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USA Teams set for 2021 UWW World Championships

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Updated: September 14, 2021

Photos: Dalton Roberts, left, defeated 2020 Olympian Ildar Hafizov to clinch the 60-kilo weight class in Greco-Roman at the recent World Team Trials. Also Jordan Burroughs (right in center photo) beat fellow former Hodge Trophy winner Alex Dieringer to win his 10th World/Olympic Team berth … and Jenna Burkert (right) celebrated an emotional three-match victory over 2020 Olympian Jacarra Winchester to claim the World Team spot at 55 kilos. (Photos by John Sachs)

The remaining 22 spots on three different USA teams that will compete at the 2021 UWW World Championships, Oct. 2-10, in Oslo, Norway, have been set after the World Team Trials took place last weekend, Sept 11-12, in Lincoln, Neb.

2021 World Team members who had already earned spots on this year’s team included 2020 Olympic medalists Thomas Gilman (57k), Kyle Dake (74k), David Taylor (86k) and Kyle Snyder (97k) in men’s freestyle … and Sara Hildebrandt (50k), Helen Maroulis (57k), Tamyra Mensah Stock (68k) and Adeline Gray (76k) in women’s freestyle.

Here are some of the top storylines from the World Team Trials that will be featured in the upcoming issue of WIN Magazine, which will be printed on Oct. 24. Click here (or call 888-305-0606) to subscribe to WIN and receive the next edition, which will also be WIN’s 2021-22 College and High School Preview Issue.

Men’s Freestyle

  • Jordan Burroughs clinched his 10th World/Olympic spot, but at a different weight (79k) after he defeated former Oklahoma State national champ Alex Dieringer. Competing in the same community where Burroughs also won two NCAA titles and a Hodge Trophy, the five-time World champ and 2012 Olympic gold medalist looked strong at a heavier weight, but did sustain a leg injury in his victory over Dieringer.
  • Similar to Burroughs, former World Team members Daton Fix (61k) and J’den Cox (92k) also returned to the World Championships, but at a non-Olympic weight.
  • Other former World medalists James Green (70k) and Nick Gwiazdowski (125k) also return to the Senior Worlds. Green qualified for his sixth World Team, while Gwiz hopes to do the same thing that Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson (who chose not to wrestle at the Worlds) accomplished in Japan.
  • Yianni Diakomihalis, a two-time NCAA champ from Cornell, lost his first of three matches with Joey McKenna at 65 kilos, but clinched his first World Team berth, the only Olympic weight that Team USA did not qualify for Tokyo.

Women’s Freestyle

  • Jenna Burkert, who lost a heartbreaker three-match series with Helen Maroulis at the 2020 Olympic Trials at 57k this April, scored last-second takedowns in each of her wins against 2020 Olympian Jacarra Winchester at 55k.
  • In a battle between two Junior World champs, Kylie Welker won two matches over Kennedy Blades at 72k. Welker rallied to win the first match, then won the second bout after Blades was forced to injury default after the wrestlers hit heads.
  • Amy Fearnside, seeded No. 7 in the Trials, upset the top three-seeded wrestlers — including No. 1 Ronna Heaton — at 53k to earn her first Senior World Team spot.
  • Olympian Kayla Miracle gets a second chance at earning a medal this year at the 2021 Worlds at 62k.

Greco-Roman

  • Dalton Roberts (60k) and Peyton Omania (67) defeated 2020 Olympians Ildar Hafizov and Alejandro Sancho, respectively, to earn spots on their first World Teams.
  • G’Angelo Hancock, the only one of four 2020 Olympic Greco-Roman wrestlers to win a match in Tokyo, qualified for his third World Team.
  • Cohlton Schultz (130k), the Arizona State All-American and former Cadet/Junior World medalist, lost a first match in the Best-of-3 Championship Series to Jacob Mitchell, but rallied to score two shutouts for his first Senior World Team spot.
  • Cuban immigrant Alan Vera qualified for his first World Team at 87k after Olympian John Stefanowicz did not enter the World Team Trials.
  • Two-time Olympian Ben Provisor, who will wrestle in college at Grand View this winter at the age of 31, qualified for his second World Team.

 

2021 USA World Team

The following 30 wrestlers will represent the United States in three different styles at the 2021 World Championships, held Oct. 2-10, in Oslo, Norway. It includes how each qualified for their weight class; either by winning an Olympic medal in August or by winning the World Team Trials (WTT) in September.

