With the 2024 Paris Olympics now less than 100 days away, it’s time for athletes to earn their spots on Team USA.
And in many high-profile sports, that means emerging from the gauntlet that is the Olympic trials.
The first major trials of the spring are in wrestling, and they’re underway this weekend at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pennsylvania, which is home to three-time defending collegiate champions Penn State.
The two-day event features competition in all 18 Olympic weight classes, including six each in men’s freestyle, women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman. Countries are not allowed to enter more than one wrestler per weight class at the Olympics, which means only the champion in each bracket will have a shot at Paris. And the U.S. still has not earned a quota spot at five of the 18 weights, meaning even those winners might not ultimately compete at the Games.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Olympic wrestling trials.
When are the Olympic wrestling trials?
The U.S. Olympic wrestling trials are taking place Friday and Saturday, with a morning session (beginning at 10 a.m.) and an evening session (beginning at 6:30 p.m.) on each day. They began Friday morning with the opening rounds of the challenge tournament.
Here’s the complete schedule:
Friday, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.: Challenge tournament preliminaries and quarterfinals
Friday, 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.: Challenge tournament semifinals and finals
Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Round One of the best-of-three championship series in all styles and weight classes, plus Round Two in the five weight classes not yet qualified for the Olympics and challenge tournament consolation and third-place matches
Saturday, 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.: Round Two and Three (if necessary) in the best-of-three championship series
Olympic trials wrestling brackets and format
Unlike Olympic trials in sports such as track and field, where every athlete has to work through the entire bracket, wrestling gives its top competitors a bye to the semifinals or finals.
This creates a two-tiered bracket format. There’s a challenge tournament, which is a traditional bracket-style format where the winner of each match moves on, and a best-of-three championship final − usually where the proverbial favorite is waiting. Among those with byes to the final are Olympic medalists Kyle Dake, Adeline Gray, Helen Maroulis, David Taylor and Kyle Snyder.
The live, complete brackets for each style and weight class can be found here.
USA Wrestling also posted easy-to-follow brackets on social media earlier this week for men’s freestyle, women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman.
How to watch the Olympic wrestling trials, live stream
The two evening sessions are being televised on USA Network, beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. But all sessions (both morning and evening) are also being streamed on Peacock, which is offering separate streams for individual matches as well as a “quad box” to allow viewers to monitor multiple matches at the same time.
The event is also being streamed on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app.
Names to watch
In men’s freestyle, perhaps the brightest spotlight will be on the 74 kilogram weight class, where 2012 Olympic gold medalist Jordan Burroughs, 35, will try to reclaim his spot on Team USA in what will be his last Olympic cycle. He’s previously said he will retire at the end of 2024. If he emerges from the challenge bracket, he’ll have to face Dake, the Tokyo bronze medalist and four-time world champion who beat him at the 2021 Olympic trials.
Three other 2021 Olympic medalists are in the field, including Snyder (97 kg) and Taylor (86 kg), who won silver and gold in Tokyo, respectively. Thomas Gilman, who is the No. 2 seed at 57 kg, will also try to make his second Games.
In women’s freestyle, the U.S. has a reigning Olympic or world medalist in all six weight classes at the Olympic trials. Gray, who won silver in Tokyo, is seeking a return trip to the Games after giving birth to twins in 2022. An up-and-coming star to watch is Amit Elor, a 20-year-old who has already won two world titles at a non-Olympic weight, 72 kg. She’ll be competing at 68 kg at trials.
Greco-Roman is undoubtedly Team USA’s weakest style, though Alan Vera (97 kg) and Spencer Woods (87 kg) are among the heavy favorites in their weight classes.
Olympic wrestling weight classes in pounds
Because the U.S. doesn’t use the metric system, you might be wondering what all these weight classes mean in pounds. Don’t worry, we’ve got you.
Here are each of the Olympic weight classes rounded to the nearest pound. The five weights in which Team USA has not secured a quota spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics are denoted by an asterisk.
Men’s freestyle
*57 kg: 126 pounds*65 kg: 143 pounds74 kg: 163 pounds86 kg: 190 pounds97 kg: 214 pounds125 kg: 276 pounds
Women’s freestyle
50 kg: 110 pounds53 kg: 117 pounds57 kg: 126 pounds62 kg: 137 pounds68 kg: 150 pounds76 kg: 168 pounds
Greco-Roman
*60 kg: 132 pounds*67 kg: 148 pounds*77 kg: 170 pounds87 kg: 192 pounds97 kg: 214 pounds130 kg: 287 pounds
Contact Tom Schad at [email protected] or on social media @Tom_Schad.