themat.com | @usawrestling | #Tokyo2020 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Info 3 Schedule & press info 4-5 U.S. Team preview Greco-Roman 7 Roster 8 Expected field 9-14 Bios & previews Women’s freestyle 16 Roster 17 Expected field 18-23 Bios & previews Men’s freestyle 25 Roster 26 Expected field 27-32 Bios & previews Coaches 34 Greco-Roman 35 Women’s freestyle 36 Men’s freestyle 2020 USA Wrestling Tokyo Olympics Media Guide Credits Team Leaders 38 Bios The 2020 USA Wrestling Tokyo Olympics media guide was edited and designed by Taylor Miller. Special History thanks to USA Wrestling communications staff Mike 40-44 World and Olympic records Willis and Gary Abbott. Photos by Tony Rotundo. themat.com | @usawrestling | #Tokyo2020 2 SCHEDULE & PRESS iNFO 2020 TOKYO OLYMPIC GAMES USOPC WRESTLING PRESS OFFICERS at Tokyo, Japan (Aug. 1-7, 2021) Gary Abbott Sunday, Aug. 1 Email - [email protected] 11 a.m. – Qualification rounds (GR 60, 130; WFS 76 kg) Phone number - +1 719-659-9637 6:15 p.m. – Semifinals (GR 60, 130; WFS 76 kg) Monday, Aug. 2 11 a.m. – Qualification rounds (GR 77, 97; WFS 68 kg) Taylor Miller 11 a.m. – Repechage (GR 60, 130; WFS 76 kg) Email - [email protected] 6:15 p.m. – Semifinals (GR 77, 97; WFS 68 kg) Phone number - +1 405-420-8622 7:30 p.m. - Finals (GR 60, 130; WFS 76 kg) Tuesday, Aug. 3 11 a.m. – Qualification rounds (GR 67, 87; WFS 62 kg) Updates on the Olympic Wrestling competition will 11 a.m. – Repechage (GR 77, 97; WFS 68 kg) be provided on TeamUSA.org as well as on USA 6:15 p.m. – Semifinals (GR 67, 87; WFS 62 kg) Wrestling’s website at TheMat.com. Fans can also 7:30 p.m. - Finals (GR 77, 97; WFS 68 kg) follow along on USA Wrestling’s social media: @USAWrestling. Wednesday, Aug. 4 11 a.m. – Qualification rounds (MFS 57, 86; WFS 57 kg) Wrestling will be held for seven days at the 2020 11 a.m. – Repechage (GR 67, 87; WFS 62 kg) Olympic Games in Tokyo with 18 weight classes across 6:15 p.m. – Semifinals (MFS 57, 86; WFS 57 kg) three styles competing—six weights in each of the 7:30 p.m. - Finals (GR 67, 87; WFS 62 kg) disciplines: Greco-Roman, women’s freestyle and men’s freestyle. Thursday, Aug. 5 11 a.m. – Qualification rounds (MFS 74, 125; WFS 53 One women’s freestyle weight will be featured each kg) day, and the women’s finals match will close each 11 a.m. – Repechage (MFS 57, 86; WFS 57 kg) evening’s competition. Greco-Roman will compete 6:15 p.m. – Semifinals (MFS 74, 125; WFS 53 kg) Aug. 1-4, and men’s freestyle is slated for Aug. 7:30 p.m. - Finals (MFS 57, 86; WFS 57 kg) 4-7. There is one gold, one silver and two bronzes awarded in each weight category, which is contested Friday, Aug. 6 in repechage style. Medal matches will take place Aug. 11 a.m. – Qualification rounds (MFS 65, 97; WFS 50 kg) 2-7. 11 a.m. – Repechage (MFS 74, 125; WFS 53 kg) 6:15 p.m. – Semifinals (MFS 65, 97; WFS 50 kg) The wrestling venue is Makuhari Messe Hall, which is 7:30 p.m. - Finals (MFS 74, 125; WFS 53 kg) located in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture. Saturday, Aug. 7 Interviews with athletes and teams must be 6:45 p.m. – Repechage (MFS 65, 97; WFS 50 kg) organized by USOPC press officers and USA Wrestling 7:30 p.m. – Finals (MFS 65, 97; WFS 50 kg) Communications staff Gary Abbott and Taylor Miller. *All times listed reference local time (GMT+9), 13 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time themat.com | @usawrestling | #Tokyo2020 3 USA TAKES 9 WORLD MEDALiSTS TO TOKYO The USA team competing in Tokyo will consist of 15 athletes (six in women’s freestyle, five in men’s freestyle and four in Greco-Roman). The USA competed in the final qualifying event, the World Olympic Games Qualifier in Sofia, Bulgaria, in early May, and was unsuccessful in qualifying at the remaining three Olympic weight classes (65 FS, 77 GR, 130 GR). The United States trails only Russia (17) with the number of qualifiers for the Tokyo Games, and will be bringing a larger team to Tokyo than it qualified for Rio 2016 (14). A pair of 2016 Olympic champions are on the team, Helen Maroulis (57 kg W) and Kyle Snyder (97 kg FS), both who are also two-time World champions. In 2016, Maroulis entered the Olympic Games with a 2015 World title under her belt. Maroulis wrestled her way to the Olympic finals, where she went head-to-head with one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, Saori Yoshida of Japan, a three-time