Men’s Freestyle

57k/125.5lb – Thomas Gilman (TMWC/NLWC)

  • won bronze medal at 2020 Olympics in Tokyo

61k/134.5lb – Daton Fix (TMWC/CWC)

  • def. Nathan Tomasello (TMWC), 8-3, 7-0, at WTT

65k/143.5lb – Yianni Diakomihalis (TMWC/Spartan Combat)

  • def. Joey McKenna (TMWC), 7-8, 5-2, at WTT

70k/154lb – James Green (TMWC/SERTC)

  • def. Ryan Deakin (TMWC), 6-6, 4-2, at WTT

74k/163lb – Kyle Dake (TMWC/Spartan Combat)

  • won a bronze medal at 2020 Olympics in Tokyo

79k/174lb – Jordan Burroughs (Sunkist Kids/Penn RTC)

  • def. Alex Dieringer (TMWC), 10-5, 4-3, at WTT

86k/189lb – David Taylor (TMWC/NLWC)

  • won a gold medal at 2020 Olympics in Tokyo

92k/202lb – J’den Cox (TMWC/OTC)

  • def. Kollin Moore (TMWC), 5-0, 4-0, at WTT

97k/213.5lb – Kyle Snyder (TMWC/NLWC)

  • won a silver medal at 2020 Olympics in Tokyo

125k/265.5lb – Nick Gwiazdowski (TMWC/Spartan Combat)

  • def. Mason Parris (CKWC), 6-0, 10-3, at WTT

 

Women’s Freestyle

50k/110lb – Sarah Hildebrandt (NYAC)

  • won bronze medal at 2020 Olympics in Tokyo

53k/116.5lb – Amy Fearnside (TMWC)

  • def. Ronna Heaton (Sunkist Kids), 5-3, 4-0, at WTT

55k/121lb – Jenna Burkert (WCAP)  

  • def. Jacarra Winchester (TMWC), 6-6, 8-9, 4-3, at WTT

57k/125.5lb – Helen Maroulis (Sunkist Kids)

  • won bronze medal at 2020 Olympics in Tokyo

59k/130lb – Maya Nelson (Sunkist Kids)

  • def. Megan Black (WCAP), 5-4, 6-1, at WTT

62k/136.5lb – Kayla Miracle (Sunkist Kids)

  • def. Mallory Velte (TMWC), 5-3, 10-2, at WTT

65k/143.5lb – Forrest Molinari (Sunkist Kids)

  • def. Emma Bruntil (TMWC), 43, 9-0, at WTT

68k/147lb – Tamyra Mensah Stock (TMWC)

  • won gold medal at 2020 Olympics in Tokyo

72k/158.5 – Kylie Welker (TMWC)

  • def. Kennedy Blades (Sunkist Kids), 4-4, 3-1 (inj. Def.) at WTT

76k/167.5 – Adeline Gray (NYAC)

  • won silver medal at 2020 Olympics in Tokyo

 

Greco-Roman

55k/121.5lb – Max Nowry (WCAP)

  • def. Brady Koontz (TWMC), 2-1, 3-1, at WTT

60k/132.5lb – Dalton Roberts (WCAP)

  • def. Ildar Hafizov (WCAP), 3-3, 5-3, 9-0, at WTT

63k/138.5lb – Sam Jones (NYAC)

  • def. David Stephanian (NYAC), 9-0, 10-6, at WTT

67k/147.5lb – Peyton Omania (NYAC)

  • def. Alejandro Sancho (WCAP), 6-3, 3-2, at WTT

72k/158.5lb – Pat Smith (MInn. Storm)

  • def. Benji Peak (Sunkist Kids), 3-3, 6-4, at WTT

77k/169.5lb – Jesse Porter (NYAC)

  • def. Fritz Schierl (TMWC), 9-0, 9-7, at WTT

82k/180.5lb – Ben Provisor (NYAC)

  • def. Spencer Woods (WCAP), 7-1, 4-2, at WTT

87k/191.5lb – Alan Vera (NYAC)

  • def. Ryan Epps (Minn. Storm), 9-0, 8-0, at WTT

97k/213.5lb – G’Angelo Hancock (Sunkist Kids)

  • def. Nicholas Boykin (Sunkist Kids), 8-2, 5-0, at WTT

130k/286.5lb – Cohlton Schultz (Sunkist Kids)

  • def. Jacob Mitchell (WCAP), 2-4, 8-0, 6-0, at WTT