I would like an eduction- Olympics wrestling

[ICWestfan]

I am totally clueless in regards to freestyle wresting, and have some questions-

1. How many weight classes are there in freestyle wrestling?

2. How does a wrestler qualify for the Olympics? Is it merely winning a weight class at USA trials then off to the Olympics?

3. If there is a "world" qualifier, where does this take place and can a country send more than one wrestler?

4. Is there a "team" component to Olympic wrestling (like gymnastics)?

5. Does Team USA have any sure-fire gold medalists?

Sorry for the ignorance but TIA for an education.

 

[AndEEss]

1. 6 weight classes. 57, 65, 74, 86, 97, 125kg.
2. Win OTTs. Then, the country has to have qualified the weight previously, via medaling (gold, silver, 2x bronze) or winning true 5th at 2023 Worlds, or via a regional (Pan Am, Euro, Asian, African, etc.) qualification tournament in early 2024.
3. Yes, there's a last chance qualifier for countries that haven't qualified the weight. Brutal.
4. No team component, other than pride.
5. David Taylor is the closest thing to a near lock.

 

[Redm18]

1. 6 weight classes. 57, 65, 74, 86, 97, 125kg.
2. Win OTTs. Then, the country has to have qualified the weight previously, via medaling (gold, silver, 2x bronze) or winning true 5th at 2023 Worlds, or via a regional (Pan Am, Euro, Asian, African, etc.) qualification tournament in early 2024.
3. Yes, there's a last chance qualifier for countries that haven't qualified the weight. Brutal.
4. No team component, other than pride.
5. David Taylor is the closest thing to a near lock.

Pretty solid post! I don't know that there has ever been a "lock" in Olympic wrestling ask Aleksandr Karelin.

 

[AndEEss]

Pretty solid post! I don't know that there has ever been a "lock" in Olympic wrestling Aleksandr Karelin.

Agreed. No one is a lock.

That said, DT is a very likely finalist and is now 5-1 against the other very likely finalist.

 

[so cal hawkfan]

I am totally clueless in regards to freestyle wresting, and have some questions-

1. How many weight classes are there in freestyle wrestling?

2. How does a wrestler qualify for the Olympics? Is it merely winning a weight class at USA trials then off to the Olympics?

3. If there is a "world" qualifier, where does this take place and can a country send more than one wrestler?

4. Is there a "team" component to Olympic wrestling (like gymnastics)?

5. Does Team USA have any sure-fire gold medalists?

Sorry for the ignorance but TIA for an education.

To provide more context to question #5, Jordan Burroughs is the greatest American wrestler of all time. I don’t even think it is arguable anymore. He lost his World Team spot to Chance Marstellar and will now have to try to take the spot back by winning the challenge tournament and then beating Chance. The US freestyle team has a very deep pool of experienced international athletes. That being said, teams like Iran and Russia are as good if not better than the US. Olympic golds are very hard to come by.

 

[postseasonhawk]

To provide more context to question #5, Jordan Burroughs is the greatest American wrestler of all time. I don’t even think it is arguable anymore. He lost his World Team spot to Chance Marstellar and will now have to try to take the spot back by winning the challenge tournament and then beating Chance. The US freestyle team has a very deep pool of experienced international athletes. That being said, teams like Iran and Russia are as good if not better than the US. Olympic golds are very hard to come by.

To provide more context to question #5, Jordan Burroughs is the greatest American wrestler of all time. I don’t even think it is arguable anymore. He lost his World Team spot to Chance Marstellar and will now have to try to take the spot back by winning the challenge tournament and then beating Chance. The US freestyle team has a very deep pool of experienced international athletes. That being said, teams like Iran and Russia are as good if not better than the US. Olympic golds are very hard to come by.

Six in row by John Smith keeps him in that conversation.

 

[IAChief32]

Six in row by John Smith keeps him in that conversation.

Plus that 2nd Olympic Gold.

 

[Sett1997]

Pretty solid post! I don't know that there has ever been a "lock" in Olympic wrestling ask Aleksandr Karelin.

It was a good explanation, not sure I would use acronyms though based on the OP's knowledge.

Edit to say: Really nit picky of me to bring that up. Thanks @AndEEss for helping a fellow Hawk and posting the info!

 

[AndEEss]

To provide more context to question #5, Jordan Burroughs is the greatest American wrestler of all time. I don’t even think it is arguable anymore. He lost his World Team spot to Chance Marstellar and will now have to try to take the spot back by winning the challenge tournament and then beating Chance. The US freestyle team has a very deep pool of experienced international athletes. That being said, teams like Iran and Russia are as good if not better than the US. Olympic golds are very hard to come by.

Huh? No. Jordan lost to Chance at 79kg. So now, he has to go through everyone at 74kg before he gets to Dake, who sits until the final at OTTs. Jordan hasn't wrestled a complete domestic tournament in years, and Dake will be fresh. He'll likely have to go through both Nolf and KOT to get there.

John Smith winning 6 in a row is obviously impressive. That said, he was in the 10 weight era, so the talent was significantly less concentrated than it is now for the Olympics. He also competed against the Soviet Union/Unified Team, which, concentrated a LOT of potential medalists into one country. So you don't have athletes from 10+ European and central Asian countries; only one. Simply put, it was a lot, lot easier to win back then.

In 1996, Tom Brands wrestled two wrestlers from former Soviet states, plus Iran. Terry, in 2000? Three, plus Iran. Significantly harder than pre-1996 Olympic pools.

I hate to say it, but you can't be the USAW GOAT if you won before 2004. The first 6 weight class Olympics plus ALL of the former Soviet states. If DT, Gable, Snyder or Burroughs win gold in 2024, they automatically take over American GOAT status, IMO. Two golds in the 6 weight class, post-Soviet era.

