June
13, 2008:
Deseret Morning News
Ruiz has 2nd Shot to Erase Bad
Memories
by Scott Taylor
Justin Ruiz can erase the just-missed
memories of the 2004 Summer Games with a second chance as
the top-seeded favorite in his Greco-Roman weight division
at this weekend's 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for
Wrestling and Judo.
The two sports are combining their Olympic
trials into one mega-event spread over today, Saturday and
Sunday at UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center.
An estimated 112 judo competitors and 200
wrestlers will be vying for the top spot in the 18 Olympic
wrestling weight classes (six each in men's freestyle,
men's Greco-Roman and women's freestyle) and the 14 total
men's and women's Olympic judo weight divisions.
And Ruiz, a Salt Lake City native who
starred at Taylorsville High before wrestling collegiately
at the University of Nebraska, headlines the five Utah
wrestlers seeded in this weekend's trials.
Ruiz is hoping to spend his 29th birthday
this summer at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games, avenging his
runner-up finish at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials.
Fresh off winning his fifth U.S. Nationals
individual title earlier this year, Ruiz is one of only a
half-dozen Nationals champions who advance directly to the
best-of-three trials finals, which for his Greco-Roman
weight division — 96 kilograms (211 1/2 pounds) — is set
for Sunday evening's third and final day of competition.
Ruiz is one of three Greco-Roman champions
from April's U.S. Nationals meet who also placed fifth or
better at the 2005-06 World Championships, which is the
second of two criteria needed to be met for a wrestler to
go directly to the U.S. Olympic Team Trials finals.
Others are seeded in their respective
division and must go through a more extensive "Challenge
Tournament" bracket in wrestling for a spot on the U.S.
Olympic wrestling team.
Winner of the 2005 World Championships
bronze medal, Ruiz is a four-time U.S. World Team member
who was a three-time state champion at Taylorsville High
and a two-time NCAA All-American at Nebraska.
He interrupted his Cornhusker career after
his freshman year to serve an LDS Church mission to
Concepcion, Chile.
He spent last year as an assistant head
coach at Utah Valley State College to head coach Greg
Williams.
Other wrestlers with Utah ties seeded in
this weekend's U.S. Olympic Trials all have taken paths to
Michigan collegiate wrestling programs after competing at
local high schools. They include the following:
Bo Beckman, 145 1/2 pounds, Greco-Roman:
Formerly of Pleasant Grove High and currently wrestling
for Northern Michigan University, Beckman won the
University Greco-Roman Nationals title in his weight
division. He is seeded 12th at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Cheney Haight, 163 pounds, Greco-Roman:
Haight, who wrestled at Orem's Timpanogos High as well as
at Northern Michigan, is seeded fourth in the 74KG
Challenge Tournament. He finished fourth at the U.S.
Nationals in April.
Nathaniel Holt, 145 1/2 pounds, Freestyle:
The former Provo High standout and Central Michigan
University redshirt freshman posted a surprising upset
title win at the University Freestyle Nationals earlier
this year, upsetting 2007 NCAA runner-up Ryan Lang in the
finals. He'll be the No. 13 seed in his division.
Talan Knox, 163 pounds, Greco-Roman: Knox,
who is also at Northern Michigan after wrestling for
Brighton High, is seeded eighth in his class. He placed
seventh at the U.S. Nationals and third at the University
Greco-Roman Nationals this year.
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