U.S. wrestlers Zane Richards and Nick Lee fail to pick up quotas in Acapulco
At the final day of the Pan American Olympic Games Qualifying tournament, the U.S. couldn't get wins to add to their quotas for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Wrestling
The United States’ wrestling team’s trip to Acapulco, Mexico, ended in disappointment, as neither men’s freestyle wrestler won enough matches to secure a quota for the Paris 2024 Olympics on Friday (1 March.) At the Pan American Olympic Games Qualifying tournament, Zane Richards lost in his semifinal match, while Nick Lee was defeated in his quarterfinal.
- As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
- Click here to see the official qualification system for each sport.
Richards dropped his match to Darian Cruz from Puerto Rico, a familiar face to American wrestling fans as he won an NCAA title for Lehigh University in 2017.
The first period ended in a 1-1 tie between Richards and Cruz. Richards earned a shot clock point to go up 2-1 early in the second period. A mad scramble late in the second led to a scoring challenge from the Puerto Rican corner, which Cruz won. He was awarded a point for pushing out Richards, putting the score at 2-2 with seven seconds left. Richards failed to get a takedown in those last seven seconds, so Cruz won on criteria.
The one other competitor for the U.S. in men’s freestyle was Nick Lee at 65 kg. He faced Mexico’s Austin Gomez in the quarterfinal. While Lee was able to score first, Gomez scored 14 unanswered points to win 22-12.
What's next for U.S. wrestlers
In total, the U.S. picked up six quotas for the 2024 Paris Olympics at the Pan American Olympic Games Qualifying tournament. In Greco-Roman, quotas were secured at 87 kg, 97 kg and 130 kg; Women secured quotas at 53 kg, 62 kg and 68 kg.
For U.S. wrestlers, the next stop will be in State College, Pennsylvania, for the Olympic Trials on 19-20 April. Weight classes that did not earn quotas still have one more chance at the World Olympic Qualifier.
The Americas were the first of each continental qualifiers. Next up is African & Oceania Qualifiers in Alexandria, Egypt from 22-24 March, European Qualifiers in Baku, Azerbaijan from 4-7 April, and the Asian Qualifiers from 19-21 April in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The World Olympic Qualifier will be held in Istanbul, Turkiye from 9-12 May.