Zagreb Open Ranking Event: Team USA day-by-day rosters and preview

USA stars Kyle Snyder (MFS), Kamal Bey (GR) and Dom Parrish (WFS) will compete at the Zagreb Open. Photos by Tony Rotundo, Wrestlers Are Warriors.

The United States has sent a huge delegation to the Zagreb Open, in Zagreb, Croatia, Feb. 1-5. The U.S. team will include 61 wrestlers, including 22 in men’s freestyle, 23 in women’s freestyle and 16 in Greco-Roman. It is a very strong team, as 46 of these athletes are currently members of the U.S. Senior National Team, which features the top three athletes in each weight class as set by the 2022 World Team Trials process.

It should be a strong international field, based upon the weight class rosters published by United World Wrestling.

Zagreb is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time zone (ET).

The event will be broadcast live on FloWrestling.

Each day, the first session, which includes the preliminaries through semifinals plus repechage begins at 10:00 a.m. local time (4:00 a.m. ET). Each day, the second session, which includes the gold and bronze medal matches, begin at 6:00 p.m. local time (12:00 noon ET)

Let’s take a look at which U.S. athletes will compete each day, and some of the story lines for each day.

DAY ONE - Wednesday Feb. 1
Men’s Freestyle 57 kg, 61 kg, 65 kg, 70 kg, 74 kg, 86 kg

Day One U.S. entries with club and current U.S. National Team ranking
Men’s Freestyle
57 kg: Zane Richards (TMWC/IRTC). National Team No. 3
61 kg: Daniel DeShazer (Minn.Storm), National Team No. 3
65 kg: Evan Henderson (TMWC/LVWC), National Team No. 2
65 kg: Joey McKenna (TMWC/PRTC), National Team No. 3
65 kg: Nick Lee (TMWC/NLWC)
70 kg: Tyler Berger (Sunkist/PRTC), National Team No. 3
70 kg: Alec Pantaleo (TMWC/CKWC)
70 kg: Hayden Hidlay (TMWC/WWC)
74 kg: Jason Nolf (TMWC/NLWC), National Team No. 2
74 kg: Joey Lavalle (TMWC/NLWC)
74 kg: Tommy Gantt (TMWC/WWC)
86 kg: Zahid Valencia (Sunkist), National Team No. 2
86 kg: Mark Hall (TMWC/PRTC), National Team No. 3

Wednesday storylines: Team USA opens with seven National Team members, and four others who were on previous year National Teams. The No. 2 wrestlers on the National Team competing are Evan Henderson (65 kg), Jason Nolf (74 kg) and Zahid Valencia (86 kg). U.S. collegians competing for other nations include Darian Cruz (Puerto Rico, 57 kg), Joshua Finesilver (Israel, 65 kg), Sebastian Rivera of Puerto Rico (65 kg), Mitchell Finesilver (Israel, 74 kg) and Myles Amine (San Marino, 86 kg). Among the international stars competing Wednesday is Olympic and World champion Hassan Yazdani of Iran (86 kg), World champion Haji Aliev of Azerbaijan (65 kg) and World silver medalist Tajmuraz Salkazanov of Slovakia (74 kg). With this many U.S. entries, it would not be a surprise to see a number of USA vs. USA matches, perhaps even in the medal rounds.

DAY TWO – Thursday Feb. 2
Men’s Freestyle 79 kg, 92 kg, 97 kg, 125 kg, Women’s Freestyle 50 kg, 55 kg

Day two U.S. entries with club and current U.S. National Team ranking
Men’s Freestyle
79 kg: Chance Marsteller (TMWC/NYCRTC), National Team No. 2
92 kg: Kollin Moore (TMWC/ORTC), National Team No. 2 at 97
92 kg: Jay Aiello (TMWC/CWC), National Team No. 3
97 kg: Kyle Snyder (TMWC/NLWC), National Team No. 1
97 kg: J’den Cox (TMWC/CKWC), National Team No. 1 at 92
97 kg: Morgan Smith (TMWC/ORTC)
125 kg: Hayden Zillmer (Minn. Storm), National Team No. 1
125 kg: Jordan Wood (NYAC)
125 kg: Ceron Francisco (TMWC/NLWC)
Women’s Freestyle
50 kg: Erin Golston (NYAC), National Team No. 3
55 kg: Jacarra Winchester (TMWC), National Team No. 1
55 kg: Jenna Burkert (Army WCAP), National Team No. 2
55 kg: Lauren Mason (Brunson UVRTC), National Team No. 3

Thursday story lines: This could be the first event this year in which Olympic and World champion Kyle Snyder and World champion J’den Cox square off, since Cox made the move up to 97 kg for this season. Fans may remember their battle in the Super Match in Detroit last year. The USA has another National Team No. 1 competing, Hayden Zillmer at 125 kg. Kollin Moore, who made the National Team at 97 kg, is dropping back down to 92 kg. U.S. collegian Benjamin Honis (Italy, 97 kg) is entered. It also marks the first day of the women’s competition, with four U.S. women on the mats, all on the National Team. Leading the group is World champion Jacarra Winchester at 55 kg. All three of the U.S. women’s National Team members at 55 kg are entered. Among the international stars competing are World champion Geno Petriashvili of Georgia (130 kg MFS), World and Olympic champion Yui Susaki of Japan (50 kg WFS) and U23 World champion Moe Kiyooka of Japan (55 kg WFS).

