Olympics need Mike Zadick
Terry Brands, the former University of Iowa standout and current USA Wrestling national team coach, told me last week that another former Hawkeye, Mike Zadick, may yet be wrestling in the Olympics next month.
That would be great to see.
Zadick won the Olympic Trials in Las Vegas, earning a berth on the U.S. team. But the U.S. failed to qualify his weight, leaving his status up in the air.
Later, China got all the wild-card spots, likely ending Zadick's hope. But there is hope, Brands said.
Zadick will go to the Olympic Games and be "on weight." If someone at his weight is injured or misses weight, Zadick will wrestle.
Zadick said today he is confident that will happen.
"I'm training and I'm getting ready and hoping for the best," he said in a phone conversation from Colorado Springs, where he's training. "I feel I was meant to and supposed to."
Let's all hope Zadick - a World silver medalist - gets his wish.