Nate Gallick selected to compete at final Freestyle Olympic Qualifying Tournament

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Craig Sesker (USA Wrestling)
04/24/2008


The United States freestyle wrestling team will rely on Nate Gallick to qualify its seventh and final weight class for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Gallick has been selected to compete at 60 kg/132 lbs. for the final Freestyle Olympic Qualifying Tournament on May 3 in Warsaw, Poland.

Gallick will need to place in the top three in his weight class at the event to qualify the U.S. for the Olympics at 60 kilos. The American squad has already qualified the other six freestyle classes for the Olympics, set for Aug. 12-21 in Beijing, China.

Gallick (Chattanooga, Tenn./Sunkist Kids) was ranked second in the U.S. in 2007 and is a past World University Games champion.

"Nate's prepared for this event and he's shown an ability to win at this level," U.S. National Coach Kevin Jackson said. "We have a lot of confidence he can get the weight qualified - that's why he's going to get this last opportunity."

If Gallick qualifies the U.S. for the Olympics, he will advance to the best-of-3 finals series for the U.S. Olympic Trials on June 13-15 in Las Vegas.

Gallick is not competing at this weekend's U.S. Nationals in Las Vegas as he completes final preparations for the Olympic qualifier in Poland.

2006 World silver medalist Mike Zadick came up short of qualifying in three previous tries to send the U.S. to the Olympics at 60 kilos.

Zadick lost in the first round of the 2007 World Championships. A top-eight finish was needed to qualify the weight class for the Olympics. Zadick was third at the Pan American Championships after needing to win the event to send the U.S. to the Olympics.

Zadick did not place at the first Freestyle Olympic Qualifying Tournament last Saturday in Switzerland. A top-four finish was needed to qualify for Beijing.

The U.S. has qualified 14 of 18 weight classes overall for the Olympics. The U.S. has qualified in five of the seven classes in Greco-Roman and three of the four classes in women's freestyle. Two qualifiers remain in Greco-Roman and women's freestyle.

The U.S. still needs to qualify for the Olympics in Greco-Roman at 60 kg/132 lbs. and 74 kg/163 lbs. The women still need to qualify at 55 kg/121 lbs.