Devils27 Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 I still see that Reece's weight class is not qualified for the Olympics. Where is he wrestling this month and next month? Just Curious! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattM Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 There are still two last chance Olympic weight qualifiers left in China and Finland. From what I've picked up I'm guessing the Freestyle coaches will evaluate top competition that will be there and pick who they feel will do the best against them in order to qualify the weight. We tried to qualify the weight with Bunch at the Pan Am Qualifier since he had proven before he could wrestle well against that competition. However, Bunch failed to qualify. With this setback they many now give Humphrey's a shot at the final two qualifiers but it has not been announced yet If that is the case Reece will likely get a waiver from the Olympic Team Trials (as Ruiz is getting with Greco to qualify his weight) and the winner of the trials will wrestle Reece later for the Olympic spot if it is qualified. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devils27 Posted April 6, 2012 Author Share Posted April 6, 2012 Ya I saw they were doing that with Ruiz, but I didn't understand why they went with Bunch instead of Hump at the Pan Am games. Obviously he has international experience but if Hump is your number one you want him to start getting used to those guys while not on US soil. I hope he gets his shot here soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattM Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 From what people were saying Bunch had previously preformed well against some of the top guys who attended the Pan Am Qualifier, so due to familiarity with the competition and/or style match-up Coach Jones though he had the best chance of qualifying the weight class. I've noticed through the last few Olympic cycles the mixing and matching who competes at what qualifier based on who's ready and the competition that attends seems to be a common practice. I agree Reece could use at much experience, but the coaches at this point are worried more about qualifying the weight and Bunch looked liked a good choice to do that at the time. That turned out not to be the case, as Bunch just hasn't preformed up to the same level that won him the Medved Tournament in the spring of 2011. In reality Humphrey's or Bunch may be better than some of the already qualified countries athletes, but International Olympic Committee spreads out the qualification spots between regions of the world in a way that helps promote athletes getting a chance to compete so their countries continue to support the Olympic sports. The last chance qualifiers then are an opportunity for countries who live in regions that are ultra-talented at a certain weight to still get in. So realistically the last chance qualifiers are not a cake walk either considering the depth of talent in European and Asian countries and the fact not everyone from those areas qualified the first time around. Last Olympic cycle we also didn't qualify this weight class for the Olympics, but due to a unfortunate accident right before the event to someone in the competition USA Wrestling won a petition to enter Mike Zadick based on his prior list of accomplishments that placed him as one of the next best guys not already qualified. I wouldn't look for a stroke of luck like that (bad for them good for us) to occur again if we don't qualify outright. Being that the Team Trials are right around the corner the decision of who will compete in the next qualifier (so they can prepare and also know they are sitting out of the trials) will have to be soon. With Bunch not getting it done at the Pan Am event I would be surprised if Coach Jones didn't at least give Humphrey's the next opportunity to qualify. I also wouldn't be surprised if Bunch won the trials and we have a Humphrey's vs. Bunch special bout late on at the Olympic Training Center to determine who gets the finals Olympic sport (again if Reece secures it for the US). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maligned Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 All the selection procedures are here: www.themat.com/forms/2012freestylecriteria.pdf According to this document, 2 individuals will be kept out of the Olympic Trials (one for China, and one for Finland in case the individual in China doesn't qualify the 60kg weight). Then, if one of the two at the World Qualifying Tournaments succeeds in qualifying the weight, a separate special Olympic Trials event will be held that will include the China individual, the Finland individual, and the Olympic Trials single elimination tournament winner. The one individual who was successful in qualifying the weight in China or Finland will get a bye into a best-of-three match final, while the other two will wrestle one match to get to the final. I read a while ago already that Reece will be in China. This means he will have the first shot at qualifying the weight for us. I'm guessing no official announcement from USA wrestling has come out yet because there still needs to be a final decision about what will happen in Finland if Reece fails in China. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devils27 Posted April 16, 2012 Author Share Posted April 16, 2012 This is coming up soon. Any updates? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y2CJ41 Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 Via the Facebook Reece Humphrey I've been getting a lot of questions about what is going on with 60kg lately. It has been confusing and very complicated but I'll try my best to explain. First, since 60kg hasn't qualified the weight for the Olympics I would have sat out of the trials and gone to China to qualify the weight, but I recently broke my hand and Coach Jones didn't clear me to go so now I will be taking a medical out of the trials (only available to the #1 guy) and Shawn Bunch will go to China instead. Now there will be an extra wrestle off with the OTT Champion and myself and Bunch at a later time. Hopefully, that set some things straight. This has been a frustrating process but I'm still 100% ready to make this team! Comment if you have any questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devils27 Posted April 17, 2012 Author Share Posted April 17, 2012 Ahh there it is. Thank you very much for those details. I hope Bunch can get the weight qualified then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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