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IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Last year Jordan Burroughs made his first U.S. World Team, and made the most of it, winning a World title at 74 kilos. On Saturday, Burroughs made his first U.S. Olympic Team, and will now get his first crack at Olympic gold this summer at the London Games.
Burroughs faced a game Andrew Howe, who pushed him to three periods in the opening match of the best-of-three finals. Howe, though, suffered an injury in the match and was forced to injury default.
Jordan Burroughs defeated Andrew Howe in the finals (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)It's the second straight year that Burroughs has beaten Howe in the finals of the Trials. Last year Burroughs defeated Howe in the finals of the U.S. World Team Trials in Oklahoma City, Okla.
"He wrestled tough the whole match to be injured," Burroughs said of Howe. "Hats off to him. He's a competitor. He's a grinder. He's a great wrestler. Hopefully he gets better."
Returning World bronze medalist Jake Varner of the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club also punched his ticket to London with a victory in the finals over Tommy Rowlands of the Sunkist Kids. Varner needed three periods to win the first match against Rowlands, and then took the second match in two periods.
Varner was quick to give credit to his coach, Olympic gold medalist and Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson.
"I owe a lot to that guy," Varner said of Cael. "He's been with me ever since I got into college ... I can't thank him enough. I love that guy."
For Varner, it's not just about earning a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team. He has higher goals.
"This is a stepping stone," said Varner. "You have to achieve this one first. I'm not going to stop here. It's not about being an Olympian. It's about going and achieving your goals and being an Olympic champion."
Coleman Scott defeated Logan Stieber at 60 kilos (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)"It wasn't pretty, but I got it done," said Scott, who was third in each of the three previous Trials.
Scott, a 2008 NCAA champion at Oklahoma State, blanked Stieber in the first match, 3-0, 1-0. The second match went three periods, but Scott prevailed and took the match, 2-0, 0-1, 2-0.
Scott had high praise for Stieber following the match.
"He's a great kid," Scott said of Stieber. "He's a young kid, but he has a bright future."
The U.S. has not yet qualified the 60-kilo weight class in men's freestyle for the Olympic Games, so the top two wrestlers in the weight class, Reece Humphrey and Shawn Bunch, did not compete this weekend in Iowa City. Bunch and Humphrey are preparing for the upcoming Olympic qualifying tournaments in late April and early May. If the U.S. does qualify the weight class, Humphrey, Bunch, and Scott will be placed in a three-man bracket to determine which wrestler will represent the U.S. at the Olympic Games.
"I just told myself I've got to give myself a chance to make the Olympic Team and be an Olympic champ," said Scott.
Three U.S. Army Greco-Roman wrestlers, Spenser Mango (55 kilos), Justin Lester (66 kilos), and Dremiel Byers (120 kilos), earned spots on the U.S. Olympic Team with titles on Saturday.
Mango, a 2008 Olympian, dominated 22-year-old rising star Max Nowry of the New York AC in the finals. Mango won the first match by fall, then won 1-0, 3-0 to close out the best-of-three finals victory. Mango was unscored upon in three matches on Saturday.
"I'm glad to get this off my chest and now I'm going to move forward for London," said Mango.
Lester, a two-time World bronze medalist, made his first U.S. Olympic Team with a two matches to zero victory over U.S. Open champion C.P. Schlatter of the Minnesota Storm. Lester won the opening match 1-0, 2-0, and then closed out the best-of-three finals with a 2-0, 1-2, 1-0 victory.
"It was a good day," said Lester. "I had some tough opponents, but I really couldn't get going the way I wanted to go."
Lester has represented the U.S. at the World Championships five times, but this summer will be his first time representing the U.S. at the Olympic Games.
"It's great," said Lester. "It puts you in a whole different echelon of competitors. The greats have made Olympic teams. The really good guys and some of the best guys have just made World teams."
Dremiel Byers is back on the U.S. Olympic Team at 120 kilos (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)"I'm on a mission," said Byers of his quest for Olympic gold in London. "I'm not letting any distractions, including my own, or me, get in the way. I just have to get this done."
