Addison native won't advance to Olympic wrestling team

Despite an impressive return to the mat after suffering a serious injury, Addison native Veronica Carlson failed to advance Saturday at the U.S. Wrestling Olympic Team Trials.

Heading into the Olympic Team Trials in Iowa, Carlson considered Tamyra Mensah, the Women's College Wrestling Association national champion, one of her toughest opponents.

And sure enough, Mensah was crowned the trials champion in the 69 kilogram weight class Saturday.

Only last spring, Carlson was training for her second attempt at a spot on the team when she ripped a ligament and broke the tip of her humerus near the end of a match she still managed to win.

But that injury kept her away from the sport she's loved since the seventh grade for six months.

Despite the stumbling block, Carlson, described by her former track and field coach at Addison Trail High School as "powerful and driven," found new motivation.

"It gave me a chance to reset my mind and hone in on this year," she said before the team trials. "To have a forced break in momentum really challenged me to re-evaluate my passion for the sport and why I was in it and give me that extra surge. I just felt like this injury was another way to kind of prove who I am."

Carlson, who wasn't immediately available for comment Saturday night, told the Daily Herald last week she might pursue mixed martial arts or finish her college career if she didn't make the team, but she was happy to have advanced so far.