USA Greco-Roman Preview at 2024 Olympics
2024 Paris Olympics • USA Greco-Roman Preview
WIN Publisher Bryan Van Kley and WIN assistant editor Tristan Warner will be in Paris to provide updates of the Paris Olympics.
The following is a preview of all four Americans who will represent the United States in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France, at the Champ de Mars Arena. This also includes what dates each will compete as each weight will last two days: through semifinals on first day and medal matches on second day.
Kamal Bey • 77k/169.5 pounds (Aug. 6-7)
Age: 26 (born Jan. 3, 1998), Oak Park, Ill., U.S. Army WCAP
Kamal Bey
Other: Got second chance to compete in Olympics when a Russian wrestler failed to meet IOC conditions; missed 2021 Olympic Trials while serving one-year suspension by WADA; the graduate of Oak Park River Forest High (where he was part of two state championship team) spent his senior year at the Olympic Training Center to focus on Greco-Roman wrestling.
Olympic/Worlds Experience: First Olympic team; has competed in three Worlds with overall record of 4-4: finishing seventh (2-1) in 2018; 31st (0-1) in 2022 and 10th (2-2) in 2023; competed in four age-group Worlds, led by U20 gold medal in 2017; also competed in U20 Worlds in 2016 (8th), U23 Worlds in 2017 (21st) and U20 Worlds in 2018 (fifth)
2021 USA result at this weight: USA did not qualify this weight
All-Time USA medalists at this weight: silver medal by Matt Lindland (76k) in 2000.
Top Competition: Nao Kusaka of Japan, the 2023 World bronze medalist, will be the No. 1 seed, but the 2023 World finalists will also be in Paris: 2023 World champ Akzhold Makhmudov of Kyrgyzstan, who also earned an Olympic silver medal in 2021; and 2023 World silver medalist Sanan Suleymanov of Azerbaijan
Payton Jacobson • 87k/191.5 pounds (Aug. 7-8)
Age: 21 (born Sept. 12, 2002), Elkhart, Wisc., Northern Michigan/Sunkist Kids WC
Payton Jacobson
Other: Finished sixth at Wisconsin state tournament for Elkhart High School in 2019; also focused on Greco since high school and trained with Ringers WC; 2020 UWW Junior Nationals champ; defeated Spencer Woods at Olympic Trials.
Olympics/Worlds Experience: First Olympics and Senior-level opportunity; competed in two age-group World Championships, finishing 8thin the 2022 U20 Worlds and 13th in the 2023 U23 Worlds.
2021 USA result at this weight: John Stefanowicz lost his only bout, 5-3, to Ivan Huklek (Croatia).
All-time USA medalists at this weight: none
Top Competition: Zhan Beleniuk (Ukraine), a member of his country’s parliament, is a two-time Olympic medalist, capturing a silver in 2016 and a gold medal in 2021. That goes along with World championships in 2015 and 2019 as well as a silver medal in 2018 and a bronze in 2023; David Losonczi (Hungary) and Ali Cengiz (Turkey) ended up sharing gold-medal honors after a scoring error by officials last fall. This came one year after both men also earned World bronze medals in 2022.
Joe Rau • 97k/213.5 pounds (Aug. 6-7)
Age: 33 (born March 17, 1991), Chicago, Ill., Titan Mercury WC
Joe Rau
Other: Two-time Illinois state qualifier for St. Patrick High School; was a three-time NCAA Division III All-American and 2013 NCAA champ for Elmhurst (Ill.) University; defeated Alan Vera at the Olympic Trials.
Olympics/Worlds Experience: This is his first Olympics after he won the 2016 Olympic Trials but failed to qualify the weight (98k); then qualified the weight in 2021 but failed to win the Trials. Represented Team USA at the 2014 (80k) and 2019 (87k) World Championships but fell short of placing. Overall record of 1-2.
2021 USA result at this weight: G’Angelo Hancock won his first match in Tokyo, 5-1, over Mihail Kajaia (Serbia), before losing his second bout, 4-3, to Tadeusz Michalik (Poland).
All-time USA medalists at this weight: silver by Greg Gibson (1984); bronze by Dennis Kozlowski (1988); silver by Kozlowski (1992); bronze by Steve Lowney (2000); bronze by Adam Wheeler (2008), who is the last American Greco wrestler to place at an Olympics.
Top Competitors: Artur Aleksanyan (Armenia) is a three-time Olympic medalist (gold in 2016, silver in 2021 and bronze in 2012). The 32-year-old also has won four Worlds (2014, ’15, ’17 and ’22); Mohammadhadi Saravi (Iran) earned an Olympic bronze in 2016 before also winning a 2021 World championship and took home bronze at both 2022 and the ’23 Worlds; Gabriel Rosillo (Cuba) won a World title last fall and will compete in his second Olympics.
Adam Coon • 130k/286.5 pounds (Aug. 5-6)
Age: 29 (born Nov. 14, 1994), Fowlerville, Mich., Cliff Keen WC
Adam Coon
Other: Four-time Michigan state champion at Fowlerville HS, while competing for his father, Dan; two-time USA Wrestling Triple Crown winner (folkstyle, freestyle and Greco) in 2012 and 2013; three-time NCAA All-American at Michigan, finishing second in both 2015 and 2018 and third in 2016; defeated Cohlton Schultz at Olympic Trials.
Olympic/Worlds Experience: This is Coon’s first Olympics but he did compete in two World Championships; earning a silver medal in 2018 with a 4-1 record but lost his only bout in 2019. After finishing second in the 2016 Trials, he won the 2021 Trials, but failed to qualify the weight. At the age-group Worlds, he won a Cadet championship in 2011, then earned bronze medals in both Greco and freestyle at the Junior Worlds in 2014.
2021 USA result at this weight: Team USA did not qualify the weight class.
All-time USA medalists at this weight: gold by Jeff Blatnik in 1984 and by Rulon Gardner in 2000 (when he beat Alexander Karelin in Sydney); silver by Matt Ghaffari in 1996; and bronze by Gardner in 2004.
Top Competition: Mijain Lopez (Cuba) has won the last four Olympic championships and announced in 2023 that he was returning to competition after first saying he would retire after Tokyo in 2021. At age 41, 11 months, he could become the sport’s first five-time winner and oldest-ever champion; Amin Mirzazadeh (Iran) won a World championship in 2023 after placing second in 2022; Turkey’s Riza Kayaalp is a three-time Olympian and two-time medalist (bronze in 2012 and silver in 2016). He also has beaten Lopez in both the 2011 and 2015 World finals.
