The Last Chance Qualifier advances two wrestlers per weight to the Olympics, with no true second. That means only finalists will be granted tickets to the Games.
The American side will feature Frank Molinaro attempting to qualify 65 kilos on Saturday, while Tamyra Mensah (69 kilos) and Kelsey Campbell (63 kilos) look to lock up the remaining berths for Team USA on the women's side.
Though not decided as of this writing on Thursday night, Greco-Roman wrestlers Jesse Thielke (59 kilos), RaVaughn Perkins (66 kilos) and Joe Rau (98 kilos) will have likely already decided their fate by the time you read this sentence. To watch how they perform, you can watch for free at UnitedWorldWrestling.org. Follow the action on social media by searching and using the hashtag #lastchance2rio.
To your questions …
Q: With the recent commitments of Spencer Lee and Gavin Teasdale to Iowa, I started to wonder about the difficulty in receiving one-hundred percent full-ride scholarships at the top flight programs. Do wrestlers who are top tier recruits like Mark Hall, Spencer Lee, Gavin Teasdale, David Taylor, etc. receive one-hundred percent full rides, or is it more of an eighty or ninety percent scholarship to allow for money to pull lesser touted wrestlers?
-- Derek O.
Foley: Every school handles the allocation of scholarships differently. I know some that say they never move off a top opening bid of sixty percent, but there are other grants that could supplement a kid's education, which makes that number a bit disingenuous.
If you're asking me if Hall, Lee or Teasdale is paying for college then the answer is "no, they are not paying for college." What percentage comes from scholarship and what percentage comes from other means I wouldn't know, but the value of those particular athletes seems indisputable.
Remember also that until 2015 scholarships had been subject to annual review based on athletic performance. The NCAA recently moved to have the performance distinction eliminated.
The NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships return to St. Louis in 2017 (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)-- Frank C.
Foley: The NCAA has shown no interest in changing direction and hosting the event in one location over several years. Assuming they stick to their tradition of moving the championships I could imagine another visit to NYC, possibly Atlanta and then the same Midwestern characters with St. Louis, Kansas City and Des Moines all making bids.
There is profit in hosting the event so I also predict we'll get a number of new cities down south willing to show serious bids.
Q: I find myself continually frustrated with only six Olympic weight classes per style. There is too much talent left out of the Olympics. I think you've covered this in the past. But, instead of six double bronzes, why doesn't the UWW work with the IOC to shift the six extra bronze medals to two new weight classes? This doesn't increase the total number of medals for wrestling. What are the barriers?
-- Mark H.
Foley: My first contention would be that there is "too much talent left out of the Olympics." When you look at the number of countries qualifying wrestlers it looks as though none will qualify all their weight classes in 2016, just as they didn't in 2012. To conclude that there is too much talent being kept at home you'd have to show me that several countries (or at least one) suffered from this problem.
Take the United States as an example of a country with boundless resources, a strong wrestling tradition and solid support from their National Olympic Committee. There are currently six Olympic positions still not qualified, despite three opportunities. One of these openings is at 65 kilos, a weight class most in the USA would argue has the depth you describe as being left out of the Olympics. I'd disagree, but were there THAT much talent at 60-70 kilos wouldn't just one of those guys gotten the job done by now?
Six weight classes may not seem like enough, but it's already too much for most national federations to support. If you want a robust and growing sport you need to make participation reachable for young national federations. As is countries like Palau, Indonesia, Namibia and others have trouble supporting one style of the sport. Adding weight classes for them to fill would not solve anyone's problems.
In regards to the medals, that has never been an issue. The real issues is number of participants and with wrestling hosting 19 per weight in Greco-Roman and freestyle along with 18 in women there is almost no room for contraction in a way that would allow for a competitive event and for robust participation from wrestlers around the world.
MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME
Link: Back to the Sand
Q: Will the May 19 Beat the Streets match event be televised?
-- @Gyonekura
Foley: Yes. FloWrestling.org.
Q: InterMat's article about Jake Clark said that a Minnesota native has been in every Olympics since 1968. What other states have long streaks sending representatives to the Olympics?
-- Jeff S.
Foley: From our man Mark Palmer …
I did some quick research, and found a string of Oklahoma natives as members of U.S. Olympic teams running unbroken from `1924 thru 1976 (no Olympics in 1940 or '44). Here we go:
1924: Guy Lookabaugh, Charles Strack
1928: Clarence Berryman
1932: Bobby Pearce, Jack VanBebber
1936: Harley Strong, Frank Lewis, Ross Flood
1948: Bill Jernigan, Dick Hutton (born in Amarillo, but moved to Tulsa as a baby)
1952: Bill Borders, Joe Henson, Dan Hodge
1956: Myron Roderick, Dan Hodge, Tommy Evans, Dale Lewis
1960: Shelby Wilson, Doug Blubaugh, Dale Lewis
1964: Wayne Baughman
1968: Baughman, Wayne Wells
1972: Wells
1976: Bruce Thompson
As for Iowa natives … Allie Morrison was first, in '28, then I believe the next from the Hawkeye state was in '48, with Bill Koll and Glen Brand, so that's a long absence.
Without looking up hometowns of other U.S. Olympians, I would think California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York would not be in contention RE the streak as would be Minnesota or Oklahoma.
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