Three Lehigh Wrestlers To Compete At Last Chance Olympic Trials Qualifier
3/25/2021 4:05:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The college wrestling season may have ended last weekend but the freestyle season is heating up. Three current or former Lehigh wrestlers are getting set to compete at the Last Chance Olympic Trials Qualifier March 26-27 in Fort Worth, Texas.
Senior Jordan Wood and alumni Darian Cruz '18 and Kadeem Samuels '12 are all registered for the two day event with men's freestyle competition set to begin at 11 a.m. ET Saturday. The top two wrestlers in each weight class will qualify for next weekend's Olympic Trials, which will also be held in Fort Worth.
Competing for the Lehigh Valley Wrestling Club, Wood is seeded third at 125 kg. He is coming off a 9-3 season on the mats for the Mountain Hawks, highlighted by a fourth straight EIWA championship won last month.
Cruz and Samuels are registered for the New York Athletic Club. Cruz enters as the No. 3 seed at 57 kg. He spent the past season serving as Lehigh's volunteer assistant coach. A three-time All-American and 2017 NCAA Champion, Cruz is a former U.S. national team member who was the runner-up at the 2019 World Team Trials challenge tournament.
Samuels is registered at 86 kg and enters unseeded. He wrestled for the Mountain Hawks from 2007-2012 with a 40-35 career record competing at 184 and 197. Samuels went 32-14 over his final two seasons in the brown and white and won eight of his final nine dual appearances.
Wood and Cruz were active in freestyle last fall, as both competed at Senior Nationals in Iowa in October and both wrestled in various Regional Training Center freestyle cards throughout the fall.
Streaming video for the two-day Last Chance Qualifier will be available at FloWrestling.org.
Like Lehigh Wrestling on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Senior Jordan Wood and alumni Darian Cruz '18 and Kadeem Samuels '12 are all registered for the two day event with men's freestyle competition set to begin at 11 a.m. ET Saturday. The top two wrestlers in each weight class will qualify for next weekend's Olympic Trials, which will also be held in Fort Worth.
Competing for the Lehigh Valley Wrestling Club, Wood is seeded third at 125 kg. He is coming off a 9-3 season on the mats for the Mountain Hawks, highlighted by a fourth straight EIWA championship won last month.
Cruz and Samuels are registered for the New York Athletic Club. Cruz enters as the No. 3 seed at 57 kg. He spent the past season serving as Lehigh's volunteer assistant coach. A three-time All-American and 2017 NCAA Champion, Cruz is a former U.S. national team member who was the runner-up at the 2019 World Team Trials challenge tournament.
Samuels is registered at 86 kg and enters unseeded. He wrestled for the Mountain Hawks from 2007-2012 with a 40-35 career record competing at 184 and 197. Samuels went 32-14 over his final two seasons in the brown and white and won eight of his final nine dual appearances.
Wood and Cruz were active in freestyle last fall, as both competed at Senior Nationals in Iowa in October and both wrestled in various Regional Training Center freestyle cards throughout the fall.
Streaming video for the two-day Last Chance Qualifier will be available at FloWrestling.org.
Like Lehigh Wrestling on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
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