2024 U.S. Olympic Trials Preview: Wrestling
4/18/2024 3:52:00 PM | Wrestling, Olympics
2024 U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS
Fri-Sat., April 19-20
Bryce Jordan Center • State College, Pa.
• Live Results/Brackets | USA Wrestling Event Hub | Live Video | Cliff Keen WC Twitter
Six wrestlers with ties to the University of Michigan and U-M's Cliff Keen Wrestling Club will vie for spots in Paris at the U.S. Wrestling Olympic Team Trials this Friday and Saturday (April 19-20) at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pa. Former Wolverines Nick Suriano (57kg freestyle), Alec Pantaleo (65kg freestyle) and Adam Coon (130kg Greco-Roman) will compete in the Friday challenge tournament, while Mason Parris (125kg freestyle) already has a spot in Saturday's best-of-three championships series. The CKWC's Alex Dieringer (86kg freestyle), also the Wolverines' recruiting and video coordinator, and J'den Cox (97kg freestyle) will wrestle in the Challenge Tournament.
The trials feature 18 Olympic wrestling weight classes in the three Olympic styles (men's freestyle, men's Greco-Roman, women's freestyle) to be contested at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Seeds and brackets will be finalized following weigh-ins at 8 a.m. on Friday.
When to Catch Them
Each day will feature all styles and weight divisions over two sessions. The challenge tournament preliminary, quarterfinal and consolation rounds will commence at 10 a.m. on Friday, and the semifinals and finals start at 6:30 p.m. Winners of the challenge tournament will advance to the best-of-three championship series on Saturday, except for weight classes not qualified for the Olympics and without a wrestler already sitting in the championship. Those weights will begin their best-of-three championship series Friday night, while all other weights kick off their finals with the first round at 10 a.m. on Saturday and the second and if-necessary third round at 6:30 p.m.
FRIDAY, APRIL 19
(All styles and weights)
Session I -- 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Challenge Tournament (preliminaries, quarterfinals, consolation rounds)
Session II -- 6:30-10 p.m.
Challenge Tournament (semifinals, finals)
SATURDAY, APRIL 20
(All styles and weights)
Session III -- 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Final 2-of-3 Championship Series, Round 1*
Session IV - 6:30-10 p.m.
Final 2-of-3 Championship Series, Round 2**
Final 2-of-3 Championship Series, Round 3 (if necessary)
* Weights not qualified for the Olympics will wrestle round 2 in Session III
** Weights not qualified for the Olympics will wrestle round 3 at beginning of Session IV (if necessary)
How to Catch the Action
Live results and bracket updates from the trials will be posted on TrackWrestling.com, while full recaps will be available on TheMat.com, the official website of USA Wrestling.
NBC Sports will provide more than 60 hours of live coverage of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials across Peacock and USA Network. Throughout Friday and Saturday, Peacock will individually stream all four mats for both morning sessions, as well as a quad box option for each. The challenge tournament finals will be presented on USA Network and Peacock on Friday at 6:30 p.m., and the Session IV championship series also will air on USA Network and Peacock on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. All Olympic Trials coverage this weekend also will stream via NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app.
Fans looking to attend the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in person at the Bryce Jordan Center can still purchase all-session tickets and single-session tickets through Ticketmaster.
The Wolverine/CKWC Representatives
Nick Suriano -- Suriano, a 2022 NCAA champion at 125 pounds for Michigan, qualified for the Olympic Trials at 57kg by capturing the Pan American 61kg title in February. He represented the USA at the 2022 World Cup and claimed gold medals at the 2021 and 2023 Henri Deglane Grand Prix and silver at the 2021 Matteo Pellicone. A two-time NCAA champion, also winning the 133-pound title in 2019 while at Rutgers, Suriano completed his collegiate career at Michigan with an 86-7 record, including a perfect 16-0 mark in his final season.
Alec Pantaleo -- Pantaleo, who has been ranked as high as No. 1 in the world at 70kg, will drop down to 65kg for the Olympic Trials. A two-time age-group world team member for the USA, qualified for the Trials with his 2024 Pan American Championships 70kg gold. He has won golds in five international tournaments, including the Matteo Pellicone, Poland Open and Zagreb Open, represented the USA at the 2022 World Cup and was a U.S. Open champion in 2022 and runner-up in 2021. Pantaleo was a three-time NCAA All-American at 149 and 157 for Michigan (2015-16, '18-19).
Alex Dieringer -- Dieringer, who captured the 86kg freestyle title at 2023 Senior Nationals in December, seeks his first U.S. Senior Team. A three-time NCAA champion at Oklahoma State and the 2016 Hodge Trophy winner, Dieringer is a seven-year national team member since his college graduation. He has captured gold medals at the Yasar Dogu, Dan Kolov and Medved International tournaments, silver at the Matteo Pellicone and bronze at the Yarygin Grand Prix. He won the U.S. Open 79kg freestyle title in 2019, took third at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials and was second in the 2017 and 2021 World Trials. He is a two-time Junior World Team member (2012, '13), capturing world silver at 74 kg/163 pounds in 2013.
J'den Cox -- Cox, a two-time 92kg world champion and 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, enters the Olympic Trials as the challenge tournament's No. 1 seed at 97kg freestyle. Cox has been a consistent medal winner at the world level. Cox was a three-time NCAA champion for Missouri, and after his senior year, he won the 2016 Olympic Trials at 86kg. He then qualified the weight for the USA for the Rio Games. Since then, he has won his two World titles, plus a 2022 World silver, and 2017 and 2018 World bronzes. Cox has not competed since suffering an injury right before 2023 Final X.
Mason Parris -- Parris is already sitting in the 125kg freestyle championships series after capturing world bronze in 2023. Previously a 2019 junior world champion, Parris has medaled in all five of his senior-level tournaments since graduating from Michigan last spring. He claimed 125kg gold at the UWW Ranking Tournament in Hungary last July as well as in pair of Pan American appearances and took bronze at the Zagreb Open in January. The 2023 NCAA heavyweight champion and Hodge Trophy winner, Parris went 33-0 in his final season to complete his collegiate career as a four-time All-American with a 124-18 career record.
Adam Coon -- Coon is the challenge tournament No. 1 seed in 130kg Greco. He defeated Colton Schultz in the 2020 Olympic Trials but was unable to qualify the weight class for the Tokyo Games. He is a two-time U.S. world team member and captured world silver in 2018, pinning his way into the final with four straight falls before falling to Russia's Sergey Semenov 9-0 in the gold-medal match. It was the first world medal for an American in Greco-Roman wrestling since 2015 and Coon was the first to reach the world finals since 2009. Coon captured 2011 Cadet freestyle gold and claimed double bronze in junior freestyle and Greco-Roman in 2014 before winning his senior-level silver. Coon was a three-time NCAA All-American at heavyweight for Michigan (2014-16, '18).
Players Mentioned
