Over the weekend, the Greco-Roman wrestling team headed to State College in Pennsylvania where the wrestlers competed in hopes of qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics this summer. 

One Wildcat, junior Max Black, qualified for the U23 team and the World team. He went 3-1 and won his weight class. Black went on to the quarterfinals where he won by a 4-1 decision. He then moved on to the semifinals where he won one match and lost another. Black then competed in the third-place match where he won and placed third. 

“That guy [Black] is really tough and he showed that he wrestled a tough match against the eventual champion and lost five to two, came back the next day and just crushed everybody on the backside and showed what he’s capable of,” said Head Coach Andy Bisek. “[I’m] super proud of Max and happy for him, he deserves it.” 

Another wrestler on the team also had a winning weekend. Payton Jacobson, a junior, has qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics. Jacobson competed hard all weekend, winning match after match until round two in the final match. However, Jacobson was able to come back in round three with a 3-1 decision in his favor, leading him to win and take first place. 

“Payton’s just always been improving since he’s been here, when he gets feedback, he responds really well and makes changes that are huge … this is definitely something I saw coming,” Bisek said. “Of course, I’m going to be confident [about] my guys but having wrestled with him some the last month, I knew that he could do this.” 

Jacobson is not the first Wildcat wrestler to qualify for the Olympics; back in 2008, Spenser Mango qualified for and went to the Olympics. 

“For Payton to do this while just finishing his third year here with us is really incredible,” Bisek said. 

This is the last meet for the wrestlers until Jacobson competes this summer in Paris. 

“We got to focus on you on the mat … going forward from here,” Bisek said. “When it’s time to train just focus on that don’t worry about things leading up.”