Shocker at Trials
The most surprising member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic team, 18-year-old Jake Deitchler makes his Olympic and major international senior tournament debut in Beijing. He pulled off the biggest upset of the 2008 U.S. Olympic wrestling trials by winning the 66kg/145.5 lbs division. Deitchler defeated 32-year-old Faruk Sahin in the final, but his most shocking victory came in the semifinals, when he dispatched 24-year-old rising star, Harry Lester, a two-time Worlds bronze medalist. In every match he competed at Trials, Deitchler lost the first period before needing back-to-back wins to advance. And against Sahin in the final, which was contested as a best-of-three series, Deitchler lost the opening period of the first two matches, but came back to win both and claim the series -- and secure the Olympic berth.
Fresh out of high school, Deitchler picked up Greco-Roman wrestling only two years ago.

Fresh out of high school, Deitchler picked up Greco-Roman wrestling only two years ago.

Shocker at Nationals
Deitchler will become only the third high school wrestler to compete on an Olympic team, according to USA Wrestling. Greco-Roman wrestler Mike Farina qualified in 1976 and freestyle wrestler Jimmy Carr qualified in 1972. That Deitchler won Trials, however, is not all that surprising considering he was the runner-up at the 2008 U.S. Nationals, his first senior U.S. championships. In fact, he pinned Sahin at Nationals before losing to Mark Rial in the final. Lester did not compete at the tournament.

High school phenom
Deitchler finished his senior year at Anoka (Minn.) High School in April, about a month early to allow more training time for Trials. It's that passion and desire that convinced former Olympic medalist Brandon Paulson to coach Deitchler. A fellow Minnesota native and Anoka High alum, Paulson was the 1996 Olympic silver medalist in Greco-Roman's 55kg/121 lbs. weight class. The two began working together in 2004, soon after Paulson was eliminated in the final of that year's Olympic Trials. And Deitchler is following a career path increasingly similar to Paulson's. Both are three-time state champions from Anoka High; Deitchler ended his prep career with a 111-match unbeaten streak. Paulson became the first high school wrestler ever to make the senior national team when he qualified for the 1992-93 season; Deitchler joined the senior team weeks after high school. And Paulson went on to the University of Minnesota, where Deitchler has committed for the fall.

Greco newbie
As the 2006 and 2007 World bronze medalist, Lester had been favored to win Trials, and was considered one of the U.S.'s best medal hopes. But now the U.S. will have Deitchler at 66kg. Because of the kid's young age, Paulson says he doesn't yet have his "man strength." So to compensate, Deitchler is a lot more active on the mat than most Greco-Roman wrestlers are used to. In high school "folkstyle" wrestling, holds below the waist are allowed and scrambling is commonplace. So while he can't execute leg moves in Beijing, he does plan to use his youth and exuberance to wear his opponents out. Because Greco-Roman wrestling is not competed in high school, Deitchler began practicing it only two years ago.

Beijing preview
Prior to his Olympic berth, Deitchler's more realistic goal was winning a junior world championship. Last fall, he competed at the junior Worlds in Beijing, and though he lost his first match of the tournament, he was given an early preview of the arena in which he'll compete in August. Upon returning home, Deitchler had tattooed under his right armpit two Chinese characters that stand for "God, warrior, wrestler.''