USA Wrestling and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee have announced that the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials-Wrestling will be held at Dickies Arena April 2-3.
The champions from the trials will become eligible to represent the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, now scheduled Aug. 1-7, 2021.
Fort Worth becomes only the 10th U.S. city to host a U.S. Olympic Team Trials–Wrestling event since USA Wrestling became national governing body for wrestling in the United States in 1983. The only previous time it was held in Texas was in 2000, when Dallas hosted the event.
“USA Wrestling is extremely grateful to the Fort Worth Sports Authority, the incredible Dickies Arena and Texas USA Wrestling for their tireless efforts to host one of the most important wrestling events in the history of American wrestling,” said Rich Bender, USA Wrestling Executive Director.
This will be the fifth straight U.S. Olympic Team Trials in which all three Olympic wrestling teams were determined at the same time, with men’s freestyle, women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman all featured in the event. The previous U.S. Olympic Team Trials with all three teams determined were in Indianapolis (2004), Las Vegas (2008) and Iowa City (2012, 2016), Dickies Arena said in a news release.
“We are excited for not only the wrestling fans all over the globe, but, most importantly, our nation’s very best Olympic hopefuls who will compete on this world class stage for the coveted right to represent the United States of America at the Tokyo Olympic Games,” Bender said in the announcement.
Bender said no event in wrestling provides more drama and emotion than the U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
Dickies Arena is state-of- the-art venue for events of all kinds, including concerts, sports, community events and the Fort Worth Stock Show rodeo performances. Dickies Arena opened in November 2019.
“We take great pride in hosting world-class sporting events at Dickies Arena,” said Matt Homan, president and general manager of Trail Drive Management Corp., the not-for-profit operating entity of Dickies Arena. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to safely welcome USA Wrestling and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee as they host the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials this April.”
The competition will be conducted with the assistance of the Fort Worth Sports Commission and Texas USA Wrestling.
“Being selected as the host city for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials is a tremendous honor,” said Jason Sands, director of the Fort Worth Sports Commission. “We look forward to working with our hospitality and community partners to provide a safe and memorable experience for the USOPC, USA Wrestling and their athletes, coaches and fans.”
Information on discounted hotels for athletes and coaches will be forthcoming in the next week. A limited number of spectators will be permitted. Ticket information will be available soon, the news release said.
On Feb. 6, 2021, USA Wrestling, Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics and the USOPC announced that the 2020 trials, originally scheduled for April 4-5, 2020, at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pennsylvania, would be moved.
The competition will be held in the 18 Olympic weight classes in wrestling, which includes six weight classes in men’s freestyle (57 kg, 65 kg, 74 kg, 86 kg, 97 kg, 125 kg), women’s wrestling (50 kg, 53 kg, 57 kg, 62 kg, 68 kg, 76 kg) and Greco-Roman (60 kg, 67 kg, 77 kg, 87 kg, 97 kg, 130 kg).