University of Regina women's wrestler Ali Bernard qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China over the weekend after taking first place in the 72-kilogram class at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials at the Thomas and Mack Center on the campus of UNLV.

Bernard, who entered the tournament as the event's top seed after winning the U.S. Nationals, defeated two-time world bronze medalist Katie Downing in two straight matches to claim victory in the best-of-three final.

Downing had to emerge from a ten-wrestler challenge tournament field to earn the right to wrestle in the final, while Bernard received a bye to the finals because by virtue of her No. 1 seed.

“Ali is such a fantastic ambassador for our program,” University of Regina head coach Leo McGee said. “She is such a great example of what we're trying to accomplish here at the U of R and this is an outstanding achievement for a young wrestler like her.”

The wrestling events of the 29th Olympic Games will be held at China Agriculture University Gymnasium in Beijing from August 12 to August 21.

The complete list of qualified wrestlers will be confirmed by the Fédération Internationale des Luttes Associées (FILA) on July 10. All three medalists from the 72 kg class at the 2004 Olympics – China's Xu Wang (gold), Russia's Gouzel Maniourova (silver), and Japan's Kyoko Hamaguchi (bronze) – are listed by FILA as among the 2008 qualifiers.

Bernard, a 22-year-old from New Ulm, Minn., is a four-time CIS and Canada West gold medalist. She has one season of CIS eligibility remaining.