Scherr Earns Fifth Seed At 180.5 Pounds No Major Surprises Among Other Seeds As U.S. Nationals Set To Start This Morning

Jim Scherr, the 36-year-old executive director for USA Wrestling, was designated Thursday as the fifth seed at 180.5 pounds for the U.S. Nationals tournament that begins this morning at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Scherr, a former Olympian at 198 pounds, has taken leave as executive director to resume his wrestling career. As champion of one of five regional tournaments, Scherr has already qualified for the Final U.S. Olympic Freestyle Trials, to be held June 7-8 in Spokane.

Scherr is considered a longshot to win a national title this weekend, however, competing in a weight class that includes 1992 Olympic gold medalist Kevin Jackson and Oregon State senior Les Gutches. Jackson and Gutches are seeded first and second, respectively.

Thursday’s seeding produced no major surprises - as expected, other top seeds included heavyweight Bruce Baumgartner and 114.5-pounder Zeke Jones. Former Olympic champion Kenny Monday is making a comeback and was seeded third at 163, while third-ranked 136.5-pounder Cary Kolat failed to make weight and was seeded 14th at 149.5.

The top six national freestyle finishers in each weight class qualify for the trials, as do five regional winners in each class. In addition, notable wrestlers can petition for inclusion. , DataTimes