2016 NCAA Div. I Championships champions qualify for U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Iowa City, April 9-10
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Two-time NCAA champion Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State in the 2015 NCAA finals. If Dieringer wins the 2016 NCAAs, he qualifies for the Olympic Trials in Iowa City. Photo by John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com
The 10 champions at the 2016 NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships will qualify to compete at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Wrestling, which will be held at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa, April 9-10.
This year’s NCAA Div. I Championships is set for the world famous Madison Square Garden in New York City, March 17-19. It will be broadcast in its entirety on ESPN platforms.
The NCAA Div. I Championships is one of the final #Road2IowaCity Trials Qualifiers, as a series of events have been held this season to set the field for Iowa City. At this time, the total number of qualifiers through the #Road2IowaCity qualifying process is 205 wrestlers. This includes 63 men’s freestyle wrestlers, 65 Greco-Roman wrestlers and 77 women’s freestyle wrestlers.
Click here for U.S. Olympic Team Trials Qualifiers, through February 23, 2016
The 2016 NCAA Div. I champion in each weight class qualifies to compete in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in both freestyle and Greco-Roman. There are as many as 10 spots in the Olympic Trials in each style available at the NCAA Div. I Championships. An NCAA champion could choose to wrestling either freestyle or Greco-Roman, or could choose to wrestle in both tournaments.
If the 2016 NCAA Div. I champion has already qualified, that spot will go unfilled. There are currently five wrestlers who have qualified for the NCAA Div. I Championships who have already qualified to compete in Iowa City at the Olympic Trials.
There are three NCAA Div. I qualifiers who have already qualified for the Olympic Trials in men’s freestyle, 2015 NCAA champions Nathan Tomasello of Ohio State and Nick Gwiazdowski of NC State and 2015 NCAA runner-up Kyle Snyder of Ohio State.
Snyder, a sophomore, qualified for the Olympic Trials by winning the 2015 Senior World Championships gold medal at 97 kg/213 lbs. in Las Vegas last September. Snyder became the youngest American wrestler to win a Senior World title. He will be competing at 285 pounds at the NCAA Championships and has earned the No. 2 seed.
Tomasello, a sophomore, has qualified to compete at 57 kg/125.5 lbs. at the Olympic Trials. He earned his spot in Iowa City by taking fifth at the U.S. Nationals/Olympic Trials Qualifier in Las Vegas in December. He has earned the No. 1 seed for the NCAA Championships.
Gwiazdowski, a senior, has won two NCAA Div. I titles and seeks a third this weekend. He qualified for Iowa City by winning a gold medal at the 2015 Bill Farrell International in New York City last November. He will be seeded No. 1 at the NCAA Championships.
There are two NCAA Div. I qualifiers who have already qualified for Iowa City in Greco-Roman, 2015 NCAA runner-up Adam Coon of Michigan as well as Sam Stoll of Iowa. Both will compete at 130 kg/286 lbs. at the Olympic Trials.
Both earned their spot in the Olympic Trials by winning a Junior World medal in Greco-Roman during the 2012-14 time period. Stoll, a redshirt freshman, won a Junior World bronze medal in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2013. Coon, a junior, won a Junior World bronze medal in Zagreb, Croatia in 2014. Coon has a No. 5 seed in New York, while Stoll is a No. 11 seed.
Of the five NCAA Div. I athletes already qualified for Iowa City, four will compete at 285 pounds at the NCAAs in New York: Gwiazdowski, Snyder, Coon and Stoll.
After NCAA Div. I Championships, there is one more chance for men to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, the Last Chance Qualifier in Cedar Falls, Iowa, April 2-3.
All-session tickets to the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team Trials are available for purchase. All-session options include adult ($75), and youth (18 and younger, $50). VIP tickets are sold out. Fans can purchase tickets at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, over the phone at 1-800-IA-HAWKS, or online at iowacitytorio.com.
