Ellis Coleman earns bid to London Games
April 23rd, 2012 by Ric Hanson
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Ellis Coleman, best known for his unorthodox “Flying Squirrel” flip over opponents, headlined the list of wrestlers who earned spots Sunday night on the U.S. team headed to the London Olympics. The 20-year-old Coleman upset top-seeded Joe Betterman in the 60-kilogram Greco-Roman weight class to earn a trip to London in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Jake Herbert, Jared Frayer, Tervel Dlagnev, Ben Proviso and Sam Hazewinkel also claimed spots on the U.S. team. Clarissa Chun became the first American woman to qualify for the Olympics twice, and Elena Pirozhkova made the team for the first time. Henry Cejudo, who won a freestyle gold medal in Beijing in 2008, lost to Nick Simmons in the semifinals earlier Sunday and promptly retired.