Kendrick Sanders has his hand raised in victory at 66 kg in Greco-Roman during the Dave Schultz Memorial International. Robbert Wijtman photo

Olympic hopeful Kendrick Sanders of the New York Athletic Club will square off against Italy’s Tiziano Corriga in the finals at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. of the Dave Schultz Memorial International in Colorado Springs, Colo., later this evening.

Sanders, a three time Junior National Champion and in his second year at Northern Michigan University, is happy with his effort thus far this afternoon and is confident heading into the finals. 

“I feel pretty good about my wrestling so far,” Sanders said after beating Italy’s Riccardo Magni to advance to the finals. “I had a couple tough guys out there today, so I’m feeling pretty confident about my performance.”

If Sanders goes on to win the 66 kg/145.5 title, he will qualify to compete in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, held April 21-22 in Iowa City, Iowa. 

“Making it to the Trials has been on my mind for a while now,” Sanders said. “I didn’t have a good performance at the U.S. Open qualifier; I got a concussion. But I came out strong here and I’m looking forward to wrestling in the finals and making the Trials.”

A large part of Sanders’ recent success can be credited to Sanders’ decision to drop down weight class from 74 kg to 66 kg. He felt he had always been light for the 74 kg class and the guys he was wrestling were simply bigger than him.

“I told him if you’re going to go down a class, you’re going to go down for the right reason and that’s to make the Olympic Team and medal,” said Northern Michigan head coach Rob Hermann. “I think he has a good mindset of why he’s cut weight and a good mindset of what he wants to get out of this sport.”

Like Hermann, Sanders believes that dropping a class was the right decision. 

“At 66, with my size and how I wrestle, I can compete perfectly in that weight class,” Sanders said. “It was a big decision on my part, if I just want to qualify for the Olympic Trials or do I want to win them? So I feel if I wrestle to the best of my ability I can win.”

The 21 year old Sanders is full of potential in Greco-Roman. As a high school star from Florida, Sanders won his three Junior titles with an explosive style, including many spectacular throws. His training at the United States Olympic Education Center (USOEC) at Northern Michigan under the tutelage of Hermann is another reason for Sanders’ growth in Greco-Roman and his success on the Senior level

“The USOEC program has helped me tremendously from the time I’ve been there up to now,” Sanders said. “My performance here today shows that, based on what we’ve been doing in the practice room and working. All the credit goes to coach Rob.”

Although Sanders still needs to win this evening’s match, Sanders and Hermann are optimistic about the young wrestler’s potential to compete with nation’s best should he qualify for the Olympic Trials. He was fourth at the 2011 U.S. Open competing up at 74 kg, and has yet to see how good he will be at his new division.

“He has some good tools and he’s dangerous,” Hermann said. “It’s like anything else you do, you’ve got to bring you’re A – game when you go to the Olympic Trials because even the guy that is favored to win doesn’t always make the team.”

Sanders doesn’t want to look too far ahead because he still has to qualify for the Trials before he can think about representing the USA in this summer’s Olympics. Sanders hopes to use all of his talents this evening looking to qualify for the Trials against a veteran athlete from Italy.

“From the time I’ve been wrestling until now, I’ve improved tremendously so I’m ready to wrestle and go out and show everyone what I can do,” Sanders said.