Kansas Wrestling
Posted By: Mike Juby From the World Championships - 09/12/07 02:29 PM
Three months ago I was surprised with a phone call from Jim Ravannack, president of USA Wrestling. Jim informed me that I had been selected the first recipient of the President’s Award, which he intended to make into an annual honor. In addition to the recognition, this award includes an invitation to accompany our national team to this year’s World Championships!

This is a very special treat for me, and one that I hope to share with our membership through my thoughts and photographs at the World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan. Frankly, at this point this is an entire unknown to me – I’ve never traveled outside of the North American continent, the only major international event that I’ve ever attended was the 1998 Junior World Freestyle Championships when they were in Primm, NV, and I don’t know what I’ll actually be doing at the Worlds. As this adventure unfolds I plan on letting everyone know what is happening and what it’s like to be there.

My flight will be leaving from Wichita tomorrow morning. After stops in Chicago and Frankfurt, I should arrive in Baku late the next evening (Friday). Weigh-ins will begin on Sunday, with the first three Greco Roman weights beginning competition on Monday. I don’t know what levels of Internet access I’m going to be able to expect, but hopefully I’ll be able to post periodic updates throughout the week.

If anyone has any questions or special requests, feel free to post them here or send them to me via PM or email.
Posted By: usawks1 Re: From the World Championships - 09/12/07 06:19 PM
This is quite an honor for the Jubster! Congrats!!

I gather you have a new laptop! Do you have any idea what kind of ISP you'll have in Azerbaijan?
Posted By: CoachEd Re: From the World Championships - 09/12/07 08:19 PM
Go Mr Juby! We are so proud!

Ms. Jenni
Posted By: Mike Juby Re: From the World Championships - 09/12/07 08:28 PM
I haven't a clue concerning what kind of ISP I'll find when I get there. Hopefully either the hotel or the venue will have something so that I can let everyone know how things are going.

Randy, one thing that I'm relatively certain about is that the weather is going to be of a kinder/gentler variety that what we experienced this year in Fargo! As you know, it was there that I learned that running a laptop in sweltering heat can prove fatal for the computer! I do have a new laptop from which I hope to share some stories from Azerbaijan with you and anyone else interested in reading about the World Championships and a neophyte’s impression of them.
Posted By: coach craig Re: From the World Championships - 09/13/07 05:32 PM
Take pictures. Congrats. Good work this year.

Craig Adams
Carroll Jr. Wrestling
Posted By: Mike Juby Re: From the World Championships - 09/14/07 06:16 AM
It’s 6:40 a.m. am I’m pretty sure I’m not in Kansas anymore (if I were in Kansas, it would be 11:40 in the evening). Actually I’m in Frankfurt, Germany where I’ll be for the next 7+ hours until I board the final leg of my flight to Baku, Azerbaijan. One thing that I’ve already noticed, and didn’t expect, has been the presence of cigarette smoke in the terminal. I’ve become so accustomed to U.S. rules against smoking in public buildings that I’ve come to take smoke-free air for granted.

Thus far the trip’s been pretty uneventful. My first trip ever across the ocean occurred in the dead of night so I’m going to have to take the word of the airline that we were actually flying over water and not the prairies back home. The flight left Chicago at 3:10 p.m. and the sun had set before we crossed the shoreline somewhere around Toronto. I was flying on Lufthansa and would highly recommend them, based on the service that I experienced on this trip.

Although I haven’t met up with anyone else going to Baku, I did meet a nice couple from Iowa on the plane. As soon as they heard where I was going they began talking about Dan Gable. Not a bad figurehead to start the conversation with, even if you’re not from Iowa …

Although I’ve been on my own to this point, I am supposed to meet up with several others for the final leg: Craig Sesker (Media), Travis Shives (Media), Bernie Feldman (FILA assigned Medical), Tom Clark (official), Dave Errett (official) and Zach Errett (official).

Surprisingly, it does not seem that the Frankfurt airport has wireless available to the public. I have seen several Internet kiosks, so I suppose that they don’t offer wireless to avoid undercutting the fees they get from those machines. So I decided that I would type up my thoughts at this time and wait until I get to Baku to post them. Hopefully I’ll have better luck getting connected there!