 

[Redm18]

Huh? No. Jordan lost to Chance at 79kg. So now, he has to go through everyone at 74kg before he gets to Dake, who sits until the final at OTTs. Jordan hasn't wrestled a complete domestic tournament in years, and Dake will be fresh. He'll likely have to go through both Nolf and KOT to get there.

John Smith winning 6 in a row is obviously impressive. That said, he was in the 10 weight era, so the talent was significantly less concentrated than it is now for the Olympics. He also competed against the Soviet Union/Unified Team, which, concentrated a LOT of potential medalists into one country. So you don't have athletes from 10+ European and central Asian countries; only one. Simply put, it was a lot, lot easier to win back then.

In 1996, Tom Brands wrestled two wrestlers from former Soviet states, plus Iran. Terry, in 2000? Three, plus Iran. Significantly harder than pre-1996 Olympic pools.

I hate to say it, but you can't be the USAW GOAT if you won before 2004. The first 6 weight class Olympics plus ALL of the former Soviet states. If DT, Gable, Snyder or Burroughs win gold in 2024, they automatically take over American GOAT status, IMO. Two golds in the 6 weight class, post-Soviet era.

IMO it's silly to try to compare guys against eras. There are so many variables many of which you have already pointed out but there are obviously others. What if Dan Gable had modern medicine at his disposal and was able to have his knee fixed would have have done better? Olympic Boycotts in the 80s changed things a lot. I still don't really understand how Freestyle used to work but didn't point accumulate from match to match?

 

[iawrestle38]

IMO it's silly to try to compare guys against eras. There are so many variables many of which you have already pointed out but there are obviously others. What if Dan Gable had modern medicine at his disposal and was able to have his knee fixed would have have done better? Olympic Boycotts in the 80s changed things a lot. I still don't really understand how Freestyle used to work but didn't point accumulate from match to match?

I agree with you. It is not remotely comparable era to era. Things evolve. Modern medicine as you mentioned, but not only that, recovery methods, technique has evolved continuously. How we are able to watch opponents wrestle and study their technique, our strength training has advanced, nutrition has advanced, the financial opportunities for guys post college has improved. I mean, think about it. Dan Gable's NIL at ISU in his last couple years!!

Point being, Gable, like Smith, and Monday and Schultz and all the greats would also have evolved with the sport. What wrestlers primarily need at that level, is mental toughness, and athletic intelligence for their sport, their training, their health, their nutrition, and all within these great athletes would have evolved.

 

[TNTwrestle]

I am totally clueless in regards to freestyle wresting, and have some questions-

1. How many weight classes are there in freestyle wrestling?

2. How does a wrestler qualify for the Olympics? Is it merely winning a weight class at USA trials then off to the Olympics?

3. If there is a "world" qualifier, where does this take place and can a country send more than one wrestler?

4. Is there a "team" component to Olympic wrestling (like gymnastics)?

5. Does Team USA have any sure-fire gold medalists?

Sorry for the ignorance but TIA for an education.

I am taking it you really want to know these things and are not trolling, so since no one is really answering you I will. I hope i'm not being naive in doing so.

1. There are six Men's weights in the Olympics and ten in all other UWW sanctioned, Senior level events (World Championships, World Cup, Pan Ams, etc.) Same for Women's wrestling and Greco.

2. Yes, that's basically the U.S. qualifying system. You do have to earn a spot in the trials though., and pevious year's World medalists earn a spot in the best-of three finals. Your country also has to have qualified your weight class to compete in the Olympics (which the U.S. hasn't currently done in all the weights) there are various qualifying tournaments to do this.

3. If you mean World Championships qualifier, it's pretty much the same process as Olympics. At the Worlds and Olympics, each country can only have one representative at each weight.

4. I'm not sure there's actually a Team Score at the Olympics (I don't remember one). I'm sure someone else can answer that. There is a Team Score at the World Championships and the World Cup.

There's no such thing as a sure-fire Gold Medalist, but we have several guts who should be the favorite at their weight class.

I hope those answers are what you were looking for.

Plus that 2nd Olympic Gold.

I'm pretty sure that is included in the six. 2 Olys and 4 WC.

 

[nearfall2]

I'm pretty sure that is included in the six. 2 Olys and 4 WC.

He was comparing Smith’s 2nd Olympic gold to Jordan’s 1 Olympic gold not adding it to the 6 in a row.

 

[AndEEss]

It was a good explanation, not sure I would use acronyms though based on the OP's knowledge.

Edit to say: Really nit picky of me to bring that up. Thanks @AndEEss for helping a fellow Hawk and posting the info!

I must correct you:

I’m a Penn State fan who went to Illinois and Virginia Tech. Connection to PSU: my dad was roommates with multiple NFL HOF guys when they were at PSU and I’ve been a PSU fan, all sports, since I was a little kid. Like, wearing a PSU shirt/sweatshirt in the Illinois student section sort of fan. Probably not the smartest thing I’ve ever done, in retrospect.

I just try to be a bit less, uh, adversarial than some of the guys from HVI/BWI. I enjoy reading many boards on many topics. Sometimes those boards are at odds with each other.

 

[ICWestfan]

No troll and thanks for the replies everyone, even @Sett1997 .

I've never followed Olympic/National/Tourneys at the freestyle level so this has been very educational.

 

[Dwayne_Johnson33]

Six in row by John Smith keeps him in that conversation.

I think the craziest thing about John Smith’s accomplishments is the fact that he retired from competition when he was only 26 years old.