U.S. team heads to Istanbul for pivotal World Olympic Games Qualifier, May 9-12

Five U.S. Olympic Team Trials champions are set to depart for Istanbul, Turkey, and the crucial World Olympic Games Qualifier, May 9-12. This event will determine the final lineup for the upcoming Paris Olympics as the top three placers in each weight class earn an Olympic quota for his or her country.

Team USA will be represented in two men’s freestyle weight classes (57 kg, 65 kg) and three Greco-Roman weight classes (60 kg, 67 kg, 77 kg). The remaining 13 weight classes across men’s freestyle, Greco-Roman and women’s freestyle have already been qualified by the U.S., which is tied with Japan for the most of any country entering the last qualifying event.

Reigning 70 kg World champion Zain Retherford secured the right to travel to Istanbul by claiming the top spot at 65 kg at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, dethroning 2023 World Team member Nick Lee in the best-of-three championship series.

Retherford is a two-time World medalist at 70 kg, earning silver in 2022 before topping the podium last summer in Belgrade, Serbia. Additionally, he made two U.S. World Team’s at 65 kg earlier in his Senior-level career and was a U17 World champion in 2012. Retherford is a three-time NCAA champion for Penn State and a two-time recipient of the Dan Hodge Trophy presented annually to the nation’s top college wrestler.

Taking the mat at 57 kg in men’s freestyle is three-time age-group World champion Spencer Lee, who topped the 57 kg bracket at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials with a championship series sweep of 2020 Olympic bronze medalist and past World champion Thomas Gilman.

Lee won World gold medals for the U.S. in three-straight years (2014-16), once at the U17 level and twice in the U20 age bracket. He took seven years away from the international circuit to focus on his collegiate career with Iowa, where he was a three-time NCAA champion and two-time Dan Hodge Trophy winner.

Last November Lee returned to the international scene with a gold medal outing at the Bill Farrell Memorial International. He followed it up with gold medals at the U.S. Senior Nationals and Pan American Championships.

Three U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program teammates spearhead the Greco-Roman effort in Turkey—Dalton Roberts, Ellis Coleman and Kamal Bey.

After a gritty three-match championship series win over two-time Olympian Ildar Hafizov at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Roberts solidified himself as the top man at 60 kg for Team USA. Roberts qualified for the U.S. Senior World Team in 2018 and 2021 and was a four-time age-group World Team member.

Coleman, a 2012 Olympian in London, England, completed his resurgence to the top of the Greco-Roman ladder by upending Tokyo Olympian and reigning World Team member Alejandro Sancho in three incredibly close bouts at 67 kg in State College.

As a two-time U20 World bronze medalist in 2010-11, followed by an Olympic appearance at age 20, Coleman was once considered the future face of U.S. Greco-Roman wrestling. He made four U.S. World Team’s after London through 2019 but hasn’t posted an international result since. His first tournament back from a five-year layoff came at the Armed Forces Championships in March, which he won, followed thereafter by the Olympic Trials.

Three-time World Team member Bey has controlled the 77 kg weight class domestically the past three years. He gets the nod for Istanbul after ousting top challenger Aliaksandr Kikinou in the Olympic Trials championship series in two straight matches.

The third time could be the charm for Bey, who has competed at the previous two Paris Olympic qualifying events for Team USA. He finished in 10^th place at the Senior World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, landing five spots shy of Olympic qualification status. In addition, Bey finished one win shy of qualifying the weight at the Pan American Olympic Games Qualifier in Acapulco, Mexico, falling in the semifinal round.

Bey is a four-time age-group World Team member for the U.S., earning a gold medal at the 2017 U20 World Championships in Tampere, Finland. He was a Pan American Games and Pan American Championships gold medalist in 2023.

The World Olympic Games Qualifier will be held at Istanbul’s Başakşehir Gençlik ve Spor Tesisleri. Greco-Roman will kick off the festivities on May 9, followed by women’s freestyle on May 10 and men’s freestyle on May 11. Each style will wrestle over the course of two days. A complete schedule of events can be found below.

United World Wrestling has released a preliminary entry list for athletes registered to compete in each weight class. Final entries are subject to change pending weigh-ins.

The U.S. audience can watch the event live on Flowrestling.com starting at 10 a.m. local time/3 a.m. Eastern Time each day. Brackets and real-time results will be available on UWW Arena.

For more information about the World Olympic Games Qualifier please visit the official event website at uww.org. USA Wrestling will provide complete coverage of the event on TheMat.com and its social media platforms. Join the conversation using #WrestleIstanbul.