Jordan Oliver Makes Finals of World Team Trials

This past weekend a mix of current and former Cowboys competed in the World Team Trials tournament in Coralville, Iowa.

Among them was two-time NCAA champion Jordan Oliver competing at 70 KG. Oliver came in as the No. 3 seed at the weight. He had a bye in the first round before meeting Michael Blockhus in the quarterfinals. He used a pushout, a passivity point, and a takedown to beat Blockhus 4-2.

In the semifinals, Oliver met last year’s 157-pound NCAA champion Ryan Deakin. Oliver trailed early in the second period but came back with two takedowns and a pushout point to best Deakin 7-4. That win put Oliver in the finals and set him up with a Final X matchup against Zain Retherford in Stillwater next Friday, June 3.

Alex Dieringer came in as the No. 3 seed at 79 KG. He dropped a tough semifinal match to Vincenzo Joseph on a last second takedown falling 3-2. On the consolation side he lost in the semifinals to Penn State’s Carter Starocci to end his tournament.

Derek White also competed here at 125 KG after getting a bid at the last chance qualifier. White put together a pretty solid tournament. He made the quarterfinals, lost then bounced back to nearly make the placement matches before falling 2-1 to the eventual 3rd placer finisher Dom Bradley.

Dean Heil and Carter Young both also competed here at 65 KG. Both were eliminated in their first two matches.

Oliver will join Daton Fix next week, who already had a bid to Final X by virtue of his World Silver Medal last year. He will face Seth Gross, who won the World Team Trials Tournament at 61 KG.