on the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team, joined by two-time NCAA champion J’den Cox at 86 kg in men’s freestyle, and two-time WCWA champion Haley Augello at 48 kg in women’s freestyle. Cox and Augello dropped in weight class for the Olympic Trials and surprised many by winning the title. Both also went to Mongolia after the Olympic Trials to qualify themselves and their weight class for the Olympic Games. Cox won his second career NCAA title as a junior for Missouri in March. He made the decision to move from 97 kg down to 86 kg for the Olympic Trials and entered the event with a No. 9 seed. He powered through the field, ultimately beating Kyle Dake in the finals series. Having never competed overseas for the USA before, Cox went to Mongolia and won a gold medal, qualifying for the Olympics. He has been impressive in all of his international events this summer. Augello won WCWA titles for King University in 2014 and 2015, then took an Olympic redshirt year and trained at the U.S. Olympic Training Center. Augello dropped down for the Trials and won a loaded weight class. Her silver medal in Mongolia qualified her for the field in Rio. A past Cadet World champion and Junior World Team member, Augello may be a dark horse at the Olympics who could shock the world. This will be the fourth Olympic Games featuring women’s freestyle wrestling, and the United States is still seeking its first Olympic gold medal, taking a silver medal and three bronzes in previous Olympic Games. All four of the USA women in Rio will be gunning to become the first to bring gold back to the USA. Joining Gray, Maroulis and Augello in Rio is 2012 World champion and four-time World medalist Elena Pirozkhova at 63 kg. Pirozhkova also wrestled in the 2012 Olympic Games in London. She competed up at 67 kg in 2015, but made the deci- sion to drop back to her normal weight class for her second Olympic run.
There are four members of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team back for another shot in 2016: Burroughs, Pirozhkova, Tervel Dlagnev at 125 kg in men’s freestyle and Ben Provisor at 85 kg in Greco-Roman. Dlagnev, a two-time World bronze medalist who placed fifth in the 2012 London Games, is a leader on the U.S. team. He missed the 2015 World Championships with a back injury. Dlagnev had a powerful day of wrestling to win the Olympic Trials and will get his second chance at an Olympic medal in Rio. Provisor has also overcome a variety of physical ailments dur- ing the last four-year Olympic cycle, missing large parts of sea- sons for surgeries and recoveries. For part of the cycle, Provisor wrestled at the non-Olympic 80 kg division. He moved up to 85 kg for the Olympic year, was physically in peak form and knocked off Jordan Holm, who made the last three World Teams.
The Greco-Roman team is led by two-time World bronze medalist Andy Bisek at 74 kg, who has beaten numerous World and Olympic champions in the last few years when it mat- ters the most. His bronze medal runs at the 2014 and 2015 World Championships featured big wins over top opponents, such as his victory over World and Olympic champion Roman Vlasov of Russia during his 2014 run in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The last U.S. medal at the Worlds or Olympics in Greco-Roman had been in 2009, when Dremiel Byers won a silver at Worlds. Bisek can score from both his feet and in par terre, and when he is wrestling well, his gut wrench is spectacular. The exciting and entertaining Robby Smith has high hopes for an Olympic medal at 130 kg in Greco-Roman. He has made the last three U.S. World Teams and boasts fifth-place finishes in 2013 and 2015. Smith brings a high-energy attack, a front- headlock turn that is impressive and a willingness to throw his
Andy Bisek has won two straight World bronze medals in Greco-Roman. Tony Rotundo photo.
opponents at any time. Wrestling fans will long remember his bronze-medal match at the 2015 Worlds against massive Bilyal Makhov of Russia, where Smith powered back from a large deficit to almost claim a victory, breaking Makhov physically and firing up the crowd.
Rounding out the U.S. Greco-Roman squad is talented young Jesse Thielke at 59 kg. Thielke focused on Greco-Roman dur- ing his age-group career and won a Junior World bronze medal. He was a starter and NCAA qualifier for Wisconsin before decid- ing to focus entirely on Greco-Roman this season. In the Olympic Trials semifinals, he stopped the amazing run of Spenser Mango, who made every USA squad for eight straight years. In the finals, he knocked off 2008 Uzbekistan Olympian and naturalized U.S. citizen Ildar Hafizov. Thielke won silver at the last World Olympic Qualifier in Turkey to qualify for Rio. In men’s freestyle, Cox is joined by unlikely Olympians Daniel Dennis at 57 kg and Frank Molinaro at 65 kg. Dennis was an NCAA runner-up for Iowa and pursued high- level freestyle for a time, before taking a break from the sport. He spent a few years away from wrestling, returning to Iowa in 2015 to give wrestling another try. Dennis was second in the 2015 World Team Trials at 61 kg, then dropped down to 57 kg for the Olympic year. He beat another former Hawkeye, two- time World Team member Tony Ramos, to win the Olympic Trials. Dennis can score from his feet, has a powerful gut wrench and a motor that is hard to match. Molinaro, an NCAA champion for Penn State, was in perhaps the deepest weight class in American freestyle. After coaching at Rutgers, Molinaro returned to Penn State to train under Cael Sanderson. He received a No. 9 seed at the Olympic Trials. His spirited run through the brackets, including a clutch win over wunderkind Aaron Pico in the Trials finals, was something to watch. His weight class still needed to be qualified for Rio, and it took two tries and some good fortune to add Molinaro to the Olympic field. He fell short in the first qualifier in Mongolia. In the final qualifier in Turkey, he lost to Cal Poly NCAA finalist and Bulgarian star Boris Novachkov in a prelim, then battled back to place third. Molinaro needed to be in the top two, so his Olympic quest seemed finished. However, positive drug tests caused a cascading effect in the qualifiers, and Molinaro’s third in Turkey pulled him into the Games.
According to NBC, wrestling will be among the sports which will receive coverage on NBCSN and CNBC, and if there are great stories which emerge from the U.S. team, may also be covered on NBC.
23 USA Wrestling Rio Media Guide
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