By: Allen Smith
While folkstyle wrestling takes a seven-month hiatus, for those that are interested, freestyle wrestling takes center stage. Upcoming are the Olympic Trials, held at the Bryce Jordan Center on April 19-20, two weeks from now.
Qualification for that tournament, where the right to represent the United States at the Olympics in Paris, France this summer will be determined, is mostly complete. I’ll finish this email with the list of NLWC and Penn State-connected wrestlers that have already qualified. Before I do that, there is one more tournament where wrestlers can qualify, that being the “Last Chance Olympic Team Trials Qualifier”. This tournament is held in Fairfax, Virginia, this Saturday and Sunday (April 6-7). The WINNER of each weight class in each of the three disciplines (Men’s Freestyle, Women’s Freestyle, Greco Roman) will be added to the Olympic Trials list. Those with local connections going in Fairfax are;
57kg: Josh Rodriguez
74kg: Vincenzo Joseph, Joe Sealey and Terrell Barraclough
86kg: Morgan McIntosh
97kg: Cole Mirasola
Please note that Flowrestling is carrying this event, and the brackets can be found on trackwrestling.com.
Those already qualified for the Olympic Trials coming up in two weeks are;
57kg: Thomas Gilman, Nico Megaludis, Luke Lilledahl
65kg: Zain Retherford, Nick Lee, Beau Bartlett ( Retherford is automatically advanced to the semis of the Challenge Tournament due to his 2023 World Medal)
74kg: Kyle Dake, Mitchell Mesenbrink, Jason Nolf, Alex Facundo, Levi Haines, Carter Starocci ( Dake automatically sits in the best-of-three championships due to his 2023 World Medal at 74kg)
86kg: David Taylor, Aaron Brooks, Mark Hall, Max Dean, Connor Mirasola ( Taylor automatically sits in the best-of-three championships due to his 2023 World Medal at 86kg)
97kg: Kyle Snyder* (* Snyder automatically sits in the best-of-three championships due to his 2023 World Medal at 97kg)
125kg: Greg Kerkvliet
Best to all these guys as they chase their dreams.
