle in 2017. In 2019, Cronin won a U23 Greco national championship at the World Team Trials.

Since graduating, Cronin has been impressive on the freestyle scene. To qualify for the Olympic Trials, Cronin finished third at Senior Nationals in December of 2023 as the 8-Seed going in. He had impressive wins, including an 11-1 tech of former NCAA finalist Brandon Courtney and a 5-0 win over two-time DII National Champion for Nebraska-Kearney Daniel DeShazer.

Looking at Cronin’s draw, he’ll first match up against super high-schooler Jax Forrest in the first round. Forrest punched his ticket to the Olympic Trials at the Last Chance Qualifier by downing 2015 NCAA Champion Nathan Tomasello via 10-0 tech fall in the finals in less than 80 seconds (see below) — and Forrest is just a sophomore in high school. Already a U17 World Champion in 2022, Forrest could be a transcendent talent once he hits the college ranks.

If Cronin can end Forrest’s amazing run, he’ll find himself in the quarterfinals against 2-seed Thomas Gilman. A five-time World and Olympic team member, Gilman has World gold and silver medals to go along with an Olympic bronze medal from 2021. He wrestles a very physical style where he routinely pushes his opponents around the mat, utilizing the edge to score push-out points and force mistakes from his opponents. He’ll be a considerable favorite over Cronin.

With an upset over Gilman, Cronin could see either 3-seed Daton Fix or 6-seed Nick Suriano in the semis. A four-time NCAA finalist and a 2021 World silver-medalist at 61kg, Fix just finished his career at Oklahoma State at 133 pounds and is one of the main contenders as he descends down to 57kg (125 pounds). A two-time NCAA Champion, Nick Suriano also won gold at the 2021 Henri Deglane. A notoriously unreliable guy, Suriano can do some damage this weekend as long as he shows up.

With a win in the semis, Cronin will probably face either 1-seed Zane Richards or 4-seed Spencer Lee. Richards was Team USA’s rep this past year at this weight, while Lee is a three-time NCAA Champion and three-time age-level World champion (winning a cadet title in 2014 and junior titles in 2015 and 2016). He also won titles recently at Senior Nationals and the Bill Farrell Invitational. Personally, Lee is my pick to win this weight class.

3-seed James Green

65kg (143 pounds)

A six-time World-Teamer, James Green is back out of athletic retirement and is poised for another run at an Olympic spot at 65 kg.

A four-time All-American at Nebraska, Green won a World bronze medal in 2015 before taking home World silver in 2017, both at 70kg. At the last two Olympic Trials, Green made the attempt to descend to 65kg but the results weren’t there — he went a combined 0-3 at those trials.

After retiring in April of 2022, Green went on to have a successful partial hip replacement, correcting an injury he said affected him his entire career. Now feeling like a new man at the age of 31, Green came out of retirement in June of last year, returning to Nebraska as a full-time assistant coach and a Nebraska Wrestling Training Center athlete.

Since returning, Green competed in March at 65kg at the Yasar Dogu, a tough international competition in Istanbul, Turkey. He came away from that tournament with a 5th-place finish.

Looking at the bracket, Green will get the benefit of a first-round bye, giving him extra time off the scale before having to hit the mat. In the quarterfinal round, Green will face the winner between 6-seed Joey McKenna and 11-seed Jesse Mendez. Both Ohio State products, McKenna was a three-time All-American and NCAA finalist, while Mendez is going into his junior season after winning an NCAA title at 141 pounds in March as a sophomore. McKenna has been a staple on the freestyle scene at 65kg since graduating (including a 12-1 tech fall win over Green at the 202One Olympic Team Trials), while Mendez won a U20 World title last year. Both guys will be tough outs for Green.

Moving onto the semis, Green will likely face familiar foe Yianni Diakomihalis. A four-time NCAA Champion and World silver-medalist, Diakomihalis is 3-0 against Green (two criteria wins and a 5-0 decision). Diakomihalis will certainly be favored here, but can a healthy Green close the gap and get the win?

With a win over Diakomihalis, Green would move on to face Zain Retherford who won a World title last year at 70kg and is sitting with a bye to the semifinal round due to his World medal at a non-Olympic weight. Green and Retherford have wrestled once with Retherford earning a 9-2 win at the 2016 Olympic Team Trials. A three-time NCAA Champion and two-time Hodge Trophy winner, Retherford is probably the favorite to win this whole weight.

With an upset over Retherford, Green would likely face either 1-seed Nick Lee or 4-seed Andrew Alirez. A two-time NCAA Champion at Penn State, Lee was Team USA’s rep last year at Worlds at this weight but failed to medal and qualify the weight for Team USA, leaving this spot wide open. Alirez, a 2023 NCAA Champion who took an Olympic redshirt this year, has serious freestyle chops and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him win the spot this weekend.

I’ll be really interested to see what this new-look James Green can do at 65kg. Assuming a healthy weight cut with his repaired hip, he could make a run for his first Olympic team.

1-seed Jordan Burroughs

74kg (163 pounds)

On to Jordan Burroughs, not only the most credentialed Husker ever but also the most credentialed Team USA wrestler of all time.

