Reps Ahead Pro 5: Tournament Bracket Style

Just over a year ago the first Pro event for Reps Ahead debuted with a featured match between James Sprague and Tyler Eggiman. Many who have watched this match still believe it is the best match in the history of Pro Reps Ahead bouts; though the recent match between Sprague and Hopper at TYR WZA So Cal gives it a run for its money. 

This week, the fifth pro version of Reps Ahead is set to take place at the Stockyards Event Center in Denver, Colorado as part of the MBS Turkey Challenge. There may still be an opportunity to buy tickets to the Reps Ahead matches. For that, and all other information pertaining to Reps Ahead 5, you can reference their website. 

Tournament Format

For the first time in the Pro divisions the Reps Ahead team is rolling out a tournament format, four men and four women, two days, and money on the line in all 8 matches. How much money exactly?

• Each semifinal winner on Saturday banks $2000
• The third place match victor on Sunday earns $1000
• The winner of the final earns an additional $5000

Reps Ahead is well known for taking care of the athletes, covering costs for travel, accommodations, and even paying appearance fees for most of their Pro athletes; the prize purse for each match listed above is in addition to all of that.

The Sequences

Unlike traditional CrossFit or fitness competitions, in Reps Ahead, each “workout” is called a sequence. For the tournament format there will be one sequence on Saturday, and a similar, but different sequence on Sunday: 

Saturday: “Lindsey”

2:30 on / 1:00 off for a maximum of 4 rounds

7 bar muscle ups

6 burpee box jump overs (30/24 inches)

5 clean and jerks (165/115 lbs)

*10 Reps Ahead

Sunday: “Candice”

2:30 on / 1:00 off for a maximum of 4 rounds

12 box jump overs (step down only)

6 hang squat cleans (155/105 lbs)

12 chest to bar pull ups

*14 Reps Ahead

If Candice looks familiar, that’s probably because you clicked the link above and watched Pro 1. The difference being the working time allotted per round. In Pro 1 it was 2 minutes of work followed by 1 minute rest for up to 8 possible rounds, this time it is a 2 minute and thirty second working time domain and a maximum of 4 rounds.

The Match-Ups

Similarly to the sequences, the match ups have been announced and known for a few weeks now. 

Male Semi-Final 1

Tudor Magda vs Cole Greashaber

At the North America West Semifinal this year Greashaber beat Magda by 3 points. Those were 3 massive points however as Greashaber claimed the final spot to the 2024 CrossFit Games, his third consecutive year qualifying; while Magda would be the bridesmaid in a very competitive field as the first man in the non-qualified positions. Magda won the 14-15 year old teenage CrossFit Games title back in 2018, and placed 3rd the following year as a 16 year old in the 16-17 division. He earned his first open division qualification in 2022 where he finished 34th to Greashaber’s 33rd, and you guessed it, finishing 3 points behind him.

For an athlete like Magda who has a championship pedigree in his background, you can bet he is well aware of the small margins by which his semi-final opponent has bested him in the past. While Greashaber comes in as the higher seed, Magda will likely be showing up to the Stockyards Center with a slightly bigger chip on his shoulder.  

Male Semi-Final 2

James Sprague vs John Wood

Sprague has yet to miss a Reps Ahead pro match. Before qualifying for the Games, or winning it, or getting an invite to Rogue, Sprague was in the ring believing in the Reps Ahead format; and in four matches, he’s experience almost everything:

• Pro 1 against Eggiman resulted in a rebound victory, where he was nearly knocked out before rallying to come all the way back for the W
• Pro 2 he squared off against long time friend and rival Dallin Pepper; that one went the distance with Pepper beating him on rep count
• Pro 3 he was pitted against Nick Mathew, and while the match looked like it should have been close on paper, it wasn’t, Sprague had his most impressive victory in this one
• Pro 4, in Huntington Beach, his opponent was Jayson Hopper, and on paper there was little to nothing between them. In reality, there was nothing between them, after the final round they were tied on reps, and be decision, Jayson was awarded the win for doing more work in the final round. 

Regardless of how, Sprague has been alternating between wins and losses in his Reps Ahead Career, so at least in his Semifinal match, he’s due for a win. 

John Wood has had four appearances in elite level events in the last two seasons. He’s taken 14th (2023) and 21st (2024) at Wodapalooza, and taken 12th (Pasadena 2023) and 13th (Carson 2024) and the West Semifinals. His opponent, Sprague, competed against him at both of the 2024 events. Of the 12 events in those two competitions Wood only managed to beat Sprague on one of them, the Snatch ladder at the 2024 Semis. Wood’s best event his year was the row, handstand walk where he placed 6th to Sprague’s 5th. 

