2012 Olympics • Greco-Roman • 163 pounds

2012 Olympics • London, England

Aug. 5 • Greco-Roman Tournament

Highlights of Ben Provisor, 74 kilos / 163 pounds

LONDON, England — Ben Provisor tasted victory in his first Olympic experience, but a lack of experience at this level hurt the native of Wisconsin who settled with a split of two bouts in the ExCel Center.

Ben Provisor (right) gave up a one takedown in the second period against Georgian Zurabi Datunashvili, which led to four more back points in this Round of 16 bout at 163 pounds

The 22-year-old Provisor actually lost the first period of his match with Cuban Alexei Bel, 3-0, before rallying to capture the next two periods of their preliminary match, 1-0, 1-0.

Unfortunately, Provisor could not muster the same magic in his second match and lost 1-0, 6-0 to Georgian Zurabi Datunashvili … and was eliminated when Datunashvili lost his next match.

““I just have to get better on my feet and score,” said the native of Stevens Point, Wisc.. “I couldn’t open him up on my feet. He was the longer, lankier style. I’ve got to get used to wrestling those kinds of guys. I’ve got to go over to Europe for an extended period of time so I can wrestle with the best in the world to become the best in the world.”

Provisor appeared to injure his elbow in the loss to the 2011 Junior World silver medalist from Georgia.

“My elbow is fine, it just popped,” he said. “It was real scary, so I just stopped wrestling. I would have needed a five-point move to beat him. I wrestled my best, I’m going to learn from this experience and get better.”

Ben Provisor’s Match-by-match Highlights

In his first Olympic match, Ben Provisor (top) lost the first period to Cuban Alexei Bel before coming back to win the next two periods. (John Sachs images)

 Prelim — defeated Alexei Bel (Cuba), 0-3, 1-0, 1-0 — After the Cuban won the first period from a takedown plus two points for exposure a minute into the bout, Provisor battled back to win the second period on a pushout at the 38-second mark, then defended par terre in the final 30 seconds of the second period.

 Round of 16 — lost to  Zurabi Datunashvili (Georgia), 1-0, 6-0 — The Georgian won the first period after defending par terre, then hit Provisor with an arm spin that took the American to his back for a 3-0 lead and transitioned that to a gut wrench and two more points for a 5-0 lead.