LONDON, England – The final two U.S. men’s freestyle wrestlers who will compete in the 2012 Olympic Games have weighed in and received their draws for their competition on Sunday, August 12: Jared Frayer (Norman, Okla./Gator WC) at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. and Jake Varner (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC) at 96 kg/211.5 lbs.
	
Frayer drew the No. 9 spot, and will face Ali Shabanau of Belarus, who was fifth in the 2011 European Championships.

Should Frayer win, he will face the winner of the match between Leonid Bazan of Bulgaria and 2010 World bronze medalist Jabrail Hasanov of Azerbaijan. Bazan was fifth in the 2011 World Championships.

“Jared did a super job with his weight. Last week, he simulated an international competition twice on Tuesday and Friday. So he had a good feel  for the competitive environment he will face here tomorrow,” said National Coach Zeke Jones. “The Belarus wrestler is a strong kid. We saw him in practice all last week. The guy can obviously wrestle. It’s a strong weight class. Jared has to be ready to wrestle.”

Varner drew the No. 7 spot, and will face Kurban Kurbanov of Uzbekistan. Kurbanov was seventh in the 2008 Olympics and was a two-time Asian champion.

Should Varner win, he will face the winner of the match between Javier Cortina of Cuba and Khetag Pliev of Canada.  Cortina won the Pan American Olympic Qualification Tournament, and Pliev placed second. Pliev was sixth in the 2010 World Championships. Pliev, a native of Ossetia, attended high school in Ohio, and has competed internationally for Canada since 2009.

“Jake has a great nucleus around him, Cael Sanderson, Casey Cunningham, Cody Sanderson, who are surrounding him with energy. He has had good preparation. Jake is tough. That is what makes Jake good. He is in a good state of mind,” said Jones. “He’ll take them one at a time, not get a head of himself, and make sure he is ready for that first match.”

TIME CHANGE FOR SUNDAY: The wrestling will begin earlier in the day on Sunday because of the Closing Ceremonies later in the day. The first session will being at 8:30 a.m. London time. Please adjust your schedules to reflect the earlier start.

Frayer is competing in his first Olympic Games. He made his first Senior-level U.S. World or Olympic Team after winning the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials after many years as a top contender in the weight class. He was second in the U.S. World Team Trials in 2006, 2009 and 2010, and was third in 2005. He was a 2010 U.S. Open champion. 

Frayer is a native of Clearwater, Fla., where he won three state titles for Countryside High School. He attended the University of Oklahoma, where he was a  2002 NCAA runner-up and a two-time All-American. Frayer had coaching stints in Iowa and Wisconsin, before returning to coach at Oklahoma where he is now training and coaching.

Varner is competing in his first Olympic Games. He was third in the 2011 World Championships and ninth in the 2009 World Championships. He won the 2011 Pan American Games. Varner was third in the 2012 Ivan Yarygin Memorial in Russia, considered one of the most competitive events in wrestling. He is a two-time U.S. Open national champion

Varner is a native of Bakersfield, Calif., where he won two state high school titles for Bakersfield High School. He attended Iowa State University, where he was a two-time NCAA champion (2009 and 2010) and a two-time NCAA runner-up (2007 and 2008). He is currently training with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club at Penn State, where he is coached by 2004 Olympic champion Cael Sanderson, who was one of his college coaches at Iowa State.

OLYMPIC GAMES MEN’S FREESTYLE 66 KG PREVIEW

OLYMPIC GAMES MEN’S FREESTYLE 96 KG PREVIEW

U.S. OLYMPIC WRESTLING TEAM INTERACTIVE DIGITAL MEDIA GUIDE

COMPLETE OLYMPIC WRESTLING COVERAGE FROM THEMAT.COM