Well, there were some speculations as to whether or not Gable Steveson would enter the US open, but he announced today in an interview with Flowrestling that he is indeed back for the US Open and will look to reclaim his spot as the best heavyweight in the world.
The field-
Main competitors:
Gable Steveson
Mason Parris
Nick Gwiazdowski
Hayden Zillmer
Will anyone touch Gable Steveson, probably not based on his last performances however he will most likely need to get through 2 out of 3 of these guys to win the US Open and book his ticket to Final X.
Hayden Zillmer was the one to make the world team last season as he upset 2x world medalist Nick Gwiazdowksi. Zillmer would go dnp at the world championships in Belgrade however, losing to Geno Petriashvili and would be eliminated after Petriashvili was upset in the semifinals.
Gwiazdowski is the only other wrestler besides Steveson to ever win a world medal as he took bronze in 2017, and 2018. He made the team in 2021 after Steveson did not elect to take his free world team spot being a medalist at the Olympics. Gwiazdowski beat Parris handedly in the finals of the world team trials, and they have not wrestled since.
Parris is the wildcard here, will he contest Steveson? Probably not but he did have his best season in college winning a national title and winning the hodge on top of that. He has beaten Zillmer in the past and Gwiazdowski as well so he could very well get the rematch with Gable in the finals of the Open should the seeds let him.
Predictions:
I see the seeds falling against Parris and he would be given the 4 seed most likely seeing Gable in the semifinals match.
Gwiz vs Zillmer will most likely be the semifinals on the bottom half and in a one match series I would say Gwiz will have the advantage.
Gable vs Gwiz is what I see being the finals, the Olympic trials was the last time they met and Gable got the sweep in dominant fashion and it might be closer this time if Gable has not been training as hard but it’s difficult to see anyone beating the champ.
The US Open will begin April 26th and go till the 30th. The winner of the weight class will book their ticket to Final X.
