Three Top High Schoolers Are Set For 57 kg At The Olympic Trials
Three Top High Schoolers Are Set For 57 kg At The Olympic Trials
Three of the nation's top high schoolers are set for a potential showdown at this weekend's Olympic Team Trials.
Three of the top pound-for-pound high school wrestlers in the country will compete in the same bracket this weekend. That's the type of top-level talent you might expect to find at the U17 US Open, Fargo, Super 32, Ironman, or some other high school event; instead, these three are throwing their hats in the ring at the US Olympic Trials at 57 kg.
Luke Lilledahl, Marcus Blaze, and Jax Forrest all have age level World medals, and each also has a win over an NCAA finalist within the last few months. They have history with each other, too.
Marcus Blaze was the first of this group to punch his ticket to the US Olympic Trials. He earned his spot by winning gold at the U17 World Championships last summer. Since that time, Blaze has continued to wrestle above his age level. In November, the Perrysburg, Ohio junior knocked off Purdue NCAA finalist Matt Ramos at the Clarion Open. Blaze is 1-0 against Lilledahl and 1-2 against Forrest in his high school career.
Luke Lilledahl split time this season between high school tournaments and senior level freestyle competition. He finished 3rd at the Bill Farrell Memorial then punched his ticket to Olympic Trials with a 5th place finish at Senior Nationals in December. Along the way, Lilledahl took out Arizona State NCAA finalist Brandon Courtney. He's only wrestled once against Marcus Blaze, falling to him in the 2021 Ironman finals. He's currently 2-2 against Jax Forrest, having won their last meeting in the 2023 Ironman finals.
The most recent Olympic Trials qualifier was Jax Forrest. He ran a gauntlet to win the Last Chance Olympic Team Trials Qualifier with a technical superiority victory over NCAA champ Nathan Tomasello in the finals. Forrest is 2-1 against Blaze and 2-2 against Lilledahl in his high school career.
Lilledah, Blaze, and Forrest will be underdogs at the Olympic Trials. They are the three lowest seeded wrestlers in the bracket with Lilledahl sitting at #9, Forrest at #10, and Blaze at #11. Still, they're dangerous. Lilledahl's first round opponent, should the pre-seeds hold, will be Daniel DeShazer who he's split with this season. If he wins that matchup, he would see 2023 World Teamer Zane Richards. Marcus Blaze starts his tournament with 2x NCAA champ Nick Suriano. A win in that match would set him up with a quarterfinal bout against 4x NCAA finalist Daton Fix. Jax Forrest starts with Liam Cronin, then, if he wins, he'll see World champ Thomas Gilman. These youngsters have their work cut out for them, but don't be surprised if one or more of these high school stars makes serious noise in State College this weekend.
57 kg Olympic Trials Bracket
Every time Lilledahl, Blaze, and Forrest have met in high school
2020 Super 32 Quarterfinal, 105 lbs: Forrest maj dec Blaze 13-4
2021 Ironman Final, 113 lbs: Blaze dec Lilledahl 3-2 tb1
2022 Journeymen Fall Classic final, 125 lbs: Forrest dec Lilledahl 9-6
2022 Super 32 consolation, 120 lbs: Forrest maj dec Blaze 10-1
2022 Ironman final, 120 lbs: Lilledahl dec Forrest 3-1 sv
2022 Powerade final, 121 lbs: Forrest dec Lilledahl 3-1
2023 Clarion Open quarterfinal, 125 lbs: Blaze dec Forrest 9-4
2023 Ironman final, 126 lbs: Lilledahl dec Forrest 2-1
USA Olympic Trials Wrestling Schedule and Brackets
Click here to see the full event schedule and brackets.
USA Wrestling Trials Brackets
Mens Freestyle Preliminary Brackets at the 2024 Olympic Team Trials
Women's Freestyle Preliminary Brackets at the 2024 Olympic Team Trials
2024 Olympic Wrestling Qualifiers
For an updated list of everyone who has qualified for the 2024 Olympics, Click Here.
How To Watch the 2024 Olympic Wrestling Trials
Live coverage of all four mats at the U.S Olympic Team Trials will be streamed on Peacock from April 19-20.
Streaming will begin on Friday, April 19 with Session 1 at 10 a.m. ET
When are the US Olympic Trials?
The U.S Olympic Trials will be held over two days from April 19-20 in State College, Pennsylvania.
FloWrestling Archived Footage
Video footage from all events on FloWrestling will be archived and stored in a video library for FloWrestling subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscription.
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