Ellis Coleman loses only bout in first Olympic experience

LONDON, England — Not even the “Flying Squirrel” move, which made Ellis Coleman famous for the past year in Greco-Roman wrestling, was not to save the 20-year-old from suffering a loss in his only match of his first Olympic experience.

Former World champion Joe Warren shouted instructions to Ellis Coleman during his 132-pound match. (John Sachs image)

For in losing to Bulgaria’s Ivo Serafimov Angelov, 1-0, 7-1, of a preliminary match, Coleman actually tried to execute the move in the final 30 seconds of his match when he trailed 3-1, but slipped and let the Bulgarian add the final points of the second period.

In the first period, the match went to par terre in the final 30 seconds, but Coleman could not take advantage of his position and lost 1-0 when Angelov successfully defended the American’s gut attempt.

Coleman was eliminated from further Olympic action when the Bulgarian lost his next match to Iran’s Omid Noroozi.

““I did everything right,” Coleman said. “I trained as hard as I could coming into this tournament. It could have been my weight cut, it could have been nerves, it could have been whatever it is. I just didn’t go out there and compete. I was hoping to win rather than wanting to win.

CLICK TO HEAR ELLIS COLEMAN ON FIRST OLYMPIC EXPERIENCE

“(Angelov) had a game plan. He was waiting for it (flying squirrel) and he was ready. It’s tough to win a match when you’re playing catch up.”

Later on, Coleman said the following on his Twitter page: “If this was the Hunger Games, I’d be dead.”