Warren gold helps Greco team accept 'bittersweet' Worlds performance
From Media Reports
United States Greco-Roman national coach Steve Fraser called the American’s third-place finish at the 2006 FILA World Championships in Guangzhou, China, “bitter sweet.”
While Fraser was happy with his team’s performance — winning 18 of 26 matches and tying the 2001 team’s third-place finish as the highest in U.S. World history — the coach knew how close his team came to winning the team title, one year after finishing 13th in the 2005 Worlds.
After day one of the championships, the Americans were the most dominant team as the first three weights all medaled, including 132-pound Joe Warren, who capture the United States’ fifth World title. Fellow lightweights Lindsey Durlacher (121) and Harry Lester (145.5) brought home bronze medals.
While the Americans tied the mark for most individual medals in one day, there would be no more medals for Fraser’s group, including at heavyweight where 2002 World champion Dremiel Byers lost a controversial second-round bout with Ismail Guzel (Turkey), 0-3, 2-1, 1-1.
After dominating the first period, Byers was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct before the start of par terre in the second period. Otherwise the two wrestlers earned points for defending in par terre, the last one going to the Turkish wrestler, who later lost a quarterfinal match and ended any chance for Byers to come back in consolations.
“I was just wrestling,” said Byers about the caution called on him. “I was snapping (Guzel) down and he worked into a position and got caught. I didn’t throw punches, or anything. There wasn’t a warning. They just jumped to giving him a point. I didn’t like that call. But I should have used it in my favor.”
“Byers wrestled well,” Fraser said. “What can you do? The Turk is tough. It is unfortunate the ref gave the Turk one point. That was a big deal in that match. If Byers wins either of those flips, we win the World Team title. Byers gave his all. I am proud of him. I am proud of this team. I am proud of the U.S. effort.”
That was especially true of the 29-year-old Warren, who was competing in just his second World meet and was ranked 14th in the world prior to making the trip to China.
Instead he won all three matches — including victories over former gold, silver and bronze medalists — and became the United States’ fifth all-time World champion by scoring a takedown in the final 19 seconds of his gold-medal victory over Georgia’s David Bedinadze, 1-1, 4-1, 2-1 victory.
“I n
ever quit,” Warren said. “I’m the happiest man in the world. I have been working on this my whole life. I had a great supporting cast with my coaches and family. I’m the baddest man on the planet and I wanted to say that for years.”
This was definitely a happy moment for Warren, who otherwise appeared to have a tough year, in which his U.S. Nationals title was taken away after he failed a drug test and was forced to win a World Team spot as a No. 3 seed at the Trials in May.
“I never thought I lost that title,” Warren said. “It was a rough time and I dealt with that adversity. I moved on right after that happened. I kept training hard and I never lost my focus. I kept going and won the Trials, won the Pan Ams and then came and won the Worlds. That’s behind me and it’s over with. I made a mistake and I moved on and persevered.
“All I’m focused on right now is winning the Worlds again next year and then a gold medal in the Olympics. That’s the big goal, winning the Olympics. This is a steppingstone toward doing that.”
The following is a breakdown of the United States’ Greco-Roman performances in China.
55K/121 pounds
Lindsey Durlacher (New York AC) let his defense speak for him when it counted most, including both periods of his bronze-medal triumph over Venelin Venkov (Bulgaria), 4-0, 2-0. That shutout came after he scored an identical blanking over Anders Nyblom (Denmark), 4-0, 2-0, in a quarterfinal bout, and after he did not allow any points in the third-and-deciding period against Huafeng Jiao (China), 7-4, 1-2, 2-0, in a first-round match.
Durlacher, who lost to the eventual champion Hamid Sourian (Iran), 5-3, 3-2, in his semifinal bout, scored all his points from par terre in beating Venkov. Durlacher used a gut-wrench to score his first two points in the first period against the Bulgarian who was penalized for blocking a reverse lift with his legs. In the second period, Durlacher first defended Venkov’s par terre advantage then clinched the bronze medal by turning Venkov off a lift in the closing seconds.
“That was just a start,” said Durlacher, a native of Evanston, Ill., competing in his second World Championships. “I want the gold next year. I turned some heads with my wrestling today. I want to thank my coaches and all the people who believe in me. I didn’t do this for myself. I really don’t get that much out of my wrestling. I do this for the people who said I couldn’t win, I couldn’t perform. I do it for them. There is not a lot of fun in wrestling. Sure, it is fun to win. But other aspects of wrestling are exhausting. I do this for my family, my friends and the American people.”
In his only loss in China, Durlacher actually took a 2-0 lead against Sourian before the Iranian scored five points off a pair of par terre lifts in the final 17 seconds of the first period. In the second period, Durlacher scored a lift in the final ten seconds but could not overcome a 3-0 deficit.
“It’s like boxing,” said Durlacher, who thought he should have been awarded more points on his final throw. “You have to beat a champion decisively. If there is any question, it always goes to the champion. There is no question I got three on that throw. When you get that kind of exposure, it is three points. They reviewed it. They cheated me out of my possible World gold medal.”
60K/132 pounds
Gold medalist Joe Warren (New York AC) got a break when he did not have to wrestle Bulgaria’s Armen Nazarian, a two-time world champ, who was upset in the first round by Turkey’s Emik Bunyamin. But Warren did earn his world title by defeating a trio of former medalists.
Warren’s first-round victory came over 2001 World champion Dilshod Aripov of Uzbekistan), 2-3, 3-1, 3-1. Warren then added a 2-1, 1-1, second-round victory over 2005 silver medalist Ali Ashkani before defeating 2005 World bronze medalist Eusebiu Diaconu (Romania), 1-1, 2-1, in his semifinal match.
After losing the first period to Aripov, Warren stormed back to win the final periods by scoring a pair of points before par terre in each period. He used a body lock and exposure to lead 2-0 after 36 seconds in the second period before using a pair of pushouts in the first 44 seconds in third period to claim the victory.
In his win over Ashkani, Warren scored all his points from par terre, including a body lock takedown with nine seconds left in the second period to clinch the match.
Warren, a native of Grand Rapids, Mich., used a strong par terre defense to win the first period against Diaconu before a pushout at the 59-second mark in the second period provided the winning point against the Romanian.
“I’m not satisfied until I win,” said Warren, who also defeated Vyacheslav Djaste of Russia), 4-1, 2-0, in a quarterfinal match. “(U.S. coaches) Momir (Petkovic) and Shawn (Sheldon) have helped me so much.”
That came with 19 seconds left when he spun around Georgia’s David Bedinadze for the gold medal.
“I thought I screwed myself and lost the World championship,” said Warren, who trailed 1-0 by giving up a takedown at the 50-second mark in the final period. “I never give up. I stood up, took a deep breathe and took one more chance. I have worked on this my whole life. I am so happy. I feel like crying.”
66K/145.5 pounds
Harry Lester (Gator WC/USOEC), who lost his only match of the 2005 Worlds, also appeared to be out of the medal hunt early in the 2006 Championships, when the American lost a second-round match to Kyrgysztan’s Kamatzbek Begaliev, 7-0, 0-5, 3-1. Fortunately, Begaliev reached the finals, which sent Lester to the consolation bracket, where he defeated Gurbimaer Singh (India), 6-0, 3-0, then eliminated 2005 World champ Nikolay Gergov of Bulgaria, 3-0, 1-2, 1-1. Gergov also lost to Begaliev in a quarterfinal match.
Lester scored all his first-period points in par terre when he scored on a two-point throw at the 1:28 mark before adding a reversal ten seconds later. A penalty point against Lester provided the winning margin for Gergov in the second period. In the third and deciding period, Lester prevented the Bulgarian from scoring in par terre, advancing him to the bronze medal match.
Lester defeated Seref Eroglu of Turkey), 4-3, 4-3, in one of two third-place bouts. Lester was forced to rally from a 2-0 deficit in the first period as the Akron, Ohio, native scored a reversal at 1:15, a one-point turn at 1:20 and a two-point gut-wrench at 1:26 in par terre. In the second period, Lester used a pair of pushouts and a two-point gut wrench to lead 4-0 before his Turkish opponent hit a three-point throw in the final 17 seconds.
“I knew if I got a second chance, I wouldn’t waste it,” said the 22-year-old Lester. “I knew if I got there, I would give 150 percent, everything in my tank. “After last year, I wrestled so poorly. This year I gave 100 percent each match. Even though I lost, I gave everything I had. I am satisfied with the way I wrestled. It’s a different feeling. I beat good guys this year. I had to show everybody what I had, what kind of heart I have and how I can wrestle.”
74K/163 pounds
T.C. Dantzler’s explosive offensive moves were supposed to help him in par terre during the World Championships. But it was a lack of defense that prevented Danztler (Gator WC), the native of Harvey, Ill., from earning at least a bronze medal in China.
After defeating Choi Duk Hoon (Korea), 4-0, 2-2, 4-0, and Taichi Saga (Japan), 4-0, 3-0, in the first two rounds, Dantzler lost to the eventual silver medalist Yli-Hannuksela (Finland), 1-1, 7-0, 4-2, in a quarterfinal match.
In that contest, Dantzler held off Yli-Hannuksela’s par terre advantage for the first-period victory, but then saw the Finn wrestler explode for seven points at the 1:25 mark in the second period. In the final period, Dantzler used a body lock to score a takedown to lead 1-0 after 26 seconds, but surrendered a three-point body lock after Dantzler had the par terre advantage.
Since Yli-Hannuksela reached the finals, Dantzler found new life in the consolation bracket, where he defeated Roman Meleshin (Kazakhstan), 2-1, 0-4, 3-2, but then lost the bronze medal match to 2003 World champion Manuchar Krirkvelia (Georgia), 1-1, 2-1, 5-0. The deciding points came off a pair of par terre throws by Krirkvelia.
“I leave here losing to two World champs,” said Dantzler, whose all-time record in four World Championships is 5-6. “Those are the people you train year round to beat. It’s a bit of a letdown. Not that this is no chump tournament, but those guys you train to beat. Both matches I had them beat and they got away. Like Christmas in September.
“I felt like every match I came off the mat and left it all there. In this tournament, every match could be my last match. I wanted them to know my name before I left China. If not for my spectacular moves, for my passion. I look around and see guys with three or four World titles who didn’t do as well as I did.”
Dantzler pointed out that he was wrestling without an ACL since March.
“It has slowed down my progress on being aggressive on the top and on my feet,” he said. “In some ways, it has helped me in other areas. I know if I come back next time at 100 percent or even at 80 percent, it’s a totally different ballgame to show what I can do. It’s another stepping stone. It makes me more hungry.”
84K/185 pounds
Jake Clark (U.S. Marines), competing in his first World Championships, knew he had his work cut out for him especially when he found out that he would face 2005 World bronze medalist Nazmi Avluca (Turkey). Clark lost the match, 6-0, 0-3, 2-1, when Avluca’s reversal from par terre provided the winning margin after Clark forced a third period with a two-point headlock from par terre.
Avluca reached the finals, which extended Clark’s Worlds experience in consolations. The native of Waconia, Minn., defeated 2004 Olympic silver medalist Sandor Bardosi (Hungary), 4-1, 0-2, 2-2 — by executing a two-point reverse lift with 22 seconds left — but then was eliminated by Saman Tahmasebi (Iran), 5-2, 3-1, after the Iranian hit a pair of gut-wrenches in the first period.
Clark, who nearly converted a throw of his own, was confused a bit on how he gave up the points to Tahmasebi.
“It is my fault I lost,” Clark said. “When I am coaching, I tell kids, don’t worry about the refs. They can’t beat you. You have to take control of the match. Sometimes, the guy is good, and it comes down to the ref’s call. I was confused about how the points were being scored in that last match. There are times bad calls are against you, but you will get the call down the road. I feel I was on the wrong side this time and I had the bad call today. Maybe, I will get the next one.
“I know I am up there with these guys. I’ve gone toe-to-toe with a lot of them. I need to come here with a different approach. I got so fired up at the nationals and Trials this year. I felt good here. I’m going to be back, and hopefully it goes better.”
96K/211.5 pounds
Justin Ruiz (New York AC), a 2005 bronze medalist, was one of the United States’ more experienced wrestlers on the World level before the team headed to China. Sadly, the native of Salt Lake City, Utah, didn’t spend much time on the mat, getting beaten in his second bout.
Ruiz defeated Rami Hietaniemi (Finland), 1-1, 2-0, in a first-round match as he scored a one-point lift in the second period. But Ruiz lost to Young Han Tae (Korea) 3-0, 1-1, 1-1, when he was unable to score an offensive point the entire match. When Han Tae lost to eventual champion Heiki Nabi (Estonia) in the quarterfinals, Ruiz was eliminated from medal contention.
120K/264.5 pounds
Before Dremiel Byers (U.S. Army) lost a controversial second-round match to Turkey’s Ismail Guzel 0-3, 2-1, 1-1 (whose winning margin in the second period came on a penalty point against the American), the 2002 World champion opened up this tournament with a victory over Vladimir Guralski (Israel), 4-0, 3-0.
In that victory, Byers scored all his points from par terre, hitting on a two-point gut-wrench in each period.
But Byers’ loss to Guzel is what will motivate him for the future.
“I am going to wear this for the whole year, just like I wore it last year,” said Byers, who finished 13th in the 2005 Worlds. “I am ashamed about what happened today. I apologize if I let people down.”
(W.I.N. thanks TheMat.com for providing information and quotes for this story.)
United States Greco-Roman national coach Steve Fraser called the American’s third-place finish at the 2006 FILA World Championships in Guangzhou, China, “bitter sweet.”
While Fraser was happy with his team’s performance — winning 18 of 26 matches and tying the 2001 team’s third-place finish as the highest in U.S. World history — the coach knew how close his team came to winning the team title, one year after finishing 13th in the 2005 Worlds.
After day one of the championships, the Americans were the most dominant team as the first three weights all medaled, including 132-pound Joe Warren, who capture the United States’ fifth World title. Fellow lightweights Lindsey Durlacher (121) and Harry Lester (145.5) brought home bronze medals.
While the Americans tied the mark for most individual medals in one day, there would be no more medals for Fraser’s group, including at heavyweight where 2002 World champion Dremiel Byers lost a controversial second-round bout with Ismail Guzel (Turkey), 0-3, 2-1, 1-1.
After dominating the first period, Byers was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct before the start of par terre in the second period. Otherwise the two wrestlers earned points for defending in par terre, the last one going to the Turkish wrestler, who later lost a quarterfinal match and ended any chance for Byers to come back in consolations.
“I was just wrestling,” said Byers about the caution called on him. “I was snapping (Guzel) down and he worked into a position and got caught. I didn’t throw punches, or anything. There wasn’t a warning. They just jumped to giving him a point. I didn’t like that call. But I should have used it in my favor.”
“Byers wrestled well,” Fraser said. “What can you do? The Turk is tough. It is unfortunate the ref gave the Turk one point. That was a big deal in that match. If Byers wins either of those flips, we win the World Team title. Byers gave his all. I am proud of him. I am proud of this team. I am proud of the U.S. effort.”
That was especially true of the 29-year-old Warren, who was competing in just his second World meet and was ranked 14th in the world prior to making the trip to China.
Instead he won all three matches — including victories over former gold, silver and bronze medalists — and became the United States’ fifth all-time World champion by scoring a takedown in the final 19 seconds of his gold-medal victory over Georgia’s David Bedinadze, 1-1, 4-1, 2-1 victory.
“I n
ever quit,” Warren said. “I’m the happiest man in the world. I have been working on this my whole life. I had a great supporting cast with my coaches and family. I’m the baddest man on the planet and I wanted to say that for years.”This was definitely a happy moment for Warren, who otherwise appeared to have a tough year, in which his U.S. Nationals title was taken away after he failed a drug test and was forced to win a World Team spot as a No. 3 seed at the Trials in May.
“I never thought I lost that title,” Warren said. “It was a rough time and I dealt with that adversity. I moved on right after that happened. I kept training hard and I never lost my focus. I kept going and won the Trials, won the Pan Ams and then came and won the Worlds. That’s behind me and it’s over with. I made a mistake and I moved on and persevered.
“All I’m focused on right now is winning the Worlds again next year and then a gold medal in the Olympics. That’s the big goal, winning the Olympics. This is a steppingstone toward doing that.”
The following is a breakdown of the United States’ Greco-Roman performances in China.
55K/121 pounds
Lindsey Durlacher (New York AC) let his defense speak for him when it counted most, including both periods of his bronze-medal triumph over Venelin Venkov (Bulgaria), 4-0, 2-0. That shutout came after he scored an identical blanking over Anders Nyblom (Denmark), 4-0, 2-0, in a quarterfinal bout, and after he did not allow any points in the third-and-deciding period against Huafeng Jiao (China), 7-4, 1-2, 2-0, in a first-round match.
Durlacher, who lost to the eventual champion Hamid Sourian (Iran), 5-3, 3-2, in his semifinal bout, scored all his points from par terre in beating Venkov. Durlacher used a gut-wrench to score his first two points in the first period against the Bulgarian who was penalized for blocking a reverse lift with his legs. In the second period, Durlacher first defended Venkov’s par terre advantage then clinched the bronze medal by turning Venkov off a lift in the closing seconds.
“That was just a start,” said Durlacher, a native of Evanston, Ill., competing in his second World Championships. “I want the gold next year. I turned some heads with my wrestling today. I want to thank my coaches and all the people who believe in me. I didn’t do this for myself. I really don’t get that much out of my wrestling. I do this for the people who said I couldn’t win, I couldn’t perform. I do it for them. There is not a lot of fun in wrestling. Sure, it is fun to win. But other aspects of wrestling are exhausting. I do this for my family, my friends and the American people.”
In his only loss in China, Durlacher actually took a 2-0 lead against Sourian before the Iranian scored five points off a pair of par terre lifts in the final 17 seconds of the first period. In the second period, Durlacher scored a lift in the final ten seconds but could not overcome a 3-0 deficit.
“It’s like boxing,” said Durlacher, who thought he should have been awarded more points on his final throw. “You have to beat a champion decisively. If there is any question, it always goes to the champion. There is no question I got three on that throw. When you get that kind of exposure, it is three points. They reviewed it. They cheated me out of my possible World gold medal.”
60K/132 pounds
Gold medalist Joe Warren (New York AC) got a break when he did not have to wrestle Bulgaria’s Armen Nazarian, a two-time world champ, who was upset in the first round by Turkey’s Emik Bunyamin. But Warren did earn his world title by defeating a trio of former medalists.
Warren’s first-round victory came over 2001 World champion Dilshod Aripov of Uzbekistan), 2-3, 3-1, 3-1. Warren then added a 2-1, 1-1, second-round victory over 2005 silver medalist Ali Ashkani before defeating 2005 World bronze medalist Eusebiu Diaconu (Romania), 1-1, 2-1, in his semifinal match.
After losing the first period to Aripov, Warren stormed back to win the final periods by scoring a pair of points before par terre in each period. He used a body lock and exposure to lead 2-0 after 36 seconds in the second period before using a pair of pushouts in the first 44 seconds in third period to claim the victory.
