News Page


2007 World Championships of Wrestling

Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 17-23
------------------------------------------------------




    

Wrestling notes

September 21, 2007


CYCLONES GET COMMITMENT: Andrew Long of Creston/Orient-Macksburg, a two-time Class 2-A state champion, said Thursday he will wrestle at Iowa State.

Long enters his senior season with a 129-13 record, with 11 losses coming as a freshman.

He will try to become the first three-time state champion from Creston. The Panthers won the Class 2-A traditional and dual-meet state titles last winter.

Long's brother, Dylan, was a two-time state champion. He is an assistant coach at Iowa State after a collegiate career at Northern Iowa that saw him finish second at 141 pounds in 2003.

"It was a bunch of different small things, and there were a couple of big experiences," Andrew Long said of choosing the Cyclones. "I knew a bunch of the guys and I fit in well there."

- Dan McCool

IOWANS FIFTH AT WORLDS: Doug Schwab, Joe Heskett and Joe Williams placed fifth at their weights in freestyle competition at the World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Thursday.

The four with ties to college programs in Iowa failed to earn one of the three medals in freestyle competition.

Schwab, an assistant coach at Iowa, competed at 145.5 pounds. Heskett, an NCAA champion at Iowa State, was at 163 and Williams, a three-time NCAA champion at Iowa, was at 185 pounds.

Heskett won four matches and Schwab and Williams each won three during their competition.

Iowa assistant coach Mike Zadick, a silver medalist last year, did not place at 132 pounds this year.

The last competitor with ties to the state is former Iowa City resident Sara McMann, who competes Sunday at 138.75 pounds in women's freestyle.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jenny Wong to replace Patricia Miranda in U.S. women's freestyle lineup at World Championships

Craig Sesker USA Wrestling
09/22/2007

BAKU, Azerbaijan - Patricia Miranda, a past Olympic bronze and World silver medalist, will be unable to compete at the 2007 World Championships. USA Wrestling National Women's Coach Terry Steiner said Friday afternoon that Miranda will not compete for medical reasons.

Miranda (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) will be replaced in the U.S. lineup at 51 kg/112.25 lbs. by past World bronze medalist Jenny Wong.

Wong (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) made weight Friday afternoon and will begin competition Saturday morning in Baku.

Wong placed second to Miranda at June's U.S. World Team Trials in Las Vegas.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Daniel Cormier, Tommy Rowlands, Stephanie Murata still alive to win bronze medals at World Championships

Craig Sesker USA Wrestling
09/21/2007

 BAKU, Azerbaijan – Americans Daniel Cormier, Tommy Rowlands and Stephanie Murata each lost in Friday’s first session, but each will have a chance to wrestle back for a bronze medal Friday night at the World Championships.

Cormier will need two wins to capture a bronze medal when the tournament resumes late Friday afternoon at the Heydar Aliyev Sport and Exhibition Complex. Rowlands needs three wins to earn a bronze and Murata stands four wins from a bronze.

The U.S. failed to win a medal in the first five weight classes in men's freestyle, earning three fifth-place finishes on Thursday. The women's competition opened Friday with three more women's classes to be contested Saturday and three more Sunday.

Russia continued its amazing run of dominance by placing two more wrestlers in the finals Friday morning on the final day of the freestyle competition. Russia won four gold medals and one bronze on the first two days in freestyle. Russia already has scored 66 of a possible 70 points and could finish with 68 if its two finalists win Friday night.
http://www.themat.com/specialevents/2007/worlds/default.php
Cormier (Stillwater, Okla./Gator WC) dropped a 5-0, 2-1 quarterfinal decision to Iran’s Saeid Abrahimi at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. Cormier received a chance to wrestle back when the powerful 24-year-old Abrahimi stormed into the final round. Abrahami has burst onto the international scene this year, winning May's Asian Championships.

Cormier had slipped behind Abrahimi for a takedown with just over 30 seconds left in a wild scramble that saw Abrahimi step over Cormier’s gut-wrench attempt to score the two points that clinched him the match.

Rowlands (Columbus, Ohio/Sunkist Kids) fell 2-0, 1-0 to World champion Alexis Rodriguez of Cuba in the second round at 120 kg/264.5 lbs. Rowlands received his chance to come back when Rodriguez knocked off World champion Artur Taymazov of Uzbekistan in the semifinals.

The burly Rodriguez controlled the match on his feet against Rowlands in a rematch of the Pan American Games finals, also won by Rodriguez.