A two-time NCAA Champion at Nebraska, Burroughs has an American record seven World and Olympic gold medals to go along with three World bronze medals, giving him 10 medals in 11 attempts. His only time not earning a medal at Worlds or the Olympics was at the 2016 Olympic Games.

After holding down the 74kg spot from 2011 to 2019, Burroughs failed to make a team for the first time in his career when he fell to Kyle Dake in the best-of-three finals at the 202One Olympic Trials (see that final match below) — . Burroughs then moved up to 79kg and captured two more World golds at that weight. After falling to Chance Marsteller at Final X last year for the 79kg world spot, Burroughs began his descent back down to 74kg for one last run at an Olympic gold.

Competing again at 74kg, Burroughs wrestled in March at the Yasar Dogu where he won gold, outscoring his opponents 30-4 on his way to the title.

With his World silver medal from last year, Dake sits in the best-of-three finals and will face the winner of the challenge tournament. The 1-seed in the challenge bracket, Burroughs is the favorite to get to Dake, setting up a historic meeting between two men who have a combined 16 World and Olympic medals. With Dake being 33 years old and Burroughs 35, this figures to be the final run for both men (at least for the Olympics), setting up a changing of the guard at 74kg.

We’ll get a good look at the future of this weight this weekend. Out of the 12 wrestlers in the field, they own a combined 12 NCAA Championships. Seven of the 12 guys have won UWW World medals either at the senior level or at age-level tournaments.

Having been up at 79kg the past few years, Burroughs has never wrestled any of the younger guys in the bracket. The only two wrestlers he’s faced in this field are Dake and 2-seed Jason Nolf — Burroughs is 1-0 against Nolf and 7-3 against Dake.

When the seeds came out on Monday, two wrestlers that were expected to compete were missing from the bracket in Carter Starocci and David Carr. Carr is a two-time NCAA champion, most recently winning the 165-pound title in March to end his historic Iowa State career — he’s not competing due to an ankle injury. Starocci’s absence from the bracket was shocking after he won his fourth NCAA title in March and shortly after claimed he was going to end Burroughs’ career on Twitter.

Despite the tough talk by him and former Penn State wrestler Bo Nickal, Starocci didn’t even attempt the weight cut and is seeded sixth at 86kg now. Burroughs made sure to let him know he noticed him not being in his bracket.

Now, let’s talk about the guys that will actually be in this weekend’s field. (Note: News broke after seeds came out that Keegan O’Toole, a two-time NCAA Champion for Missouri who is going into his senior year, will not be competing due to injury. He was a 2023 U23 World gold-medalist and a 2021 U20 World gold-medalist).

With the loss of O’Toole, the bracket will be re-drawn with everyone seeded 4 through 13 moving up one seed, so it’s still possible to look at Burroughs’ likely path through the tournament, making this initial bracket incorrect now.

The 1-seed Burroughs will get an all-important first-round bye, allowing him extra time to recover after weighing in.

The 1-seed Burroughs will now take on the winner between 8-seed Alex Facundo and 9-seed Levi Haines in the quarters, both current wrestlers at Penn State. Facundo, who took an Olympic redshirt this year, is a two-time U17 gold-medalist and U20 bronze-medalist — he qualified for Trials by finishing third at 2023 Senior Nationals. Haines just won his first NCAA title this year at 157 pounds, going undefeated as a sophomore — he’s now a two-time NCAA finalist after finishing runner-up as a true freshman. Regardless of who it is, I just don’t see Burroughs being challenged by these young Nittany Lions.

Next up for Burroughs could be 4-seed Mitchell Mesenbrink, 5-seed Meyer Shapiro or 12-seed Ladarion Lockett. All three won age-level gold medals last year with Mesenbrink and Shapiro doing it at the U20 level and Lockett at the U17 age group. This past season as freshmen, Mesenbrink finished runner-up at NCAAs at 165 pounds for Penn State, while Shapiro finished third at 157 for Cornell. They’re both superb talents and possibly the future of the weight class, while Lockett is a blue-chip recruit who’s signed to wrestle at Oklahoma State.

Regardless of who Burroughs faces here in the semis, I really do think he’s going to show these young guys that there are levels in this game.

In the challenge tournament final, Burroughs will likely take on 2-seed Jason Nolf. A three-time NCAA Champion and Hodge Trophy winner for Penn State, Nolf has been stuck behind Burroughs and Dake for a long time, at both 74 and 79kg. In their one meeting, Burroughs beat Nolf 5-3 at the World Team Trials at 79kg in 2021. With O’Toole, Starocci and Carr out of this bracket, this matchup is even more likely to come to fruition with a shot at Dake on the line.

If Burroughs gets through the challenge tournament, he’ll take on Dake in Saturday’s best-of-three final. Burroughs holds a career 7-3 record against Dake despite losing the past two (3-0 and 3-2 at the last Olympic Trials). Before those losses, Burroughs owned Dake, winning three best-of-three series in a row in 2013, 2015 and 2017. He also got a win over Dake at the 2017 US Open. His only loss to Dake in that time was a 6-6 criteria loss during the 2017 Trials final series that Burroughs won.

