A strong international field is expected for the 2011 New York Athletic Club International, featuring the three Olympic styles of wrestling, this weekend.

This annual tournament will be held at the New York Athletic Club in Manhattan, N.Y., Nov. 12-13. Top competitors from the United States and a number of other nations will be on display at the event, which will showcase Greco-Roman, women’s freestyle and men’s freestyle wrestling.

The event will have an impact on the field at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, set for Iowa City, Iowa, April 21-22. Any U.S. champions in the women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman divisions who have not already qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials will earn a spot in the field there.

At this time, in addition to top U.S. athletes in all three styles, countries that have indicated they may attend include Canada, Russia, Mongolia, Poland, Tajikistan, Israel, Colombia, Kyrgyzstan and Moldova.

The Russian freestyle team will feature 2010 Junior World champion Andrey Valiev (84 kg) and past University World champions Evgeniy Kolmeits and Yury Belonovskiy, both at 96 kg.

The Mongolian women’s freestyle team will include 2009 World silver medalist Burmaa Ochirbat at 72 kg and 2009 World bronze medalist Odonchimeg Badrakh at 72 kg.

The Polish Greco-Roman team will be headlined by 2011 World silver medalist Damian Janikowski (84 kg) and Luksaz Banak at 120 kg, who was a 2010 World Military champion.

2008 Olympic silver medalist Yusup Abdulsalamov of Tajikistan is on the preliminary roster to compete at 84 kg in men’s freestyle.

2008 Olympic bronze medalist Jackeline Renteria of Colombia is also registered to compete at 55 kg/121 lbs.

The U.S. field is not yet completed, as athletes can register either online or onsite for the tournament. Online registration for the event ends on Thursday, Nov. 10 at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
Click here to register online

TheMat.com will post a complete preview of the event after registration is completed.

Among those expected from the USA are 2002 World champion Dremiel Byers at 120 kg in Greco-Roman, 2008 World champion Clarissa Chun at 48 kg in women’s freestyle, two-time World champion Kristie Davis at 63 kg in women’s freestyle, 2005 World champion Iris Smith at 72 kg in women’s freestyle and two-time World bronze medalist Justin Lester at 74 kg in Greco-Roman.

Fans may attend the event for $20 each day, with tickets purchased at the door.

TheMat.com will provide a live webcast from the event both days.

It is a full weekend of wrestling in the New York area, with a USA vs. Mongolia dual in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Nov. 10 and a USA vs. Russia dual at the New York AC in Manhattan on Nov. 11.

NEW YORK ATHLETIC CLUB INTERNATIONAL
At New York, N.Y., Nov. 12-13

Saturday, Nov. 12
11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. – Session I – Greco-Roman and women’s freestyle preliminaries
6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. – Session II – Greco-Roman and women’s freestyle competition
7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. – Session III - Greco-Roman and women’s freestyle finals

Sunday, Nov. 13
9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. – Session I – Men’s freestyle preliminaries
2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. – Session II – Men’s freestyle competition
3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. – Session III – Men’s freestyle finals