LAS VEGAS - Olympic berths in judo and wrestling will be up for grabs in the same arena this weekend. While judo hopeful Katie Mocco likes the new combined trials format, she is relieved she won't be competing on the same day as her wrestling brother Steve."Thank God I'm fighting on Friday and he fights on Sunday," she says. "I would have such a hard time focusing knowing Steve is fighting at the same time."Twenty-six men and women will earn U.S. Olympic spots at the Thomas & Mack Center, 16 in wrestling and 10 in judo. Action will take place on three wrestling mats and one judo mat, with judo Friday and Saturday and wrestling Friday through Sunday."It's a great fit. There are a lot of similarities in the two sports. There's a great crossover in spectator appeal," says Rich Bender, executive director of USA Wrestling."Plus, it broadens our opportunity to attract people to the trials. In this day and age, wrestling and judo need to think out of the box a little."The Moccos of North Bergen, N.J., are a family of a mix of martial artists. Steve, 26, a former NCAA heavyweight wrestling champion at both Iowa and Oklahoma State, is a top contender for the men's freestyle berth at 264.5 pounds. Katie, 24, will compete in judo's 154-pound class, where she was U.S. champion in 2005.Steve has long used judo to augment his wrestling. Judo moves such as the hip toss and foot sweep carry over into wrestling.As a youth, Katie made a brief foray into wrestling and entered a tournament in which her brother also competed."He won and I got killed," she says. "I had to wrestle a boy, and he like threw me into the table."She found a home in judo."In judo, there were girls in it. So I was like, 'Oh, this is better for me,' " she says.She adds, "There are a lot more girls wrestling now."The best of them will compete here. In wrestling, the USA has qualified for the Olympics in six of the seven weights of both Greco-Roman and freestyle for men. The USA has qualified for Beijing at all four women's freestyle weights.In judo, the USA is Olympic-qualified in all seven weights for men and three of the seven for women.Katie had been a weight division higher last year at 172. She'll stay away this week from the feasts that always accompany the family's wrestling and judo trips. "There's going to be like chicken parmesan and steak. My dad (Joe) is big with the pasta," she says.Her sister Colleen also competes in judo in the top weight (over 172). She will be Katie's workout and warm-up partner this weekend.Many of the USA's female wrestlers have judo backgrounds, including Kristie Marano, Katie Downing and Clarissa Chun.Bender of USA Wrestling says he hopes wrestling fans who haven't seen judo will learn to appreciate it and vice versa."I don't anticipate we'll see many judo fans or wrestling fans leaving when their specific discipline might be done early (in a session)," Bender says.Katie acknowledges wrestling has wider exposure because of high school and college competitions."Maybe people will leave the tournament knowing what judo is and go, 'Oh, judo is pretty good,' " she says.
