Posted this on GIA, but
@backdrft76 said I had to here as well. Be warned, the first three are Iowa centric:
U20 Nationals gives us a very recent example on what we could see this weekend. WTT are basically a condensed version with the best guys competing again(plus a few additions)for a spot on the team. 57kgs was a gauntlet then, and will be again.
Lilledahl came out on top at Nats, so he sits in the best of 3 finals. He earned himself a huge advantage here as the mini tourny is going to be a war, with highly ranked matches from 1st whistle.
Top competition -
Forrest - not best performance at Nats, but everyone knows he's one of the best there is
Knox - 3rd at Nats, top pfp
Mendoza - 4th at Nats, took out Forrest and Desmond in convincing fashion
Kilkeary - looked really, really good at Nats. Took 2nd with wins over Mendoza and Knox
Castillo - world medalist
Seidel, Desmond, and Cortez are all highly ranked and in the mix as well
Not sure how DeLuca will fare here. He's good enough to go with anyone on that list. Talent level is so high at this weight that I can't pick any one person to make the finals. I guess I will say 4th for Leo, and hope that I am very wrong. I lean Forrest to make finals, if only because when he is at his peak performance, very few can compete.
I have Lilledahl ultimately winning the spot. Partially because he's damn good, and partially because he doesn't have to string together 3-4 high quality wins to do it.