Note:
It's now 9:20 a.m. and I tried to connect to a wireless server again. I think I just agreed to pay 2 Euros for 15 minutes of connection, but the site was entirely in German so my credit card bill may have some surprises this month!
Posted By: usawks1 Re: From the World Championships - 09/14/07 03:06 PM
I am green with envy! Sounds like a great time. Keep us posted!!
Posted By: Mike Juby Re: From the World Championships - 09/14/07 06:23 PM
I've arrived in Baku and have checked into the Absheron hotel, which is where the athletes and coaches are staying. It's a nice hotel and has Internet access on the 1st floor & the 10th floor, so I should be able to post updates throughout the World Championships.

One thing that jumped out at me was the security at the hotel. There is at least one policeman standing in front monitoring who enters the hotel, two more in the lobby and four standing guard on our floor (and I assume all of the other floors are likewise secured). Sure lets me know that this isn't just any old wrestling tournament in town!

I've already seen Pete Isais and Doc Bennett, and Mitch Hull was at the airport to get us through Customs and on the bus to our hotel. Mitch is being run a little ragged right now as he works to make sure that everything is running smoothly for Team USA. He said that things will settle down for him considerably once the competition begins, but he's expecting this to be a night where he's lucky if he gets one hour of sleep.

The Greco Roman and freestyle athletes are already here (although I haven't seen them yet) and the Women will be arriving on the 18th.
Posted By: Mike Juby Re: From the World Championships - 09/15/07 09:40 AM
I went to the Greco Roman team's practice today and took a few pictures. You can see them by clicking here or by going to the Photo Index.
Posted By: Mike Furches Re: From the World Championships - 09/15/07 01:26 PM
Mike, pass some love from the Furches family to TC.
Posted By: Mike Juby Re: From the World Championships - 09/15/07 03:25 PM
I'm nearing the end of my first full day in Baku and, although I haven't gotten to see any competition yet, I'm really enjoying the international experience. Right now I'm sitting in the lobby of our hotel which is full of coaches and athletes, all carrying on their own conversations. The result is about 10 different languages coming from every direction; I don't understand a word, but I'm enjoying it nonetheless.

Our hotel is located very close to the Caspian Sea, so around sunset today I went for a walk down by the sea and found the area very active. The Caspian is one of the most polluted bodies of water in the world, and I didn't see anyone in the water, but despite this the beauty is undeniable and it clearly attracts lots of people.

Tomorrow is weigh-in for the first three Greco Roman weights; so while there won't be any competition tomorrow either, at least I'll know we're getting closer.
Posted By: Mike Juby Re: From the World Championships - 09/15/07 04:00 PM
Another (nonwrestling) thing I haven't talked about is the very high level of construction that is going on all over the city. I would find it interesting to come back here in 4-5 years, because I think that the city is going to look entirely different. The building is partially being motivated by the fact that Baku is one of seven cities in the running to host the 2016 Olympics. Probably the greatest reason for the building boom is the high price of oil, which is Baku's principal source of revenue.
Posted By: Mike Juby Re: From the World Championships - 09/16/07 04:13 PM
Today has definitely had the feel of being the calm before the storm. For those of you who were bored by my photos of the old inner city, tomorrow should bring the focus back to wrestling as our first three Greco Roman weights open the competition.

To make sure that the photo gallery was not entirely void of any new wrestling pictures I posted some shots that I took at the freestyle team practice. The freestyle team had made some special arrangements to utilize a local wrestling club's practice facility. Although not nearly as nice as the workout room at the venue, it is walking distance from the hotel and they had it entirely to themselves.
Posted By: Mike Juby Re: From the World Championships - 09/16/07 05:04 PM
My roommate here in Azerbaijan is Larry Slater who, unlike me, is a real photographer. If you want to see an alternate site for some photos from the World Championships, go to his site by clicking here. There are any pictures on there yet, but there will be after the competition begins tomorrow. Wrestling will start at 9:00 Azerbaijani time, which is 11:00 p.m. in Kansas.
Posted By: Mike Juby Re: From the World Championships - 09/17/07 03:17 AM
I'm in the venue waiting for the start of the 2007 World Championships. I'd tell you the name of the venue, but I don't know how to print it in English.

