If you didn't already know the name, now you do. Over the weekend, Kaleb Larkin became the youngest wrestler at the 2023 Bill Farrell Memorial International to win his bracket. At 20 years old, the Sun Devil freshman captured his first Senior-level international event and punched his ticket to the '24 U.S. Olympic Trials.
After an unprecedented run at Bill Farrell, Larkin has qualified for the '24 Olympic Trials?? ??#ForksUp /// #O2V pic.twitter.com/UsLwdDZeHb
— Sun Devil Wrestling (@ASUWrestling) November 19, 2023
Quarterfinals
Coming into the quarterfinals of the 65 kg weight class, eighth-seeded Larkin had his hands full with first-seeded Ohio State All-American sophomore Jesse Mendez, who capped his freshman season with a sixth-place finish at NCAA's. Down late, Larkin used a clutch takedown to capture a 7-6 decision in the closing seconds of the match.
Arizona State's Kaleb Larkin gets the clutch exposure to beat Jesse Mendez in the 65kg quarterfinals of the Bill Farrell Memorial. pic.twitter.com/mkjjYthDcc
— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) November 18, 2023
Semifinals
In the semifinals, Larkin faced Pat Lugo, a 2x All-American who was set as the No. 1 seed going into his final NCAA Championships in 2020, before they were canceled. Larkin took the match in a tight 3-2 decision.
Finals
In a finals match-up that no one predicted, Larkin squared up with Matthew Kolodzik, Princeton's first 4x All-American who recorded finishes at third, fifth, and seventh before having his final NCAA Championships canceled in 2020. Larkin went down 5-0 early, but rallied back and didn't give up another point on his way to a resounding 16-5 tech fall victory.
MFS 65 kg Finals - Kaleb Larkin ???? tech. fall Matthew Kolodzik ???? 16-5 #WrestleNewYork
— USA Wrestling (@USAWrestling) November 18, 2023
Olympic Trials
The '24 U.S. Olympic Trials will be held by Penn State at the Bryce Jordan Center on April 19-20, 2024.
On how he competed:
"I felt like I competed pretty well overall. I didn't really let the crowd or the names get to me. Just started focusing on my effort and my handfight. That's what opened up a lot of these guys and what led to my takedowns and my scores."
On how his family has helped him get to this point:
"My family is great. I get to wrestle with my younger brother Kyler. I wrestle with him multiple times a week. He was helping me get ready for this tournament the whole time, and my dad has always been one of my biggest supporters. I'm just glad that I was able to pull out a big win like this."
On how his dad helped him approach and love the sport:
"Winning wasn't really a priority when I was younger. I didn't really start finding success until about last year. I didn't really make it a big deal to go win the Tulsa Nationals or Fargo. I wanted to but I just wasn't at that level yet. They told me that I just have to keep on focusing on doing the right things and wrestling in the right positions and eventually my skills will progress."