2024 Olympic Wrestling Trials Preview & Predictions - 57 kg

A full preview with predictions for the 57 kg weight class at the upcoming 2024 Olympic Wrestling Trials.

Apr 10, 2024 by Jon Kozak

2024 Olympic Wrestling Trials Preview & Predictions - 57 kg

The wrestling Olympic Trials are set to go down in State College, Pennsylvania April 19-20. The winner of every bracket will earn the right to represent the United States at the Olympics in Paris this coming August. Check out the below article for a full preview of the 57 kg field with our predictions for how we think this deep weight will unfold.

Apr 19-20, 3:00 PM UTC

2024 Olympic Trials Watch Party

Team USA Still Needs To Qualify For The Olympics At 57 kg

Before we get into the Olympic Trials preview, it's important to note that the United States is not qualified for the Olympics at 57 kg. This means that whoever wins the trials at 57 kg will have to travel Istanbul, Turkiye, and place in the top 3 at the World Olympic Games Qualifier (May 9-12) to be eligible to compete at the Olympics. Unlike the World Championships open to any country, only 16 countries qualify for the Olympics at every weight. Team USA missed their first two chances to qualify at 57 kg when Zane Richards failed to place in the top 5 at the 2023 World Championships and failed to make the finals at the Pan-Am Qualifier. The World Qualifier in May will be the last chance for Team USA to earn a spot at 57 kg at the Paris Olympics.

The Favorites

Zane Richards
Thomas Gilman
Daton Fix
Spencer Lee

57 kg is one of the few weights at the Olympic trials with no clear favorite. Instead, the above four wrestlers all have a case for being considered the “man to beat” at this weight. First, it's important to note that Vito Arujau will not be wrestling at the Olympic Trials. He would have added even more intrigue to this weight class but recently announced he'll have to miss the trials because of an injury.

Zane Richards will likely be the #1 seed as the world team representative for Team USA last year. Richards was one of the most surprising to make the world team after upset wins over Nick Suriano and Thomas Gilman. While Richards' performance to make the world team was remarkable last season, most won’t be predicting him to duplicate that performance this year based on how he wrestled at worlds and the Pan-Am Qualifier. In both tournaments, Richards failed to place high enough to qualify Team USA for the Olympics at 57 kg and lost to opponents that other wrestlers in this weight class have defeated. Richards will still be a dangerous competitor here and we shouldn’t be surprised if he makes another deep run in this bracket.

Zane Richards win over Thomas Gilman to make the 2023 World Team:

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Spencer Lee might carry the most hype with him heading into the Olympic Trials. Lee is coming off impressive performances at the 2023 Bill Farrell and 2023 Senior Nationals where he won gold at both tournaments by going a combined 7-0 with 5 techs and outscoring his opponents 67-7. Beyond his recent performances, Lee has one of the best age-level accolades as a 3-time age-level champion winning a cadet world title in 2014 and junior world titles in 2015 and 2016.

While Lee’s accolades at the age-levels are incredible, and he does look to be wrestling as good as ever, we still haven’t seen Lee wrestle some of the top guys in this weight on the senior level. Lee’s best wins over the past year are over Nico Megaludis and Luke Lilledahl. How does Lee stack up against Gilman, Fix, and Richards? Most think Lee’s the class of this field but we’ll find out at the Trials.

Spencer Lee's win over Nico Megaludis at 2023 Senior Nationals:

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Then there’s Thomas Gilman, the world/Olympic team rep at 57 kg five of the past seven years for Team USA. In that time frame, Gilman has accumulated 4 total medals - world gold (2021), world silver (2017 & 2022), and Olympic bronze (2020). Though Gilman suffered surprising losses to Zane Richards last year, Gilman has been “the man” at 57 kg for Team USA and kept both Daton Fix and Vito Arujau from making world/Olympic teams several times. Gilman has proven he’s one of the best in the world when he’s wrestling his best and if we see the best version of Gilman at the Trials, he’s capable of making his second straight Olympic team.

Thomas Gilman's win in the 2021 World Finals over Iran's Alireza Sarlak:

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Daton Fix is the final wrestler who should be considered a “favorite” in this field. Fix won a world silver medal in 2021 at 61kg and was the world team representative at 57 kg in 2019. Fix wrestled 133 pounds in college and hasn’t wrestled 57 kg in freestyle since 2021. The weight cut will definitely be a factor for Fix but if he can make the weight effectively, Fix is a dangerous competitor in this field. In fact, Fix has past freestyle wins over Thomas Gilman, Vito Arujau, Spencer Lee, and Zane Richards.

