Olympic Games Preview Series: 74 kg Freestyle

A lot has changed for Jordan Burroughs since his last Olympic title. He is now a dad and his old rival Denis Tsargush of Russia will not be competing in these Olympics, but there is still one thing that hasn't changed since 2012: how much he wins. The man from New Jersey just keeps getting better and better every year and is showing no signs of slowing up. There will be many guys gunning for him at this weight, but the real question is can anyone actually beat him?

Favorite:

Jordan Burroughs USA- Jordan Burroughs looked phenomenal four years ago in London and the scary thought is he has improved quite a bit since then. He has developed a deadly leg lace that can end matches in a hurry. The three-time World champion looks to be in prime form once again and will be poised to win an another Olympic gold medal.

Contenders:

Aniuar Geduev Russia- Geduev's resume is not nearly as impressive as his wrestling skills are. The main reason he only has one World medal to his name is he could never get past his teammate Denis Tsargush until recently. The man is an excellent hand fighter and is always in good position. He ran with Burroughs last year in Las Vegas, now can he take the next step and beat him?

Hassan Yazdani Charati Iran- The 2015 silver medalist at 70 kg is one of the craftiest wrestlers in world and seems like he can score from any position. The young Iranian also has very heavy hands and is extremely efficient at scoring out of the ties. For him to have a chance at beating Jordan, he will have to get his hands on him early and often.

Dark Horses:

Unurbat Purevjav Mongolia- Purevjay surprised everyone at last year's World Championships by going on a run to claim the silver medal and his first ever World medal. The bulky Mongolian let it loose throughout the tournament and showed everyone that he has the nastiest throw at this weight class. Purevjav will be looking to repeat his success from last year and bring back Mongolia an Olympic medal

Narsingh Yadav India- Yadav has had quite an interesting and uncertain path to Rio. He was banned from the Olympics around a month ago for testing positive on his drug test and it looked as if his hopes to be an Olympian were over. Several days after the drug test, it was discovered that Yadav's test had been tampered with and he was once again cleared to wrestle in Rio. If the 2015 bronze medalist can get his head in the right place, he will be right in the mix for a medal on Friday.

Predictions:

This is Jordan Burroughs' weight to win. As long as he doesn't get injured, I don't see any of these guys beating him. Geduev is tougher then nails, but he just doesn't quite have the offense to beat a guy like Jordan. Yazdani has an unbelievable skill set for freestyle, but I still think he is an Olympics away from reaching his full potential. Despite not being a Burroughs' level, these two guys are head over heels better then the rest of the competition. I think the last medal will be claim by Purevjav. Everyone seems to be overlooking him, but I think there is something special about him that will get him on the podium.

Gold: Jordan Burroughs

Silver: Aniuar Geduev

Bronze: Hassan Yazdani Charati

Bronze: Unurbat Purevjav

5th: Narsingh Yadav

5th: Soener Demirtas