Peyton Omania Competing at Junior Greco-Roman World Championships
9/17/2018 9:45:00 AM | Wrestling
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State freshman Peyton Omania is set to compete for the U.S. Junior Greco-Roman World Team at the 2018 Junior World Championships in Trnava, Slovakia September 17-23. Omania will compete in the 67kg bracket.
"It means a lot to me to be able to represent my country," Omania said. "It's a huge blessing to be able to put on the red, white and blue and compete against the rest of the world. Not many people get to do what I do so I'm just thankful. None of this would be possible without my family, friends, coaches and teammates. So many people have put a lot of time and energy into me and making them proud is the least I can do."
Omania qualified for the U.S Junior World Team Trials after defeating Tyler Eischens of Andover, Minnesota, a freshman at Stanford, in the Greco-Roman Junior National Wrestling Championship in April. At the World Team Trials in June, Omania defeated Dom Demas of the University of Oklahoma in a best 2-out-of-3 matches to qualify for worlds. In 2017, Omania finished second at the Junior Nationals in Greco-Roman.
This is Omania's second time competing for a world championship after finishing 11th at the 2016 Cadet World Wrestling Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia.
"I'm looking forward to going out and putting all of my hard work on display. Not holding anything back and just letting it all fly. I'm just going to have fun and do what I do best. The goal is to bring home a gold medal back to the U.S., and if I let it all go things will take care of themselves."
In high school, Omania was a three-time league champion, a two-time section champion, and a two-time state place-earner. Omania was a runner-up All-American at Fargo in 2015 and 2017.
Action gets underway on Tuesday, September 18 at 3:30 a.m. ET/9:30 a.m. Central European Summer Time (CEST). Fans can watch the tournament live on trackwrestling.com and keep up with @wrestlingmsu and @USAWrestling on Twitter for updates.
U.S. Greco-Roman roster
55 kg: Brady Koontz (Plover, Wisc./Ohio RTC)
60 kg: Taylor LaMont (Mapleton, Utah/Sunkist Kids)
63 kg: Alston Nutter (Fennimore, Wisc./NMU-OTS/Combat WC)
67 kg: Peyton Omania (Concord, Calif./Michigan State)
72 kg: Tyler Dow (Stoughton, Wisc./Badger RTC)
77 kg: Kamal Bey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids)
82 kg: Andrew Berreyesa (Las Vegas, Nev./New York AC/Finger Lakes WC)
87 kg: Barret Hughes (Coweta, Okla./Titan Mercury WC/Cowboy RTC)
97 kg: Chad Porter (Phoenix, Ariz./Sunkist Kids)
130 kg: Cohlton Schultz (Parker, Colo./New York AC)
Schedule (Times in Eastern Time)
Tuesday, Sept. 18
3:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds (Greco-Roman 60 kg, 67 kg, 72 kg, 82 kg, 97 kg)
12:15 p.m. – Semifinals (Greco-Roman 60 kg, 67 kg, 72 kg, 82 kg, 97 kg)
Wednesday, Sept. 19
3:30 a.m. – Repechage (Greco-Roman 60 kg, 67 kg, 72 kg, 82 kg, 97 kg)
1 p.m. – Finals (Greco-Roman 60 kg, 67 kg, 72 kg, 82 kg, 97 kg)
"It means a lot to me to be able to represent my country," Omania said. "It's a huge blessing to be able to put on the red, white and blue and compete against the rest of the world. Not many people get to do what I do so I'm just thankful. None of this would be possible without my family, friends, coaches and teammates. So many people have put a lot of time and energy into me and making them proud is the least I can do."
Omania qualified for the U.S Junior World Team Trials after defeating Tyler Eischens of Andover, Minnesota, a freshman at Stanford, in the Greco-Roman Junior National Wrestling Championship in April. At the World Team Trials in June, Omania defeated Dom Demas of the University of Oklahoma in a best 2-out-of-3 matches to qualify for worlds. In 2017, Omania finished second at the Junior Nationals in Greco-Roman.
This is Omania's second time competing for a world championship after finishing 11th at the 2016 Cadet World Wrestling Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia.
"I'm looking forward to going out and putting all of my hard work on display. Not holding anything back and just letting it all fly. I'm just going to have fun and do what I do best. The goal is to bring home a gold medal back to the U.S., and if I let it all go things will take care of themselves."
In high school, Omania was a three-time league champion, a two-time section champion, and a two-time state place-earner. Omania was a runner-up All-American at Fargo in 2015 and 2017.
Action gets underway on Tuesday, September 18 at 3:30 a.m. ET/9:30 a.m. Central European Summer Time (CEST). Fans can watch the tournament live on trackwrestling.com and keep up with @wrestlingmsu and @USAWrestling on Twitter for updates.
U.S. Greco-Roman roster
55 kg: Brady Koontz (Plover, Wisc./Ohio RTC)
60 kg: Taylor LaMont (Mapleton, Utah/Sunkist Kids)
63 kg: Alston Nutter (Fennimore, Wisc./NMU-OTS/Combat WC)
67 kg: Peyton Omania (Concord, Calif./Michigan State)
72 kg: Tyler Dow (Stoughton, Wisc./Badger RTC)
77 kg: Kamal Bey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids)
82 kg: Andrew Berreyesa (Las Vegas, Nev./New York AC/Finger Lakes WC)
87 kg: Barret Hughes (Coweta, Okla./Titan Mercury WC/Cowboy RTC)
97 kg: Chad Porter (Phoenix, Ariz./Sunkist Kids)
130 kg: Cohlton Schultz (Parker, Colo./New York AC)
Schedule (Times in Eastern Time)
Tuesday, Sept. 18
3:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds (Greco-Roman 60 kg, 67 kg, 72 kg, 82 kg, 97 kg)
12:15 p.m. – Semifinals (Greco-Roman 60 kg, 67 kg, 72 kg, 82 kg, 97 kg)
Wednesday, Sept. 19
3:30 a.m. – Repechage (Greco-Roman 60 kg, 67 kg, 72 kg, 82 kg, 97 kg)
1 p.m. – Finals (Greco-Roman 60 kg, 67 kg, 72 kg, 82 kg, 97 kg)
Players Mentioned
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