On the first day of competition in Iowa City three Olympic spots were awarded while another six wrestlers earned the chance to try and qualifying for the Olympics in future international qualifying tournaments this spring.
In the men’s freestyle 125 kg we knew one of the top competitors would be 2012 Olympian Tervel Dlagnev. Dlagnev was fifth in London and Dlagnev had a pretty easy time reaching the final with 10-0 and 5-1 wins. Meeting him in the final from the other side of the bracket was Zachary Rey, a 2015 world championship participant. The best-of-three series didn’t need to go the distance as Dlagnevy won 5-1, 5-3. Dlagnev will now turn his attention to Rio where he’ll hope to improve on his 2012 Olympics and win a medal.
In the men’s greco-roman 85 kg division 2012 Olympian Ben Provisor also advanced to the final while taking out two wrestlers who represented the US in the world championships. First up was Patrick Martinez, who he dispatched 4-1, and then Jordan Holm, who he shut out 3-0. Meeting Provisor in the final was Jacob Clark, a veteran wrestler who was an alternate for the Olympics all the way back in 2004. The final was all Provisor as he won the first match 3-0 and then got a fall in the second to win the Olympic spot for the second straight time.
The final Olympic was in the women’s freestyle 63 kg. Once again a 2012 Olympian, Elena Pirozhkova, was at the center of attention and advanced to the final via 10-0, 11-1, and 5-1 wins. On the other side of the bracket was 2015 corld championship participant Erin Clodgo, who advanced to the final via 10-0, 6-0, and 6-2 wins. This one ended in two matches just like the previous two with Pirozhkova winning 3-1 and getting a fall in the second to earn her second straight trip to the Olympics. 2015 World Championship bronze medalist at 60 kg, Leigh Jaynes-Provisor, also competed in this division but was beaten 13-10 in the first round by Hannah Jewell, a freshman college wrestler at King University
The other six divisions were competing to get the spot in Olympic qualifying and still hope to compete for Rio, though nothing is guaranteed. In the men’s freestyle 65 kg there were three competitors from the latest world championships and not one of them made the final. James Green was knocked out in his first match as he lost 9-2 to Zein Retherford, the 149 pound NCAA Champion this year for Penn State. Brent Metcalf had a first round bye but then was dispatched in the second round by Frank Molinaro, a former 149 pound champion for Penn State who went undefeated as a senior in 2012, 3-3 the score but Molinaro advancing on a tiebreaker. Molinaro went on to win another match on a tiebreaker after a 5-5 score to reach the final.
On the other side of the bracket Reece Humphrey advanced twice, 6-3 and 14-11, but got destroyed in the semifinals by Aaron Pico 12-1. That set up a final between Molinaro and Pico, a 19-year old who could be a future MMA star. Molinaro lost the first match 4-2 but won the next 4-3 to force the third match. In the decisive match Molinaro once again found himself with a deadlocked score, this time 4-4, as time ran out and for the third time in the day used a tiebreaker to claim a shocking victory in the division. He’ll need to qualify for the Olympics still, and you wonder how that will go considering he was not a favorite coming into the trials, but what a day it was for the underdog. Pico will have to decide what his future holds as the 2020 Olympics are a long ways off and he can being a MMA career with Bellator in the meantime.
In the greco-roman 59 kg contest 2012 Olympian Spenser Mango advanced 8-0 to start things off before being defeated by the same score in the semifinals by Jesse Thielke, a former a world championship competitor and member of the Wisconsin Badgers’ wrestling team, was runner-up to Mango at the US team trials last year. In the final Thielke would meet Ildar Hafizkov, who has a great story having competed at the Olympics for Uzbekistan in 2008 before becoming a US citizen and joining the US Army. The finals however were all Thielke as he won 10-0 and 9-3 to move into international Olympic qualifying.
In the greco-roman 66 kg class 2012 Olympian Ellis Coleman won his first match of the day 4-0 but ran into RaVaughn Perkins in the semifinals. Perkins would have represented the US after winning the trials in 2014 but was suspended for accidentally taking a banned substance and has been working to get back to that point since. On the other side of the bracket former world championship participant Bryce Saddoris lost in the quarterfinals on a tiebreaker after a 4-4 tie with Michael Hooker a US Army wrestler who was one of the last qualifiers for the trials. Hooker went on to lose in the semifinals 4-0 to Patrick Smith, a former 71 kg competitor who has consistently been near the top in US trials but with more runner-ups than he’d like. The final between Perkins and Smith started off with a 2-0 win for Smith. Smith then had a real chance to win the potential Olympic spot in match two but Perkins won the tiebreaker after a 2-2 score and would go on to grab the spot by winning match three 9-2.
