FORMER STUDENTS COMPETE
IN OLYMPIC TRIALS
photos courtesy o f Cougar Athletics
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BY JAMES HARLEY
The O lym pic W restlin g Trials kicked o ff th is past
w eekend in Iowa and Clackam as Com m unity College
had a big part in it.
CCC had three w restling alumni athletes qualify for
the 2016 Olym pic Trials. Despite a great effort by all
three athletes, none of them advanced to the Olympics.
The Cougar alumni that qualified were Jacob Mitchell,
Tarrence W illiam s and Tyrell Fortune. M itchell and
W illiam s qualified for G reco-R om an, w hile Fortune
qualified for both freestyle and Greco-Roman.
On top of that, Matt Lindland, who is a U.S. National
Team Coach for USA W restling, is also a former Cougar.
Lindland won a national championship back in 1992
for CCC and assisted Rhoden from 2012-2014 before he
w as hired as the Team USA W restling head coach for
Greco-Roman.
CCC is the only junior college in the country that is
represented by three or more athletes in wrestling, which
is som ething that makes CCC w restling head coach Josh
Rhoden very proud.
“ This is huge for us because we are literally the most
w ell represented junior college in the Olympic Trials
for w restling in the country,” said Rhoden. “ I am very
proud of these three guys and the way that they have
represented this college w ell beyond their time here.”
Rhoden also em phasized how big it is for the CCC
w restling overall.
“This helps us with things like recruiting and retention
of our kids,” Rhoden said. “ Guys like Tarrence, Tyrell
and Jacob have laid the foundation for guys to compete
and earn a degree here and still continue to chase the
Olympic dream .”
When asked about people that have helped him get
there, Fortune gave a lot o f credit to CCC and Rhoden.
“ Rhoden helped me understand the im portance o f
being in shape and m aking sacrifices for w hat I w an t,”
Fortune said. “When I was there, he was always pushing
me to be the best all-around athlete I could b e .”
Fortune happened to qualify for both freestyle and
Greco-Roman, something that Rhoden was also proud of.
“ It’ s p retty am azing th at Tyrell qualified in b oth
freestyle and G reco-Rom an,” Rhoden said. “ There is
literally nobody else who did that this year or in the last
20 years or so for that m atter.”
When asked about expectations for the trials, Mitchell
said that he sim ply wanted to win and that he wanted
to make it to the Olympics.
Mitchell, like Fortune, gave a lot o f credit to Rhoden,
but also gave credit to Roy Pittman, his w restling coach
from Peninsula Wrestling Club in Portland. Mitchel said
that Pittman has been a huge inspiration to him and
helped bring him to where he is now.
“ It’s pretty special not to have one, but multiple former
athletes trying to make the Olympic team,” Rhoden said.
The W restling Olympic Trials were held April 9 and
10. W illiam s w as defeated in the prelim s b y M ason
Manville in 75 kg Greco-Roman, Fortune was defeated
in the quarterfinals by Dom Bradley in 125 kg freestyle,
and Jacob Mitchel made it all the way to the sem ifinals
in 130 kg Greco-Roman before losing to Robby Smith.
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