US Trio Advances To Thursday's Olympic Semifinals

Thursday marked the first day of men’s freestyle competition at the 2024 Olympic Games and another day in women’s freestyle. In a week with some excellent moments already, this was the best individual session, thus far, from Team USA. All three of the wrestlers who began their tournaments this morning have advanced to this afternoon’s semifinals. 

The much-anticipated debut of Spencer Lee at the Olympic Games lived up to the wait. Lee took on Wanhao Zou of China in his Round of 16 match, the same opponent he defeated 10-9 at the Last Chance OG Qualifier. Once again, it was a tight match. Lee’s first-period takedown, while Zou was on the shot clock, accounted for all of his points. 

Late in the bout, Zou was able to get a pair of step-out points to make the final score 3-2. 

In Lee’s quarterfinal match, the world got a glimpse of the wrestler that we’ve seen while wrestling at the University of Iowa. Kyrgyzstan’s Bekzat Almaz Uulu got on the board first when he used a nifty reshot to score a takedown on Lee. That was the extent of the highlights for Almaz Uulu. Lee quickly responded with a single leg takedown to a leg lace for a 4-2. Never content, Lee was back to his offense with a high-c to a double leg and a leg lace. 

Lee put an abrupt end to the match when he snapped Almaz Uulu and spun to the quadpod position. Instead of working for a takedown, he locked a trapped-arm gut and threw Almaz Uulu for four points. 

The two wins for Lee put him in the 57 kg semifinals opposite Gulomjon Abdullaev of Uzbekistan. Abdullaev advanced to the semis after a surprisingly convincing win over three-time world bronze medalist Arsen Harutyunyan (Armenia). 

Also making his Olympic debut in men’s freestyle was Aaron Brooks at 86 kg. Brooks immediately faced a contender with top-seeded Azamat Dauletbekov (Kazakhstan). After giving up a step-out point in the opening period, Brooks battled back with a takedown off of a low-leg attack to lead 2-2 at the break. In the second period, Brooks struck again with a single leg and a 4-1 lead. That was the score for most of the final stanza; however, a caution and two at the edge against Brooks made the final score appear a bit closer at 4-3. 

In the quarterfinals, Brooks started off slowly against Japan’s Hayato Ishiguro. The pair had met in the 2018 Junior World Finals and Ishiguro got the gold medal. This contest was tied after the first three minutes. The second period was a different story as Brooks was able to compile five takedowns to dominate his opponent and move on to the semis. 

For a spot in the Olympic finals, Brooks must go through Bulgaria’s Magomed Ramazanov. In Ramazanov’s quarterfinal, he used a headlock to pin fourth-seeded Javrail Shapiev (Uzbekistan). 

The third wrestler starting their tournament, Helen Maroulis, was not in her Olympic debut. The 2016 Olympic champion and two-time medalist, looked very sharp in both of her bouts. 

Maroulis’s Round of 16 match saw her pitted against her 2022 World finals opponent Anshu Malik of India. Maroulis took a 2-0 lead into the break courtesy of an inside trip. 

The second period saw Maroulis extend her lead with a takedown followed by a turn. Malik’s only scoring came via a caution and two called against Maroulis for stepping out. The American would get one of those points back via a step out of her own making the final score 7-2. 

In the quarterfinals, against Ukraine’s Alina Hrushyna, Maroulis started out hot with two takedowns in the opening period. She never gave Hrushyna a chance to get her offense going and cruised to a 7-0 victory. 

Waiting in the semifinals for Maroulis is three-time world champion Tsugumi Sakurai of Japan. Sakurai has beaten Maroulis in each of the last two world championships. Maroulis is looking to make history by becoming the first American woman to earn three medals in wrestling. 

Also in the semifinals is former Michigan star Myles Amine who wrestles for San Marino. Amine survived perhaps the most entertaining match of the week thus far when he outlasted Osman Nurmagomedov of Azerbaijan, 16-12. Amine will face 2016 Olympic champion and two-time Olympic finalist Hassan Yazdani (Iran). 

Before these weights hit the match American Dom Parrish took part in the 53 kg women’s freestyle repechage. Parrish had an early lead on her 2022 world finals opponent, Khulan Batkhuyag (Mongolia), but ended up losing via fall in the second period.