Although I was able to successfully access the Internet when I first arrived at the venue, the connection was soon closed and I lost and was unable to reestablish it. Although I can’t report live, we have Travis Shives and Craig Sesker who are doing live updates for TheMat.com from the press area (where they have Ethernet lines giving them access). Without a press pass, I am also unable to get on the floor to take photographs. Since I can’t give you good photos or live updates, I’m going to try and provide some insights that the other sites may not give you.
In the first USA match, Lindsey Durlacher split the first two rounds in a low scoring cautious match against Ronningen of Norway. The third period was all Lindsey’s though, as he came on strong, scoring on two push-outs.
Joe Betterman is considered a dark horse at 60 kg, but he had a good first match and had a real chance to win it. Although he lost his first match, he still has a chance that he might qualify to wrestle in through the back side. Since the top eight finishers qualify their nation in that weight at next year’s Olympics, the consolations have more impact here than at a normal World Championships.
After waiting for three hours to see our wrestlers’ second matches, both Harry Lester and Lindsey Durlacher ended up wrestling at the same time, making it impossible to fully observe both matches. It looked like Durlacher was pretty dominant over his guy, although there was some controversy and a TV review was necessary for him to get some of his points. Lester’s match was much closer, with several near throws by his Turkish opponent almost costing him the match. His athleticism won out in the end, helping him to avoid giving up back exposure from some improbable positions.
The loudest match of the tournament thus far was at 55 kg when Azerbaijan met Armenia on the mat. The two countries are bitter rivals, having recently warred with each other and having continuing unresolved disputes. Roushan Bayramov of Azerbaijan was considered one of the front runners coming into the tournament, but Amoyna took control in the first period, putting Bayramov on his back. After Bayramov won a close second period, the already steady cheering rose to a higher level. It looked like the home crowd’s support wouldn’t be enough, however, as Amoyna caught Bayramov in a three point throw, knocking the wind out of the crowd. When Bayramov managed to lift Amoyna off the mat the noise suddenly became deafening. As the home town boy was cheered on, he thrilled the crowd with a three point throw that won the match for Azerbaijan.
I just got to see Alexander Karelin – the man still looks like he could walk out on the mat!
Harry Lester’s third match was against Consuegra, a Cuban. The Cubans are uniformly tough and Lester had not met this particular wrestler before. Early in the match Harry seemed to be almost recklessly aggressive, nearly getting caught on his back as he tried to force a gator roll. After holding on to win the first period 1-1, he took over the second period. After initially scoring on a push-out, he used a gut tilt to score back points on the Cuban, catching him on his back at the all-important 1:30 mark. Since his opponent was on his back the action was not stopped and the Cuban did not get a chance to take the top position. Lester held on for a solid win.
Lindsey Durlacher’s third match was against Iran’s Hamid Sourian is the defending World champion at 55 kg. Durlacher seemed to be unable to stop Sourian’s reverse lift, which resulted in losing the first period to a throw and the second period to leg fouls.
I had been watching Harry Lester’s next opponent, Puscasu from Romania, in the first few rounds and had been very impressed. I thought Harry was going to have a tough time handling this wrestler. I was wrong.
Once again, Lester’s speed and aggressiveness nearly got him in trouble when his attempt at a high dive nearly put him under his opponent. In this match, however, he showed how devastating his gator roll can be as he scored on two consecutive rolls (would have been three but he ran out of real estate). A reversal late in the period gave Harry a 5-0 first period win. In the second period, he initially appeared to have given up the first point, but a TV review resulted in the call being corrected and Harry received two points (the mat official thought Lester had stepped out of bounds before the throw). Lester lost a second TV review later in the match that would have given him an additional three points, but it was unimportant as he held on for a very solid 3-1 second period win. Harry Lester will now advance to the semi-finals where he will meet 2004 Olympic champion Farid Mansurov.
