"I'm in the process of getting my citizenship"- 4x All American Rocky Elam opens up about compete for another country in upcoming Olympics

The Iowa State grad transfer, Rocky Elam, recently opened up about pursuing Italian citizenship to compete for the country at the 2028 LA Olympics. The wrestler will be competing in the 197-pound category for the 2025-26 season.

Elam was last seen in action at the 2024 NCAA wrestling championships, where he earned a sixth-place finish. Following this, he took a medical redshirt for the 2024-2025 season due to multiple injuries, making him eligible to wrestle next season. The Missouri athlete has now transferred to Iowa State for his final season of eligibility and announced the same in April 2025.

Amid the 2025 season, Elam has now revealed that he is pursuing Italian citizenship to compete under the Italian flag in the recent episode of the Baschmania podcast. Opening up about the advantages of the new citizenship, the 4xAll-American revealed that the process is ongoing and his family is very excited about it.

"You know, it telling me about the RTC athletes and, and just, you know, the, the payment that they give to, to financially support you, it, it's, you know, it's an ideal situation. You know, hopefully I'm in the process of getting my citizenship for Italy. So hopefully, hopefully I can wrestle for under the Italian flag for this to finish out this cycle. Got to get some things sorted with, you know, finishing that process and talking to some people at USA Wrestling. But that was just something that, you know, my family is, is very excited about," said Rocky Elam.

Elam is a native of Kansas City, Missouri, and has an exceptional high school record, as he is a two-time Missouri State champion and four-time qualifier.

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Rocky Elam opened up about the benefits of taking time off the mat

In a recent interview with USA Wrestling in January 2025, Rocky Elam opened up about how he benefited from taking time off the mat. After suffering from injuries, the wrestler took a medical redshirt for the 2024-25 season and is now gearing up for the current season.

He has currently not commenced his 2025 season, and in the conversation, he revealed that the hiatus has helped him understand the sport better and look at it from a different point of view.

"I've really benefited from taking some time off the mat is finding new ways to get better and I feel like it's helped me, I feel like it's made me a better you know, all around athlete to where I can, I've thought of and learned from new approaches to the sport and it's made me better. I've been able to study the sport from a different point of view from a different perspective," said Rocky Elam. (0:58 onwards)

He added:

"Just a more knowledgeable point of view. When it comes to watching film and studying guys, I think I pick up on things a little bit better and that translates into how wrestling a guy in a match. It's going to be easier for me to pick up on tendencies and respond to them.

Rocky Elam was the second addition to the Iowa State Cyclones wrestling team after adding the former Rider wrestler, Issac Dean.

Edited by Anisha Chatterjee