U.S. OLYMPIC TRIALS CHAMPIONS Nine earn right to qualify for Olympics
At the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Iowa City, the winners of the nine weight classes which had already been qualified for the Olympic Games were punching their tickets for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the 2016 Olympic Games. In the nine other weight classes, the United States had not yet earned a spot in the Olympic Games, after falling short of the qualifying standards at the 2015 World Championshis in Las Vegas, Nev. and the 2016 Pan American Olympic Qualifier in Frisco, Texas. For these nine Olympic Trials winners in Iowa City, there was more work to be done. They earned the right to attend the final two qualifying events, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, April 22-24 and if necessary, in Istanbul, Turkey, May
6-8.The competition in these nine weight classes were very intense, and in some cases, among the most exciting action on the mats in Iowa City. The two men’s freestyle weight classes which were not quali- fied, 65 kg and 86 kg, had very deep fields and some of the best drama at the Trials. In both cases, the favorites fell short of their dreams, while a pair of No. 9 seeds powered through the brackets to win the gold medal. What wrestling star at 65 kg would emerge from a crowded
field? The names have loaded up the record books, guys like Brent Metcalf, Jordan Oliver, James Green, Logan Stieber and many others. When it all sorted out, unheralded Frank Molinaro, an NCAA champ at Penn State, and 19-year-old Aaron Pico, an age-group superstar, battled in the finals series. Molinaro’s run was impressive. He slammed two-time NCAA champ and past U.S. Open champ Kellen Russell, 14-1. In
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Frank Molinaro locks up Aaron Pico in the 65 kg freestyle finals series. Mark Lundy photo.
round two, he beat two-time NCAA champ and four-time World member Brent Metcalf in a 3-3 criteria win. In the semifinals, he got past four-time NCAA champ and Junior World silver medal- ist Logan Stieber in a 5-5 criteria match. In round one, Pico fell behind NCAA champ Jayson Ness 0-9, to power back for an 20-9 tech fall. He edged two-time NCAA champ and No. 2 Jordan Oliver, 11-9. In the semis, he overpow- ered three-time World Team member Reece Humphrey, 12-1. Their finals were intense. Pico won the first match, 4-2, but Molinaro came back with a pair of tight decisions, 4-3 and 4-4, to win the Olympic Team Trials. “It was a battle out there. Aaron (Pico) is an animal. I knew it was going to be a dogfight and it hasn’t really set in yet. I have a tremendous coaching staff; they have a tremendous pedigree. They tell me what I need to hear and I listen. They really built me back up and got me in the right mindset. I was just really focused on what I’ve been doing the last six months to prepare for this,” said Molinaro. At 86 kg, 2009 World silver medalist and 2012 Olympian Jake Herbert was No. 1, with talents Kyle Dake and David Taylor moving up from 74 kg to test the waters. 2013 World Team member Keith Gavin, 2014 World Team member Ed Ruth and talented Clayton Foster were other big names. The weight ulti- mately belonged to Missouri junior and two-time NCAA champi- on J’Den Cox, who dropped in weight and came up big. Cox powered through Foster, Herbert and Gavin to reach the finals against Dake. It took three matches, but Cox won the rubber bout 5-3 over Dake to win the Olympic Trials (see page 24). The most decorated winner in a non-qualified weight class was 2015 World champion Helen Maroulis, a three-time World medalist who dropped from a non-Olympic weight to compete at 53 kg. Maroulis scored an amazing five technical falls in Iowa City to claim this weight class. In the Championship Series, she beat three-time World Team member Whitney Conder in two straight, 10-0 and 11-0. Maroulis was upset in the 2012 Olympic Trials by Kelsey Campbell, but in 2016, nobody was even close. “Since 2012 I can’t tell you how physically, mentally, and emo- tionally heartbreaking that it was. The only memory I had of
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