It certainly seems like Dake has not only narrowed the gap but pulled ahead of Burroughs at this point, although I do think this will be a serious back-and-forth series if Burroughs does in fact get there.

Regardless, it’ll be one for the ages as two of the best to ever do it will go head to head for possibly the final time.

11-seed Tyler Berger

74kg (163 pounds)

An NCAA finalist and three-time All-American for the Huskers, Tyler Berger is moving up from 70kg (not an Olympic weight) to challenge for the spot at 74kg.

In freestyle, Berger has been a fixture at 70 and 74kg the past few years. After winning gold at the Bill Farrell in 2022, Berger went on to win the US Open title at 70kg in 2023, earning him a spot in Final X where they determine World Team members. Berger fell in two matches (watch below) to Zain Retherford who went on to win a World Championship. Retherford elected to drop to 65kg this weekend.

In December, Berger finished fifth at Senior Nationals, earning him a spot in this weekend’s Olympic Trials.

Looking at the bracket, Berger will take on 7-seed Alex Marinelli, a former Iowa Hawkeye, in the first round. Marinelli was a runner-up at both Senior Nationals and the Bill Farrell. Berger will definitely be giving up some size here, making it a tough matchup for him.

With a win over Marinelli, Berger then would face off against 2-seed Jason Nolf. Nolf is a true 74kg guy who’s been up at 79 in the past. He’ll hold a noticeable size advantage over Berger who will need to use his speed and quick finishes if he wants to pull the upset. Berger lost to Nolf as a senior in the NCAA final at 157 pounds.

With a win, Berger would move on to possibly face 3-seed Quincy Monday or 6-seed Vincenzo Joseph. Monday won a Senior National title in 2023, while Joseph is a two-time NCAA champ from Penn State and just won the Last Chance Qualifier without surrendering a point. Both guys will be favorites over Berger.

If Berger somehow makes it to the challenge tournament final, he’ll likely face Burroughs for a shot at Dake. Ouch.

7-seed Eric Schultz

97kg (214 pounds)

Eric Schultz was a steady presence for Nebraska from 2017 to 2022, ending his collegiate career with a 5th-place finish at NCAAs as a senior. With his attention toward freestyle, he’s been in the mix at both 92 and 97kg.

Schultz qualified for the Olympic Trials by finishing fourth at 2023 Senior Nationals where he beat former Hawkeye Tony Cassioppi.

Looking at the seeds, Schultz will get a first-round bye before taking on 2-seed Isaac Trumble, an Omaha native who wrestles at NC State. A 2023 US Open finalist, Trumble won a U23 World gold medal this past year and took the college season off with an Olympic redshirt. He’s possibly the future of this weight for Team USA.

If Schultz can down Trumble, he’ll see either 3-seed Michael Macchiavello or 6-seed Jay Aiello. Macchiavello wrestled in Final X last year at 92kg and won a Bill Farrell title, while Aiello took third at Senior Nationals, second at the Yasar Dogu and third at the Bill Farrell. Schultz has a career win over Aiello, but he also just lost to him 9-4 at Senior Nationals.

With a win in the semis, Schultz would likely face 1-seed J’den Cox in the challenge tournament final. Cox is an Olympic bronze-medalist (at 86kg in 2016) and has two World gold medals at 92kg. He also won the 2023 US Open at 97kg. He’s the heavy favorite to get to Kyle Snyder who is sitting in the best-of-three final due to his 2023 World bronze medal.

Speaking of Snyder, he’ll be Schultz’s opponent if he can get through the challenge tournament. Snyder is a nine-time World and Olympic medalist, including an Olympic gold and three World golds — and he’s only 28 years old. He’s putting together a resume that’ll eventually put him in contention for goat status.

6-seed Christian Lance

125kg (276 pounds)

Since earning his first All-American honor as a senior in 2022, Christian Lance has really blossomed under the tutelage of Olympic bronze-medalist Tervel Dlagnev, Nebraska’s assistant coach who doubles as the head coach of the NWTC.

Lance finished as a runner-up at the Bill Ferrell where he earned his Olympic Trials qualification. Lance then went on to make it to the finals of Senior Nationals, falling to Dom Bradley 2-1 in the final.

Lance will get a first-round bye before taking on 3-seed Greg Kerkvliet of Penn State. Fresh off his first NCAA title in March, Kerkvliet is also a two-time Cadet World finalist, winning gold in 2017. This is a tough first match for Lance.

If Lance gets past Kerkvliet, he’d see four-time World Team member and two-time World bronze-medalist 2-seed Nick Gwiazdowski in the semis. That would set up a finals matchup against either 1-seed Hayden Zillmer, 4-seed Dom Bradley or 5-seed Wyatt Hendrickson in the final. All three are better matchups in my mind than either Kerkvliet or Gwiazdowski, showing how tough the bottom of this bracket is compared to the top.

The winner of the challenge tournament will take on 2023 World bronze-medalist Mason Parris in the best-of-three final.