Collegiate success remains the best predictor of Olympic victory

Want to win an Olympic gold medal in wrestling? A high level of success in college will predict whether that will happen.

Since the 1932 Olympics, 39 of the 40 gold medalists wrestled in college and placed highly in their respective national championships, with Henry Cejudo being the exception.

In men's freestyle, winning or reaching the finals at the NCAA Division I championships is a must, or close to it.

Of the 35 men's freestyle Olympic champions, 27 have won NCAA titles and five have reached the finals.

John Peterson (82 kg), Bobby Weaver (48 kg) and Henry Cejudo (55 kg) are the exceptions: Peterson finished fifth at the 1971 NAIA Championships and Weaver finished third at 118 pounds at the 1982 NCAAs, but competed at 105.5 pounds in international competition and Cejudo did not go on to college.

Something to remember: If you want to win Olympic gold at over 55kg, make it to the NCAA finals, or in John Peterson's case, train consistently with NCAA and Olympic champions at Iowa State (Dan Gable and his brother Ben).

Allie Morrison wrestled at the University of Illinois and won a gold medal at the 1928 Olympics, but did not compete in the inaugural 1928 NCAA Championships.

The U.S. had two Olympic champions in women's freestyle, and both (Helen Maroulis and Tamira Mensah-Stock) won WCWA titles, the then-sanctioned women's collegiate championships.

There is also a correlation between collegiate success and Greco-Roman competition: All three gold medalists finished in the top five at the NCAA D1 tournament.

For a breakdown of current Olympic teams and U.S. gold medal results since 1932, check out the chart below.

2024 Olympic Wrestling Team

U.S. Olympic Wrestling Champions Since 1932