13 NCAA Championships participants are already qualified for U.S. Olympic Team Trials

Two-time NCAA champion Spencer Lee of Iowa competing in the 2021 NCAA Championships. Lee is already qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wrestling in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo by Tony Rotundo, Wrestlers Are Warriors.


You know that the 2021 NCAA Div. I Championships is a qualifying event for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Wrestling in Fort Worth, Texas, April 2-3, right? Curious about who is already qualified for the Olympic Trials going into today’s NCAA Championships in St. Louis.


Here is the list of the 13 NCAA qualifiers already in the field in Fort Worth, by weight (with seed/college/weight qualified at Trials)

125 pounds

No. 1 seed Spencer Lee (Iowa), qualified at 57 kg men’s freestyle

No. 7 seed Taylor LaMont (Utah Valley), qualified at 60 kg Greco-Roman

133 pounds

No. 1 seed Daton Fix (Oklahoma State), qualified at 57 kg men’s freestyle

141 pounds

No. 2 seed Nick Lee (Penn State), qualified at 65 kg in men’s freestyle

149 pounds

No. 28 seed Peyton Omania (Michigan State), qualified at 67 kg Greco-Roman

157 pounds

No. 3 seed David Carr (Iowa State), qualified at 74 kg men’s freestyle

165 pounds

No. 2 seed Anthony Valencia (Arizona State), qualified at 74 kg men’s freestyle

No. 4 seed Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech), qualified at 74 kg men’s freestyle

174 pounds

No 5 seed Logan Massa (Michigan), qualified at 74 kg men’s freestyle

285 pounds

No. 1 seed Gable Steveson (Minnesota), qualified at 125 kg men’s freestyle

No. 2 seed Mason Parris (Michigan), qualified at 125 kg men’s freestyle

No. 4 seed Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State), qualified at 125 kg men’s freestyle

No. 9 seed Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State), qualified at 125 kg men’s freestyle


Of these 13, only one lost in the first round at the NCAA’s today, Omania.


According to the U.S. Olympic Team Trials procedures, “The 2021 NCAA Division I champion will earn a spot in the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Wrestling at the weight category he chooses.” This is true for both freestyle and Greco-Roman. In fact, a 2021 NCAA champion could enter in both men’s freestyle or Greco-Roman if he so chooses.


So if an already qualified wrestler wins the NCAA title, nobody from that weight class will advance to Fort Worth.


Please note, there is a wrestler in the field at the NCAA Championships who is already qualified to compete at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The No. 1 seed at 197 pounds, Myles Amine of Michigan, competes for San Marino in international wrestling. With his fifth place at the 2019 Senior World Championships, Amine will compete in Tokyo for San Marino at 86 kg in men‘s freestyle. If Amine wins the NCAA title, nobody from 197 pounds advances to the Olympic Trials.


With Omania out, and already-qualified wrestlers in seven NCAA weight classes, if a qualified athlete wins in those weight classes, and if Amine wins, there would be only two of the 2021 NCAA champion added to the field in Fort Worth. Of course, if no athlete who is qualified already wins an NCAA title, then we could have 10 athletes advance to the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. The big question is just how many new folks will be able to advance with a win in St. Louis.