Olympic Trials Preview: Maroulis chasing record third Olympic berth at 57 kg

One of the most credentialed women’s freestyle wrestlers in history headlines the 57 kg field at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Wrestling. Rockville, Maryland, product Helen Maroulis, the first U.S. woman to win an Olympic gold medal in wrestling, is the clear favorite in this weight class.

Maroulis is automatically advanced to the best-of-three championships series by way of winning a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. She boasts a whopping nine combined World and Olympic medals—three World titles to go along with her history making gold at the Rio Olympics. A win in State College would make Maroulis the first woman to make the U.S. Olympic wrestling team three times. She is the first, and currently only, U.S. woman to hold two Olympic medals.

Since earning a bronze medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, Maroulis has gained gold (2021), silver (2022) and bronze (2023) medals at the Senior World Championships, holding a 26-6 record with her only losses coming to established international opponents. Her only loss to an American in the past 12 years came in match two the best-of-three championship series at the 2020 Olympic Trials to World bronze medalist Jenna Burkert, a series Maroulis wound up winning in dramatic fashion.

It's dealers’ choice as to who will emerge from the challenge tournament bracket to face Maroulis on Saturday evening at Bryce Jordan Center. There is a good mix of Senior-level standouts and up-and-coming college stars to keep an eye on for a potential finals run.  

2022 Senior World Team member Abigail Nette is healthy again. A 2019 U.S. Open champion, Nette won college national titles for Emmanuel and Campbellsville before joining Army WCAP. Senior National team members at 57 kg last season were 2023 Final X runner-up Xochitl Mota-Pettis and Senior Nationals champion Amanda Martinez. Alexandra Hedrick, second to Martinez at the December Senior Nationals, has also been a Final X runner-up, and boasts a U23 World bronze medal. Mota-Pettis and Hedrick are also past U.S. Open champions.

Maroulis defeated Mota-Pettis two matches to none in last year’s Final X series at 57 kg, winning match one by fall in 2:12 and match two by technical fall, 10-0. Similarly, it was Maroulis over Hedrick at 2022 Final X, two matches to none, with both wins coming by 10-0 marks.

Cameron Guerin, a 2022 Final X runner-up, made history by becoming a four-time NCWWC champion this year for McKendree. Guerin has been on two U.S. age-group World Teams and was second in the 2022 U.S. Open. Two other 2024 college national champions are in the field—NAIA champions Cristelle Rodriguez of Doane and Carolina Moreno of Southern Oregon. Moreno boasts three NAIA titles.

U17 World Team member Shelby Moore was third place at the December 2023 Senior Nationals, qualifying her for the Trials. Rodriguez was fourth and Guerin fifth in Fort Worth. Rodriguez has been on two U.S. age-group World teams.

2023 U20 World bronze medalist Alexis Janiak is a rising college star. Janiak has placed second and third at the NCWWC Nationals for Aurora. Bridgette Duty, a 2021 NAIA champion, won the Last Chance Qualifier to join the field. Duty was third in the 2023 U.S. Open.

While weight classes and final athlete registrations are not finalized until the completion of weigh-ins, this cast of 11 wrestlers is the expected 57 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.