FitWars 1 Preview: Mertens vs Tetlow

The first ever FitWars is this Sunday, December 18. Colten Mertens and Scott Tetlow will throw down in the virtual head-to-head battle. Mertens and Tetlow have been considered to very similar athletes. So with that, we decided to take a look at how these two have compared over the years.

CrossFit Open

Scott Tetlow has been competing in the CrossFit Open since 2015 where he climbed up the leaderboard before qualifying for his first Regionals appearance in 2017. Mertens’ first Open appearance was in 2017. One year later he was on the CrossFit Kilo team that ended up qualifying for the CrossFit Games.

Looking back at their Open performances, 2018 is when both athletes were Regional-level athletes. With a few more years under his belt, Tetlow has been the more consistent athlete since 2018. However, Mertens has made significant strides over the past two years and has finished ahead of Tetlow in 2021 and 2022.

The table below shows the worldwide finish in the Open from 2018 through 2022. Last year, both Mertens and Tetlow finished in the top 10 worldwide.

As you can see, the past two Opens have been very close between the two athletes when it comes to their overall finish. But let’s take a look at the individual workout performances.

In 2021, Mertens bested Tetlow on all four Open workouts. However, the margin was about as slim as it gets. Only eight (yes, 8) seconds combined separated them in the first three workouts. The biggest separator between the two was the barbell complex where Mertens outlifted Tetlow by 11 pounds.

The 2022 CrossFit Open was a little more balanced, although Mertens still won two of the three workouts compared to Tetlow. While Mertens beat Tetlow by 11 reps on 22.1, those were 11 box jumps overs which do not take much time. Mertens also beat Tetlow in the deadlift/burpee workout in 22.2.

Tetlow, however, was able to take the workout win on 22.3 with the thrusters, double-unders and pull-ups/CTB/BMUs.

Over the past two Opens, Mertens holds the advantage over Tetlow, but overall count 6-1 does not tell how close it really was. A few seconds here or there and Tetlow could be up 4-3.

Quarterfinals

With both athletes posting similar scores in the Open the past two years, it is not a surprise that the Quarterfinals show similar results. While the individual workouts were not as close as a whole, the overall outcome was close.

In 2021, Mertens bested Tetlow in three of the five workouts. The biggest discrepancy was top-end strength in Workout 4, a 4-rep max front squat. Tetlow, however, was able to win two of the workouts compared to Mertens. The difference between their overall placement came down to Workout 4 and Mertens’ significant win on that event.

But this year, head-to-head Tetlow came out on top of Mertens. Tetlow did better than Mertens in three of the five events. However, the top-end strength event once again caused Tetlow to finish below Mertens in the overall finish.

Based on their quarterfinal performances, each had five head-to-head wins. When looking at just metcons, though, Tetlow held the advantage with five wins compared to Mertens’ three.

Semifinals

Both Mertens and Tetlow have been to Semifinals the past two seasons. In 2022, Mertens competed at the Granite Games while Tetlow headed off to the Syndicate Crown. The only duplicate workout was the Barbell Complex where Mertens outlifted Tetlow, 355 lbs. vs 300 lbs. As mentioned earlier, this was expected as Mertens holds the top-end strength advantage over Tetlow.

But in 2021, both athletes were at the Granite Games. So let’s take a look at how they compared to each other by event. As you can see in the table below, Mertens held the distinct head-to-head advantage over Tetlow at the 2021 Granite Games.

Tetlow’s only head-to-head win was on Earn It where he finished 1st in the event. That event included a short down-and-back chipper featuring handstand walks, ski erg and deficit handstand push-ups.

But outside of that win for Tetlow, Mertens had the better finish in the other six events. Those better finishes propelled Mertens to the CrossFit Games in 2021.

CrossFit Games

Unfortunately, Mertens and Tetlow have not competed at the Games during the same year. Mertens has been to the CrossFit Games three times (twice as an individual and once on a team) while Tetlow competed in the 2020 online portion of the CrossFit Games. 

Summary

Overall, Mertens and Tetlow are very close in their abilities and have shown that over the years competing in the Open, Quarterfinals and Semifinals. Mertens definitely holds the top-end strength advantage, but Tetlow has at times shown he can beat Mertens more often than not in a metcon.

While we do not know the workout for the FitWars match-up (the workout will be revealed minutes before they battle it out), it is almost guaranteed to be a close competition. In what will likely be a workout that mirrors something we would see in the Open or Quarterfinals, it would be shocking to see either athlete run away with it.

Make sure to tune in to FitWars on Sunday, December 18, on the HillerFit YouTube channel. It should be an exciting match-up between two comparable athletes.