They are currently announcing the athletes and action is set to begin. Hopefully the day will end with three U.S. medals!
Posted By: Mike Juby Re: From the World Championships - 09/17/07 08:26 AM
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.
Posted By: Mike Juby Re: From the World Championships - 09/17/07 09:13 AM
It's tough to beat an Olympic champion. It's that much harder when you have to wrestle that former champion in his home country. Harry Lester made a great attempt to defeat Azerbaijani Farid Mansurov but was unable to get the win. Mansurov wrestled a very good match, but it was undeniable that there were some very biased calls made that changed the outcome of this match.
Posted By: Mike Juby Re: From the World Championships - 09/17/07 11:18 AM
Well, at the moment I am in the venue and have Internet access ... no telling how long it will last, though. Lindsey Durlacher just wrestled his first match on the back side and was victorious. The schedule has not gone exactly as published and we have not left the venue since arriving this morning. Part of this time was spent on the opening ceremonies, which were actually kinda cool (that may just be my newby status talking, though).
Posted By: RichardDSalyer Re: From the World Championships - 09/17/07 01:24 PM
 Originally Posted By: Mike Juby
Mansurov wrestled a very good match, but it was undeniable that there were some very biased calls made that changed the outcome of this match.


As always, Mike is being diplomatic!

[Content deleted]

At this level NEVER should this type of error be made.
Posted By: Mike Furches Re: From the World Championships - 09/17/07 03:58 PM
 Originally Posted By: RichardDSalyer
 Originally Posted By: Mike Juby
Mansurov wrestled a very good match, but it was undeniable that there were some very biased calls made that changed the outcome of this match.


As always, Mike is being diplomatic!

[Content deleted]

At this level NEVER should this type of error be made.


Did I just read this post?
Posted By: Mike Juby Re: From the World Championships - 09/17/07 04:28 PM
Sometimes the coin flip goes your way and sometimes it doesn’t. In Lindsey’s case, his second bout in the wrestle-backs was his lucky match. In a closely wrestled duel against a Romanian opponent, Lindsey won all three coin flips. In the first round nobody scored, giving Lindsey the victory. The second round was a repeat of the first except that Lindsey lost a point when he did not lock on his opponent promptly enough to satisfy the official. The third period held true to form and Lindsey picks up a victory without scoring an offensive point.

Lindsey’s final opponent was a wrestler from Serbia. This was where his luck ran out, or rather, the coin flip didn’t matter, since his Serbian opponent managed to score on him in both periods while Lindsey couldn’t mount any offense of his own. Although I’m sure he’s disappointed, Lindsey was able to lock up a spot for the U.S. in his weight class at next year’s Olympics.

Before Harry Lester’s bronze medal match, the other bronze medal match in his weight class (they aware two bronze medals for each weight – don’t ask me, we’re living in FILA’s world here). In that other match, one of the wrestlers is from Armenia. The Azerbaijani crowd is now has a full head of steam as they are booing everything associated with the Armenian wrestlers. Generally I think wrestlers tune out most of what’s coming out of the crowd, but this is so pervasive that I’m certain it must be getting through to him. After winning the first period, he lost the second on a penalty in which I’m certain the official was influenced by the Azerbaijani fans. In the final period he was taken down to his back and appeared to simply give up as the crowd cheered and jeered him. I truly felt bad for him.

Harry Lester came out firing away in his final match, although he looks a little different with his head nearly completely covered in a bandage due to an injury he suffered in his last match. Quickly into the match he received one point on a push out when the score clock went blank. After a few minutes they got things up again, put ten seconds on the clock and awarded Harry his point. Lester added to his lead late in the period when he countered a desperate attack, scoring a takedown to secure a 3-1 first period win. As quickly as his first period came, his second period takedown came equally late. With only three seconds remaining before the clinch, Harry scored on a spin around takedown. With no other offensive points scored the remainder of the match, this sealed Harry Lester’s win for the bronze medal!
Posted By: Mike Juby Re: From the World Championships - 09/17/07 04:45 PM
 Originally Posted By: RichardDSalyer
 Originally Posted By: Mike Juby
Mansurov wrestled a very good match, but it was undeniable that there were some very biased calls made that changed the outcome of this match.


As always, Mike is being diplomatic!

[Content deleted]

At this level NEVER should this type of error be made.

At the end of today's wrestling I talked with Doc Bennett and the subject of this match came up. Doc filmed the match and confirmed most of what I had observed. He also made the comment that the only way Lester was possibly going to win was to be completely in control. At this level it’s pretty hard for anyone to totally dominate his opponent.

