By Gary Abbott
USA Wrestling
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The results from the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for wrestling, held at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on the University of Iowa campus, April 9-10, included 18 Olympic weight class champions.

For nine of the athletes, their victory earned them a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team and a trip to Rio de Janeiro with Team USA in August. For the other nine athletes, there is still additional work to do in order to earn the right to compete at the Olympic Games.

In wrestling, nations must qualify participants to compete in the Olympic Games, as the size of the field is restricted. There will be 19 wrestlers in each weight class in the men’s disciplines, and 18 wrestlers in each weight class in the women’s disciplines. There could be some additional athletes included in the field from the host nation Brazil and through the Tripartite Commission invitation process. In total, there will be 344 wrestlers competing in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

So far, there have been two stages of Olympic Qualification for the nations from the Pan American continent. Phase One was the 2015 World Championships in Las Vegas, Nev., where the top six athletes in each of the 18 Olympic weight classes qualified their nation for the Olympic Games. Phase Two was the 2016 Pan American Olympic Games Qualifier held in Frisco, Texas, in which the top two athletes in each of the 18 Olympic weight classes qualified their nation for the Olympic Games. (The other continents are also conducting their Olympic Games Qualifiers at this time).

Read Full Story