The 2024 Olympic Team Trials were completed over the weekend, and 18 spots across men’s freestyle, men’s Greco, and women’s freestyle have been secured on the Olympic team. Three Michigan Grapplers are leaving State College, Pennsylvania, as Olympic Trials champions.
Mason Parris was a 3x All American, national champion, and a Hodge trophy winner for the Wolverines in his college career. Following his Senior season, he added a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships. Now, Parris can add Olympian to his resume. Because he was a World medalist last season, Parris was able to sit out of the challenge tournament and await the challenge tournament champion for a best-of-three series. He would see Hayden Zillmer, who beat Nick Gwiazdkowski in the challenge tournament. Parris was able to secure three takedowns in each match, winning both matches by a score of 7-0. Parris will now look to build on last year’s bronze to become an Olympic medalist.
One of the biggest stories of the Olympic Trials was two wrestlers from a small town in Michigan winning the tournament. Dalton Roberts and Adam Coon, both of Fowlerville HS, won their rubber matches in the best-of-three series in the Greco finals to win the Olympic Trials. Roberts was dominant in the challenge tournament, beating Taylor Lamont 9-1 and picking up a 5-2 win over Max Black in the semis. In the finals, Roberts won the bookend matches over former world team member Hafizov to secure his spot on the Olympic team. Roberts won the first match 2-0 before losing by a 10-1 tech in round two. In the final match, Roberts used a second period takedown to pick up the 3-2 win. Roberts still has some work to do to reach the Olympics, as 60kg has not been qualified by the United States for the Olympics. Roberts will need to place top-3 next month in Istanbul, Turkey, to become an official Olympian.
Adam Coon picked up two 9-0 techs in the challenge tournament over Donny Longedyke and Aden Attao before a big showdown with long-time rival Cohlton Schultz. Schultz has been dominant for years in Greco, winning a Cadet world championship, making a U23 World Team, and earning a spot on the 2023 Senior World Team. Schultz also owned a 4-match winning streak over Coon before Saturday’s best-of-three series. After Schultz picked up the win in round win, it was all Adam Coon from there. Coon scored last in the second match, giving him criteria and the win in a 1-1 defensive battle. In the rubber match, Coon picked up a takedown and a gut wrench to cruise to a 6-1 win. He will represent the United States at 130kg in Paris this summer.
Sage Mortimer, a Grand Valley State signee for next season, also put together an impressive tournament. The transfer from King University cruised to a 10-2 win in the quarterfinals over Emilie Gonzalez before earning a 16-6 tech in the semis over Samara Chavez. In the finals of the challenge tournament, Mortimer dropped a close 10-6 match to eventual runner-up Audrey Jimenez. While Mortimer will not be a 2024 Olympian, finishing in the top-3 still puts her on the USA National Team.
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