It takes years to build a successful wrestling career, and Zane Richards’ journey is a perfect example of that. He currently ranks 12th on Illinois’ all-time career wins list. Richards has had an impressive run in American freestyle wrestling, competing at 57 kilograms. In addition to this, he is also a gold medalist in the 2023 Pan American Games. He is also the 2023 US National Champion. But despite all his success, Richards faced a major setback when he wasn’t selected for the Paris Olympics. But his hopes never died,

After the heartbreak, he made a new decision about his career. But what? He moved from freestyle wrestler to Greco-Roman. But after winning so many achievements in Freestyle? Such as the 2022 and 2023 Bill Farrell Memorial International Championships and more. Well, seems his reason is genuine. But what’s the big difference between these two?

There is one major difference. And it is the use of legs. In freestyle, wrestlers can use their legs for both offense and defense, allowing for moves like single-leg and double-leg takedowns. But Greco-Roman wrestling prohibits the use of legs during offensive or defensive athletics. And for Zane, this might have something to do with his switch. According to USA Wrestling, Zane Richards recently revealed the reason behind this change.

In a tweet, Zane mentioned the reasons behind his switch while sharing the style’s distinctive advantages. He shares, “I’m now you know I’m bought into Greco I think it’s an amazing style I think the opportunity is awesome. It’s really unique. I think I can lead to some serious success and so that, in part with the fact that I’m crazy and I love wrestling, just made sense for the time.”

Richards has always cross-trained in Greco. And he incorporated it into his freestyle regimen once a month, which has helped him sharpen his skills. He went on to explain, “Once a month at minimum, I do some sort of Greco training ’cause it’s just you learn so much to counter your own style of the grow. There are a lot of crossover arm drags, under hooks, 2 on 1 those are all the same skills. You got to adapt them totally, and there’s a learning curve with that for sure.”

Zane Richards also acknowledged the challenges that come with switching styles, particularly the need to retrain his body to react differently to certain techniques. “You’ve built years of a reaction for certain techniques and now your body has to react a different way, so it takes a lot of time.”

With his move to Greco-Roman, Richards is embracing this learning curve, surrounded by a group of talented athletes who challenge him every day. He humbly added, “There’s a tonne of guys here to give them not just give me looks but for them to essentially beat up on me to help me grow.” But this all came after the recent setback last year.

Olympic dreams delayed, but Zane Richards’ journey isn’t over yet

Back in March 2024, it was during the Pan American Olympic Games qualifying tournament in Acapulco, Mexico, that brought heartbreak to Team USA’s Zane Richards. He failed to win a spot in the Paris 2024 Olympics. The semifinals marked the end of his tournament run at the freestyle competition. And the one who bested him was NCAA champion Darian Cruz of Puerto Rico.

And in a matter of coincidence, this bout was in freestyle in the 57 kg category. Darian Cruz, a familiar name to U.S. wrestling fans and a former NCAA champion for Lehigh University in 2017, proved to be a tough competitor.

In the first period, it ended in a 1-1 tie, with both wrestlers showing strong defensive and offensive strategies. Then, in the second period, Richards earned a shot clock point to gain a narrow 2-1 lead. However, the tide turned in the closing moments. In a late scramble, the Puerto Rican corner challenged the scoring.

The challenge was successful, and Cruz was awarded a critical point for pushing Richards out of bounds. This tied the score at 2-2, but under wrestling criteria, Cruz was declared the winner due to the last scoring action.

We very well know that Olympic spots for wrestling depend on qualifying tournament results yet the National Olympic Committees decide the selection of athletes for national teams. But with a new career path, let’s see what happens next!!