Greco News

Monday Roundup: US NATIONALS WEEK; Final ’23 USA Int’l Medal Count

By 5PM Staff

Posted on December 11, 2023

Zac Braunagel -- Photo: Tony Rotundo

This coming Friday begins the 2023 US Nationals/Olympic Team Trials Qualifier from the Fort Worth Convention Center in Fort Worth, Texas. FLOWrestling will carry the live streaming broadcast.

Due to the tournament’s designation as the primary gateway for athletes — who aren’t yet qualified — to earn berths in the Olympic Trials, participation numbers were always expected to be significant. And indeed they are. At press time, there are 157 entrants combined among the six weight categories. 67 kilograms is leading the pack with 36 athletes, followed by 77 (33) and 60 (30). Wrestlers who place in the top-5 of their respective weight classes qualify for the Olympic Trials, set for April in State College, Pennsylvania (Penn State). But — that procedural wrinkle is potentially misleading.

That is because those combatants who are already qualified can “steal spots” from those who are not. There is no drill-down past the top-5 (i.e., if all of the athletes in the top-5 of a given weight class are pre-qualified, the wrestler who places 6th does not receive a berth). In three weight classes, the list is, prior to the event, down to the top-4. As part of this year’s procedures, Greco-Roman wrestlers who were on the ’23 US World Team in an Olympic category and subsequently went on to earn a medal at the Pan-American Games receive an automatic bye to Saturday evening’s finals. Both Ildar Hafizov (60 kg, Army/WCAP, 5PM #1) and Kamal Bey (77 kg, Army/WCAP, 5PM #1) won the Pan-Am Games, and Cohlton Schultz (130 kg, 5PM #1) finished with silver. Thus, all three enjoy the luxury of sitting out until Saturday night. At 60, 77, and 130 kg, the wrestlers who win in the regular semifinal round of these brackets will have a one-match showdown to determine who faces one of the aforementioned three competitors.

Further compounding the situation is the presence of many pre-qualified athletes, most of whom are certainly anticipated to be in the running to make the top-5. The reason why a high number of the country’s most accomplished competitors who are already qualified have registered for the Nationals is, mainly, due to the carrot at the end of the string. Winners of each bracket on Saturday will go on to represent the United States at the Pan-American Olympic Qualifier in February (Acapulco, MEX); and athletes who do qualify their weight categories on behalf of the US for the Paris ’24 Games at the Pan-Am event will receive byes to the best-of-three finals of the Olympic Team Trials.

US Nationals Bracket Populations

For a clearer picture of just how stocked each bracket will be in Fort Worth, including when it comes to athletes who are already qualified for the Olympic Trials, the lists below should help.

Next to each competitor’s name (following their club/team affiliations and current 5PM ranking) is the method by which they secured spots in the Trials. Note that only the first qualifying factor is presented. For example, all Greco-Roman practitioners who won the World or Olympic Team Trials (or represented the US at a World event) beginning with the ’18 roster are qualified for the OTT. Dalton Roberts (60 kg, Army/WCAP, 5PM #2) was a member of the ’18 US World Team but was on the ’21 roster, as well. Next to Roberts’ name is “’18 US World Team” since that is, according to the selection procedures, how he originally qualified for the ’24 OTT (as well as for the ’20 Trials, if additional but unnecessary specificity is required).

*As of 12/11