For the six winners of the US Olympic Trials who have yet to qualify for the Olympics this weekend in Istanbul is their only hope. They must finish in the top two in their weight class to qualify which means that a loss before the final will eliminate them. The good news is that the field will not contain anyone already in the Olympics, so competition is lighter than previous competitions and most of the six Americans were eliminated in previous qualification attempts by competitors who won’t be part of this event.

Friday competition begins with the Greco-Roman event and that is where the US has the most athletes still competing. Jesse Thielke, RaVaughn Perkins, and Joe Rau will all be trying to claim an Olympic spot. Perkins missed out on an Olympic spot in the last qualifying tournament by one spot while Rau lost his opening match, but to one of the Olympic qualifiers. Thielke lost a close opener but by comparing who lost to who and by how much you wouldn’t suspect he has a great shot this weekend.

The two US women looking for a spot compete on Saturday while the only US men’s freestyle wrestler yet to qualify will have his chance on Sunday.

Previous Wrestling Coverage:
First Olympic Qualifying Recap