UPDATED: U.S. places fourth in Freestyle World Cup, going 2-3 in dual meets; Abas wins all five matc

Gary Abbott USA Wrestling
03/14/2005

The United States placed fourth as a team in the six-nation field at the Freestyle World Cup, held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, March 5-6. The United States had a 2-3 record in the tournament. Cuba won the team title, with Ukraine in second, Russia in third, the USA in fourth, Uzbekistan in fifth and Iran in sixth. “We wrestled well, considering the circumstances,” said U.S. coach Mike Duroe. “Four of the athletes, the trainer and I arrived there at 6:00 a.m. the day that competition started. It took four days for us to get to Uzbekistan because of travel difficulties. Considering that, we wrestled extremely well.” “A few of the younger guys are still learning the sport internationally,” said Duroe. “With the new rules, it is a completely different sport. Our athletes were very competitive. We would have liked to win those close matches. A lot of times, it went down to just one move making the difference. The quicker you adapt to the new rules, the quicker you learn how to win.” On the first day of action, Team USA defeated Uzbekistan 18-5 and Iran 14-11. Against Uzbekistan, six U.S. athletes won their matches: Stephen Abas (Fresno, Calif. (Sunkist Kids) at 55 kg/121 lbs. , Jared Lawrence (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm) at 66 kg/145.5 lbs., Joe Williams (Ames, Iowa (Sunkist Kids) at 74 kg/163 lbs. , Lee Fullhart (Blacksburg, Va. (Gator WC) at 84 kg/185 lbs., Daniel Cormier (Stillwater, Okla. (Gator WC) at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. and Tolly Thompson (Cedar Falls, Iowa (Sunkist Kids) at 120 kg/264.5 lbs. Against Iran, winners were Abas, Williams, Cormier and Thompson. Cormier hit a five-point throw in his match to claim the win. On the second day of action, the USA lost all three matches to Ukraine, 15-11, Cuba, 15-11 and Russia 15-12. Against Ukraine, the three U.S. winners were Abas, Lawrence and Williams. Against Cuba, Abas, Williams and Cormier won their bouts. Against Russia, the U.S. won four of the seven matches, with Abas, Lawrence, Cormier and Thompson scoring decisions. The key to the Russian victory was an injury default at 74 kg/163 lbs., when Williams could not compete due to injury. In addition, the U.S. was shut out in the matches at 60 kg/132 lbs. and at 84 kg/185 lbs. and did not score team points in those losses. Abas, a 2004 Olympic silver medalist, was the only U.S. wrestler to win all five of his matches during the World Cup. 2004 Olympians Williams and Cormier won four of their five matches.