Although not a direct comparison, at Semifinasl in 2023 Wood had his best ever Semifinal finish taking 2nd in the finale with at time of 4:12.53. Sprague was at the East Semifinal that year, he finished that event seventh in his region, but his time was 4:13.84, just over a second slower than Wood. That year, Wood actually outperformed Sprague on three total events including the max snatch where he hit 280 to Sprague’s 265, and the weighted gymnastics event where he accumulated 46 reps to Sprague’s 39. 

Both men were in competition a couple weeks ago as well, though a world apart from each other. While Sprague, on the back of a bout with pneumonia traveled and competed outside of the United States for the first time in his career at the Rogue Invitational in Aberdeen, Scotland; Wood stayed relatively close to home to compete at the Desert City Classic where he placed second to Max Krieg. 

I want to say Wood has a fighting chance here, but it’s difficult to assess the relative performances of these two and see where his advantage is. If anything, the fact that he is a similar size to Sprague may be in his favor, as Sprague has earned his two victories against smaller athletes, and his two losses against Pepper and Hopper who are more similarly sized to the six foot, 210 lb Wood. The only problem is, those guys have multiple top ten finishes at the Games, and aside from doing it on a team in 2021, Wood has yet to crack the top ten at a Semi. 

Female Semi-Final 1

Trista Smith vs Zoe Warren

A rather intriguing Semi Final match on the women’s side, as Trista Smith will be much more well know to most than Zoe Warren. Three time CFG teenage athlete Trista wrapped up her teenage career by taking 2nd place in both the Semifinals and the CrossFit Games in the 16-17 year old teenage division in 2023. In her first year no longer eligible as a teen, she qualified for the North America West Semifinal, showed up in Carson, and turned some heads when she took 3rd and then 7th on events 4 and 5 putting herself in position to possibly qualify for the Games on the final event. The final didn’t quite go as planned, she took 21st on it, and ultimately placed 11th in the competition, but she’d certainly won over some fans.

Although Trista qualified for Semis this year and Zoe did not, don’t let that mislead you. After competing at the semis and the Games on a team in 2021, Warren qualified on her own in both 2022 and 2023. She didn’t actual compete at the Granite Games in 2022, and she took 20th in 2023 at the NA West Semifinal including two top 10 finishes, 9th on the weighted gymnastics tests and 4th on dumbbell Linda. If you’re wondering about the 2024 season, well it was likely going to be her best yet. She absolute smashed quarrterfinals, placing 12th, 7th, and 11th in events 2,3, and 4… but, like so many others, a penalty on event 1 dropped her well outside of a qualifying position and put an end to her season. 

In case you are one of the few people who thinks the Quarterfinal penalties on event 1 were in anyway appropriate, Warren put her fitness to the test not too long ago at the Desert City Classic against an athlete who was the surprise of the West Semifinal this year, Hattie Kanyo. Desert City consisted of 7 events, Warren beat Kanyo on 5 of those en route to winning the competition by 20 points. Hannah Black, who impresed at the 2023 Semifinal by winning the max snatch, took third. 

Almost everyone will be thinking Trista is the favorite here, but if you know who Zoe is, you’ll be telling those people to think twice before placing any bets. 

Female Semi-Final 2

Arielle Loewen vs Rachel Noel

All the bets will, and should, be coming in on Loewen for this one. Her credentials stand well apart from the rest of the women in this field having taken third place at the Games in her last attempt there, and this place at Rogue a couple of weeks ago. She has proven her fittest to be elite against the best women in the sport… but will it translate to the Reps Ahead format? 

Rachel Noel is a late fill in to the tournament, and with less than a weeks notice, she’ll have to face one of the fiercest competitors in the space. However, Noel, being local to the Colorado area, has seen and done Reps Ahead before. Phil Thomas, the founder of Reps Ahead, always has a back up athlete in place just in case, and when he told me Noel would have to step in he said, “I know it’s a tough draw against Arielle, but I’ve seen Rachel in this format, and she’s been impressive.” Well, Phil, she will need to be that and then some if she wants to take down the lioness from Texas. 

Semifinal Round Picks

Greashaber over Magda in the fourth round.

Sprague over Wood in the third round.

Warren over Smith in a distance match.

Loewen over Noel in the third round.