Helen Maroulis gets her hand raised after winning in the finals (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Her only memory of Iowa was tears of sadness.
On Sunday, Maroulis exercised demons from four years ago by winning the Olympic Team Trials in dominant fashion at 53 kilos. She finished the tournament with five technical falls in five matches. In the finals Maroulis did not surrender a point in two matches against Whitney Conder.
"It feels great," Maroulis said of winning the Olympic Team Trials. "To be honest, I thought it was going to be more tears and everything, but I think all the tears happened over the past three weeks just leading up to this. It was so emotional. Now it's just about enjoying it."
Her weight class is not yet qualified for the Olympic Games, but Maroulis will be a heavy favorite to qualify the weight class when she competes in Mongolia in two weeks.
Maroulis was one of four returning World champions to win titles on Sunday in Iowa City. The other three World champions, Jordan Burroughs, Kyle Snyder and Adeline Gray, punched their tickets to Rio.
Jordan Burroughs with his son Beacon after winning the Olympic Team Trials title (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com)"This is just really a stepping stone," said Burroughs. "Making the team for a lot of guys is an amazing feat, but for me it's customary. I expected to make this team, and that's what we trained to do. So now we go back to the drawing board. We reset, reevaluate our goals and try to improve upon the little things."
Snyder, three weeks after winning an NCAA title, made his first Olympic team at 97 kilos. After dropping the first match to Olympic champion Jake Varner, Snyder battled back to win the finals two matches by scores of 4-0 and 6-1.
"I had all intentions of going out there and winning the first match and doing it in two and a row, but that's why the sport of wrestling is great, because you never know what's going to happen," said Snyder. "You never know if you're going to win. You never know if you're going to lose. You can just prepare to the best of your ability."
Adeline Gray was overcome with emotion after winning the Olympic Team Trials title (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com)Immediately after winning Gray was overcome with emotion.
"I'm just so excited," Gray said as she fought back the tears. "It's really surreal. I just can't even believe it's here. I have kind of like been holding back a lot of emotions leading up to this moment. I qualified the weight. I knew I was No. 1 in the world. I knew I could do this. But to still actually get it done is another story."
Daniel Dennis made his first Olympic team at 57 kilos, beating two-time World Team member Tony Ramos in a battle of former Hawkeyes. Dennis took the first match 2-1. In the second match Dennis scored an early takedown, then locked up a gut wrench and rolled Ramos four times for the 10-0 technical fall.
"I'm confident if I can get on top I can do some damage," said Dennis. "I've known that, and that's what the coaches have been telling me for a while."
J'den Cox celebrates after winning the Olympic Team Trials title (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com)"I think of all the people that are with me in this journey to get here," said Cox. "God works in mysterious ways."
Cox is looking forward to future battles with Dake.
"It was just awesome to have the chance to wrestle him," said Cox. "We're going to have a lot of battles. I look forward to them. We're going to make each other grow. It's going make each other evolve. I think that's awesome for the sport, and it's awesome for us both."
Andy Bisek smiles after making the 2016 Olympic Team (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)Bisek topped Geordan Speiller in two straight matches by scores of 6-2 and 4-0.
"To get it done and be the guy on this stage, it's incredible," said Bisek.
Smith handled Adam Coon in two straight matches by scores of 4-1 and 7-2. Smith scored with a five-point arm throw in the final match, which proved to be the difference.
"Coon wrestled his ass off out there," said Smith, who has placed fifth at the World Championships twice. "He gave me a great fight. I'm proud of that kid. I just wasn't going to let this one go."
Haley Augello defeated Victoria Anthony in the finals at 48 kilos (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)"I feel happy, but I don't feel like my goal is succeeded yet, so I'm not like ecstatic," said Augello. "I've still got to go qualify the weight, and then obviously at the Olympics. I feel happy, but I also feel excited about the future. I'm ready to keep competing and just keep following my dream."
Finals Results
Men's freestyle
57 kilos: Daniel Dennis defeats Tony Ramos 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Dennis dec. Ramos, 2-1
Match 2: Dennis dec. Ramos, 10-0
74 kilos: Jordan Burroughs defeats Andrew Howe 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Burroughs dec. Howe, 9-3
Match 2: Burroughs tech. fall Howe, 10-0
86 kilos: J'den Cox defeats Kyle Dake 2 matches to 1
Match 1: Cox dec. Dake, 8-1
Match 2: Dake dec. Cox, 5-3
Match 3: Cox dec. Dake, 5-3
97 kilos: Kyle Snyder defeats Jake Varner 2 matches to 1
Match 1: Varner dec. Snyder, 4-4
Match 2: Snyder dec. Varner, 4-0
Match 3: Snyder dec. Varner, 6-1
Greco-Roman
75 kilos: Andy Bisek defeats Geordan Speiller 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Bisek dec. Speiller, 6-2
Match 2: Bisek dec. Speiller, 4-0
130 kilos: Robby Smith defeats Adam Coon 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Smith dec. Coon, 4-1
Match 2: Smith dec. Coon, 7-2
Women's freestyle
48 kilos: Haley Augello defeats Victoria Anthony 2 matches to 1
Match 1: Augello dec. Anthony, 6-4
Match 2: Anthony dec. Auguello, 11-6
Match 3: Augello dec. Anthony, 8-2
53 kilos: Helen Maroulis defeats Whitney Conder 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Maroulis tech. fall Conder, 10-0
Match 2: Maroulis tech. fall Conder, 11-0
75 kilos: Adeline Gray defeats Victoria Francis 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Gray tech. fall Francis, 11-0
Match 2: Gray tech. fall Francis, 10-0
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