MINNEAPOLIS - Gopher Wrestling Club athletes Daniel DeShazer and Hayden Zillmer are set to travel to Coralville, Iowa this weekend as they prepare to compete in the 2022 World Cup as members of Team USA.
Hayden Zillmer joins the lineup at 125 kilograms alongside Nick Gwiazdowski, fresh off his appearance at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships this past summer in Belgrade, Serbia. National team member Daniel DeShazer will represent the stars and stripes at 61 kilograms, joining fellow American Seth Gross at the weight.
The Men’s Freestyle World Cup, the annual international dual meet championships, is making its return after a two-year hiatus and will showcase the world’s top five teams as well as an All-World team. The six participating teams will be split up into two groups to kick off the event, with group pairings being determined by each nation’s points finish at the 2022 World Championships.
Group competition will take place on December 10 beginning at 10:00 a.m. CST, as Team USA will compete in Group A alongside Mongolia and Georgia. Placement matches will take place on December 11, as Team USA will compete against the Group B representative coinciding with their day one group finish. Group B consists of Iran, Japan, and the All-World Team.
Potential day one opponents for Hayden Zillmer include 2022 World Silver medalist Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur (MGL) and three-time world champion Geno Petriashvili (GEO), while DeShazer could face off against 2022 World bronze medalist Narankhuu Narmandakh (MGL) and Teimuraz Vanishvili (GEO)
Fans can tune in to full coverage of the 2022 World Cup on December 10-11 live on FloWrestling.