STATE COLLEGE, Pennsylvania — Jordan Burroughs was eliminated on the first day of the two-day U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials in what may have been his last bid to make an Olympic team.
Burroughs, a 35-year-old with one Olympic gold medal (2012) and six world titles, fell 3-0 to Jason Nolf in the freestyle 74kg division on Friday night at Penn State University. Burroughs won his first two matches in the single-elimination tournament.
Nolf advanced to face Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Kyle Dake in Saturday’s best-of-three championship series for a spot on the team for Paris.
Burroughs has said that the end of his career is near, but didn’t publicly set a definite endpoint leading into these trials.
WRESTLING TRIALS: Results | Broadcast Schedule
All of Friday’s tournament winners advanced to best-of-three championship series Saturday, starting at 10 a.m. ET on Peacock, to determine Olympic team members.
Rio Olympic bronze medalist J’den Cox was defeated by Kollin Moore, then took his shoes off and left them on the mat in the symbolic act of retirement.
“Once we start dropping the ball against the guys that we’ve won against (before), I think it’s time to step away,” said Cox, a 29-year-old who missed six months last year due to a fractured ankle.
Isaac Trumble later defeated Moore to advance to face 2016 Olympic gold medalist Kyle Snyder in Saturday’s finals.
Other marquee championship series include Tokyo Olympic gold medalist David Taylor against fellow former Nittany Lion Aaron Brooks at 86kg, Rio Olympic champion Helen Maroulis against two-time world medalist Jacarra Winchester at 53kg and six-time world champion Adeline Gray against Kennedy Blades at 76kg.
Gray, a 33-year-old who had twins in July 2022, is bidding to become the first woman to make a U.S. Olympic wrestling team after childbirth, according to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.