In his win over Ashkani, Warren scored all his points from par terre, including a body lock takedown with nine seconds left in the second period to clinch the match.
Warren, a native of Grand Rapids, Mich., used a strong par terre defense to win the first period against Diaconu before a pushout at the 59-second mark in the second period provided the winning point against the Romanian.
“I’m not satisfied until I win,” said Warren, who also defeated Vyacheslav Djaste of Russia), 4-1, 2-0, in a quarterfinal match. “(U.S. coaches) Momir (Petkovic) and Shawn (Sheldon) have helped me so much.”
That came with 19 seconds left when he spun around Georgia’s David Bedinadze for the gold medal.
“I thought I screwed myself and lost the World championship,” said Warren, who trailed 1-0 by giving up a takedown at the 50-second mark in the final period. “I never give up. I stood up, took a deep breathe and took one more chance. I have worked on this my whole life. I am so happy. I feel like crying.”
66K/145.5 pounds
Harry Lester (Gator WC/USOEC), who lost his only match of the 2005 Worlds, also appeared to be out of the medal hunt early in the 2006 Championships, when the American lost a second-round match to Kyrgysztan’s Kamatzbek Begaliev, 7-0, 0-5, 3-1. Fortunately, Begaliev reached the finals, which sent Lester to the consolation bracket, where he defeated Gurbimaer Singh (India), 6-0, 3-0, then eliminated 2005 World champ Nikolay Gergov of Bulgaria, 3-0, 1-2, 1-1. Gergov also lost to Begaliev in a quarterfinal match.
Lester scored all his first-period points in par terre when he scored on a two-point throw at the 1:28 mark before adding a reversal ten seconds later. A penalty point against Lester provided the winning margin for Gergov in the second period. In the third and deciding period, Lester prevented the Bulgarian from scoring in par terre, advancing him to the bronze medal match.
Lester defeated Seref Eroglu of Turkey), 4-3, 4-3, in one of two third-place bouts. Lester was forced to rally from a 2-0 deficit in the first period as the Akron, Ohio, native scored a reversal at 1:15, a one-point turn at 1:20 and a two-point gut-wrench at 1:26 in par terre. In the second period, Lester used a pair of pushouts and a two-point gut wrench to lead 4-0 before his Turkish opponent hit a three-point throw in the final 17 seconds.
“I knew if I got a second chance, I wouldn’t waste it,” said the 22-year-old Lester. “I knew if I got there, I would give 150 percent, everything in my tank. “After last year, I wrestled so poorly. This year I gave 100 percent each match. Even though I lost, I gave everything I had. I am satisfied with the way I wrestled. It’s a different feeling. I beat good guys this year. I had to show everybody what I had, what kind of heart I have and how I can wrestle.”
74K/163 pounds
T.C. Dantzler’s explosive offensive moves were supposed to help him in par terre during the World Championships. But it was a lack of defense that prevented Danztler (Gator WC), the native of Harvey, Ill., from earning at least a bronze medal in China.
After defeating Choi Duk Hoon (Korea), 4-0, 2-2, 4-0, and Taichi Saga (Japan), 4-0, 3-0, in the first two rounds, Dantzler lost to the eventual silver medalist Yli-Hannuksela (Finland), 1-1, 7-0, 4-2, in a quarterfinal match.
In that contest, Dantzler held off Yli-Hannuksela’s par terre advantage for the first-period victory, but then saw the Finn wrestler explode for seven points at the 1:25 mark in the second period. In the final period, Dantzler used a body lock to score a takedown to lead 1-0 after 26 seconds, but surrendered a three-point body lock after Dantzler had the par terre advantage.
Since Yli-Hannuksela reached the finals, Dantzler found new life in the consolation bracket, where he defeated Roman Meleshin (Kazakhstan), 2-1, 0-4, 3-2, but then lost the bronze medal match to 2003 World champion Manuchar Krirkvelia (Georgia), 1-1, 2-1, 5-0. The deciding points came off a pair of par terre throws by Krirkvelia.
