Their addition is sure to add a wrinkle into the conference tournament, but with so many cancellations this season and so few opportunities for anyone to compete they are on the same playing field with the teams who have managed to eke out a few matches. Rust won't be an issue since everyone will seem to share that issue.
Congrats for Coach Moore and his team for the opportunity to compete.
The other big news Thursday was the announcement by the Ivy League that due to the cancellation of this season the senior athletes unable to compete will be granted a graduate season in which to play their respective sport.
That's an incredible gesture for a normally stuffy league but does present the difficulty of the athletes earning post-graduate admissions at an Ivy League school. I'd assume that most will simply take off this semester, but for those that don't, or can't, it'll be an interesting process to see how they continue their educational requirements for the season.
To your questions …
Daton Fix at the 2019 World Championships (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Q: Daton Fix is expected to return to competition this weekend. Where do you think he fits into the mix for the Olympic spot at 57 kilograms?
-- Mike C.
Foley: Right now, Daton Fix is the last person to compete at the World Championships on behalf of the United States. His close loss to Yuki Takahashi was mostly due to poor match management and a very bad challenge. And while he wasn't dragged into the repechage because of Yuki's loss to Ravi Kumar, he was -- in my opinion -- one of the top five wrestlers at the weight.
Now, post-suspension, he can start to compete for his spot. He's older, but there hasn't been a ton of competition. Thomas Gilman earned the spot in Ottawa and has been pretty active since. Add in Spencer Lee, who looks as good as anyone in the world, and you have a three-person race for the 57-kilogram crown.
I see Spencer Lee winning the Trials, but I also see that all three of the athletes mentioned are top-rate competitors who are able to train hard and place in Tokyo.
Q: I am hearing Myles Amine will be competing at 197 starting this weekend. Do you see him as the favorite to win the title at 197?
-- Mike C.
Foley: Of course, he's the favorite!
The competition at 197 pounds is pretty open with Eric Schultz the new No.1, but an array of other guys who could hold the top spot by conference. Given his international success, I think Myles Amine is the best upperweight in the country not named Gable. Regardless of the reasons he's moving up, I'm sure that being able to keep a weight above what he needs to make for the Olympic Games is a massive factor in consideration. The Olympics are every four years and while the NCAA title might be a nice title to earn I'm sure that Amine's focus is on Tokyo 2021 and earing medals there.
MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME
Fix vs. Yuki
Usman with the win over Downey!
Q: It was announced this week that Penn State will not be hosting the Olympic Trials this year. I saw a tweet (rumor) that it will be moving to Fort Worth, Texas. Any idea whether this is true?
-- Mike C.
Foley: The answer to this question came in after I started writing, but I like my response …
Seems like a super-specific guess, no.
I'd think that the Trials would need to move somewhere with extremely lax COVID protocols and infrastructure able to accommodate the quick arrival of a large sporting event. Additionally, it would need to be an area with no current college team since most universities are looking to take on LESS risk.
So from my estimation that would have left Texas and Florida. The latter is swimming in COVID cases, including the new variants and has limited options for host cities: Orlando, Tampa Bay, and Jacksonville. The former believes itself to be a republic only loosely tethered to the norms, rules, and laws of the upper 48.
Texas would make sense! Dallas, Ft. Worth, or Houston are all great options, but we will see what USA Wrestling says!
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