Seven male wrestlers who competed at OSU are in Las Vegas this week participating in the U.S. Olympic Trials. Coleman Scott, pictured above, is one of the seven.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Eleven male wrestlers who competed for Oklahoma colleges will participate this weekend in the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Seven of those wrestlers competed at Oklahoma State — Coleman Scott, Zack Esposito, Tyrone Lewis, Chris Pendleton, Mo Lawal, Daniel Cormier and Steve Mocco. Four others — Michael Lightner, Jared Frayer, Teyon Ware and Sam Hazewinkel — wrestled for Oklahoma.
The Olympic trials, which will include freestyle and Greco-Roman divisions, will run from Friday through Sunday in Las Vegas. All but one of the 11 wrestlers with Oklahoma ties will compete in the freestyle division.
The Summer Olympics will be held in Beijing, starting in August.
Cormier was the only American freestyle wrestler to win a medal at last year’s world championships and has already qualified for a spot in the best 2-of-3 finals in the 96 kilogram (211.5 pound) bracket at the Olympic trials.
Lawal, who is competing in the 84 kilogram (185 pound) bracket, also has an automatic berth in the finals.
Scott won an individual NCAA title earlier this year and is in the 60 kilogram (132 pound) weight class, in which the U.S. has not yet qualified for the Olympics. Lewis, at 74 kilograms (163 pounds), and Mocco, at 120 kilograms (264.5 pounds) finished second in the U.S. Nationals in April.
Of the former Sooners, Lightner, Hazewinkel and Ware all were four-time NCAA All-America selections. Lightner won a national title in 2001 while Ware won individual crowns in 2003 and 2005. They both will compete in the 60 kilogram weight class in Las Vegas. Frayer will compete in the 66 kilogram weight class.
Hazewinkel will be in the 55 kilogram class in the Greco-Roman competition.
In the women’s trials, four wrestlers from Oklahoma City University will participate. They are Sara Hilliard, Lacey Novinska, Stefenie Shaw and Ashley Sword.
Shaw is the fifth seed and Hilliard is the seventh seed in the 63 kilogram (138 pound) weight class. In the 72 kilogram (158 pound) class, Novinska is the sixth seed and Sword is the ninth seed.
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