USA Wrestling World Team Trials top entries ft. Jordan Burroughs, David Taylor

The 2024 USA Wrestling World Team Trials are all set to take place on September 14 and 15 at the convention center of the CHI Health Center Omaha. The men’s and women’s Freestyle and men’s Greco-Roman wrestlers will be aiming to earn their spots in the USA’s squad for the 2024 World Wrestling Championships from October 28 to 31 in Tirana, Albania.

With this, let’s take a look at some of the athletes to watch out for as the competition kicks off on Saturday.

Top entries at the 2024 USA Wrestling World Team Trials

#5 Daton Fix

Daton Fix (Photo by Jay LaPrete/NCAA Photos/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

Daton Fix is targeting a comeback to the USA’s World Championships team as he enters as one of the participants in the men’s 61kg freestyle at the USA Wrestling World Trials. His best placement at the Worlds is winning the silver in the 2021 edition in Oslo after losing to Abasgadzhi Magomedov by 1-4.

Some of the top accomplishments of Fix include being a five-time Big 12 champion and claiming the gold medals at the 2019 Pan American Games and the 2022 Pan American Championships.

#4 Zahid Valencia

Zahid Valencia (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images)

Zahid Valencia is one of the wrestlers who will be in action at the USA Wrestling World Team Trials to secure his spot in the nation’s World Championships squad for the second year in a row. Valencia bagged the bronze medal at the 2023 World Wrestling Championships in the men's freestyle 92kg, besting Japan’s Arash Yoshida via technical superiority (11-0).

At the USA Wrestling World Team Trials, he is eligible to compete directly in the Best-of-Three as the two-time NCAA champion got himself the luxury through his bronze-medal finish.

#3 Vito Arujau

Vito Arujau (Photo by Evert Nelson/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

Like Valencia, Vito Arujau is another wrestler eyeing to make his second consecutive World Championships team. At the 2023 World Wrestling Championships, he clinched the gold medal by defeating Abasgadzhi Magomedov in a close contest by 10-9 in the men’s 61kg event.

Since he achieved a podium finish at the previous year’s World Championships, the two-time Pan American Championships gold medalist is eligible for a bye till the Best-of-Three championship series in the same weight class.

#2 David Taylor

David Morris Taylor (Photo by Kadir Caliskan - United World Wrestling/Getty Images)

David Taylor, who retired after failing to make the USA team for the Paris Olympics, has come out of retirement as he aims to secure his spot in the nation’s squad for the 2024 World Wrestling Championships. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medalist will be fielding in men’s 92kg at the USA Wrestling World Team Trials.

According to the pre-seeds, Taylor is the top-seeded wrestler in the category. If the three-time world champion prevails against all his opponents, he is expected to face Zahid Valencia in the Best-of-Three Finals.

#1 Jordan Burroughs

Jordan Burroughs (Photo by Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc/Corbis via Getty Images)

Jordan Burroughs, who is regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, is one of the prominent names to watch out for at the 2024 Wrestling World Team Trials. Based on the pre-seeds released by USA Wrestling, the six-time world champion is seeded second in the men's 79kg event.

However, Burroughs may face a tough challenge from the likes of Chance Marsteller, Keegan O’Toole and David Carr in order to book a place for himself at the Wrestling World Championships scheduled this year.