Much of talk leading up to this year's Olympic Team Trials centered around a potential comeback of Olympic gold medalist Rulon Gardner, who was expected to compete at 120 kilos with Byers. Gardner, though, did not weigh in and opted not to return to competition.
Byers said the Gardner hoopla wasn't a distraction for him this year.
"It was just another guy that was going to be in the tournament," Byers said of Gardner. "That's the way I looked at it. It's a dog and pony show. Antics and all this extra stuff and distractions ... once you're cutting all the distraction out, you might as well cut them all out. So I never let that affect me or anything. If you want to bring it, bring it. That's what I expected, and it didn't happen that way."
Chas Betts of the Minnesota Storm claimed the title at 84 kilos in Greco-Roman to make his first U.S. Olympic Team. His victory in the finals came over another Minnesota Storm wrestler, Jordan Holm.
"I feel like we've wrestled enough in practices and training camps where I know his main techniques," said Betts. "So I knew what he was going to be coming with. I figured he was going to switch his style up a little after the first match, needed to be more aggressive. So I think prepared myself pretty well for all that mentally."
Kelsey Campbell (55 kilos) and Stephany Lee earned two of the four spots on the U.S. Olympic Team for women's freestyle.
Campbell, a U.S. World Team member in 2010 and 2011, took the title at 55 kilos with two straight wins over three-time U.S. Open champion Helen Maroulis, who placed fifth at the World Championships last year.
"It's surreal," said Campbell, who was fifth at the 2010 World Championships. "I feel like I'm dreaming. Is this real? It's crazy. It's awesome. A lot of people believed. But I think I had to go out there and do it to believe. It had to happen this way."
Lee controlled 2008 Olympian Ali Bernard in two consecutive matches to claim the title at 72 kilos.
"The only person that could have stopped me was myself, and I didn't have that happen to me," said Lee. "I just let it all go. I put it all on the line, and this is where I am."
Saturday's Session II attendance was 13,750, which was a single-session record for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, breaking the previous record of 13,520, which was earlier on Saturday at Session I.
Men's Freestyle
60 kilos: Coleman Scott (Gator WC) def. Logan Stieber (New York AC), 2 matches to 1
Scott dec. Stieber, 3-0, 1-0
Scott dec. Stieber, 2-0, 0-1, 2-0
74 kilos: Jordan Burroughs (Sunkist Kids) def. Andrew Howe (New York AC), 2 matches to 0
Burroughs dec. Howe, 4-2, 1-2, 1-0
Burroughs dec. Howe by injury default
96 kilos: Jake Varner (Nittany Lion WC) def. Tommy Rowlands (Sunkist Kids), 2 matches to 0
Varner dec. Rowlands, 0-1, 2-0, 1-0
Varner dec. Rowlands, 2-0, 1-0
Greco-Roman
55 kilos: Spenser Mango (U.S. Army) def. Max Nowry (New York AC), 2 matches to 0
Mango pinned Nowry, 1:53
Mango dec. Nowry, 1-0, 3-0
66 kilos: Justin Lester (U.S. Army) def. C.P. Schlatter (Minnesota Storm), 2 matches to 0
Lester dec. Schlatter, 1-0, 2-0
Lester dec. Schlatter, 2-0, 1-2, 1-0
84 kilos: Chas Betts (USOEC) def. Jordan Holm (Minnesota Storm), 2 matches to 0
Betts dec. Holm, 1-0, 0-3, 2-0
Betts dec. Holm, 2-0, 2-0
120 kilos: Dremiel Byers (U.S. Army) def. Steve Andrus (Michigan WC), 2 matches to 0
Byers dec. Andrus, 1-0, 1-0
Byers dec. Andrus, 2-0, 2-0
Women's Freestyle
55 kilos: Kelsey Campbell (Sunkist Kids) def. Helen Maroulis (New York AC), 2 matches to 0
Campbell dec. Maroulis, 0-2, 1-0, 2-1
Campbell dec. Maroulis, 2-0, 0-1, 1-0
72 kilos: Stephany Lee (Sunkist Kids) def. Ali Bernard (Gator WC), 2 matches to 0
Lee dec. Bernard, 3-1, 5-2
Lee dec. Bernard, 3-1, 6-0
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