Alex Dieringer, a three-time NCAA champion at Oklahoma State, will wrestle at 74kg for the United States at the 2016 World Cup. The freestyle tournament will take place June 11-12 at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif.
Dieringer will be joined by 2012 Olympic champion Jordan Burroughs at his weight. Burroughs is also a three-time World champion (2011, 2013, 2015) and a 2014 World bronze medalist. He holds a 124-2 career international record and is the odds on favorite to win the tournament. He was a two-time NCAA champion for Nebraska, and won the Hodge Trophy as the nation's top college wrestler.
The U.S.' roster is led by Burroughs and five other members of the 2016 U.S. Olympic team, including 2012 Olympian Tervel Dlagnev (125 kg/275 lbs.) and first-time Olympians Daniel Dennis (57 kg/125.5 lbs.), Frank Molinaro (65 kg/145.5 lbs.), J'den Cox (86 kg/189 lbs.) and Kyle Snyder (97 kg/213 lbs.). Jake Varner (97 kg/213 lbs.), the 2012 Olympic champion, is also on the roster.
Other past NCAA champions on the U.S. roster include two-time champion David Taylor from Penn State, Tony Ramos from Iowa and Nahshon Garrett from Cornell and Zain Retherford from Penn State. Missouri All-American Alan Waters is also in the lineup. It is the first international competition Ramos will wrestle in since losing to teammate Dennis at the Olympic Trials and leaving Hawkeye Wrestling Club to join OSU alum Coleman Scott in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Each team will have athletes in the six Olympic weight classes and two non-Olympic weight classes, and as many as two wrestlers per weight class. The U.S. is expected to bring 12 athletes to World Cup, with two in every weight, according to USA Wrestling.
The World Cup is the annual international dual meet championships, which features the best eight men's freestyle teams in the world. The U.S. will be joined by Azerbaijan, Georgia, India, Iran, Mongolia, Russia and Turkey. The Americans will face Iran, Azerbaijan and India in Group B. Opposite of the U.S. is Russia, Georgia, Mongolia and Turkey in Group B.
United States roster
57 kg/125.5 lbs. - Daniel Dennis, Iowa City, Iowa (Titan Mercury WC/Hawkeye WC)
57 kg/125.5 lbs. - Alan Waters, Columbia, Mo. (Missouri Wrestling Foundation)
61 kg/134 lbs. - Tony Ramos, Chapel Hill, N.C. (Titan Mercury WC)
61 kg/134 lbs. - Nahshon Garrett, Chico, Calif. (Titan Mercury WC/Finger Lakes WC)
65 kg/145.5 lbs. - Frank Molinaro, State College, Pa. (Nittany Lion WC)
65 kg/145.5 lbs. - Zain Retherford, Benton, Pa. (Nittany Lion WC)
70 kg/154 lbs. - James Green, Lincoln, Neb. (Titan Mercury WC/Nebraska WTC)
70 kg 154 lbs. - TBA
74 kg/163 lbs. - Jordan Burroughs, Lincoln, Neb. (Sunkist Kids/Nebraska WTC)
74 kg/163 lbs. - Alex Dieringer, Port Washington, Wis. (Cowboy WC)
86 kg/189 lbs. - J'Den Cox, Columbia, Mo. (Missouri Wrestling Foundation)
86 kg/189 lbs. - David Taylor, State College, Pa. (Nittany Lion WC)
97 kg/213 lbs. - Kyle Snyder, Woodbine, Md. (Titan Mercury WC/Ohio RTC)
97 kg/213 lbs. - Jake Varner, State College, Pa. (Nittany Lion WC)
125 kg/275 lbs. - Tervel Dlagnev, Columbus, Ohio (Sunkist Kids/Ohio RTC)
125 kg/275 lbs. - Zach Rey, Bethlehem, Pa. (Lehigh Valley WC)
Team Leader - Andy Barth, San Marino, Calif.
National Freestyle Coach - Bruce Burnett, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Assistant National Freestyle Coach - Bill Zadick, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Assistant National Freestyle Coach - Brandon Slay, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Schedule
Saturday, June 11
Session I - Round 1 & 2 of Pools (3 p.m.-7:30 p.m.)
Sunday, June 12
Session II - Round 3 of Pools, 5th & 7th Place Matches (11 a.m.-2:30 p.m.)
Session III - 3rd Place Match, followed by 1st Place Match (5 p.m.-7:30 p.m.)