Daton Fix's win over Vito Arujau at the 2019 US Open:

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The Contenders

Nick Suriano
Nico Megaludis

I reserved this group of wrestlers of competitors in the bracket who are capable of defeating anyone but are unlikely to win the tournament. To me, Nick Suriano and Nico Megaludis are the only two wrestlers who fit in this category. Suriano doesn’t have an exorbitant amount of results on the senior level but he does have notable wins over Zane Richards, Darian Cruz, and Nahshon Garrett. Beyond that, Suriano won gold at the 2021 Henri Deglane where outplaced Thomas Gilman by defeating Azerbaijan Islam Bazarganov who had defeated Gilman to make the finals. Suriano has world-class defense and will likely be in close matches with all of the “favorites” in this weight.

Suriano's win over Islam Bazarganov at the 2021 Henri Deglane:

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Nico Megaludis has lost two close matches to Spencer Lee in the past few months proving he’s just a tier behind the top guys at this weight class. Beyond the close losses, Megaludis defeated Daniel DeShazer (3-0), Brandon Courtney (9-3), and Luke Lilledahl (10-0) at the 2023 Farrell and 2023 Senior Nationals proving he’s a tier above the rest of the wrestlers at 57 kg. Megaludis will be a tricky wrestler for everyone in this field and is capable of shaking up this bracket by pulling of an upset or two.

Sleepers & Landmines

Luke Lilledahl
Jax Forrest
Marcus Blaze

The above three wrestlers are high school phenoms who are remarkably qualified for the Olympic trials. Luke Lilledahl is a Penn State commit who won a U20 world silver medal last and finished 5th at Senior Nationals to qualify for the trials. Lilledahl was also a U17 world champion in 2022 and a U17 world silver medalist in 2021. Beyond the accolades, Lilledahl has notable wins over Brandon Courtney (6-2), Daniel DeShazer (2-1), and Josh Rodriguez (4-2). While those are impressive, his losses to Spencer Lee (11-0) and Nico Megaludis (10-0) show Lilledahl is probably not going to make the finals but he’ll absolutely be a threat to some of the veterans in this weight.

Luke Lilledahl's win over Brandon Courtney:

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Marcus Blaze is still only a high school junior and qualified for the Olympic Trials by winning a U17 world title last summer. Blaze, who’s still uncommitted, defeated Cornell recruit Anthony in two straight matches to make the U17 World Team Last year and also defeated Matt Ramos at the Clarion Open. Blaze hasn’t competed on the senior level yet, but like Lilledahl, no one should be surprised if he beats an established wrestler or two to make a run in this bracket. I don’t think Blaze can beat Lee, Fix, Gilman, or Vito but I think he’ll be in close matches with everyone else at 57 kg.

Marcus Blaze's win in the finals of the 2023 U17 World Championships:

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High school sophomore Jax Forrest put the 57 kg field on notice when he teched NCAA Champ Nathan Tomasello (10-0) in the finals of the Last Chance Qualifier in just 1 minute and 18 seconds. Prior to that match against Tomasello, Forrest also took out Penn State’s Gary Steen (12-2), All-American Devan Turner (10-0), and NLWC wrestler Josh Rodriguez (13-4). Forrest won a U17 world silver medal in 2022 but the Last Chance Tournament was his first competition on the senior level. Forrest was incredible at the Last Chance building insane hype heading into the Olympic Trials. Forrest looks like he’s ready to compete with the best guys in the bracket and will be one of the most exciting guys to follow at the Trials.

Jax Forrest's win over Nathan Tomasello at the 2024 Last Chance Olympic Trials Qualifier:

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57 kg Olympic Trials Predictions

The depth and parity at 57 kg is amazing and might be the best of any weight at the Olympic Trials. It wouldn't be surprising if any of the top guys win but I'm going with Spencer Lee based on what I've seen from him at the 2023 Bill Farrell and 2023 Senior Nationals. When wrestling his best, Lee is one of the most effective wrestlers in the world transitioning from his neutral offense to turns on top. Spencer Lee is also the healthiest he's been in years and I believe that will result in the best performance of his career.

Top 4 57 kg Predictions: