From Media Reports

What a difference a year meant for Brad Vering … and the American Greco-Roman wrestling team at the recent FILA World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan.

In 2006, the native of Howells, Neb., who competed in two Worlds and one Olympic tournament between 2003 and 2005, failed to make the U.S. team at 185 pounds in Greco-Roman competition.

But in 2007, the former Nebraska Cornhusker dominated nearly all of his foes on the international level, including his first five opponents at at the Heydar Aliyev Sport and Exhibition Complex, where Vering also earned his first top-three World finish; a silver medal.

Vering’s effort … as well as bronze medals by Harry Lester (Gator WC) at 145.5 pounds and heavyweight Dremiel Byers (U.S. Army) … over three days also propelled the American team to its first-ever team championship in Greco-Roman on Sept. 19.

“This is a dream come true for me and our squad,” said USA Wrestling National Greco-Roman Coach Steve Fraser, who was without his only returning World champion, 132-pound Joe Warren, who was ineligible after failing a drug test.

“We’ve been working for this for 12 years. Everybody on this team was on a mission. The bottom line is they wanted this and came together as a team of athletes, and we did it.”

The United States scored 32 points, followed by Russia (31) and the Republic of Georgia (28).

Champions in each weight class score 10 points apiece with nine points awarded for second, eight for the two third-place finishers, six for the two fifth-place finishers, four for seventh, three for eighth, two for ninth and one for tenth.

Vering (NYAC) suffered his only World loss in the gold medal match, where Russia’s Aleksey Mishin — the five-time World medalist and 2004 Olympic champion — ended Vering’s winning streak with a 4-0, 4-0 victory.

“Ever since last year when I didn’t make the World Team, I sat down with my coaches and knew I needed to make some changes or this was going to be a rough way to end my career,” Vering said. “I’ve made some positive changes and started scoring a lot more points and getting stronger. I feel really good right now and I’m really excited about what is coming up next year with the Olympic year. I’m going to be ready for it.”

“Not making the World Team last year, it was kind of a kick in the butt for Brad and he was very disappointed with it,” said Fraser. “He refocused and dedicated everything to get to where he’s at today. He’s made a lot of improvements and he’s really worked hard with our coaches to get better.

“I’m very proud of Brad, very proud. A silver medal in the Worlds is a great accomplishment. He’s worked very hard and he’s earned this. He’s one of the hardest-working guys I’ve coached, and one of the most driven and focused wrestlers I’ve ever coached. I’m especially proud of him because he’s such a great leader for this team. He sets a great example for everybody to follow.”

Lester, a native of Akron, Ohio, settled for his second straight World bronze medal after losing a controversial semifinal to former Olympic champion and home-country favorite Farid Mansurov of Azerbaijan, 6-3, 4-1.

Mansurov, who eventually won the gold medal, proved to be the more dominant wrestler when he scored on a two-point headlock and three-point reversal in the first period and added a takedown and gut-wrench in the second period, but he also nearly was pinned by Lester in the first period.

After Mansurov took a 2-0 lead during the par terre phase on a headlock, Lester rolled through the move and put the Azerbaijan wrestler on his back for three points and appeared to have pinned Mansurov before the official stopping the match after the 30-second mini-period had elapsed.

“Harry had the guy on his back at the end of the first 30-second period, which means you don’t stop the match, which means they go on their feet instead of the guy going down,” said Fraser. “They weren’t supposed to stop the match with the guy on his back, but they stopped the clock incorrectly in my opinion.”

Lester responded to this disappointment by beating Tamas Lorincz (Hungary), 3-1, 2-1, in the bronze medal match.

“I came out and wrestled every match as hard as I can,” Lester said. “One match didn’t go my way, but I wasn’t going to let it spoil my chances to win a medal. I just didn’t get the job done in the semifinals, but I knew I had to bounce back and at least get a medal.”

Byers, the 2002 World champ, settled for his second World medal after losing to 2006 World champion Khasan Baroev of Russia, 1-1, 4-0, in a semifinal bout. After losing the first period when the Russian was the last wrestler to defend par terre, the 32-year-old Byers lost his chance at a second World final when Baroev scored a three-point lift off par terre with 15 seconds left in the second period.

In the bronze medal match, Byers actually lost the first period to France’s Yannick Sczzepaniak but came back to capture the final two periods for a 1-1, 2-0, 2-1 overall victory. In addition to defending Sczzepaniak’s par terre lift, Byers also drove his opponent out of bounds in each of the final two periods.

