Olympic Berth for St. Michael's Betts Fulfills Lifelong Dream

As exhausted and emotional Chas Betts left the mats at the University of Iowa's Carver Hawkeye Arena last weekend, he spoke frankly about how the night was the culmination of years of sacrifice.

Betts, a graduate and one-time Minnesota State Champion in wrestling, earned a spot on the United States Olympic Team by defeating fellow Minnesotan Jordan Holm in the 84 kg (185 pounds) finals, sweeping a series of matches to earn his spot.

"It's been a lot of sacrifice," he told media outlets, inlcuding USA Wrestling. "I trained for over a year, overseas, by myself to do this. I left my wife and my family behind. We've been through a lot."

Longtime St. Michael-Albertville wrestling coach Gregg Greeno said the spot on the Olympic team is the culmination of a lifelong dream for Betts.

"He was in the wrestling program at 5 years old," Greeno said. "He was just this little guy, but he was so competitive. My son knew him well and they just had a lot of respect for each other. It's exciting, but it's been a lot of hard work for him for sure."

Betts Olympic dream started in high school, when he found Greco Roman style wrestling (with no holds, the style is different from traditional mat wrestling) in high school. He attended Northern Michigan University on scholarship, starting in the Olympic training program.

"He had to stay in the top thee in the program in order to keep that scholarship, and he was able to do that," Greeno said. "He's trained over in Hungary in Turkey, where that style is what they do. He's worked hard to become one of the best."

That hard work is paying off this year. Betts knocked off a Cuban opponent to win gold in the Pan-Am games earlier this year, to prepare for the Olympic trials.

Last weekend, he had to knock off a friend and teammate on the Minnesota Storm in Northfield's Holm, but used a solid strategy to earn his spot.

"It's kind of put in our heads from the first day that the Olympics is something special," Betts said. "It's the one the last things left that brings the whole world together. I'm excited to be part of that."