No Olympics for LaMont

FORT WORTH, Texas — Utah Valley University redshirt junior Taylor LaMont had his 2021 U.S. Olympic Team Trial run come to a close on Saturday at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.

LaMont, who entered as the No. 4 seed at 60 kg in Greco-Roman wrestling, finished with a 1-2 record and had his 2021 Olympic Trials run come to a close in the consolation semifinals.

After receiving an opening-round bye, the fourth-seeded LaMont dropped his first bout in the quarterfinals to the No. 5 seed Dalton Roberts of Army/WCAP by a score of 5-0 to head to the consolation bracket. LaMont then responded with a 5-1 decision over a familiar foe in No. 8 Randon Miranda of New York Athletic Club to advance to the consolation semifinals. Then matched up against his Brunson UVRTC training partner in the No. 6 seed Sammy Jones of NYAC/Brunson UVRTC, Jones managed to pull out a 9-0 tech fall victory to end LaMont's tournament.

LaMont, who entered the event as a current U.S. Greco-Roman National Team member and the No. 3 ranked wrestler at 60 kg, competed at the event for Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club.

The Olympic Team Trials happened just two weeks after when LaMont earned the first All-American honors of his collegiate career after posting a fifth-place finish for at the 2021 NCAA Wrestling Championships at 125 pounds. LaMont was won of two Wolverines to reach the semifinals at this year's NCAA Championships, as both he and senior 174-pounder Demetrius Romero posted All-American finishes (Romero placed sixth).

At the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, the fellow Brunson UVRTC competitor Jones went on to earn a third-place finish at 60 kg after going 3-2 at the Olympic qualifying event. Former Stanford All-American Ryan Mango went on to win the 60 kg bracket to enter a best-of-three series against the United States' 60 kg sitting champion Ildar Hafizov with an Olympic spot on the line on Saturday night.

For full results of the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, visit TrackWrestling.com.

2021 U.S. Olympic Team Trials Results

• Taylor LaMont - Greco-Roman - 60 kg (1-2)
• #5 Dalton Roberts (ARMY/WCAP) DEC #4 Taylor LaMont (Sunkist Kids), 5-0
• #4 Taylor LaMont (Sunkist Kids) DEC #8 Randon Miranda (NYAC), 5-1
• #6 Sam Jones (NYAC/Bruncson UVRTC) TF #4 Taylor LaMont (Sunkist Kids), 9-0