American wrestler Marcie Van Dusen will head north of the border to try and qualify the final United States women's freestyle weight class for the 2008 Olympics.

Van Dusen will journey to Canada to compete in the Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament No. 1 on Saturday in Edmonton, Alberta.

Van Dusen (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) will need to place in the top two at 55 kg/121 lbs. to qualify the U.S. for the Olympics in her weight class. The Olympics for wrestling will be held Aug. 12-21 in Beijing, China.

Van Dusen, who placed 10th at the 2007 World Championships, narrowly missed qualifying the U.S. for the Olympics after placing second to Olympic silver medalist Tonya Verbeek of Canada at the 2008 Pan American Championships. Verbeek qualified Canada for the Olympics by virtue of winning that event.

"Everyone is going to be wrestling with emotion at this tournament and Marcie needs to be wrestling the same way," U.S. National Coach Terry Steiner said. "Everyone is fighting for spots in the Olympics and we have to bring emotion to our matches. We know our opponents and we've scouted them. We can't overlook anyone. We have to be positive, and we need to have energy and excitement when we compete."

The U.S. has qualified for Beijing in the other three weight classes for women that will be contested in the Olympics. Women's wrestling made its Olympic debut in 2004 in Athens, Greece.

Among the top competitors Van Dusen could face on Saturday are past World champions Anna Gomis of France and Sofia Poumpouridou of Greece.

Also entered at 55 kilos is Germany's Jessica Bechtel, who placed fifth at the 2006 World Championships. Spain's Seba Jimenez placed sixth at the 2003 World Championships. Poland's Sylwia Bilenska was a World University champion in 2004. Venezuela's Marcia Andrade was third at the 2008 Pan American Championships.

The second and final Olympic qualifying tournament for women's freestyle is scheduled for May 31-June 1 in Haparanda, Sweden. The top two finishers in each weight class in that event qualify their country for the Olympics.

Van Dusen won the U.S. Nationals last month in Las Vegas. That earned her a spot in the best-of-3 finals for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, set for June 13-15 in Las Vegas.

The U.S. has qualified 15-of-18 weight classes overall for the Olympics. The U.S. has qualified 6-of-7 classes in Greco-Roman, 6-of-7 classes in freestyle and 3-of-4 classes in women's freestyle. One qualifier remains in Greco-Roman.