Road to Rio: Penn State's Molinaro awarded Olympic berth

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Former Penn State wrestler Frank Molinaro is headed to the 2016 Olympic Games after all.

Molinaro, who needed a top-two finish but placed third at the last chance qualifier in Istanbul on Sunday, was awarded an Olympic qualification spot after a pair of doping violations in the 65 kg weight class led to a redistribution of berths, United World Wrestling announced Wednesday. With wrestlers from Poland and Ukraine getting their countries' Olympic licenses revoked for the event, it made way for Bulgaria and the United States to take their spots.

The U.S. now has a freestyle wrestler qualified in all six weight classes.



Molinaro's path to qualification was a lengthy one that started well before his run at the U.S. Olympic Trials last month in Iowa City, Iowa.

Molinaro, a Penn State All-America honoree who won an NCAA title in 2012, was coaching wrestling at Rutgers when he decided in 2013 that he wanted to make a run at the 2016 Olympics. Molinaro said he didn't want to have any regrets, so the New Jersey native and his wife moved to State College where Molinaro could train with world-class athletes as part of the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club and also work as an assistant coach with the Lions.

Cael Sanderson spoke several times during Molinaro's qualification process about how the 27-year-old athlete is an example for the younger wrestlers in the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex, showing them that, by not cutting corners, they too can have a chance to compete on the sport's biggest stage. Molinaro is also much more calm between matches, something Sanderson noticed at the Olympic Trials, striking a balance in his life that Molinaro said stems from his faith and fatherhood. Molinaro's wife is due with their second child in August, which of course could make for an even more interesting time for Molinaro as the Olympics run Aug. 5-21.

The stacked 65 kg. weight class wasn't one where Molinaro was projected to go far in Iowa City, not with the lengthy list of All-America honorees, national champions and 19-year-old wrestling phenom Aaron Pico all ahead of him. But, with victories against top-seeded Brent Metcalf and four-time NCAA champion Logan Stieber, Molinaro's run for the Olympics became real in a hurry.

After beating Pico to take the weight class at the Trials, Molinaro then traveled to Mongolia for the first of two last-chance qualifiers. Needing a top-three finish, he was bounced from the tournament after going 1-1, putting all the pressure on last weekend's competition in Istanbul, Turkey.

While wrestling for bronze in Turkey wasn't at the top of Molinaro's list -- especially when only the top two qualified the weight-- it turns out that third-place victory, which led to him landing the last Olympic qualifying spot on Wednesday, was the biggest match for him to date.