Tag: USA Wrestling

USA Wrestling statement on COVID-19 and its activities moving forward

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At USA Wrestling, our number one priority is always the safety of our athletes and their families, all our members, our national staff and the entire U.S. wrestling community.

With that in mind, USA Wrestling’s Executive Committee, its newly-created Coronavirus Advisory Committee, and members of the national staff met on Wednesday, March 11 to discuss the rapidly evolving situation concerning Coronavirus (COVID-19). The Coronavirus Advisory Committee includes Dr. Tom Price, past U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services; Dr. Bernard Feldman, UWW Medical Commission member and Hall of Fame wrestling physician; and John Bardis, past U.S. Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services and longtime USA Wrestling leader.

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Tony Nelson Wins Gold at 2020 Pan-Am Championships

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Gophers alum and two-time NCAA Champion Tony Nelson (’14) took home the 125kg gold medal at the 2020 Pan-American Championships on Monday.

Nelson won three straight matches before getting an injury default in the gold medal match over Amarveer Dhesi of Canada. Nelson’s run began with a 2-2 criteria win before a 4-0 shutout in the following round and a semifinal pin in 70 seconds to advance. He was one of six American champions on the day.

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Former Bison Hayden Zillmer Wins First Senior Nationals Title, Qualifies for U.S. Olympic Trials

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FORT WORTH, Texas – Former North Dakota State All-American Hayden Zillmer representing Gopher WC RTC won his first USA Wrestling Senior Nationals freestyle championship at 97 kg on Dec. 22.

Zillmer, a native of Crosby, Minn. (Crosby-Ironton HS), has qualified for the 2020 U.S Olympic Team Trials for wrestling at Penn State in April.

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Zillmer wins Senior National title

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Gopher Wrestling Club/Minnesota Storm wrestler Hayden Zillmer won the 97 kg Freestyle Senior National Championship today in Fort Worth, Texas.

Zillmer got on the board first in his finals match with a head-pinch exposure for two-points, but Ohio RTC wrestler Kollin Moore came back and scored the next ten points on an exposure, two takedowns, and two leg-lace turns. Trailing 10-2 with 1:35 left in the match, Zillmer scored four points on a feet-to-back throw to make it 10-6. With :32 left, Zillmer got a takedown and went right into a gut-wrench to tie the match on the scoreboard at 10-10. Zillmer’s four-point move gave him criteria, and with :20 left on their feet, Zillmer fended off Moore’s last attacks to take the match.

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Augsburg’s Emily Shilson qualifies for Olympic women’s wrestling trials

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FORT WORTH, Texas — Augsburg University women’s wrestler Emily Shilson (FY, Maple Grove, Minn./Mounds View HS) qualified for the United States Olympic Trials with a fourth-place finish in the 50-kilogram weight class at the USA Wrestling Senior Nationals, held on Friday and Saturday at the Fort Worth Convention Center.

Shilson went 4-2 on the weekend, with all four of her wins coming by technical falls (superior decisions). Her lone two losses came to the top two seeds in the field — to tournament runner-up and current Team USA member Victoria Anthony 2-0 in the semifinals, and to three-time All-American for Jamestown (N.D.) and current Team USA member Amy Fearnside, 6-4 in the third-place match. Five of the six wrestlers Shilson faced over the weekend ended up placing in the top eight in the field.

She will now qualify to compete for a spot in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics at the U.S. Olympic Trials, which will be held on April 4-5 at Penn State University in University Park, Pa.

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Augsburg alums Fuenffinger, Longendyke qualify for Olympic Trials

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FORT WORTH, Texas — Augsburg University men’s wrestling alumni Leslie (Mike) Fuenffinger ’15 and Donny Longendyke ’17 qualified for the United States Olympic Trials with top-five finishes in Greco-Roman action at the USA Wrestling Senior Nationals, held on Friday and Saturday at the Fort Worth Convention Center.

Fuenffinger, competing for the U.S. Army’s World Class Athlete Program, won the 60 kilogram (132 pound) Senior National title, while Longendyke, competing for the Minnesota Storm, finished fifth in the 130 kg (287 pound) class. With their top-five finishes, they both qualified to compete for a spot in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics at the U.S. Olympic Trials, which will be held on April 4-5 at Penn State University in University Park, Pa.

Fuenffinger, a two-time NCAA Division III individual national champion and three-time All-American during his Augsburg career, is a specialist in the U.S. Army, and is part of the Army’s World Class Athlete Program (WCAP), based in Colorado Springs, Colo. Fuenffinger win the U.S. Open title in the 60 kg (132 pounds) weight class in Las Vegas, Nev., in April., and finished second in the Final X competition in Lincoln, Neb., in June, for the Team USA spot on the World Wrestling Championships roster.

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