MARQUETTE – With a roster that includes several athletes who have participated in national and international competitions, expectations are rather high for the coach of the Greco-Roman wrestling team at the Northern Michigan University Olympic Training Site.

“With many of our wrestlers qualified for international competitions, I expect nothing less this year,” NMU-OTS wrestling coach Rob Hermann said. “During our first weeks of training, I can already tell that we have a great group of guys this season.”

Several former Greco-Roman wrestlers who have trained at the NMU-OTS and its forerunner, the U.S. Olympic Education Center, wrestled at the Rio Olympics in August, including Ben Provisor, Andy Bisek and Robby Smith.

During the 2015-16 school year, three NMU-OTS wrestlers qualified for the Junior National World Team and five for the University World Championships.

This year’s roster of 47 athletes includes Alejandro Sancho, who placed third at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials and second at the Pan American Championships. Sancho is ranked third in the nation at 66 kilograms.

Also back is Sam Jones, who is coming off a third-place finish at the Pan American games and a silver medal at the University National Championships.

“It is nice to have leadership from all our senior wrestlers,” Hermann said. “Having guys work with the new team members really helps them catch up to where they need to be.”

During the fall semester, team members will travel to Panama and Sweden in October for the Eduardo Campbell Cup and Klippan Cup.

The team’s first competition on U.S. soil is at the three-day Bill Farrell International in New York during November.

For more information on the NMU-OTS program, visit the website www.nmu.edu/ots.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.