Has there ever been anyone who made the U.S. Olympic team for Freestyle or Greco-Roman Wrestling who was not that impressive in College, such as having not even made it to nationals, but who worked hard after college and kept improving, getting good training partners, competing in smaller tournaments and kept on advancing till they made the Olympic team or were at least invited to the trials?
One of the best examples is John Peterson, a 1976 Olympic champion, who only had one fifth place finish at Wisconsin-Lacrosse (an NAIA school) in college.
A few others I can think of are 1995 World champion and 1996 Olympic silver medalist Dennis Hall, who never even wrestled college; Matt Ghafari, who never placed at Div. I NCAAs wrestling for Cleveland State. I believe 2002 World Greco champ Dremiel Byers learned all his wrestling in the military.
Note that the last three wrestlers were Greco-Roman. Being the less popular style, I think it tends to be filled up with the lower profile athletes, but with enough work, it's certainly possible to get good at it.
Scully
Scully, first off, thanks for your replies to my wierd and often repetitive questions.
Secondly, do you know of any other people who did not wrestle but went on to accomplish very great things (such as placing very high nationallly or becoming an alternate on the Olympic of World teams) even if they didn't make the Olympic team?
The closest example of someone who was never a state champion, never an All-American who made a world team was Jamill Kelly, who made last years world team at 145.5 lbs. He beat several former Div. I NCAA champions to do it, including Bill Zadick and Lincoln McIlravy.
Scully