The first competition for the USA wrestlers on the fall tour of Sweden takes place this Saturday, October 29th at the Klippan Cup. Everything is going down on Saturday — weigh in’s, medical checks, and the tournament itself. Wrestling will begin at 10:30am and all eight weight classes will be contested. The event is designated for Senior-level competitors, which should make for a great experience considering the US group is rather young. A nominal amount of prize money is also in the picture for tournament placers.
The USA contingent arrived in Sweden earlier today and includes a vast number of athletes, with most coming from the vaunted Northern Michigan-Olympic Training Site program. Notable names such as 2016 University National champs Austin Morrow (66 kg) and G’Angelo Hancock have made the trip. Jesse Porter (75 kg), another one who took home a title in June at the University Nationals, will be joining the squad this Sunday.
2014 US Open and two-time Bill Farrell and Dave Schultz Memorial champion Kendrick Sanders is also overseas as he looks to get back on track following a brief flirtation with MMA. Two high school hopefuls who are forgoing their folkstyle careers in favor of training Greco full-time, Jordan Martinez (59 kg) and Alston Nutter (59 kg), are along for the ride, as well. All in all, 25 US Greco Roman athletes are in Sweden for the tour which will see a dual meet next Wednesday before capping off with another tournament the proceeding weekend.
It has not been officially announced as to who will for sure be entering the Klippan Cup on Saturday. It’s a safe bet that the older, more experienced wrestlers of the group are the ones who will be tabbed. We will update with pertinent information as it becomes available. Also — the dual meet next week pitting a USA team versus Team Skåne Brottning is purportedly going to be broadcast live on Facebook. More details regarding that will be provided later as well, so stay tuned!
