USA Wrestling has announced that the 2006 Women's World Team Trials will be hosted in Colorado Springs, Colo., June 30.

The champions from the Women's World Team Trials will represent the U.S. at the 2006 World Wrestling Championships in Guangzhou, China, Sept. 26 - Oct. 1. In addition, the results from the event will determine the 2006-07 Women's National Team.

Originally, the World Team Trials for women's freestyle wrestling was included in the program for the USA Wrestling World Team Trials at Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa, May 27-28. With the change of date and city for the women's tournament, the styles that will be contested in Sioux City will be men's freestyle and men's Greco-Roman.

The decision to organize the women's portion of the World Team Trials separately is for this year only. USA Wrestling's women's national coaching staff requested the change in order to allow the top wrestlers a chance to participate in important international events which are in conflict with the date of the World Team Trials in Sioux Falls.

The most important of these events is the Women's World Cup, which is scheduled to be held in Nagoya, Japan, May 20-21.  National Women's Coach Terry Steiner plans to bring the nation's best wrestlers to compete at the Women's World Cup, which would not have been possible if the athletes were preparing for the important World Team Trials in Sioux City. Participating in the Women's World Cup is very important for the U.S. women's team in its efforts to become the world's best women's wrestling program.

Other events that will be held during that time frame are the Pan American Championships in Rio de Janiero, Brazil from May 31-June 4 and the World University Championships in Ulan Bator, Mongolia from June 15-20. Many of the athletes who might compete in these events will also participate at the Women's World Team Trials.

The venue for the Women's World Team Trials competition has not yet been determined and will be announced when available. The final competition schedule will be announced at a later date as well.

The Women's World Team Trials will be a one-day event, with weigh-ins the evening prior. Participants will weigh in on Thursday, June 29. The entire Women's World Team Trials competition will be held on Friday, June 30.

The Women's World Team Trials will follow the new competition format for the event as approved this year. 

All of the athletes who qualify for the Women's World Team Trials, except for the 2006 U.S. Nationals champion, will enter a World Team Trials tournament early on June 30. It will be a double-elimination bracket, with consolation wrestlebacks to third place.

The winner of the World Team Trials tournament will advance to the Championship Series, a best-of-three finals series, later on the same day, June 30, against the U.S. Nationals champion in the weight class. The winners of the best-of-three series in all seven weight classes earn the position on the U.S. World Team. Only the U.S. Nationals champion can extend a series to a later date due to injury.

The last time that the Women's World Team Trials was held apart from the men's divisions was in 2000, when the women's event was hosted in Battle Creek, Mich. During the last four years, the World Team Trials for all three Olympic styles were held together.