Byers also took solace in clinching the team title for the U.S., which was solidified when Baroev lost to Cuban Mijial Lopez in the gold medal match.

“I’m really happy right now,” Byers said. “We worked real hard and we’ve got a great team. Everybody did their part. It feels great to get it done this time. Last year was bad and I was glad I could shake some of that off. We’re walking away with something special, real special.”

Lindsey Durlacher (NYAC) also reached his second straight bronze medal match, but lost to lost to Kristjan Fris (Serbia), 2-0, 3-0, and settled for fifth place at 121 pounds. The United States failed to qualify three weights — 132, 163 and 211.5 — for next summer’s Olympic Games, but will have three other qualifying events over the next year, including the Pan-American Games in Colorado Springs, Colo.

55K/121 pounds

The most positive thing about Durlacher’s third World Championships was that the native of Evanston, Ill., qualified his weight for the 2008 Olympic Games next August.

“It’s hard to come so close to winning a medal and walk away empty-handed,” said Durlacher, who settled for fifth place after earning a bronze medal in the 2006 Worlds. “At the same time, a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders by qualifying this weight for the Olympic Games. It’s a huge honor to qualify this weight for the Olympics. I can just train straight through and concentrate on making our Olympic Team and not have to go through any of those qualifying tournaments.”

Now, assuming he qualifies for next summer’s U.S. Olympic team, Durlacher just needs to find a way to beat the apparent favorite: Iran’s Hamid Sourian, who won his third straight World championship in Baku, which included a third-round 4-0, 6-0 victory over Durlacher. Sourian also defeated Durlacher in last year’s World semifinal match.

“The Iranian is a tough kid,” said Durlacher, who got caught in a three-point reverse lift in the first period and lost the second period after he was cautioned three times once par terre began. “He has a lot of leverage on me. He’s about 6 feet tall and he’s hard to wrestle. He’s really on top of his game right now and I need to go back and see what I did last year against him. I wrestled him a lot closer last year.”

Overall, Durlacher won four of the six matches he wrestled in Azerbaijan, including a pair of consolation matches against Denmark’s Anders Nyblom, 1-1, 2-1, and Romania’s Virgil Munteanuk 1-1, 1-2, 1-1, to reach his second straight World bronze medal match.

Unfortunately, wrestling three matches within a half-hour may have taken a toll on Durlacher, who lost the third-place match to Fris.

“It was extremely difficult to come back with all those matches in a short period of time,” said Durlacher, who gave up gut wrenches and could not score from par terre in the bronze medal match. “You have to keep a level hand and keep thinking positive thoughts. It’s definitely an advantage making the semifinals and only have the one match after you lose. Wrestling back-to-back-to-back in three straight matches, I was extremely exhausted by the bronze-medal match.”

60K/132 pounds

The first Worlds experience for late-entry Joe Betterman (USOEC/NYAC) was not a long one as the 23-year-old Chicago native lost his first-round match to Norway’s Stig Andre Berge, 3-2, 1-1, and was eliminated from medal compettion when Berge lost his next match.

Neither Betterman or Berge were unable to score from par terre in either period and the Norwegian earned the second period when his defense scored the final point. In the first period, the margin of victory came when Betterman was penalized two points for failing to lock correctly in par terre.

Betterman was wrestling in his first World Championships after Joe Warren, the 2006 gold medalist at this weight, did not make the trip after apparently failing a drug test.

“Mr. Joe Warren has signed a provisional sanction with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency pending the outcome of an arbitration hearing for the use of Cannibinoids,” said his attorney, Ryan Robin, in a statement released Sept. 11. “Mr. Warren has voluntarily agreed to the provisional sanction and will not be competing for USA Wrestling until this matter is resolved.”

This is the second time that Warren, a 30-year-old native of Grand Rapids, Mich., was penalized for apparent drug use. In the spring of 2006, Warren was stripped of his U.S. National championship after he tested positive for a prohibited substance (metobolites of cannabis or THC). But he also received a deferred suspension, which allowed him to compete in the 2006 World Team Trials in Sioux City, Iowa, where he earned the 132-pound berth on the World Team.

66K/145.5 pounds

Overall, Lester won every one of the periods in the five matches he won and held his first four opponents — Finland’s Juha Hiltunen, Turkey’s Seref Eroglu, Cuba’s Mavil Consuegra and Romania’s Ionel Puscasu — scoreless in at least one period of those matches.

Lester was very effective in the first minute of his six matches as he scored 19 of his 40 total tournament points from the neutral position. This included the deciding point in the second period in the bronze medal match when Lester snapped the Hungarian down for a takedown shortly before par terre began.

“I came out here and I felt I was the best guy in this weight class, and I know I’ll feel the same way again next year,” Lester said. “If I train hard, I’m not going to doubt myself. I definitely think I can win the Olympics next year. I’ve got two medals now and I know I’m capable of being the best in the world. I have to build on what I’ve done these last two years and put it all together for the Olympics next year.”

74K/163 pounds

No American had a tougher opening match than T.C. Dantzler (Gator WC), who faced defending World champion Vladimir Shatskykh of Ukraine. Yet, Dantzler — America’s second-most veteran wrestler, competing in his fifth World championship — scored one of his best victories as he stunned Shatskykh, 3-1, 2-1.

Danztler, who lost to Shatzkykh in his first Worlds in 2002, won the first period when he scored two points off a reverse lift in par terre, then clinched the victory with a two-point front head/body lock in the second period.

Unfortuately, Dantzler was unable to use the opening-match momentum to his advantage as he lost his second-round bout to France’s Christofhe Guenot, 1-1, 3-3. Guenot, whose brother Steeve, won a silver medal at 145.5 pounds, won the first period when he was the second wrestler to defend par terre. Both wrestlers scored offensive points from par terre in the second period, but the Frenchman, who previous highest Worlds finish was 16th in 2005, broke the tie after his three-point move was better than a two-pointer scored by Dantzler.

Guenot went on to win a bronze medal, but his quarterfinal loss to Denmark’s Mark Madsen ended Dantzler’s tournament and will force the U.S. to compete in another Olympic qualifying tournament. In 2004, this was the only weight class that the United States failed to qualify.

84K/185 pounds

Vering opened up the tournament by outscoring his first three opponents — Nikola Kinezvic (Montenegro), Bolat Abdullayev (Ukraine) and Jan Fischer (Germany) — by a 28-0 margin.

Iran’s Saman Tahmasebi became the first opponent to score on Vering and actually won the second period before Vering used a third-period pushout to win the quarterfinal bout, 2-1, 0-3, 2-1.

That set up a semifinal match with Korea’s Jung-Sub Kim, who lost the first period 3-0, but was leading 1-0 in the second period before Vering stepped over a Kim gut wrench attempt and earns the pin with one second left in the period.

“One more to go, one more to go,” Vering repeated just minutes after reaching the finals. “There’s nothing to celebrate right now. I still have one more match I need to take care of.”

That did not happen in the gold medal match, where Mishin scored a three-point reverse body lock in the first period, and added a two-point front headlock in the second period to blank Vering with identical 4-0 margins.

“(Mishin’s) a great lifter,” Vering said. “I felt like on the feet he didn’t feel real big or anything. He was just really quick on top and he got me up in the first period and scored.

“In the second period, I took a chance and tried to get out and was real close to getting out. One more inch and I escape and it’s a totally different match. But instead I ended up in one of the tightest front headlocks I’ve ever been in.

“He’s very good and very dynamic, and knows how to wrestle. That’s why he’s won so many titles. But that’s all right, I feel real good about this and I’m going to get that guy when it counts.”

96K/211.5 pounds

There would be no double pleasure for former Nebraska wrestlers as Jason Ruiz (NYAC) lost in the second round to 2004 Olympic champion and eventual World champ Ramaz Nozadze of Georgia, 1-1, 3-0. Ruiz’s second chance to medal also ended in his first consolation match where he lost to eventual bronze medalist Marek Svec of the Czech Republic, 4-0, 1-1.

In each loss, Ruiz, a bronze medalist at the 2005 Worlds, failed to score from par terre and yielded a gut wrench to Nozadze and reverse lift to Svec.

Ruiz won his first match, where he dominated John Tarkong of Palau, 7-0, 7-0, as neither period lasted more than 25 seconds.

120K/264.5 pounds

Byers, who finished in ninth place in 2006 after being eliminated in the second round, won his first three matches, including wins over two former Junior World medalists.

After opening with a 3-1, 6-0 victory over Serbia’s Radomir Petkovic, Byers knocked off Bulgaria’s Ivan Ivanov (silver medalist in 2006 Junior Worlds), 1-1, 3-0, 3-0 and Greece’s Panagiotis Papadopoulos (bronze medalist at 2005 Juniors), 7-0, 5-0, in the quarterfinals.

(The majority of notes and quotes from this story were provided by theMat.com.) n