Paris Olympic Games Recap & What's Next

2024 Olympic Recap

The 2024 Olympic Games have finished up in Paris, and the United States finished third as a team. There were 5 grapplers with Michigan ties that made Olympic teams, representing the U.S., San Marino, Serbia, and Mexico. Unfortunately, no one was able to secure a podium spot, with Myles Amine (Detroit CC HS, University of Michigan) being the closest to a medal. Other University of Michigan grads Mason Parris, Adam Coon, and Austin Gomez would all lose their first matches, being eliminated from their tournament when the guy they lost to did not reach the finals. Lastly, Stevan Micic, the returning world champ at 57kg, was not able to compete due to injury.

Myles Amine (86kg Freestyle, San Marino) - The 2020 Bronze medalist was once again in the bronze medal match. Amine picked up two big wins to start the tournament, including beating a 7-4 win over Mykhailov (Ukraine) and a wild 16-14 win over 2023 World Silver medalist Nurmagomedov (Azerbaijain). Trailing 8-5 at the break, Amine came out in the 2nd period, taking a 14-8 lead with the help of three takedowns. After a takedown and two push-outs, Amine was able to hold on to a 2-point lead to reach the semis. A 7-1 loss against 3x World and 1x Olympic champ Yazdani (Iran), Amine would wrestle in the bronze medal match. The bronze medal match was a rematch of the 2024 Euro Championships, a match that was won by Kurugliev (Greece). The Russian transfer held a 4-2 lead with short time remaining, and Amine got in deep on a single, getting behind to force a quad pod position. Amine was not able to secure the takedown as time expired, but did pick up a 1-point push out and 1-point caution. That tied the match at 4-4, but Kurugliev secured the Bronze medal on criteria.

Mason Parris (125kg Freestyle, USA) - Parris, the reigning world champ at 125kg, entered the tournament as the #3-seed. He would see 2023 world silver medalist Munkhtur (Mongolia) in the first match. Parris was never able to really get his offense going, struggling to get to Munkhtur's legs. A pair of takedowns and exposures by Munkhtur led to a 10-5 loss for Parris. Parris would be eliminated when Munkhtur lost his next match to Meshvildshvili of Azerbaijan.

Adam Coon (130kg Greco, USA) - Coon came out of a short-lived retirement to make the 2024 Olympic team. Unfortunately, Coon had about the toughest draw imaginable. He had the reigning world champ Mirzazadeh (Iran) in the first match. After dropping that match 3-1, Coon would need Mirzazadeh to reach the finals to get pulled back into the tournament via repechage. Mirzazadeh, however, would lose next round to now 5x Olympic champ Mijain Lopez (Cuba), eliminating Coon from the tournament.

Austin Gomez (65kg Freestyle, Mexico) - 2024 University of Michigan grad Austin Gomez represented Mexico in the Olympics. In the first round, Gomez dropped a 7-0 match to 3x World gold medalist Aliyev (Azerbaijan). Unfortunately, Aliyev would lose the next round to 2023 gold medalist Musukaev (Hungary), forcing Gomez to bow out of the tournament.

What's Next & 2028 Best Bets

It's always interesting to see who's in and who's out after an Olympic cycle ends. There will be some speculation about who retires after Paris and who will look to continue for a chance to make the team for the 2028 games in Los Angeles. With only 6 weights per style (Men's freestyle, Men's greco, and Women's freestyle), it's tough to say where people will fill in four years from now. We take our best guesses here at who has good chances to represent their countries in the next Olympic games.

Myles Amine (San Marino) - The 2020 Olympic bronze medalist and 2023 World bronze medalist was seconds away from another medal this cycle. As mentioned, he's someone that will be interesting to see what decisions they make about the future. If we had to make a guess, we would expect Amine to make one more run. With Aaron Brooks likely going up to 97kg, Yazdani (Iran) looking at retirement, and Amine being one of the younger guys at the weight (27 years old), he is in a great position to make one more run at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

Stevan Micic (Serbia) - The reigning world champ was unable to compete this year due to injury, withdrawing just before the Olympic games. At 28-years-old, Micic could make one more run at the 2028 Olympics. If he does choose to go another cycle, it will be interesting to see if he makes the cut to 57kg for another four years or if he makes the jump to 65kg for 2028.

Mason Parris (United States) - As mentioned, the University of Michigan national champ was the returning world champ at 125kg but had his Olympic dreams crushed in the first round. We expect Parris to still be the guy to beat at 125kg for another one or two Olympic cycles. Parris is still only 25, and he appears to be getting better and better still. We like him to represent the United States in 4 years.

Sage Mortimer (United States) - Mortimer will continue her college career at Grand Valley State this Fall when GVSU starts their women's program. The King University transfer has already won Senior Nationals and most recently finished 2nd in the Olympic Team Trials challenge tournament. Her only loss was to Audrey Jimenez, who lost to Sarah Hildebrandt in the best-of-3 finals. Although Hildebrandt has not made a decision yet, if she does choose to retire after her Olympic gold, Mortimer would be one of the women in contention to make the 2028 team.

Adam Coon (United States) - Coon will be turning 30 in a few months, and he has not yet confirmed if he would compete for another Olympic cycle. If he does, he would still be the favorite to qualify for the Olympic team and qualify the weight for the 2028 Olympics. In this cycle, Coon only trained for about a year before the Olympic trials, as he briefly retired from wrestling to focus on football. If Coon trains for the next four years, we like him to make another Olympic team.

Alex Facundo (United States) - We are throwing Facundo out there as someone to watch in the next cycle. It appears like Facundo made a big jump this past year in Happy Valley, beating national champion teammate Levi Haines at the 2024 Olympic Team Trials. Facundo lost a close 5-3 match to 6x world champ and 1x Olympic champ Jordan Burroughs. It will be interesting to see who is at 74kg in the next cycle, as 74kg is always stacked. Other Nittany Lions Jason Nolf and Mitch Mesenbrink may be the guys to beat in the next cycle, with the apparent retirement of Jordan Burroughs. One thing we do know is the 2x Cadet world team member will be a tough out in 2028.

Alec Pantaleo (United States) - The 3x All American from Michigan has seen tremendous success in the international circuit since graduating, but he has not cracked a world or Olympic team yet. In the trials this past year, Pantaleo beat national champion Seth Gross in the first round before dropping a match second round to Nick Lee, the 2023 world team member. 65kg will likely be loaded again in 2028, assuming Pantaleo comes back and stays down at that weight. Jesse Mendez, Yianni Diakomihalis, and Zain Retherford are a few other names that could be back at 65kg in 2028.

Dalton Roberts (United States) - The Fowlerville grad made the 2024 Olympic team at 60kg in Greco, but the United States did not qualify the weight for the games, so Roberts was unable to compete. We like Roberts to make the team again in 2028, hopefully qualifying the weight to be able to compete in his home country in the next Olympic games.

Josh Barr (United States) - Like Facundo, we are throwing Barr out as a name to watch, as he will have 4 years under Cael Sanderson and Casey Cunningham to keep making jumps. Barr is already the 2024 rep for the U20 world team, beating Sinclair (Mizzou) in the best-of-three series. With David Taylor retiring and Aaron Brooks moving up to 97kg, 86kg will open up slightly. However, Carter Starocci will likely be at 86kg, which would make him the favorite to make the 2028 team. Some other names that may be back for one more run are Zahid Valenca and Alex Dieringer, but neither have committed to a return yet. If Keegan O'Toole (Mizzou) goes up to86kg, he would be a Senior-level newcomer to watch, as well as Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) if he pursues a freestyle career post-college.