Murata (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) dropped her second-round match to World champion Chiharu Icho of Japan at 48 kg/105.5 lbs. in women’s freestyle. Icho won 1-0, 1-0. Murata will have a chance to wrestle back after Icho made the finals. Murata, a past World silver medalist, faces a long road with the four wins she needs to earn a spot on the medal stand.

Day 2 of 3 in the women’s freestyle competition is set for Saturday. The U.S. entrants include Jenny Wong (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) at 51 kg/112.25 lbs., Marcie Van Dusen (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) at 55 kg/121 lbs. and Leigh Jaynes (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) at 59 kg/130 lbs.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Icho gains revenge, gold

The Yomiuri Shimbun 9/21/07

Chiharu Icho not only defended her world title and earned a spot on Japan's team to next year's Olympics, she avenged the most disappointing loss of her career. Not bad for six minutes work.

Icho defeated Ukraine's Irini Merleni 2-1 (1-0, 0-1, 2-0) in the final of the women's 48-kilogram class at the world wrestling championships Friday in Baku.

By winning what Japan hope will be one of seven golds over the final three days of the tournament, Icho automatically earned a berth for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where she will aim to improve on her silver medal from 2004 in Athens--where she lost in the final to Merleni.

It was Icho's third world title. She also won the gold in 2003 in the 51-kg class. But she moved down to 48 kg because the 51-kg division is not included in the Olympics.

On Friday, Icho turned in three easy wins before forging out a tough 2-1 win over Azerbaijan's Mariya Stadnik in the quarterfinals. In the semifinal, she defeated China's Li Xiaomei 2-0.

In the bronze-medal playoffs, Li came back after losing the first period to defeat American Stephanie Murata, while Venezuela's Mayelis Caripa Castillo also rallied to beat Canada's Carol Huynh.

Meanwhile, Russia completed one of the most dominating runs ever in the men's freestyle competition, taking the final two titles to make it six out of seven golds with one bronze.

In the 96-kilogram final, Kahadzhimurat Gatsalov defeated Iran's Saeid Abrahimi 2-0 (1-0, 2-0).

Not to be outdone, Biyal Makhov lifted the 120-kg gold, grinding out a 2-0 (1-0, 1-0) victory over Cuba's Valera Rodriguez.

Rank   Name   Country   Details
  1.   Icho, Chiharu   Japan  
  2.   Melnik-Merleni, Irina   Ukraine  
  3.   Li, Xiaomei   P.R. of China  
  3.   Caripa Castillo, Mayelis   Venezuela  
  5.   Huynh, Carol   Canada  
  5.   Murata, Stephanie   United States of America  
  7.   Stadnyk, Maria   Azerbaijan  
  8.   Mattsson, Sofia   Sweden  
  9.   Boubryemm, Vanessa   France  
  10.   Wagner, Brigitte   Federal Republic of Germany  
  11.   Sanchez Parra, Sara   Spain  
  12.   Kaskarakova, Lilia   Russian Federation  
  13.   Alzate, Juliana   Colombia  
  14.   de Paola-Martinez, Francine   Italy  
  15.   Wu, Li-Chuan   Chinese Taipei  
  16.   Le, Thing Trang   Vietnam  
  17.   Bremner, Kyla   Australia  
  18.   Kim, Hyung-Joo   Korea  
  19.   Eshimova-Turtbayeva, Jyldyz   Kazakhstan  
  20.   Savola, Sarianne   Finland  
  21.   Sambou, Isabelle   Senegal  
  21.   Medrano Cuellar, Ingrid Xiomara   El Salvador  
  23.   Rawafy, Wasilla   Tunisia  
  24.   Bondarenko, Olena   New Zealand  
  25.   Enkhjargal, Tsogtbazar   Mongolia  
  25.   Starovoitova, Yulia   Belarus  
  27.   Samira, Mona   Arab Republic of Egypt  
  28.   Toaza, Katiuska   Ecuador  
  29.   Muambo, Rebecca Ndolo   Cameroon  
  30.   Askren, Hana   Israel  
  30.   Okot, Julieta Kliford   Bulgaria  
  32.   Perez, Guadelupe   Mexico  
  32.   Psatha, Fani   Greece  
  34.   Matkowska-Sadowska, Iwona   Poland  
  35.   Nirmala, Davi   India  
  35.   Shakirova, Lilya   Uzbekistan  
  37.   Budu, Natalia   Moldova  
  38.   Croitoru, Cristina   Romania

Back