US Olympic Wrestling Trials: Former Hawkeye Thomas Gilman defeats Joe Colon to reach championship series

FORT WORTH, Texas — Thomas Gilman took a step closer toward his Olympic wrestling dreams on Friday night. 

And he beat another Iowa native to get there.

Gilman defeated Joe Colon in the semifinals at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials on Friday night at Dickies Arena. Gilman, a former Iowa wrestler, won by a 10-0 technical fall to advance to Saturday's finals at 57 kilograms (125 pounds).

In doing so, Gilman, a Council Bluffs native, needs just two more wins to make the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team that will compete in Tokyo later this summer. He will face Cornell wrestler Vito Arujau in a best-of-three series on Saturday evening.

Gilman was tabbed as the 1-seed at 57 kilos this week by virtue of qualifying the weight for the Olympics last year. He was always going to be a heavy favorite because of his past credentials. He's twice made a Senior men's freestyle world team, winning a silver medal at the 2017 world championships and placing fifth in 2018.

Once the COVID-19 pandemic effectively shut the sports world down a year ago, Gilman sought a change of scenery, leaving the Hawkeye Wrestling Club to join the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club out in Pennsylvania. He had spent nearly a decade in Iowa City, first as a three-time All-American for Iowa then as a Senior-level freestyle wrestler.

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The change, Gilman believes, has brought out his best. His last year was filled with various results, but he felt it would all prepare him for this week. His assessment was spot on, as he won both matches on Friday by a combined 21-0.

Gilman opened with an 11-0 technical fall over Zane Richards, a former Illinois wrestler, then clashed with Colon, a former Northern Iowa star, in the semifinals. He led Colon 3-0 after the first period, then connected on a big 4-point takedown to go up 7-0. Another step-out point and a final takedown secured a second-straight technical fall.

That pushed Gilman into Saturday's finals, where he'll face Arujau, an NCAA All-American and 2019 Junior men's freestyle world silver medalist. Arujau took out Oklahoma State star Daton Fix, 7-5, in the other semifinal, building a 6-0 lead and withstanding a late surge from Fix to hang on and advance.

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Fix beat Gilman for a spot on the 2019 world team. Gilman quietly hoped for a rematch so he could have an opportunity for revenge. His matchups with Arujau still brings familiarity, as Gilman beat him, 6-2, at the Henri Deglane wrestling tournament in France earlier this year. 

This is the opportunity Thomas Gilman has long worked for, to make the U.S. Olympic Team and, ultimately, to win a gold medal. He's two wins away from inching closer to that lifelong dream.

How did the other Iowa wrestlers do?

Outside of Gilman, the other Iowa wrestlers mostly struggled on Friday.

Colon won a thrilling quarterfinal match over Seth Gross, 9-8, thanks to a late 4-point takedown in the second period. That pushed him to his semifinal matchup against Gilman … which went entirely Gilman's way.

Iowa State's David Carr, who qualified after winning an NCAA title two weeks ago, reached the semifinals at 74 kilograms (163 pounds) thanks to an 8-0 win over Michigan's Logan Massa. But in the semifinals, Carr lost to Jason Nolf, a three-time NCAA champion from Penn State, by a 10-0 technical fall.

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Felicity Taylor, a South Winneshiek grad who also won a national collegiate title this year, won her first match in the women's freestyle tournament at 53 kilos (116), then lost in the quarterfinals and will continue wrestling in the consolations on Saturday.

Everybody else with an Iowa connection lost their first matches on Friday:

• former Iowa wrestler Sam Brooks (86-kg), who ended up 0-2 and was eliminated;
• former Cyclone wrestler Kyven Gadson (97-kg);
• another past Iowa State wrestler Pat Downey (86-kg);
• and Ballard grad Rachel Watters (68-kg in women's freestyle).

Saturday's consolation rounds will begin at 12 p.m. CT. Colon, Carr, Taylor, Gadson, Downey and Watters are all expected to wrestle. The championship finals, featuring Gilman, begin at 6:30 p.m. CT.

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.