The USA wrestling team is getting ready for the Olympics in Tokyo for the Summer games of 2021, and I am going to preview all the weights starting at 57kg. The winner of the trials represents the United States, but first, they have to compete against the countries best wrestlers in a one-day tournament.
The Story
Like all weights at the trials, this bracket is stacked with ten of the best United States wrestlers. Some are still in college, and some have graduated and have been training for this moment for over a year after the Olympics were delayed in 2020. Thomas Gilman is the one seed, the former Iowa Hawkeye is now training with the NLWC at Penn State. The two seed is Daton Fix, who just lost in the NCAA wrestling finals to Roman Bravo-Young. Fix has already earned multiple medals in international competition, and is looking to secure a spot on the United States team for Tokyo.
Dark Horse
The x factor in this weight is Vitali Arujau, the three seed at 57kg was not allowed to compete at the NCAA tournament this year because of the Ivy League restrictions. He is currently enrolled at Cornell and the Ivy league canceled all sports for the 2020-2021 seasons, so he was forced to sit out and lose a year of eligibility.
That means he has been training for the Olympic trials and his only focus was on this tournament. He will have a tough match vs Joe Colon in the round of 8, but he will get to wrestle Fix for a chance at the finals.
Best Matchups
Nathan Tomasello is a national champion and four time All-American from Ohio State. He is the 7 seed at the tournament, and if he wins his preliminary match, he will wrestle Fix in the round of 8.
Daton Fix won the Pan American games, which is an international tournament, but he has already won multiple world team trial tournaments earning the right to represent the United States across the world.
Prediction
Wrestling at this level is a crapshoot because every guy in this weight class is capable of winning it all. I got Arujau over Fix in one semifinal and Gilman over Suriano in the other semifinal bout. Gilman over Arujau in the finals, the move from Iowa to Penn State will be huge for Gilman in his pursuit for an Olympic gold medal.
TL//DR: The USA wrestling olympic team trials 57kg preview
All seeds are from TeamUSA.org
1. Thomas Gilman (Nittany Lion WC/TMWC)
2. Daton Fix (Cowboy RTC/TMWC)
3. Vitali Arujau (Spartan Combat RTC/TMWC)
4. Seth Gross (Wisconsin RTC/Sunkist Kids)
5. Nick Suriano (Sunkist Kids)
6. Joe Colon (Cyclone RTC/TMWC)
7. Nathan Tomasello (TMWC)
8. Sean Russell (Gopher WC RTC)
9. Zane Richards (Illinois RTC)
10. Zach Sanders (Gopher WC RTC)
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