CEDAR FALLS, Iowa-North Dakota State University All-American Hayden Zillmer of Crosby-Ironton secured a place at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials by winning the Greco-Roman 85-kilogram/187-pound weight class April 1 at a Last Chance Olympic Trials Qualifier at the University of Northern Iowa Dome.
Trailing by a point late in the second period, Zillmer representing the Minnesota Storm, scored a 4-point takedown to claim the gold medal with a 6-3 decision over Khymbakhy Johnson (New York AC/NMU), the fourth-place finisher at the 2015 U.S. Open.
"Just another match, another tournament, another step to my goal," Zillmer told Richard Immel of USA Wrestling.
"I haven't wrestled Greco in three years and we decided on Tuesday I was coming, so we had Tuesday and Wednesday to train and my game plan for the whole tournament was, I just got to get everybody tired," Zillmer added. "If I'm down, I'm going to score at the end and in the finals that's what happened."
As a senior for the Bison, Zillmer finished just shy of a second All-American honor two weeks ago at the NCAA Division I Championships in New York City. The three-time NCAA qualifier finished the season with a 32-6 record and a career mark of 105-29 to rank seventh all-time at NDSU.
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The U.S. Olympic Team Trials will be in Iowa City April 9-10 at Carver Hawkeye Arena.
