Southern Regional's Frank Molinaro's Bumpy Road To Rio Olympics

Frank Molinaro's long road to the Rio Olympics began back in April.

The former Southern Regional and state champion wrestler was the No. 9 seed in the Olympic trials. And he still had to qualify internationally. Rio seemed far away.

So he had to travel to Turkey and Mongolia. Victory eluded him in both places. He thought is Olympic dreams had died.
But two other wrestlers in his weight class were disqualified for doping violations. He was going to Rio anyway, according to nj.com

But then the two disqualified wrestlers were reinstated. Molinaro stared to worry all over again.

"My gut reaction was fear," he said. "I was scared that I had lost this opportunity. I was trying to figure out what could be all the purpose of this?"

He didn't have to worry. Olympic officials later ruled that no wrestler would lose his spot.

Molinaro enters the Olympics ranked 18th in the world. You'll have to wait a little to see him in action. His 143-pound weight class isn't slated to compete until the last day of the games.

Until then, he'll keep practicing and celebration the latest arrival to his family - Frank Jr., his second son, was born on Monday night.

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Photo credit: Associated Press