Remaining #Road2IowaCity Trials Qualifiers
March 17-19 - NCAA Div. I Championships, New York, N.Y. (GR/FS)
March 26 - Women’s University Nationals, Oklahoma City, Okla. (W)
April 2-3 – Last Chance Trials Qualifier, Cedar Falls, Iowa (FS/GR/W)
The 10 champions at the 2016 NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships will qualify to compete at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Wrestling, which will be held at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa, April 9-10.
This year’s NCAA Div. I Championships is set for the world famous Madison Square Garden in New York City, March 17-19. It will be broadcast in its entirety on ESPN platforms.
The NCAA Div. I Championships is one of the final #Road2IowaCity Trials Qualifiers, as a series of events have been held this season to set the field for Iowa City. At this time, the total number of qualifiers through the #Road2IowaCity qualifying process is 205 wrestlers. This includes 63 men’s freestyle wrestlers, 65 Greco-Roman wrestlers and 77 women’s freestyle wrestlers.
Click here for U.S. Olympic Team Trials Qualifiers, through February 23, 2016
The 2016 NCAA Div. I champion in each weight class qualifies to compete in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in both freestyle and Greco-Roman. There are as many as 10 spots in the Olympic Trials in each style available at the NCAA Div. I Championships. An NCAA champion could choose to wrestling either freestyle or Greco-Roman, or could choose to wrestle in both tournaments.
If the 2016 NCAA Div. I champion has already qualified, that spot will go unfilled. There are currently five wrestlers who have qualified for the NCAA Div. I Championships who have already qualified to compete in Iowa City at the Olympic Trials.
There are three NCAA Div. I qualifiers who have already qualified for the Olympic Trials in men’s freestyle, 2015 NCAA champions Nathan Tomasello of Ohio State and Nick Gwiazdowski of NC State and 2015 NCAA runner-up Kyle Snyder of Ohio State.
Snyder, a sophomore, qualified for the Olympic Trials by winning the 2015 Senior World Championships gold medal at 97 kg/213 lbs. in Las Vegas last September. Snyder became the youngest American wrestler to win a Senior World title. He will be competing at 285 pounds at the NCAA Championships and has earned the No. 2 seed.
Tomasello, a sophomore, has qualified to compete at 57 kg/125.5 lbs. at the Olympic Trials. He earned his spot in Iowa City by taking fifth at the U.S. Nationals/Olympic Trials Qualifier in Las Vegas in December. He has earned the No. 1 seed for the NCAA Championships.
Gwiazdowski, a senior, has won two NCAA Div. I titles and seeks a third this weekend. He qualified for Iowa City by winning a gold medal at the 2015 Bill Farrell International in New York City last November. He will be seeded No. 1 at the NCAA Championships.
There are two NCAA Div. I qualifiers who have already qualified for Iowa City in Greco-Roman, 2015 NCAA runner-up Adam Coon of Michigan as well as Sam Stoll of Iowa. Both will compete at 130 kg/286 lbs. at the Olympic Trials.
Both earned their spot in the Olympic Trials by winning a Junior World medal in Greco-Roman during the 2012-14 time period. Stoll, a redshirt freshman, won a Junior World bronze medal in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2013. Coon, a junior, won a Junior World bronze medal in Zagreb, Croatia in 2014. Coon has a No. 5 seed in New York, while Stoll is a No. 11 seed.
Of the five NCAA Div. I athletes already qualified for Iowa City, four will compete at 285 pounds at the NCAAs in New York: Gwiazdowski, Snyder, Coon and Stoll.
After NCAA Div. I Championships, there is one more chance for men to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, the Last Chance Qualifier in Cedar Falls, Iowa, April 2-3.
All-session tickets to the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team Trials are available for purchase. All-session options include adult ($75), and youth (18 and younger, $50). VIP tickets are sold out. Fans can purchase tickets at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, over the phone at 1-800-IA-HAWKS, or online at iowacitytorio.com.
Remaining #Road2IowaCity Trials Qualifiers
March 17-19 - NCAA Div. I Championships, New York, N.Y. (GR/FS)
March 26 - Women’s University Nationals, Oklahoma City, Okla. (W)
April 2-3 – Last Chance Trials Qualifier, Cedar Falls, Iowa (FS/GR/W)
