Freestylers get accustomed to workouts in Turkey

John Fuller USA Wrestling
08/09/2005

Practice photos Izmir, Turkey - The U.S. men’s freestyle wrestling team spent Tuesday working on technique, strategy and getting down to weight for competition at the 2005 World University Games. The team, as will all three wrestling squads when they arrive, is training at the Ahmet Taner Kislali Sports hall in Izmir. The facility is approximately a 15-minute drive southeast of the Athlete Village. However, competition will take place at the Ozel Yamanlar High School Sports Hall, which is nearly a one-hour drive around the Aegean Sea from the Athlete Village. The training facility is as good as any overseas facility. The coaching staff has been very pleased. Three mats with brand new covers stretch across the gym floor. There are nearly 300 seats in the gym and plenty of floor space around the mats to jog following a workout. “We like the training facility,” men’s freestyle coach and current U.S. Naval Academy coach Bruce Burnett said. “For overseas conditions, this is generally as good as it gets.” The men’s freestyle team was the first to use the facility. As no participation lists have been made available for wrestling, or any other sport as well, the first glimpse the American athletes may have of their opponents could take place in the training facility. The wrestlers from North Korea worked out during the practice today, but with only four wrestlers on the squad, overcrowding was not a problem with the three mats. The biggest task so far for the team has been finding a sauna or steam room and an accurate check scale. There are saunas on site at the Athlete Village, but according to reports from many athletes in the village, it is hotter outside than in the sauna. The team did not bring a check scale with them from the United States, and there is no exact telling of how reliable the scales at the Athletes Village are as compared to the scales that FILA will use during weigh-ins. However, all of the athletes have managed their weight well and being on weight by the 12th and 13th should not be a problem. With only six wrestlers now in the wrestling room, the team has paired off into natural workout partners. Nick Simmons (55 kg/121 lbs.) and Nate Gallick (60 kg/132 lbs.) have worked out with each other. Jesse Jantzen (66 kg/145.5 lbs.) and Tyrone Lewis (74 kg/163 lbs.) have paired off and Chris Pendleton (84 kg/185 lbs.) and Tommy Rowlands (96 kg/211.5 lbs.) are working out together. Other Training Notes: