Gable Steveson's Rise To Top Heavyweight Challenger
Gable Steveson's Rise To Top Heavyweight Challenger
Before Gable Steveson Takes on Trent Hillger at Beat the Streets, remember how he became the top challenger for the US heavyweight spot.
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While Gable Steveson has only been out of high school for a little over two years, he has already become the the number one challenger for two-time World Bronze Medalist Nick Gwiazdowski. It can be hard to remember that Steveson as young as he is because he's been making headlines with eye-popping results for half a decade.
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The wrestling world had its eyes on Steveson from a young age, but he left no doubt about his potential in the summer of 2015, after his freshman year of high school, when he won his first of two Cadet World titles in dominant fashion. His gold medal match was an impressive 9-0 display over Khasanboy Rakhimov of Uzbekistan.
Steveson's first Cadet title was especially impressive considering that he was one of the youngest competitors in the field. He would repeat that accomplishment again in 2016, this time taking out Adam Beterbiev of Russia 5-1 in the finals. By 2016, with another year of Cadet eligibility remaining, Steveson already had won the World Championships twice!
In 2017, despite being eligible to wrestle in the Cadet World Championships again, Steveson opted to wrestle in Junior Worlds. He had to petition to get into the event because of his young age and was almost denied the opportunity to compete. Despite those hurdles and the challenge of wrestling against older athletes, Steveson won another World gold, this time in the Junior division.
Those three years of consistent international results combined with an immaculate high school career made Steveson one of the most highly anticipated college freshmen during his true freshman season in 2018-2019. In that season, he lost to only one opponent, Penn State's Anthony Cassar, the eventual NCAA Champion. Cassar got the better of Steveson twice, in the Big Ten finals and in the NCAA semis.
Steveson followed up his third place performance at NCAA's with a solid summer of freestyle that culminated with an appearance at Final X against Nick Gwiazdowski. Gwiazdowski won the best of three series in two matches. Steveson showed how close he was to America's top heavyweight, losing both matches by criteria, 4-4 and 3-3.
Since that time, Steveson has looked outstanding with a tournament victory at the 2019 Bill Farrell and an undefeated NCAA season. Like the rest of the wrestling world, Steveson hasn't had normal opportunities to compete due to COVID-19. His match against Trent Hillger at Beat the Streets should serve as a good test of where he stands heading into this postponed Olympic year.
Hillger, an All-American, is also one of the top senior level heavyweight prospects, falling just short of a spot on the Junior World Team in 2019. He lost that spot to Mason Parris, the eventual Junior World Champ, but not before he took match 1 in the best of three series. Steveson has gotten the better of Hillger in the past, so he'll be the favorite on September 17, but Hillger is formidable and offers a nice test after months off.