Olympic champion and 13-time World gold medalist. On paper, Maroulis was considered the underdog, but on the mat, she knocked off Snyder won the 2016 Olympic title at 97 kg in men’s freestyle, the women’s wrestling giant with a 4-1 win for the Olympic title becoming the youngest U.S. wrestler in history to win gold at the to become the first women’s wrestler from the USA to earn an Games. Similar to Maroulis, Snyder collected World titles in Olympic gold medal. In 2017, Maroulis continued her dominant 2015 and 2017 to bookend his Olympic gold medal. He also run with a gold medal at the World Championships, which she represented the USA at the 2018 and 2019 World Championships, won without surrendering a single point to her opponents. In where he won silver and bronze medals, respectively. After a year 2018, Maroulis suffered severe damage from a concussion, delay of the 2020 Games, Snyder seeks to earn his way back on which kept her off the podium at the World Championships, top of the podium. and eventually kept her from competing in the 2019 World Team Trials. She heads into Tokyo, looking to repeat as Olympic Five-time World champion and 2016 Olympian Adeline Gray champion while bouncing back from the injuries that have (76kg W) has put herself in a favorable spot to win the women’s plagued her over the last couple of years. heavyweight division as the No. 1 seed in the tournament. Gray is coming off a fantastic quad, where she won World titles in 2018 and 2019 after stepping back for the 2017 season. With her gold-medal performances in 2019, Gray cemented herself in the history books as the first U.S. wrestler in any style to win five World titles. She also topped the World podium in 2012, 2014 and 2015 and claimed bronze medals in 2011 and 2013. The one accolade missing from her incredible resume is the elusive Olympic gold medal, which Gray has positioned herself to capture this time. Joining Maroulis, Snyder and Gray in Tokyo as a multiple-time World champion is Kyle Dake (74kg FS), a 2018 and 2019 World champion, who knocked off 2012 Olympic champion and four- time World gold medalist Jordan Burroughs for the Team USA spot. Dake broke through in 2018 with the addition of two more non-Olympic weight classes, making the U.S. team at 79 kg. He dominated the field to bring home the gold and did the same thing in 2019. In April, he moved down to 74 kg to take on Burroughs, who had represented the U.S. at the weight for nine-consecutive years. Dake defeated Burroughs in the best-of- three series, winning in two matches. While he won’t be seeded in Tokyo, Dake is considered one of the biggest threats for the All photos by Tony Rotundo Olympic crown. themat.com | @usawrestling | #Tokyo2020 4 USA TAKES 9 WORLD MEDALiSTS TO TOKYO Three other World champions will represent the U.S. at the champion and 2017 Junior World champion. He made his Senior Olympics, including Jacarra Winchester (53kg W), Tamyra international debut in May at the Pan American Championships, Mensah-Stock (68kg W) and David Taylor (86 kg FS). where he won gold. Winchester blossomed over the last quad, winning spots on the Hafizov is heading to his second Olympic Games, representing a 2018 and 2019 World Teams at 55 kg, a non-Olympic weight. different country than in his first Olympic appearance. A native of In her World Championships debut, Winchester wrestled for a Uzbekistan, Hafizov made the 2008 Olympic Team for Uzbekistan bronze medal, but came up just short to finish fifth in the world. and finished 11th in Beijing. His first time on Team USA was at In 2019, she stormed the World stage, earning a spot in the finals, the 2017 World Championships and again at the 2019 World where she defeated Nanami Irie of Japan, 5-3, to secure her first Championships. gold medal. For the Olympic year, she moved down to 53 kg and won the spot with ease. Hancock has been on the Senior U.S. World Team every year since 2017, even while he was still Junior eligible. Hancock has Mensah-Stock, who is one of the top pound-for-pound wrestlers competed in several major international tournaments over the on the globe, also scored her World title in 2019, just a year last few years, collecting multiple medals, including silver from after collecting bronze in the 2018 Worlds. Additionally, she the Pan American Olympic Qualifier in 2020, which qualified was on the 2017 World Team, finishing ninth.