Olympic Team Trials Qualifier coming to St. Joseph, Minn., March 12-14, 2004

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Amy Ufnowski (USAW)
03/09/2004


USA Wrestling will conduct a Men's Regional Olympic Team Trials Qualifier in St. Joseph, Minn., at the College of Saint Benedict in Clemens Field House, March 12-14, 2004.     Minnesota residents can experience all of the excitement of Olympic competition right in their own community without having to travel to Athens, Greece.     Many potential Olympians will be participating in these Regional tournaments seeking to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wrestling in Indianapolis, Ind. May 21-23. Others will use this event as a tune up for the U.S. Nationals April 8-10.     Champions in each weight class in both Greco-Roman and freestyle will qualify for the challenge tournament at the Olympic Trials in Indianapolis.     Talented wrestlers from across the nation as well as wrestlers from the state and region will be participating.     The Body Bar Women's Nationals will be held along with the Men's Regional. This includes the University Nationals, FILA Junior Nationals, and FILA Cadet Nationals plus High School folkstyle and freestyle Nationals.     Witness history in the making, for the first time in the Olympic Games, women's wrestling will take center stage as the only new sport in the Games.     Champions in each weight class in Women's University Nationals will also qualify for the challenge tournament at the Olympic Trials in Indianapolis.     "It is a historic year for women's wrestling, and I believe it is the most important being this is the first year for women to qualify for the Olympics in freestyle wrestling," said event director Larry Allen.     Since these qualifiers are open tournaments, a list of potential wrestlers cannot be complied at this time. Wrestlers may wish to participate in any of the five qualifiers throughout the country.     Men's freestyle and Greco-Roman preliminaries will start at 8:00 a.m. on March 13. Medal matches and finals for both Senior men's freestyle and Greco-Roman will start at 3:00 p.m. on March 13 as well.     University and FILA cadet women preliminaries will begin at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday March 13. University and FILA cadet women preliminaries and medal matches will continue at 3:00 p.m. till 5:00 p.m.     Girls high school folkstyle and girls freestyle preliminaries will begin at 12:30 p.m. Girls high school and girls freestyle preliminaries and medal matches will begin at 5:00 p.m. One round of the FILA Junior women preliminary matches will being at 7:30 p.m. on March 13, and continue on March 14 at 9:00 a.m.      Tickets are available at the door. Prices are as follows:  All Session Ticket - $10   Single Session Ticket - $7  Single Session with college ID from St. Ben's or St. Johns - $3  All Session ticket with college ID from St. Ben's or St. Johns - $5    Olympic Trials Qualifying Regionals for men will also be held in Laramie, Wyo. (March 25-27), Battle Ground, Wash. (March 26-28), Brockport, N.Y. (April 16-18), and Kenner, La (April 22-24).      Olympic Trials Qualifying Regionals for women will take place in three other cities: Battle Ground Wash. (March 26-28), and Kenner, La (April 22-24), and Brockport, N.Y. (April 16-18).      For complete event information, please contact Larry Allen, tournament event director, via email at lwallen@earthlink.net or visit www.themat.com.     __________________________________________________________    "one dream one shot."     The U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wrestling are May 21-23 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. Tickets and hotel accommodations are available. Visit www.trials2004.com for more information.