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Army wrestlers win 3rd consecutive national title

by Tim Hipps 5/15/03

LAS VEGAS (Army News Service, May 14, 2003) -- Reigning Greco-Roman super heavyweight world champion Dremiel Byers and 2001 U.S. World Team member Keith Sieracki won gold medals May 10 to lead the All-Army wrestling team to its third consecutive crown in the 2003 U.S. National Wrestling Championships.

"A three-peat, that means you're a dynasty," beamed Army Staff Sgt. Glenn Nieradka, who won a silver medal in the 60-kilogram Greco division. "That means we rank right up there with the Chicago Bulls, and our coach is Michael Jordan."

His Elderness of Rare Air, however, has not demonstrated the ability to compete and coach like Army Staff Sgt. Shon Lewis who led 21 soldiers to their third national championship in as many years since he retired from the mat and took the helm in 2002.

"The proof is in the pudding," Lewis said. "I don't know if this is a dynasty. This might be our last one. I honestly didn't think we had won it because New York Athletic Club had more national-caliber guys here than we did.

To thunderous chants of "Bam, bam, boom!" from his adoring Army teammates, Sgt. Byers climaxed the night by lifting and throwing Air Force Senior Airman Corey Farkas for a 3-0 victory in the 264.5-pound Greco finale.

"The thing people don't realize about The Big Easy is that he's getting better every match - win, lose or draw," Lewis said of Byers, who before the finals was honored as USA Wrestling's 2002 Greco-Roman Wrestler of the Year. "He's getting better and he's getting smarter. This is not a guy like 90 percent of the people who are wrestling at this level in the United States; those guys have been wrestling for 15 years. This guy has only been wrestling since 1996 and he's a world champion and a multiple-time national champion."

Farkas stole some of Byers' thunder by upsetting Rulon Gardner, America's darling of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, with a 4-2 overtime victory in the semifinals.

Byers was disappointed about missing a rematch with Gardner, but he was happy for runner-up Farkas, who recorded the biggest victory of his life. Byers was also happy to win a national title for his wife, Army Sgt. Sherwanda Byers, who is deployed to Camp Virginia in Kuwait.

"Everyone wants to see the big man cry when he gets his medal and they want to see the heavyweight do his thing," said Byers, 28, of Kings Mountain, N.C., who defeated Army teammate Paul Devlin 4-0 in the semifinals before disposing of Farkas. "I miss my wife and I wish she was here to witness this."

Spc. Devlin, 21, of Livingston, N.J., lost 7-1 to Gardner to finish fourth in the tourney.

Sgt. Sieracki, 31, of Richland Center, Wisc., won his fourth national championship with a 6-1 victory over Kenneth Cook of Cyclone Wrestling Club. He was elated to tie Lewis' mark of four national titles.

Army Pfc. Tina George, a silver medallist in the 2002 World Championships, also struck silver in Las Vegas. She was 24 seconds away from a gold medal when she dropped a 6-4 decision to Tela O'Donnell in the women's 55-kilogram gold-medal match. George accepted the setback as a wakeup call.

"I blew it," George said with a laugh. "Maybe I just shut down a little too early. I don't think I was as focused as I should've been because I've beaten her so many times before. I probably didn't wrestle with as much intensity as I needed. I just need to get healthy, get refocused, and get back in the game. It will be OK."

Even more important than team titles and individual medals, for the first time ever the Army qualified all 10 of its Greco-Roman wrestlers for the 2003 World Team Trials, scheduled for June 20-22 in Indianapolis, with a top-seven finish at nationals.

"For the first time ever," Lewis said with a grin.

Before any U.S. wrestler entertains serious thoughts about becoming a world champion on home soil or in Europe, he or she must survive the intensity and immense pressure of the World Team Trials.

With the 2003 World Freestyle Championships in New York City and the Greco-Roman Worlds in France, the struggle for podium tops will be nearly as great as in the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials. Team USA representation for the 2003 Pan American Games at Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic, also will be determined at Indianapolis.

Army Spc. Glenn Garrison, 29, of Portland, Ore., defeated Army Spc. Oscar Wood, 27, of Gresham, Ore., 9-0, for third place in the 145-pound Greco division.

Army 2nd Lt. Dominic Black, already qualified for the World Team Trials, finished fourth in the 96-kilogram freestyle division after taking more than a year off the mat. He lost 3-1 to defending national champion Tim Hartung of the Minnesota Storm.

Army Pfc. Iris Smith, 23, of Albany, Ga., was 10 seconds away from a semifinal victory in the women's 72-kilogram division before being pinned by Sunkist Kids' Samantha Lang. She rebounded to finish third.

Army Spc. Anthony Gibbons, 29, of Fort Myers, Fla., finished fourth in the 55-kilo Greco division after losing 4-1 to Gator Wrestling Club's Sam Hazewinkel.

Duaine Martin led the U.S. Marine Corps with a fifth-place finish.

Lieutenants Neal Rodak and Josh Feldman led the Navy with a pair of seventh-place finishes.

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2003 Women’s World Team Trials preview at 51 kg/112.25 lbs.