The final greco-roman class of the day was 98 kg. World championship participant Caylor Williams was dominant in reaching the final with 8-0 and 10-0 wins. His opponent in the final was Josef Rau, a D3 national champion who has been peaking over the last year. Williams got a fall in the first match of the final but Rau was able to turn thing around and won the next two 5-2 and 6-5 to grab the qualifying spot.
In the women’s freestyle 58 kg competition 2012 Olympian Kelsey Campbell advanced to the final after 10-0, 6-0 and 4-2 wins. On the other side of the bracket was 2015 world championships competitor Alli Ragan. Ragan ran through her competition 10-0, 10-0, 6-4 to set up a big time matchup in the final. The final was very competitive but only lasted two matches as Campbell narrowly edged Ragan in both matches 2-1. Campbell will now try to make her second straight Olympics by grabbing a spot through the qualification tournaments.
Finally in the women’s freestyle 69 kg a very wide open field ended up with a final between Tamyra Mensah and Brittney Roberts. Mensah nearly won the US trials last year, coming in second, while Roberts is a former 75 kg competitor. Mensah rose to the occasion in the final by winning in big fashion 8-1, 8-1.
Sunday features six more weight classes where an Olympic spot is at stake and three more where the winner will have two chances to qualify for Rio.
An Olympic spot is at stake in the men’s freestyle 57 kg there are two 2012 Olympians competing. Sam Hazewinkel competed in the 55 kg division while Coleman Scott won bronze in the 60 kg division. Hazewkinkel is the #6 seed here with Scott the #4 seed. #1 seed Tony Ramos was the US competitor in this weight class at the world championships.
The men’s freestyle 74 kg division is dominated by one big name. Jordan Burroughs won gold in London. Burroughs won gold at the 2015 World Championships. And the 2013 World Championships. And the 2011 World Championships. His only loss at the Olympic/world championship level was in the 2014 World Championships semifinals. Heavy favorite doesn’t begin to describe him and he gets the advantage of waiting until the best-of-three final to compete.
The men’s freestyle 97 kg division also features a London gold medalist, but in a unique turn of events he isn’t even the #1 seed. Jake Varner won gold in London in the 96 kg division but at the most recent US trials he lost to 19-year old Kyle Snyder who went on to win gold at the 2015 World Championships. Therefore Snyder is the #1 seed and is given a bye to the best-of-three final where you’d expect an epic encounter with Varner.
In the women’s freestyle 75 kg division the one to beat is 2015 World Championship gold medalist Adeline Gray. Like Burroughs and Snyder she will wait until the best-of-three final to compete. It will be interesting to see who emerges to face her and if they can mount any kind of a challenge in the final and give one of the world greats some competition.
The men’s greco-roman 75 kg class has another competitor going straight to the final. Bronze medalist from the 2015 World Championships, Andy Bisek, will await whoever can emerge to fill the other half of the final. One competitor is 2012 Olympian in the 66 kg division Justin Lester, but he is moving up again from the 71 kg division he represented the US in at the world championships and is the #4 seed here.
The 130 kg greco-roman weight class will feature two open spots in the final. Favorited to take one of them will be #1 seed Robby Smith who finished fifth at the 2015 World Championships.
In the weight classes yet to qualify for Rio the men’s freestyle 86 kg division is headlined by Jake Herbert who represented the US in the last Olympics and is the #1 seed. The women’s freestyle 48 kg competition features 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Clarissa Chun and 2015 world championship competitor Alyssa Lampe. Lampe is the #1 seed with Chun the #3 seed. The women’s freestyle 53 kg competition has #1 seed Helen Maroulis, the 55 kg champion at the 2015 World Championships, and Whitney Conder, who was the 53 kg representative at those world championships.
Preliminaries begin at 10 AM ET Sunday morning in Iowa City with finals (a best two-of-three series) starting at 7 PM ET. Live streaming is available from NBC.
