Six USA wrestlers to compete in Istanbul for last chance at Rio Olympics

There are still 36 spots for wrestlers up for grabs at the Rio Olympic Games, and six wrestlers from the USA will be in Istanbul, Turkey this weekend trying to earn one. They will be battling at the 2nd Olympic Games Qualifier, there is no 3rd qualifier.

The event will be held in the Bagcilar Sports Complex, a short drive from the Golden Horn of the Bosporus Strait. The old capital of the continent spanning Empires both Byzantine and Ottoman will play host to teams of man’s oldest sport from across the globe, meeting in the appropriately ancient crossroads between east and west.

But ancient history won’t be on the minds of the competitors, who will instead be looking to the future of the 2016 Summer Games, held in less than 100 days in Rio De Janeiro. The finalists in six weight classes from three divisions, Greco-Roman and Men’s & Women’s Freestyle, will guarantee representation for their country. A loss before the finals will almost certainly mean a dream deferred for four years, or, more likely, retirement before their next chance at Olympic glory.

For more information on the qualification process, Wikipedia has the answers HERE. For an occasionally insightful stroll through each weight class of the 2nd Qualifier, read on below.

Men’s Freestyle57 kg

Tony Ramos qualified the weight for the USA at the Pan Am Qualification Tournament, after which Dan Dennis won the right to represent the USA at the Olympic Team Trials Tournament. Vladislav Andreev, of Belarus, who just missed qualifying for Rio in Mongolia, will be making another attempt in Turkey. Andreev also goes by Uladzislau Andreyeu, because Cyrillic is Romanized differently in Belarus than it is in Russia, just to confuse everyone and for no other good reason.

65 kg

This is the most exciting weight class for American Freestyle fans as it’s the only weight class not yet qualified for Rio. As he was in Mongolia, Frank Molinaro will be tasked with earning the reservation for himself and Team USA. The field is crowded. 38 nations entered a wrestler for this tournament, from Pulau to Pakistan. Molinaro will have to fend off fellow NCAA multiple All Americans, Dave Habat, an American competing for Slovenia, and Boris Novachkov, a Bulgarian competing for Bulgaria. Former world champions and other highly decorated competitors will litter the stingiest weight in men’s freestyle. Frank will have a good shot at reaching the finals but a lot will depend on the random draw of the bracket that is decided after weigh-ins.

74 kg

Returning Olympic and World Champion, Jordan Burroughs, clinched his bid a year ago and has already begun contributing to the pre-Rio NBC hype machine. Looking to join in him at the Games will be another NJ public high school grad, Asnage Castelly, competing for Haiti. Former Clarion University All American and current Harvard University coach, Bekzod “The Merciless” Abdurakhmanov, will compete for Uzbekistan. Finally, Cornell University’s Dylan “Pele” Palacio, was a late addition to the tournament, and will compete for Uruguay.

86 kg

J’Den Cox, rising senior at the University of Missouri, punched his ticket at the ‘first’ last chance tournament, notching an impressive podium topping finish in his senior level international tournament debut. Rumor was, Cox did not even have a passport by the time he won the USA Olympic Team Trials, and …

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