“I leave here losing to two World champs,” said Dantzler, whose all-time record in four World Championships is 5-6. “Those are the people you train year round to beat. It’s a bit of a letdown. Not that this is no chump tournament, but those guys you train to beat. Both matches I had them beat and they got away. Like Christmas in September.
“I felt like every match I came off the mat and left it all there. In this tournament, every match could be my last match. I wanted them to know my name before I left China. If not for my spectacular moves, for my passion. I look around and see guys with three or four World titles who didn’t do as well as I did.”
Dantzler pointed out that he was wrestling without an ACL since March.
“It has slowed down my progress on being aggressive on the top and on my feet,” he said. “In some ways, it has helped me in other areas. I know if I come back next time at 100 percent or even at 80 percent, it’s a totally different ballgame to show what I can do. It’s another stepping stone. It makes me more hungry.”
84K/185 pounds
Jake Clark (U.S. Marines), competing in his first World Championships, knew he had his work cut out for him especially when he found out that he would face 2005 World bronze medalist Nazmi Avluca (Turkey). Clark lost the match, 6-0, 0-3, 2-1, when Avluca’s reversal from par terre provided the winning margin after Clark forced a third period with a two-point headlock from par terre.
Avluca reached the finals, which extended Clark’s Worlds experience in consolations. The native of Waconia, Minn., defeated 2004 Olympic silver medalist Sandor Bardosi (Hungary), 4-1, 0-2, 2-2 — by executing a two-point reverse lift with 22 seconds left — but then was eliminated by Saman Tahmasebi (Iran), 5-2, 3-1, after the Iranian hit a pair of gut-wrenches in the first period.
Clark, who nearly converted a throw of his own, was confused a bit on how he gave up the points to Tahmasebi.
“It is my fault I lost,” Clark said. “When I am coaching, I tell kids, don’t worry about the refs. They can’t beat you. You have to take control of the match. Sometimes, the guy is good, and it comes down to the ref’s call. I was confused about how the points were being scored in that last match. There are times bad calls are against you, but you will get the call down the road. I feel I was on the wrong side this time and I had the bad call today. Maybe, I will get the next one.
“I know I am up there with these guys. I’ve gone toe-to-toe with a lot of them. I need to come here with a different approach. I got so fired up at the nationals and Trials this year. I felt good here. I’m going to be back, and hopefully it goes better.”
96K/211.5 pounds
Justin Ruiz (New York AC), a 2005 bronze medalist, was one of the United States’ more experienced wrestlers on the World level before the team headed to China. Sadly, the native of Salt Lake City, Utah, didn’t spend much time on the mat, getting beaten in his second bout.
Ruiz defeated Rami Hietaniemi (Finland), 1-1, 2-0, in a first-round match as he scored a one-point lift in the second period. But Ruiz lost to Young Han Tae (Korea) 3-0, 1-1, 1-1, when he was unable to score an offensive point the entire match. When Han Tae lost to eventual champion Heiki Nabi (Estonia) in the quarterfinals, Ruiz was eliminated from medal contention.
120K/264.5 pounds
Before Dremiel Byers (U.S. Army) lost a controversial second-round match to Turkey’s Ismail Guzel 0-3, 2-1, 1-1 (whose winning margin in the second period came on a penalty point against the American), the 2002 World champion opened up this tournament with a victory over Vladimir Guralski (Israel), 4-0, 3-0.
In that victory, Byers scored all his points from par terre, hitting on a two-point gut-wrench in each period.
But Byers’ loss to Guzel is what will motivate him for the future.
“I am going to wear this for the whole year, just like I wore it last year,” said Byers, who finished 13th in the 2005 Worlds. “I am ashamed about what happened today. I apologize if I let people down.”
(W.I.N. thanks TheMat.com for providing information and quotes for this story.)