Many of the athletes on both squads have extensive experience on the national and international freestyle scene. The dual is sponsored by the Siouxland Amateur Wrestling Council, which plans to make this an annual event. The US contingent will be led by Mark Manning, head coach at the University of Nebraska and the 2001 World Team Coach. He was also an assistant Olympic coach last year.
Turkey is consistently one of the top two or three teams in the world.
The Turks, fresh from the World Cup, will be very strong. The US team assistant coach will be Olympic bronze and World Championships silver and bronze medalist Lincoln McIlravy. McIlravy was also the 1999 Pan Am Games and the 1998 Goodwill Games champion. He is currently an assistant coach Iowa. While the entire US roster has not yet been finalized, five wrestlers scheduled to compete have extensive international experience.