Four members of the eight-man freestyle team competing Tuesday and Wednesday at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, have ties to the University of Iowa and former coach Dan Gable. Gable, too, is part of the U.S. team, serving as a staff member for head coach John Smith. The U.S. team includes assistant coaches and former national champions in Terry Brands and Lincoln McIlravy. Brands will wrestle at 127.75 pounds, McIlravy at 152.
Brands is the most experienced of the bunch.
A four-time U.S. team member, McIlravy won World Cup titles the past two years and the 1998 Goodwill Games gold medal. He won a Pan Am title in 1994 and finished third in 1996. Williams is relatively new to Olympic-level competition. He won his first U.S. title this year but has wrestled in some international competition, including a runner-up finish at the Kiev Grand Prix. The tournament will include teams from Cuba, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela and Panama.