Per a roster release from USA Wrestling, Thomas Gilman will be competing at 61 kg at the Dan Kolov this weekend. This is massive information as it will be the first time in Gilman’s career that he will be competing at 61 kg at an official UWW or USA Wrestling event. In 2020 Gilman competed at 61 kg against Frank Perrelli at NLWC Live Event 3 and at 132 lbs against Seth Gross in 2021 at WRTC Underground #2. 

Gilman has been quite open that it is not an easy cut down to 57 kg. He has strongly considered moving up to 61 in the past, but the timing of yesterday’s news is quite interesting given that 61 kg is not an Olympic weight and 2023 is the year before the Olympics. In fact, Gilman said in an interview with Andy Hamilton in August of 2022, “we’re so far along into this cycle now that I think I’m staying at 57, and then we’ll re-evaluate. But maybe I wake up tomorrow and I don’t like wrestling, and I’m done. So who knows?”

Skip to 12:55 to hear Gilman discuss moving to 61 kg in this interview from August of 2022.

At another point in the interview, Gilman says, “wrestling is a very hard, intense, and grueling sport. A grueling job if I’m not going to enjoy it, so I better enjoy every aspect of it. There are plenty of other things I could do and make a lot more money with less stress. So, just enjoying the process really is the biggest thing.”

Surely not having to cut an extra four kilos would make the process of competing more enjoyable for Gilman. So, is Gilman testing the waters at 61 kg? Is this a permanent move? Is he planning on going down for Final X? Will he have a day in between now and Final X where he decides to go down? Gilman said in 2022 one day he just woke up and went, “I’m going down.” Gilman himself might not even know all those answers at this time. 

While there is no official word on when the information will be made public, Gilman must notify USA Wrestling of his Final X weight by Friday, April 21st at 7 pm Eastern. 

Full Team USA Wrestling Roster for Dan Kolov

U.S. Men’s Freestyle roster

57kg: Gabe Townsell (NYAC/CARTC)

61kg: Devan Turner (BDRTC)

61kg: Thomas Gilman (TMWC/NLWC)

61kg: Nathan Tomasello (TMWC/CKWC)

65kg: Joey McKenna (TMWC/PRTC)

74kg: Mitchell Mesenbrink (Askren WA)

79kg: Isaiah White (IRTC)

79kg: Michael Kemerer (NYRTC)

79kg: Devin Skatzka (TMWC/Spartan)

86kg: Andrew Morgan (NYRTC)

86kg: Quentin Perez (CARTC)

97kg: Kyle Snyder (TMWC/NLWC)

125kg: Ty Walz (TMWC/SERTC)

National Freestyle Coach: Bill Zadick

Personal Coach: Matt Coughlin (Indiana RTC)

Personal Coach: Frank Perrelli (New York RTC)

Personal Coach: Enkhtur Badamsaikhan (California RTC)

Personal Coach: Jake Varner (Nittany Lion WC)

U.S. Women’s Freestyle roster

50kg: Audrey Jimenez (Sunkist)

55kg: Alex Hedrick (TMWC)

59kg: Michaela Beck (Sunkist)

62kg: Janida Garcia (Colorado/EAP)

62kg: Jennifer Page (TMWC/NLWC)

68kg: Solin Piearcy (Menlo WC)

72kg: Marilyn Garcia (California)

National Women’s Coach - Terry Steiner

U.S. Greco-Roman roster

60kg: Ryder Smith (NMU NTS)

63kg: Aidan Nutter (NYAC/NMU NTS)

67kg: Charles Welcome (NMU NTS)

67kg: David Stepanian (NYAC/NMW NTS)

77kg: Riley Briggs (NMU NTS)

77kg: Mike Higgins (NMU NTS)

82kg: Michael Altomer (NMU NTS)

82kg: DM Hallet (NMU NTS)

87kg: George Sikes (NYAC/NMU NTS)

NMU NTS Head Coach: Andy Bisek (NMU NTS)

Medical: Taryn Pennington

Official: Nolan Meadors

Event Schedule

(local time in Sofia is seven hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time)

Thursday, March 2

10:30 a.m.

Preliminaries (MFS 61, 70, 79, 92 GR 55, 63, 72, 82, WFS 55, 59, 65, 72)

5:00 p.m.

Opening Ceremony and Semifinals (MFS 61, 70, 79, 92 GR 55, 63, 72, 82, WFS 55, 59, 65, 72)

Friday, March 3

10:30 a.m.

Preliminaries (MFS 57, 65, 74 GR 87, 97, 130 WFS 62, 68, 76)

Repechage (MFS 61, 70, 79, 92 GR 55, 63, 72, 82, WFS 55, 59, 65, 72)

5:00 p.m.

Semifinals (MFS 57, 65, 74 GR 87, 97, 130 WFS 62, 68, 76)

6:00 p.m

Finals (MFS 61, 70, 79, 92 GR 55, 63, 72, 82, WFS 55, 59, 65, 72)

Saturday, March 4

10:30 a.m.

Preliminaries (MFS 86, 97, 125 GR 60, 67. 77 WFS 50, 53, 57)

Repechage (MFS 57, 65, 74 GR 87, 97, 130 WFS 62, 68, 76)

5:00 p.m.

Semifinals (MFS 86, 97, 125 GR 60, 67, 77 WFS 50, 53, 57)

6:00 p.m.

Finals (MFS 57, 65, 74 GR 87, 97, 130 WFS 62, 68, 76)

Sunday, March 5

11:00 a.m.

Repechage (MFS 86, 97, 125 GR 60, 67, 77 WFS 50, 53, 57)

12:00 noon

Finals (MFS 86, 97, 125 GR 60, 67, 77 WFS 50, 53, 57)