DIII at Olympic Trials Friday & Saturday
The 2021 Olympic Trials begins tomorrow at Dickie’s Arena in Fort Worth Texas. Four former Division III wrestlers have qualified for the event in Greco-Roman. Wrestling begins at 10:00am Central on Friday, April 2nd and continues Saturday, April 3rd.
Leslie (Mike) Fuenffinger, 60kg, #1 seed in Challenge Tournament – Fuenffinger was a 2x NCAA Champion for Augsburg, winning in 2014 and 2015. He won the 2019 US Senior Nationals to earn his spot in the tournament. In 2019, he competed in Final X, just missing out on a trip to the 2019 World Championships.
Joe Rau, 87kg, sitting in best-of-3 finals – Rau was an NCAA Champion for Elmhurst in 2013 and won the 2016 Olympic Trials at 98kg, but the US did not qualify the weight for Rio. He currently sits in the finals awaiting an opponent since he qualified the weight for the US at the Pan-Am Olympic qualifier. He competed in the 2019 and 2014 World Championships. If he wins this time, he goes to Tokyo.
Eric Twohey, 97kg, #3 seed in Challenge Tournament – Twohey was a 2x All-American for UW-Lacrosse in 2014 and 2015. He qualified for the Trials by placing 3rd at the 2019 Senior Nationals. Read this Five Point Move interview where he talks about balancing training with approaching his 2nd year of medical residency.
Donny Longendyke, 130kg, #7 seed in Challenge Tournament – Longendyke was a 3x finalist and 2015 champion for Augsburg. He finished fifth in the 2019 Senior Nationals, grabbing the final qualifying spot at the tournament. He also won two matches at the 2016 Olympic Trials.
Schedule – all times Central
Friday, April 2
Session I – Challenge Tournament: Preliminaries, Quarterfinals, Consolation Rds* (ALL STYLES AND WEIGHTS)
10:00 AM – 3:30 PM
*All Championship matches will wrestle prior to Consolation Rounds
Session II – Challenge Tournament: Semifinals and Finals (ALL STYLES AND WEIGHTS)
6:30 PM – 10:00 PM
Saturday, April 3
Session III – Challenge Tournament: Consolations, 3rd Place and True 3rd (ALL STYLES AND WEIGHTS)
12:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Session IV – Best 2 out of 3 Championship Series (ALL STYLES AND WEIGHTS)
6:30 PM – 10:00 PM