For the record I agree with Richard's comment (including the part that I felt I should delete).
Posted By: Disney Re: From the World Championships - 09/17/07 06:11 PM
Mike -
When you get a chance describe what the venue is like. Can you go down to the concession stand and get a coke or popcorn? I am just wondering how similar or disimilar it is to what we experience here.
Posted By: GNothern Re: From the World Championships - 09/18/07 01:45 AM
Mike, sounds like a wonderful experience! If you run into Coach Duroe of the U.S. Freestyle team, tell him the Notherns from Kansas say "hello". He is Nick's wrestling coach at Cornell College in Iowa. The U.S. Freestyle team should do well this year!
Posted By: Mike Juby Re: From the World Championships - 09/18/07 02:22 AM
Barry,

The venue is actually pretty nice. Think of the floor size of the Expocentre but in a round arena. Concessions are another matter - there is one booth outside in the concourse that had a stack of packaged sandwiches on the counter that you could pick from. For drinks they had a cooler with 5-6 different types of soda and juice. The only other vendor is the tshirt stand, where he has four shirts handing from a hanger. Once you find the shirt you want and agree on a price, he digs through his box to pull out your size. Just a little different than back home.

The services here would probably be the first thing you'd miss. I will do my best to not complain too much in the future about the costs and lack of choices at the Expocentre after experiencing what a true lack of choice is.

The security here is truly amazing. I've been on military bases with less military personnel visible. There are guard dogs outside the venue, metal detectors to get inside, and multiple guards at every door and hallway. Every seat in the front row (upper level, not down on the floor) is filled with a policeman for every minute of the event. I've been told that the IOC told Azerbaijan that their Olympic bid was dead in the water if there were any incidents at the Worlds; guess they're going to make sure that doesn't happen!

By the way, I am back at the tournament and currently have Internet access. Hope this lasts!
Posted By: Mike Juby Re: From the World Championships - 09/18/07 02:30 AM
Chip,

I really am having a great time. In some ways I think it might be good that this is my first World Championships. I’ve heard several people complain about the problems at this one, but without a point of reference I’m just enjoying all of the things that I’ve never experienced before.

I see Coach Duroe frequently and will pass along your message to him.
Posted By: Mike Juby Re: From the World Championships - 09/18/07 03:52 AM
We're starting out well today after winning our first two matches. Brad Vering easily handled Nikola Knezevic of Montenegro then T.C. Dantzler defeated the defending World Champion Volodimir Shatskykh (Ukraine) in a match where, while it was close, he was pretty much in control. What a tough first round draw (for the Ukrainian!).
Posted By: Mike Juby Re: From the World Championships - 09/18/07 04:32 AM
I don’t think I’ve seen anyone dominated at thoroughly as Justin Ruiz handled John Tarkong, Jr. of Palau (an island near Indonesia). It took Ruiz a total of 45 seconds TOTAL to defeat Tarkong (that's the total from both periods). If only they were all this easy!
Posted By: Mike Juby Re: From the World Championships - 09/18/07 05:03 PM
Today I got to watch my first U.S. wrestler in the World finals! Brad Vering had a great tournament, and this was his first time ever to medal at the Worlds after some near misses, but I’m sure it was still left a bitter taste to come so close to being the best in the world. Brad’s silver medal was our only award of the day, although Justin Ruiz came within two victories of the bronze medal.

The concession stands have adapted to the demand and now include candy and snack foods. Everything is still on the counter except for the pop. It’s a similar setup to what you might see at a small kids tournament in Kansas.

Although there are always going to be glitches at any tournament, you should expect more from the top level wrestling event in the world. Something happened today that I consider inexcusable. The greatest glory an amateur can experience is to stand at the top of the awards stand in the world championships of his/her sport and listen to their national anthem played. When the music started for the 74 kg champion, what Bulgarian Yavor dimitrov Yanakiev heard did not sound familiar to him. With a confused look on his face, he began to gesture that the song was wrong. After finally stopping the incorrect anthem, they then proceeded to start the wrong anthem at least two more times. Finally they gave up on getting the anthem right and raised the flags with no music, depriving this young man of the well deserved memory that he should have been able to cherish forever.

