STATE COLLEGE, PA. -- Kyle Dake '13 swept Jason Nolf in two matches in the 74kg freestyle best-of-three championship series at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials at the Bryce Jordan Center on Saturday, punching his ticket to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France. This marks the second time that Dake has qualified for the Olympics in his international wrestling career.
Dake (Nittany Lion WC), a bronze medalist at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, beat Nolf (Nittany Lion WC) 4-1 in the morning session and 3-0 in the night session. He has won all eight of his matches against Nolf in his freestyle career.
Dake, a four-time NCAA Champion at four different weights during his time at Cornell, is the first Big Red wrestler to qualify for two Olympics. In all, eight Big Red wrestlers have qualified for the Olympics, including Dake, Charles Ackerley (1920, Belgium), Dave Auble (1964, Tokyo), Christopher Campbell (1987, Spain), Philip Oberlander (1961, Japan), James Talbott Jr. (1908, London), Walter Wright Jr. (1924, Paris) and Frank Bettucci (1956, Melbourne).
An emotional Kyle Dake reflects on his journey to qualifying for the Olympics in front of his family. #WrestlingTrials24 pic.twitter.com/sX3mSIpqDC
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) April 21, 2024
All wrestling competition at the 2024 Olympic Games will be held at the Champ de Mars Arena, located in the city of Paris. Wrestling competition kicks off August 5 and runs through August 11. In total, 18 different events will be competed across three wrestling disciplines: women's freestyle, men's freestyle and men's Greco-Roman.
During the 2020 Olympic Games, Team USA wrestlers earned nine total medals: three golds, two silvers and four bronzes.