USA Wrestling to host Pre-Olympic Trials Zoom press conference Tuesday, March 23
by USOPC
The press conference will feature Olympic champion Helen Maroulis, World champs Kyle Dake, J’den Cox, Adeline Gray, Tamyra Mensah-Stock and Jacarra Winchester as well as several others.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Wrestling will host a Zoom press conference with 12 of the 14 athletes who are sitting out for finals or semifinals of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials on Tuesday, March 23. The press conference will be broken up into five 25-minute sessions, which will include 2-3 athletes at a time, starting at 12:30 p.m. CT.
This press conference will serve as the only time USA Wrestling will make these athletes available prior to the 2021 Olympic Team Trials, set for April 2-3 in Fort Worth, Texas.
Highlighting the athletes to be featured is 2016 Olympic champion Helen Maroulis, five-time World champion Adeline Gray, two-time World champions Kyle Dake and J’den Cox and 2019 World champions Tamyra Mensah-Stock and Jacarra Winchester. Other athletes on the call include 2018 World silver medalist Sarah Hildebrandt, 2019 World Team members Kayla Miracle, Ildar Hafizov, Joe Rau and G’Angelo Hancock as well as 2020 Pan American Olympic Qualifier runner-up Alex Sancho.
Olympic champions Jordan Burroughs and Kyle Snyder will not be available.
Below is a schedule for Tuesday. USA Wrestling will send out a Zoom link prior to the press conference. If you wish to attend and want the link, email gabbott@usawrestling.org
Time slot (all times in CDT) | Athlete 1 | Athlete 2 | Athlete 3 |
12:30-12:55 p.m. | Kyle Dake | Sarah Hildebrandt | |
2-2:25 pm | J'den Cox | Kayla Miracle | |
2:30-2:55 pm | Helen Maroulis | Jacarra Winchester | G'Angelo Hancock |
3-3:25 pm | Adeline Gray | Alex Sancho | |
3:30-3:55 pm | Ildar Hafizov | Joe Rau | Tamyra Mensah-Stock |
How they earned a place in the semis/finals:
Dake, Cox, Mensah-Stock and Gray earned the opportunity to sit out with medal-winning performances at the 2019 World Championships (all won gold.) Mensah-Stock and Gray have automatic bids to the finals, while Dake and Cox earned bids to the semifinals as they won their 2019 World medals at non-Olympic weights.
Hildebrandt, Winchester, Miracle, Maroulis, Hafizov, Sancho, Rau and Hancock earned the opportunity to sit out with top-two finishes at the 2020 Pan American Olympic Qualifier. All eight athletes earned a bid to the finals, based on the USA Wrestling Team Selection Criteria, which varies based on style.
Note: This availability is available to media members only, no exceptions. Thank you.