6/1/2003
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling

One of the top surprises from the 2003 U.S. Women’s Nationals was the gold-medal performance by young Malinda Ripley of the Sunkist Kids, who claimed her first Senior national title. A year ago, Ripley was a high school senior in California, who had placed fifth at the World Team Trials at 105.5 pounds. She was accepted into the USOTC resident program, the youngest person in Coach Steiner’s stable of athletes. In addition to moving up a division, Ripley had to contend with a challenging injury that kept her off the mats for months. Nobody was sure how ready she would be for Las Vegas.

Ripley defeated 2002 U.S. Nationals champion Jenny Wong of the Sunkist Kids in the finals, 5-2. Wong, also a USOTC resident athlete, has had a strong season. Highlights of Wong’s season included a dominant win at the University Nationals in April, and a medal at the Yarygin Memorial in Russia. She has the most experience of the athletes competing at this division now, and will work hard to get another chance to face Ripley in Indianapolis.

As a non-Olympic weight, the results from the World Team Trials may not determine the U.S. World Team member. Just like last year, medalists from the Olympic weight classes may challenge the World Team Trials winner for a spot on the U.S. team to compete in New York City, Sept. 12-14. In addition, this is not a weight division that will be contested at the Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic in August.

Last year, Wong won the World Team Trials, but was defeated in a Special Wrestle-off for the U.S. World team, by 2001 World silver medalist Stephanie Murata of the Sunkist Kids. This year, Murata is competing up at 121 pounds again. Whoever wins the Trials in Indianapolis may be open to a Special Wrestle-off from athletes medalling at 105.5 pounds or 121 pounds.

Placing third at the U.S. Nationals was USOTC resident athlete Katie Kunimoto of the Gator WC. Kunimoto lost to Wong in the finals of the 2002 World Team Trials. She rebounded from some disappointing performances this winter, including a fifth place at the University Nationals. Kunimoto is still learning freestyle, and has shown technical progress since last year when she emerged on the national level.

Among the exciting high school stars on the scene are Debbi Sakai of the Rainbow Wahine WC of Hawaii, who was fourth at the U.S. Nationals. Sakai scored a victory at the Junior World Team Trials this year, and has done well in other freestyle competitions.

The next two places at the U.S. Nationals featured college stars Patrice Crenshaw of UM-Morris and Sarah Hayes of Cumberland College. Crenshaw defeated Hayes by pin in the fifth-place match at the U.S. Nationals. Crenshaw, who represents the Minnesota Storm, scored a win over Kunimoto at the University Nationals. She ended the college season as the top-ranked collegian at her division. Hayes has also shown improvement throughout the year, taking a step ahead of the pack at many competitions.

Cheryl Wong of the Dave Schultz WC finished seventh at the U.S. Nationals, her top performance after a number of years at the event. Placing eighth in Las Vegas was high school star Sarah Bergman of the Minneapolis club in Minnesota, one of the many young Minnesota women wrestlers who are making a name in the sport. The final qualifier at this division is Marianne Vollmer of Missouri Valley College, who earned a spot in the field by winning a medal at a major international event in the past three seasons. Vollmer has turned in some strong performances in the past, but has lacked consistency at this level.

The Challenge Tournament will be a test of veteran Jenny Wong, who hopes to dominate the competition and move into the Championship Series against Malinda Ripley. Based upon past performance, Wong will be heavily favored to make it into the finals, but certainly, nothing is guaranteed with some tough young athletes looking for an upset. If Wong gets through, it would not be surprising to see her battle with Ripley go the full three matches. Whoever wins will then have to wait and see if they will be called out for a Challenge from somebody at an Olympic weight class.

2003 U.S. Women’s Nationals results at 51 kg/112 lbs.
1st - Malinda Ripley (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) dec. Jenny Wong (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids), 5-2
3rd - Katie Kunimoto (Colorado Springs, Colo./Gator WC) by fall over Debbi Sakai (Honolulu, Hawaii/Wahine WC), 1:03
5th - Patrice Crenshaw (Morris, Minn./Minnesota Storm) by fall over Sarah Hayes (Broomfield, Colo./Cumberland), 2:35
7th - Cheryl Wong (Boston, Mass./Dave Schultz WC) by inj. default over Sarah Bergman (Otsego, Minn./MPIS)

2003 Women’s World Team Trials qualifiers at 51 kg (112 lbs.)
National champion - Malinda Ripley (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids)
National placerwinners - 2. Jenny Wong (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids); 3. Katie Kunimoto (Colorado Springs, Colo./Gator WC); 4. Debbi Sakai (Honolulu, Hawaii/Wahine WC); 5. Patrice Crenshaw (East Point, Ga./Minnesota Storm); 6. Sarah Hayes (Broomfield, Colo./Cumberland); 7. Cheryl Wong (Boston, Mass./Dave Schultz WC); 8. Sarah Bergman (Otsego, Minn./MPLS)
Medalist at Group A Tournament - Marianne Vollmer (Grayling, Mich./Missouri Valley)