Olympic Trials Preview: Gray in search of record third Olympic berth at 76 kg

The most decorated woman wrestler in U.S. history is gearing up for a run at Olympic Games No. 3—Olympic silver medalist and six-time World champion Adeline Gray headlines a loaded 76 kg field at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Wrestling.

Currently sitting at 10 combined Olympic and World medals, Gray has collected more medals than any U.S. woman wrestler. Her latest medal effort came at the 2023 Senior World Championships where she bagged bronze at 76 kg. This result from Belgrade, Serbia, secured the U.S. a quota spot at the Paris Olympics and pushed Gray to the best-of-three championship series in State College.

Following a run to the Olympic finals in Tokyo three years ago, Gray took multiple years off the mat to become the mother of twins. Remarkably, she launched a successful comeback in 2023 that has positioned her nicely to make a record third Olympic team. No U.S. woman wrestler has appeared in three Olympics before. In addition to her appearance in Tokyo, Gray was a 2016 Olympian in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she finished in seventh place at 75 kg.

Her six Senior World titles are the most of any American in history regardless of style or gender. Gray also owns World titles at the U20 and University age levels. She is a four-time Pan American Champion and five-time U.S. Open champion.

Her impeccable career resume notwithstanding, Gray has shown some kinks in the armor in the past year that give hope to the deeply talented challenge tournament field. Gray was upended in the 2023 U.S. Open finals by three-time age-group World medalist Kennedy Blades, 12-2—a result Gray reversed at Final X two matches to none. Gray also took losses to international foes in bronze medal performances at the Pan American Championships and Zagreb Open this year.

Blades solidified herself as the heir apparent to Gray with her U.S. Open title and Final X appearance last year. She owns wins over all the top contenders in the weight class and could break away from the pack if she’s on her game.

In 2023, Blades earned a silver medal at the U23 World Championships and a bronze medal at the U20 World Championships. She was a U20 World champion in 2021. A product of Chicago, Illinois, Blades was a finalist at the 2020 Olympic Trials at the age of 17, dropping the best-of-three championship series to eventual Olympic gold medalist Tamyra Mensah-Stock.

Two past Senior World Team members are poised to give the top contenders a run for their money—2021 team member Kylie Welker and 2022 team member Dymond Guilford.

Welker was third on the National Team ladder at 76 kg in 2023 behind Gray and Blades. She was a U20 World champion in 2021, owns three age-group World medals and is fresh off her first full college season with Iowa where she won the NCWWC title at 170 pounds. Welker’s most recent Senior-level outing was a fifth-place finish at the Zagreb Open where she was pinned by Blades in the bronze medal match.

Guilford is on a hot streak to start the 2024 campaign with two international medals already under belt—gold at the Dan Kolov – Nikola Petrov International and bronze at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix. She was a U23 World silver medalist in 2022 and earned three NAIA college national titles, one for Missouri Baptist and another two for Cumberlands.

Yelena Makoyed, a three-time NCWWC champion for North Central College and 2023 USA Wrestling Women’s College Wrestler of the Year, qualified for the Olympic Trials with a victory at the Bill Farrell International. Tristan Kelly, a 2023 CISM Military World champion, won a 2022 U20 World bronze. Skylar Grote was a 2022 Final X runner-up and won the 2022 Pan American Championships.

Precious Weiser, who won the December 2023 Senior Nationals, has won three U.S. Open titles. Also qualifying at the Senior Nationals were Marlynne Deede, Brooklyn Hays and Rose Cassioppi. Deede won two NCWWC titles, one for Augsburg and one for Iowa. Hays is on the current Senior National Team, after winning True Third at Final X. Young star Cassioppi’s fifth place at the Senior Nationals qualified her for the Trials. Madison Sandquist joined the field by winning the Last Chance Qualifier.

While weight classes and final athlete registrations are not finalized until the completion of weigh-ins, this cast of 12 wrestlers is the expected 76 kg field for the Olympic Trials.

Fans looking to attend the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in person can still purchase all session tickets and single session tickets through Ticketmaster.

For those unable to grab a ticket, fear not—all the action from Bryce Jordan Center will be broadcast by NBC properties, April 19-20. The Friday and Saturday evening sessions will be televised on USA Network. NBC’s streaming platform Peacock will host live streams of each mat throughout the competition.

Complete brackets and live results for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials will be hosted on Trackwrestling.com. Fans can also follow @usawrestling on the various social media platforms for regular updates throughout the event.

For more information about the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, please visit usawrestlingevents.com.