Information on the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials Press Conference, June 21

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
06/15/2000


U.S. National Champions and Olympic Coaches to be present at the 2000 Olympic Trials Press Conference, Wednesday, June 21 at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas   

Four National Champion wrestlers and two U.S. Olympic head wrestling coaches will be the featured speakers at a press conference concerning the upcoming U.S. Olympic Team Trials for wrestling.

The press conference will be held in the Media Center on the ground floor of Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas on Wednesday, June 21 at 11:00 a.m.

The press conference is being hosted to promote the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for wrestling, which will be held in Reunion Arena, June 22-24.

Greco-Roman National Champions Quincey Clark (New Brighton, Minn./Minnesota Storm) and Rulon Gardner (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) and freestyle National Champions Melvin Douglas (Mesa, Ariz./Sunkist Kids) and Lincoln McIlravy (Iowa City, Iowa/Hawkeye WC) are the 2000 U.S. National champions who will be present at the 2000 Olympic Trials Press Conference, Wednesday, June 21 at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas.

2000 U.S. Olympic freestyle co-head coach Greg Strobel of Bethlehem, Pa. and 2000 U.S. Olympic Greco-Roman head coach Dan Chandler of Minneapolis, Minn. will also attend.

Clark is a two-time Greco-Roman U.S. Nationals champion and placed eighth at the 1999 World Championships.

Douglas was a 1993 World Champion, placed seventh in the 1996 Olympics and is an eight-time U.S. Nationals champion.

Gardner placed fifth in the 1997 World Championships, is a two-time Pan American Championships champion and a three-time U.S. Nationals champion.

McIlravy is a 1999 World silver-medalist, a 1998 World bronze-medalist and a four-time U.S. Nationals champion.

Chandler was the head coach of the 1995 and 1997 U.S. Greco-Roman World teams. The 1995 team placed in a tie for fourth in the team standings in Prague, Czech Republic. It was the best finish for a U.S. team since 1979. Chandler coached two medalists for the United States, gold medalist Dennis Hall and bronze medalist Matt Ghaffari.

Strobel served as a co-head coach of the 1999 U.S. World Team which placed second in the World Championships. He also served as the assistant coach of the 1996 U.S. Olympic team, which claimed five medals, including three individual champions.

Sixteen U.S. Olympic team berths will be decided during the three-day tournament. There are 173 wrestlers who qualified for the trials, 96 in Greco-Roman and 77 in freestyle.