DAY THREE - Friday, February 3
Women’s Freestyle 59 kg, 62 kg, 65 kg, 68 kg, Greco-Roman 77 kg, 87 kg

Day three U.S. entries with club and current U.S. National Team ranking
Women’s Freestyle
62 kg: Kayla Miracle (Sunkist), National Team No. 1
62 kg: Lauren Louvie (NYAC)
65 kg: Mallory Velte (TMWC/BDRTC), National Team No. 1
65 kg: Forrest Molinari (Sunkist), National Team No. 2
65 kg: Emma Bruntil (TMWC), National Team No. 3
68 kg: Solin Piearcy (Menlo WC), National Team No. 3
68 kg: Alex Glaude (TMWC/BDRTC)
68 kg: Marilyn Garcia (California)
Greco-Roman
77 kg: Kamal Bey (Army WCAP), National Team No. 1
77 kg: Britton Holmes (Army WCAP), National Team No. 2
77 kg: Payton Jacobson (Sunkist), National Team No. 3
87 kg: Alan Vera (NYAC), National Team No. 1

Friday Storylines: Women’s freestyle continues with four more weight classes. Team USA is sending out a pair of their No. 1 stars, World finalist Kayla Miracle at 62 kg and World medalist Mallory Velte at 65 kg. All three U.S. National Team members at 65 kg are wrestling, Miracle, No. 2 and past World medalist Forrest Molinari and No. 3 Emma Bruntil. At 68 kg is National Team member Solin Piearcy and past National Team member Alex Glaude. Team USA has no entry at 59 kg. The first day of Greco-Roman features four U.S. National Team members, including a pair of No. 1 athletes, Kamal Bey at 77 kg and Alan Vera at 87 kg. Among the women international stars to wrestle are World champion Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan (62 kg), World champion Taybe Yusein of Bulgaria (62 kg) and World champion Irina Ringaci of Moldova (68 kg). Greco-Roman names to watch are World silver medalist Turpal Bisultanov of Denmark (87 kg) and World silver medalist Sunan Syleymanov of Azerbaijan (77 kg).

DAY FOUR - Saturday, February 4
Women’s Freestyle 53 kg, 57 kg, 72 kg, 76 kg, Greco-Roman 63 kg, 67 kg

Day four U.S. entries with club and current U.S. National Team ranking
Women's Freestyle
53 kg: Dom Parrish (Sunkist), National Team No. 1
53 kg: Katie Gomez (Sunkist)
53 kg: Alisha Howk (Sunkist)
57 kg: Helen Maroulis (Sunkist), National Team No. 1
57 kg: Alex Hedrick (TMWC), National Team No. 2
57 kg: Amanda Martinez (TMWC/CWC), National Team No. 3
72 kg: Skylar Grote (TMWC/BDRTC), National Team No. 2
76 kg: Dymond Guilford (TMWC), National Team No. 1
76 kg: Yelena Makoyed (TMWC/CWC), National Team No. 2
76 kg: Precious Bell (TMWC/VSW), National Team No. 3
Greco-Roman
63 kg: Jesse Thielke (Army WCAP), National Team No. 1
63 kg: Sammy Jones (NYAC), National Team No. 2
67 kg: Alejandro Sancho (Army WCAP), National Team No. 1
67 kg: Alston Nutter (Sunkist Kids), National Team No. 2

Saturday Storylines: Leading the U.S. women on Saturday are Olympic and World champion Helen Maroulis (57 kg) and 2022 World champion Dom Parrish (53 kg). Team USA brings another No. 1 from its National Team, Dymond Guilford at 76 kg. All three U.S. National Team members at 57 kg and 76 kg will be competing in Zagreb. Two more Greco-Roman weight classes are on the mat, including two U.S. No. 1 athletes, Jesse Thielke at 63 kg and Alejandro Sancho at 67 kg. Past World champion Justina DiStasio of Canada is at 76 kg in women’s freestyle. Greco-Roman names to watch are World champion Victor Ciobanu of Moldova (63 kg), World bronze medalist Taleh Mammadov of Azerbaijan (63 kg) and Olympic bronze medalist Salike Walihan of China (67 kg).

DAY FIVE: Sunday, February 5
Greco-Roman 55kg, 60 kg, 72 kg, 82 kg, 97 kg, 130 kg

Day five U.S. entries with club and current U.S. National Team ranking
Greco-Roman
55 kg: Dalton Duffield (Army WCAP), National Team No. 3
60 kg: Ildar Hafizov (Army WCAP), National Team No. 1
60 kg: Dalton Roberts (Army WCAP), National Team No. 2
60 kg: Randon Miranda (Sunkist), National Team No. 3
72 kg: Patrick Smith (Minn. Storm), National Team No. 2
82 kg: Spencer Woods (Army WCAP), National Team No. 2
97 kg: Lucas Sheridan (Army WCAP), National Team No. 3
130 kg: Tanner Farmer (NYAC), National Team No. 2

Sunday Storylines: All Greco-Roman, all day, with six weight classes. The USA has eight National Team members competing on the final day, including Olympian and No. 1 Ildar Hafizov at 60 kg. Three other past World Team members will compete, Dalton Roberts at 60 kg, Patrick Smith at 72 kg and Spencer Woods at 82 kg. Among the international stars on the final day are World champion Eldaniz Azizli of Azerbaijan (55 kg), World medalist Murad Mammadov of Azerbaijan (60 kg), World medalist Celcuk Can of Turkey (72 kg), World silver medalist Alex Szoke of Hungary (97 kg) and World silver medalist Oscar Pino Hinds of Cuba (130 kg).

Additional Resources

FloWrestling Coverage Page

FloWrestling: Kyle Snyder vs. J'den Cox headlines best matches at the Zagreb Open

UWW: Curtain-raiser Zagreb Open offers strong competition

UWW: Zagreb Open: five women's wrestling storylines