Women’s freestyle pre-seeds released for U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Wrestling

The women’s freestyle pre-seeds for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Wrestling have been finalized by the USA Wrestling National Coaching Staff ahead of this week’s much-anticipated event in State College, Pa.

Athletes awarded the No. 1 seed for the challenge tournament in each weight class are Audrey Jimenez at 50 kg, Vayle-Rae Baker at 53 kg, Xochitl Mota-Pettis at 57 kg, Mallory Velte at 62 kg, Forrest Molinari at 68 kg and Kennedy Blades at 76 kg.

Six athletes will forego the challenge tournament and advance directly to the best-of-three championship series set for Saturday night at Bryce Jordan Center—Sarah Hildebrandt at 50 kg, Dominique Parrish at 53 kg, Helen Maroulis at 57 kg, Kayla Miracle at 62 kg, Amit Elor at 68 kg and Adeline Gray at 76 kg. Hildebrandt, Maroulis and Gray earned automatic berths to the championship series by medaling at the 2023 World Championships. Parrish, Miracle and Elor find themselves in the championship series by making the finals at the Pan American Olympic Games Qualifier. All six women qualified their weight class for the Olympic Games in Paris, France.

Three athletes will advance directly to the challenge tournament semifinals courtesy of winning a medal at the 2023 World Championships in an adjacent weight class—Jacarra Winchester at 53 kg, Jennifer Page at 62 kg and Macey Kilty at 62 kg. Winchester will be placed in the bottom side semifinal of her bracket. Since Page and Kilty are entered in the same weight class, they will be split with Page in the top side semifinal and Kilty in the bottom side semifinal.

Seeding criteria considered in the building of these seeds include the USA Wrestling Performance Index (PIN), head-to-head results, common opponents and tournament placements at national and international events.

Challenge tournament seeding and athletes sitting out to the semifinals or best-of-three championship series is not final until the completion of weigh-ins. The tournament will be re-seeded as necessary post-weigh-ins.  

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.