Daniel Dennis (born September 24, 1986) is an American former freestyle and folkstyle wrestler, who competed for the United States at 57 KG in the 2016 Olympics.
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | September 24, 1986 Ingleside, Illinois, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Wrestling | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Freestyle and Folkstyle | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | Iowa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Hawkeye Wrestling Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | USA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Tom Brands Terry Brands | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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High school career
editDennis was a two-time Illinois state runner-up for Grant Community High School in Fox Lake, Illinois.[1]
College career
editDennis wrestled collegiately for the Iowa Hawkeyes, where he was a two-time All-American,[2] including a national runner-up finish in 2010. In the 2010 NCAA finals match, Dennis gave up four points with under five seconds left to the University of Minnesota's Jayson Ness to lose the match. After his NCAA finals loss, Dennis checked out for a few years, living out of his truck and later a trailer, traveling around the Western United States while wrestling and coaching sporadically. He eventually became a coach at Windsor High School in California.[3]
Senior level career
editDennis would eventually make a return to wrestling, where he made two USA national teams (top 3 at the World Team Trials), at 61 kg in 2015 and 57 kg in 2016. He won the 2016 US Olympic Team Trials at 57 KG and competed at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Dennis lost his first match 11-0 to Vladimir Dubov and was eliminated after Dubov didn't reach the finals.[4][5] He has also won the University Nationals Freestyle championship, the Grand Prix of Spain, the Grand Prix of Germany, and was a two-time Northern Plains regional champion.
References
edit- ^ Mike Hlas The Gazette More stories from Mike (November 27, 2015). "> Hlas: Daniel Dennis will take some Iowa to Rio Olympics". The Gazette. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
- ^ "2016 US Olympic wrestling trials - Daniel Dennis goes from living in truck to reaching first Olympics". Espn.go.com. April 11, 2016. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
- ^ Andy Hamilton (April 10, 2016). "Ex-Hawkeye, Olympic hopeful has quite a tale to tell".
- ^ "Lake County native Daniel Dennis wins Olympic spot in wrestling". Chicago Tribune. April 9, 2016. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
- ^ "2016 Rio Olympic Games: Team USA wrestling qualifiers (slideshow)". cleveland.com. April 9, 2016. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
External links
edit- Daniel Dennis at the International Wrestling Database
- Daniel Dennis at Olympedia
