ACAPULCO, Mexico — The Cliff Keen Wrestling Club’s Austin Gomez qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics on Friday (March 1), posting a 3-0 record to reach the 65kg freestyle finals and earn one of two continental berths at the Pan America Olympic Qualifier at the Expo Mundo Imperial.
Gomez, who wrestles internationally Mexico, earned a 6-3 win against Canada’s Lachlan McNeill — also a collegiate wrestler at North Carolina — in the semifinals to lock up his qualifying bid. The two wrestlers traded early takedowns before Gomez surged with a pair of single legs, late in the first period and midway through the second. He fought off a late McNeil leg attack, chewing up 30 seconds on the clock before giving just a one-point stepout in the final 10 seconds.
The two qualified athletes did not wrestle a finals match.
Gomez’s match of the tournament came in the semifinals, where he scored 14 unanswered points in the second period to tech USA’s Nick Lee, 22-12. Gomez trailed 6-4 at the break then gave a takedown and lace to go down 10-4 early in the second. He pulled within two points with a stepout and caution and single-leg takedown before giving up another takedown on the edge that required a Gomez injury stoppage.
The fireworks started when the match resumed. Down 12-8, Gomez used a bodylock to throw Lee to his back for four points and take his first lead on criteria. He followed with a reattack double leg just 20 seconds later for another four points and transitioned to a pair of laces, then ended the bout with a second reattack double at the 5:29 mark.
Gomez opened the day with a 10-0 tech against Chile’s Matias Munoz Ramirez with three single-leg takedowns and a pair of gut wrenches in 1:39.
He is the third Michigan wrestler to punch his ticket to the Paris Games. Wolverine alums Stevan Micic and Myles Amine qualified for their second Olympics by claiming gold and bronze, respectively, at the 2023 World Championships last September. Michigan also has Adam Coon, Alec Pantaleo, Mason Parris and Nick Suriano, as well as CKWC’s J’den Cox and Alex Dieringer, qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in April.
Gomez will turn around quickly and kick off the postseason, along with the rest of the Wolverines, at the Big Ten Championships next Saturday and Sunday (March 9-10) at the XFINITY Center in College Park, Md.
