American Tamyra Mensah-Stock is one of eight wrestlers to commit to wrestle for the U.S. at the upcoming world championships. (Kadir Caliskan photo courtesy UWW)
Eight spots on the U.S. team that will compete at the upcoming world championship meet in Norway in October have been locked up with commitments from medalists from the Tokyo Olympics but there are 22 spots remaining including six spots each in men’s and women’s freestyle and 10 spots in Greco Roman.
Olympic champion Gable Steveson, who won his medal at 125 kg in men’s freestyle at the Tokyo Games, notified USA Wrestling that he will not accept a position on the U.S. world team that will compete at the 2021 Senior World Championships in Oslo, Norway, October 2-10.
Olympic medalists get an automatic selection to the 2021 world championship team at that same weight, if they choose to accept it.
Olympic champions Tamyra Mensah Stock (68 kg) and David Taylor (86 kg) have accepted spots on the world team along with silver medalists Adeline Gray (76 kg) and Kyle Snyder (97 kg), bronze medalists Helen Maroulis (57 kg), Kyle Dake (74 kg), Sarah Hildebrandt (50 kg) and Thomas Gilman (57 kg).
Together, these eight Americans have also won 13 senior world titles, with Gray boasting five world championship gold medals, Maroulis, Snyder and Dake holding two world titles, and one world gold for Mensah Stock and Taylor. Every one of these wrestlers have won at least one senior world medal and one Olympic medal.
Twenty-two spots on the U.S. world championship team will be available during the 2021 world championship team trials in Lincoln, Nebraska on Sept. 11-12. Competition will be held in the following weight classes:
Men’s freestyle: 61 kg, 65 kg, 70 kg, 79 kg, 92 kg, 125 kg
Women’s freestyle: 53 kg, 55 kg, 59 kg, 62 kg, 65 kg, 72 kg
Greco-Roman: 55 kg, 60 kg, 63 kg, 67 kg, 72 kg, 77 kg, 82 kg, 87 kg, 97 kg, 130 kg
2021 U.S. Senior World Team (as of August 15, 2021)
Women’s freestyle
50 kg – Sarah Hildebrandt (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
57 kg – Helen Maroulis (Rockville, Md.)
68 kg – Tamyra Mensah-Stock (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
76 kg – Adeline Gray (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Men’s freestyle
57 kg – Thomas Gilman (State College, Pa.)
74 kg – Kyle Dake (Ithaca, N.Y.)
86 kg – David Taylor (State College, Pa.)
97 kg – Kyle Snyder (State College, Pa.)
