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Dudziak Qualifies For Olympic Trials
5/13/2008 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
LAS VEGAS, Nev. and WATERLOO, Iowa ? Olympic-qualifying has officially kicked off for wrestling hopefuls, as competitors squared off at the Senior National Tournament in Las Vegas, Nev., and the Northern Plains Regional Tournament in Waterloo, Iowa the past two weekends. The highlight of the two meets for Duke was Konrad Dudziak, who qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials by winning the Northern Plains meet this past weekend.
Dudziak defeated Sean Stender 2-0, 1-0, in the finals to take the title. Sender had previously been ranked third on the Olympic ladder. Dudziak, a native of Bayonne, N.J., is now considered a top three contender for the Olympic spot at 211.5 pounds, which is an incredibly strong weight class in the U.S. He bypasses all preliminary rounds with his win in Iowa.
In 2006 at Duke, Dudziak placed third in the ACC Tournament as a sophomore. He went 9-0 in tournaments with three falls in 2006-07 and then decided to take a year off to compete at the Olympic level. Dudziak will return to Duke this fall as a redshirt junior and as a top contender for winning NCAA's at heavyweight.
Two weekends ago, the Senior National Tournament saw five wrestlers with Duke ties competing in it. Current assistant coach Corey Bell and former Blue Devil wrestler Michael Mitchell were one win away from moving past the preliminaries, each posting a record of 4-2.
Dudziak was another notable participant representing Duke at Senior Nationals. A dual citizen of the United States and Poland, he chose to contend on the American team despite the relative ease of qualifying in Poland. He finished in eighth place, leaving him just one spot shy at the time of automatically qualifying for the final Olympic Trial. Dudziak competed against wrestling greats such as two-time NCAA Champion Damian Hahn, Olympian Daniel Cormier, and NCAA All-America Max Askren of Missouri.
Michael Irving, coach for the newly established Duke Wrestling Club, did not place, and must wrestle preliminary matches at upcoming tournaments. He has been ranked as high as fifth on the Olympic ladder. There are two opportunities for Irving to qualify for the Olympic Trials and he must win one of the two.
Tyrone Lewis, Duke's newest assistant wrestling coach and two-time NCAA runner-up from Oklahoma State, finished second in the tournament despite pulling his hamstring just four days before the tournament in practice. His loss in the finals was to two-time NCAA Champion Ben Askren.
“I did well but fell one win short of where I wanted to be,” said Lewis. “I am pretty happy with the way that I did considering that I had to battle a few injuries.”
Duke wrestlers tested their mettle among the best in the nation, achieving considerable success. As the race to the Olympics continues, Duke will continue battle on an equal level with national competitors.
The next three Olympic-qualifying tournaments for Duke wrestlers include the Rocky Mountain Olympic Regional Trials from May 15-18 in Pueblo, Colo., the University World Trials on May 25 in Colorado Springs, Colo., and the U.S. Olympic Team Trials from June 13-15 in Las Vegas, Nev.
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