COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (March 4, 2020) – The U.S. Men’s Sitting Volleyball National Team has announced its 12-player roster for the seven-team Tokyo 2020 Men’s Final Paralympic Qualification Tournament March 16-21 at its training headquarters on the University of Central Oklahoma campus in Edmond, Oklahoma. The tournament winner earns the final spot into the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games.
The roster includes eight players with Paralympic Games experience led by Eric Duda (Marietta, Georgia) and Chris Seilkop (Deland, Florida), who represented Team USA at the 2004 and 2016 Paralympic Games. Seilkop also played standing volleyball at the 1996 and 2000 Paralympic Games.
Team USA’s Paralympic qualification tournament roster also includes 2016 Paralympic Games veterans Roderick Green (West Monroe, Louisiana), John Kremer (Buford, Georgia), J Dee Marinko (Newcastle, Oklahoma), Dan Regan (St. Louis, Missouri), James Stuck (New Kensington, Pennsylvania) and Charlie Swearingen (Gulfport, Mississippi).
Stephen Bracken (Brighton, Colorado), Nicholas Dadgostar (Sydney, Nebraska), Zach Upp (Bartlett, Illinois) and Patrick Young (Albuquerque, New Mexico) are all aiming to make their first Paralympic Games appearance.
Along with the USA, participating teams are Canada, Croatia, Germany, Kazakhstan, Latvia and Ukraine. The Americans are ranked seventh in the world by World ParaVolley, the second highest ranked team in the field behind fifth-ranked Ukraine. Germany is ranked eighth, Kazakhstan is 10th, Canada is 16th, Croatia at 17th and Latvia at 23rd.
USA heads Pool A with Kazakhstan and Canada. Pool A matches will be scheduled at 4:30 p.m. CT on March 16-18. Pool B has Ukraine, Germany, Croatia and Latvia. Pool B matches are scheduled for 1 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. March 16-18. After an off day, semifinal matches will be played on March 20 at 2:45 p.m. 4:30 p.m. The gold-medal match is set for March 21 at 2:45 p.m. after the bronze-medal match at 1 p.m.
Matches are being held at the UCO Wellness Center and are open to the public with free admission.
U.S. Men’s Sitting National Team for Tokyo 2020 Men’s Final Paralympic Qualification Tournament
# – Name (Position, Height, Hometown)
2 – Dan Regan (Wing, 6-0, St. Louis, Missouri)
3 – Nicholas Dadgostar (Libero, 6-0, Sydney, Nebraska)
5 – Eric Duda (Setter/Wing, 6-5, Marietta, Georgia)
7 – Stephen Bracken (Wing/Setter, 6-5, Brighton, Colorado)
8 – James Stuck (Setter/Middle, 6-5, New Kensington, Pennsylvania)
11 – Roderick Green (Middle, 6-3, West Monroe, Louisiana)
12 – Patrick Young (Wing, 6-4, Albuquerque, New Mexico)
13 – Charlie Swearingen (Wing, 6-3, Gulfport, Mississippi)
14 – John Kremer (Libero, 5-9, Buford, Georgia)
15 – Chris Seilkop (Wing, 6-6, Deland, Florida)
17 – Zach Upp (Wing, 6-5, Bartlett, Illinois)
18 – J Dee Marinko (Wing, 6-4, Newcastle, Oklahoma)
Head Coach: Greg Walker
Assistant Coaches: Joe Skinner, Kyle Homeyer
Technical Coordinator: Justin Chang
Therapist: Brian Farr
Sports Psychologist: Dylan Firsick
Team Leader: Dixie Collins
Tokyo 2020 Men’s Final Paralympic Qualification Tournament Schedule (all times CT/Local)
March 16: Ukraine (B1) vs Croatia (B3), 1 p.m.
March 16: Germany (B2) vs Latvia (B4), 2:45 p.m.
March 16: USA (A1) vs Canada (A3), 4:30 p.m.
March 17: Ukraine (B1) vs Germany (B2), 1 p.m.
March 17: Croatia (B3) vs Latvia (B4), 2:45 p.m.
March 17: Kazakhstan (A2) vs Canada (A3), 4:30 p.m.
March 18: Ukraine (B1) vs Latvia (B4), 1 p.m.
March 18: Germany (B2) vs Croatia (B3), 2:45 p.m.
March 18: USA (A1) vs Kazakhstan (A2), 4:30 p.m.
March 20: 3rd Place A vs. 4th Place B (5th-7th Classification), 1 p.m.
March 20: 1st Place B vs. 2nd Place A (Semifinal), 2:45 p.m.
March 20: 1st Place A vs. 2nd Place B (Semifinal), 4:30 p.m.
March 21: 5th-6th Place, 10 a.m.
March 21: Semifinal Losers (Bronze Medal), 1 p.m.
March 21: Semifinal Winners (Gold Medal), 2:45 p.m.