The three U.S. officials named as referees for the 2024 Olympic Games pictured left-to-right: Susanna Sylstad, Casey Goessl, Sam Julian.
Goessl, Julian, Sylstad selected as referees for 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France
by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling
United World Wrestling has announced the pool of 50 international officials set to referee the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris, France, with standout American officials Casey Goessl, Sam Julian and Susanna Sylstad among the group.
Both Goessl and Julian have served as dedicated USA Wrestling officials for over two decades. Sylstad is slightly newer to the game, starting her officiating career with USA Wrestling in 2013 as an 18-year-old.
Goessl, a native of Osceola, Wis., began officiating local wrestling tournaments in his home state of Wisconsin at age 12. He got his start as a USA Wrestling official in 1996 and received his international officiating license in 2004, being promoted to UWW 1S rank in 2013. Goessl has officiated eight Senior World Championships, three U20 World Championships and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He has served on the UWW Refereeing Commission, holding a variety of international assignments, since 2020.
Julian, who resides in Schuylkill Haven, Pa., picked up the whistle in 2002 and quickly joined the USA Wrestling ranks in 2003. His international career launched in 2008 and he quickly rose to UWW 1S rank after four years. Julian has refereed eight Senior World Championships and three U20 World Championships in addition to his two Olympic Games appearances in 2016 and 2020. In 2022, Julian was presented the Golden Whistle Award at the Senior World Championships, recognizing him as a top official in the world.
The newcomer to the group, Sylstad has quickly risen in the domestic and international officiating ranks over the past decade. She reached USA Wrestling M1 status in 2016 and started officiating international events in 2017. Currently residing in Columbia, S.C., Sylstad has officiated the past two Senior World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, and has worked two Pan American Games.
Sylstad will become the second U.S. woman to officiate an Olympic Games in wrestling. Sheila Wager was the first to do so, officiating the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea, and the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain.
The U.S. will be well-represented in the officiating ranks come Paris. Its three referees are tied with Germany and Turkey for the most of any nation. In total, 36 different countries are represented in the 50-referee pool for the Olympic Games.
The referees for the Olympic Games were determined by members of the UWW Refereeing Commission, who began its selection process in 2023 with extensive evaluation and analysis of all UWW 1S ranked officials, and sent to the UWW Bureau for final approval.
The 2024 Olympic Games will be held August 5-11 at Champ-de-Mars Arena in Paris, France. Team USA will field a team of 15 wrestlers—six in men’s freestyle, six in women’s freestyle and three in Greco-Roman.
More information about wrestling at the 2024 Olympic Games can be found at Olympics.com.