Daniel Dennis

Daniel Dennis (born September 24, 1986) is an American freestyle wrestler who competed for the United States at 57 KG in the 2016 Olympics. He stands 5 foot, 5 inches.

High school career

He was a two-time Illinois state runner-up [1] for Grant Community High School in Fox Lake, Illinois.

College career

Dennis was a two-time All-American for the Iowa Hawkeyes,[2] including a runner-up finish in 2010. In the 2010 finals match, Dennis gave up four points with under five seconds left to the University of Minnesota's Jayson Ness to lose the match. Following this stunning defeat, Dennis checked out for a few years, living out of his truck and later a trailer, travelling around the Western United States while wrestling and coaching sporadically. He eventually became a coach at Windsor High School in California.[3]

Post-college career

Dennis has made two national teams (Top 3 at the World Team Trials), at 61 kg in 2015 and 57 kg in 2016. Dennis won the 2016 U.S. Olympic trials at 57 KG and competed at the 2016 Olympics, but lost his first match 11-0 to Vladimir Dubov and was eliminated after Dubov failed to reach the finals.[4][5] Dennis has also won the University Nationals championship, the Grand Prix of Spain, and is a two-time Northern Plains regional champion.

References
  1. Mike Hlas The Gazette More stories from Mike (2015-11-27). "> Hlas: Daniel Dennis will take some Iowa to Rio Olympics". The Gazette. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  2. "2016 US Olympic wrestling trials - Daniel Dennis goes from living in truck to reaching first Olympics". Espn.go.com. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  3. Andy Hamilton (April 10, 2016). "Ex-Hawkeye, Olympic hopeful has quite a tale to tell".
  4. "Lake County native Daniel Dennis wins Olympic spot in wrestling". Chicago Tribune. 2016-04-09. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  5. "2016 Rio Olympic Games: Team USA wrestling qualifiers (slideshow)". cleveland.com. 2016-04-09. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
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