MINNEAPOLIS – USA Wrestling has announced the seeds for freestyle competition at the World Team Trials challenge, as current Gopher wrestler Michael Blockhus and Minnesota alumni Owen Webster will both have a number next to their name when competition gets underway this weekend.
The tournament will take place from May 21-22 inside Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa, as FloWrestling will host all tournament coverage throughout the weekend.
Michael Blockhus will enter the tournament as the No. 6-seed at 70 kilograms following a solid performance at the U.S Open three weeks ago, which saw him place fourth in Las Vegas with a 6-2 record on the weekend. This weekend he will look to punch his ticket for one of the two vacant Final X spots as he competes among the likes of Alec Pantaleo, Ryan Deakin, Jordan Oliver, and Zain Retherford, among others.
Former Gopher wrestler Owen Webster also earned a seed at 86-kilograms, as he will line up as the seven-seed for this weekend’s tournament. Webster has already had a busy freestyle season this summer. He placed second in the Bill Farrell Memorial in early April before placing fifth at the U.S Open in his last competition. Webster will look to win his challenge bracket this weekend, as Olympic gold medalist David Taylor awaits the winner at Final X later this summer.
Gopher Wrestling Club will also send two other resident athletes to Coralville this weekend, as Daniel DeShazer and Hayden Zillmer both earned seeds for this weekend’s challenge tournament as well. DeShazer will compete as the sixth-seed at 61-kilograms as he looks to earn the opportunity to face Thomas Gilman at Final X, while Hayden Zillmer will get the top-seed following his U.S Open title and will look to lock in one of the two Final X spots at 125-kilograms after Gable Steveson elected to forego his invitation last weekend.
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