#GrecoMonday: The four wrestlers sitting in the best-of-three Olympic Team Trials finals

Photo of Ildar Hafizov launching an opponent at the 2020 Pan Am Olympic Qualifier courtesy of Tony Rotundo/Wrestlers are Warriors.

 While it may feel like a lifetime ago, last March four U.S. Greco-Roman wrestlers qualified their weight classes for the Olympics by placing in the top two at the Pan Am Olympic Qualifier in Ottawa, Canada.

By doing so, they also punched their tickets to the best-of-three Olympic Team Trials finals. Below, let’s take a look at the four individuals who have already secured their spots in the Greco-Roman Olympic Team Trials finals.

60 kg Ildar Hafizov (Army WCAP)
Ildar Hafizov has the rare opportunity to become an Olympian for two countries. Hafizov competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games for his native country Uzbekistan. He moved to the U.S., joining the Army World Class Athlete Program, and began competing for the Red White and Blue in 2016. He made both the 2017 and 2019 Senior World Teams. Additionally, he placed fifth at the 2017 World Military Championships and earned bronze at the 2019 World Military Games and the 2019 Pan Am Games.

Hafizov hasn’t competed since his runner-up finish at the Pan Am Olympic Qualifier. While he did take a loss to two-time Pan Am champion, Luis Orta Sanchez of Cuba, 7-0, he still put together an impressive run to the finals. In the opening round, Hafizov bested 2016 Olympian Andres Roberto Montano Arroyo of Ecuador, 4-3. Montano Arroyo is a two-time Pan Am Games champion and two-time Pan Am Championships gold medalist.

60 kg is one of our deepest weight classes domestically. Whoever earns the right to challenge Hafizov will have already wrestled a fantastic and brutal bracket.

67 kg Alejandro Sancho (Army WCAP)
A week after placing third at the 2020 Pan Am Championships, Alejandro Sancho was called to fill in for injured returning World Team member Ellis Coleman at the Pan Am Olympic Qualifier. Sancho stepped up in a big way, netting a silver medal and qualifying the weight class for the Olympics.

Sancho is a 2014 Junior World Team member and a 2017 U23 World Team member but has yet to make a Senior World Team. A four-time National Team member, Sancho fell one match shy of making his fifth-straight National Team in 2019. Since that loss in the 2019 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament, Sancho has looked fantastic domestically, winning the 2019 Senior Nationals and the 2019 Bill Farrell Memorial.

While 67 kg is another deep weight class for the U.S., the aforementioned Coleman would most likely be considered the front runner in the bracket. The pair, who are now teammates, have clashed numerous times over the years. Sancho defeated Coleman in the 2016 Olympic Team Trials third-place match and at the 2016 Non-Olympic World Team Trials. However, Coleman bested Sancho in the 2016 Senior Nationals finals and the 2017 and 2018 World Team Trials finals.

87 kg Joe Rau (Titan Mercury/Illinois RTC)
In 2016, Joe Rau won the Olympic Team Trials but was unable to qualify the weight class for the Rio Games. This time around, Rau already locked up a berth for Team USA with a gold-medal performance at the Pan Am Olympic Qualifier. Rau is a two-time World Team member (2014, 2019), a two-time Pan Am Championships gold medalist (2015, 2020) and a 2019 U.S Open champion.

His toughest match at the Qualifier came in the quarterfinals against Luis Eduardo Avendano Rojas of Venezuela. Rau managed to grind out a, 4-4, criteria victory over the two-time Pan Am Championships gold medalist. In 2019, Avendano Rojas won the Pan Am Games, earning an 8-0 technical fall over Rau in the quarterfinals, while Rau would go on to finish fifth.

Rau’s biggest hurdle to make the team could potentially come from Alan Vera. Although he is yet to qualify for the Olympic Team Trials, Vera has defeated Rau twice, 9-0 at the 2019 Dave Schultz Memorial and 7-1 at the 2020 Senior Nationals. As of October, Vera, who previously competed for Cuba, was eligible to compete for Team USA at UWW World Championships but not yet cleared to compete in Olympic competitions.

97 kg G’Angelo Hancock (Sunkist Kids)
Arguably the most dominant wrestler domestically over the last quad, G’Angelo Hancock earned silver at the Pan Am Olympic Qualifier, securing a berth at 97 kg for Team USA. Following a Junior World bronze medal in 2016, Hancock went on to make Senior World Teams in 2017, 2018 and 2019. He also competed at the 2017 Junior World Championships and the 2017 and 2018 U23 World Championships. Hancock is a 2020 Pan Am Championships gold medalist and a 2019 Pan Am Games silver medalist.

Over the course of his career, Hancock has logged numerous other gold-medal performances including at the 2019 U.S. Open, the 2019 Dave Schultz Memorial, the 2019 Bill Farrell Memorial, the 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix, the 2018 Poland Open, the 2018 Wladyslaw Pytlasinski Cup and the 2018 Arvo Haavisto Cup.

Two of the frontrunners looking to knock off Hancock in the best-of-three finals are Lucas Sheridan and Daniel Miller, who are currently ranked No. 2 and No. 3 respectively on the National Team.