Top Wrestlers Battle at the BJC for Olympic Spots

Penn State's Carter Starocci (Photo by Tim Weight)

By Jim Carlson (Town & Gown Magazine) March 21, 2024 - The 2024 Olympic Wrestling Trials scheduled for April 19-20 at Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center will provide the sport’s followers not only with the opportunity to see world-class Olympic athletes but also a chance to once again watch some of the best wrestlers to ever wear a Penn State uniform. In some cases, those are one and the same.

Penn State graduate David Taylor is a reigning Olympic gold medalist, and he and former Nittany Lion star Zain Retherford both earned world titles last fall. They’ll join former Penn State standouts Jason Nolf, Nick Lee, Nico Megaludis, and Mark Hall as well as some current team members such as Aaron Brooks and Beau Bartlett, and possibly Carter Starocci, Levi Haines, and Greg Kerkvliet if they qualify in late March by winning a 2024 NCAA title and opt to participate.

The Trials will determine the eighteen wrestlers who will represent the United States in the Summer Olympics in Paris July 26-Aug. 11 in the sport’s three styles of competition—men’s and women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman.