Penn State Wrestling Carries Big Presence at U.S. Olympic Trials

Nine Penn State NCAA champs, including three from the 2021 team, will wrestle for a trip to the Tokyo Olympics.

Fifteen wrestlers with Penn State ties, including three defending NCAA champions, will compete this weekend at the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials in Fort Worth, Texas.

Defending NCAA champs Nick Lee, Aaron Brooks and Carter Starocci are among the current and former Lions competing at the Trials, which begin Friday. Action will air on NBCSN and Peacock. NBCSN will air live coverage of the finals at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

The U.S. Olympic teams in men's freestyle, women's freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling will be determined for the 2021 Tokyo Games. The U.S. has qualified for 15 of the 18 weight classes in Tokyo, with the remaining three classes needing to be secured via international competition this spring.

Here are the wrestlers representing the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. The group includes four current Penn State wrestlers, nine Lions who won NCAA titles and two gold-medalists from the 2016 Olympics.

Men’s Freestyle

• 57 kg: Thomas Gilman (NLWC/TMWC)

• 65 kg: Zain Retherford (NLWC/TMWC)

• 65 kg: Nick Lee (NLWC/TMWC)

• 65 kg: Frank Molinaro (SKWC/TMWC)

• 74 kg: Jason Nolf (NLWC/TMWC)

• 74 kg: Vincenzo Joseph (NLWC/TMWC)

• 86 kg: David Taylor (NLWC/TMWC)

• 86 kg: Bo Nickal (NLWC/TMWC)

• 86 kg: Aaron Brooks (NLWC/TMWC)

• 86 kg: Carter Starocci (NLWC/TMWC)

• 97 kg: Kyle Snyder (NLWC/TMWC)

• 125 kg: Greg Kerkvliet (NLWC/TMWC)

Women’s Freestyle

• 57 kg: Helen Maroulis (SKWC/NLWC)

• 62 kg: Jennifer Page (NLWC/TMWC)

Greco-Roman

• 77 kg: Mason Manville (US Army WCAP/NLWC)

TWMC is the Titan Mercury Wrestling Club.

Retherford is the No. 1 seed at 65 kg, and Nolf is seeded first at 74 kg. Jordan Burroughs, a 2012 Olympic champion, and Kyle Dake, a two-time world champ, received byes at 74 kg.

Taylor is the No. 1 seed at 86 kg, and Nickal is seeded sixth. Maroulis, a defending Olympic gold medalist who is training at NLWC, awaits the winner of the challenge bracket.

Another NLWC resident, Kyle Snyder, will do the same at 97 kg. Snyder in 2016 became the youngest Olympic wrestling champ at age 20.

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