There were other snafus, including the main lights going out during the finals (there was enough remaining light for them to continue without interrupting the match), but the foregoing was the only one that truly troubled me. However, nothing can detract from the unbelievable wrestling that I’ve been able to see the last two days. Tomorrow we finish the final Greco Roman weight and start freestyle. In addition to today’s silver medal, we have also secured one more weight class for the U.S. team at next year’s Olympics.
Posted By: Mike Juby Re: From the World Championships - 09/18/07 05:43 PM
I stayed at the venue until the conclusion of the wrestling but, since the U.S. did not have a medalist in the last weight class, I headed back to the hotel as soon as that match concluded (and it was one heck of a match!). I just found out that they assembled the medalists from the 74 kg bracket after everything else was done to have a replay of the awards presentations, this time with the correct anthem. Better than anything, I guess, but it's still a shame that he didn't get his recognition when everyone was still in the arena.
Posted By: Mike Juby Re: From the World Championships - 09/19/07 02:01 PM
After three days I still haven’t seen my first USA individual gold medal, but I won’t complain about what I have seen. Although our two freestyle wrestlers did not place today, our final Greco Roman wrestler, Dremiel Byers, won a bronze medal. In doing so, he accomplished one of the two things that needed to happen for the U.S. to claim our first ever team World Championship in Greco Roman wrestling. The second fell into place when Lopez (Cuba) beat Baroev (Russia) for the individual gold medal. I know from these wrestler’s bios that they have met at least twice before and each time the Russian prevailed; but this time was the Cuban’s turn. With his victory, we clinched the title by one slim point! It was one of the few times that I ever remember enthusiastically rooting for a Cuban!

On other thoughts from the World Championships, I am amazed and impressed at the fans from Iran. They take up two large sections of the seats on opposite sides of the arena and sing, chant, clap and play horns and drums to cheer for the wrestlers. Even when they aren’t wrestling you can still hear them cheering (not sure what they’re cheering for, but they always seem pretty enthusiastic about it). I’ve talked with a few of the Iranians and they are always quick to say that the Iranian people like Americans and that it is the governments that don’t get along. I don’t know if I believe that is necessarily true for most Iranians, but the wrestling fans here seem sincere.

Another thing that I’ve noticed is the seating habits of different nationalities. When I was sitting next to several of our wrestlers and coaches today, I noticed that everyone automatically would sit with one seat separating them. As the bleachers would fill up, they would compress next to each other to make room, but the initial reaction was to establish some personal space. On the other hand, I regularly see fans from other countries, particularly the Azerbaijanis, who will sit next to each other, even leaning into each other, regardless of whether there are open seats of not. I will admit that I would prefer to have some space around me and would be uncomfortable sitting as closely as some of the other nations seem to. I’m not sure what that means, but I found it interesting.

Back to the wrestling, another non-USA wrestler that we were all cheering for (after his first match, that is) was Sait Prizreni. Sait defeated Mike Zadick in his first match, which meant that Zadick was finished unless Prizreni made it to the finals. Making this a little more palatable was the fact that Sait had lived in the U.S. for several years, training with and developing friendships with some of our team members. Unfortunately Sait was beaten in the semi-finals, coming one match shy of getting Mike Zadick back into the competition.

Since both of our freestyle wrestlers were eliminated, and Byer’s bronze medal match wouldn’t start until 6:00, I took my first break from the tournament thus far and went back to the hotel to go for a short run. I generally run or bike daily, but since I arrived I’ve only gotten one workout in since I arrived in Baku. Both times that I ran I noticed that I never saw another runner, something that rarely happens when I run in any populated area in the U.S. Not only were there not any runners, but I noticed that I was getting lots of strange looks. Probably amazed that that old fat man could run so fast (at least that’s what I kept telling myself!).

I hope you’re enjoying these reports. If you’d like to get more information on the championships, I’d suggest going to TheMat.com's Special Coverage or FILA's coverage.
Posted By: Mike Juby Re: From the World Championships - 09/20/07 04:45 PM
Craig Sesker, Communications Manager for USA Wrestling, asked me for my comments on being here in Azerbaijan when our national team won their first ever world championship in Greco-Roman wrestling. Since I assumed that he was looking for something other than “Wow!”, I decided to write down some thoughts and then rely on him to use his journalism expertise to pull what he needs from them (and hopefully make me sound better than I’m capable of doing for myself). Also, being the lazy type this seemed like a good opportunity to kill two birds with one stone by also posting these thoughts here, partially fulfilling my duty to update all of you on what’s happening here in Baku.

For much of the competition I had no idea that anything unusual was happening. I enjoyed seeing our athletes win, was disappointed for them when they lost, and relished every opportunity to see one of them standing on the medal stand and to see our flag hoisted high above the crowd. I kept hoping for one of our guys to win that world championship and witness the sound of our national anthem playing for this great crowd of wrestling fans that has assembled here. Frankly, it never even occurred to me to question where we were as a team for a couple of reasons.

First, one of my goals in coming to my first ever World Championships was to get to meet and know our world team athletes. Thus far, all of the ones that I have met have been great people, causing me to have strong emotional feelings concerning their success. Second, there is a real sense of pride that comes from seeing our nation’s athletes competing victoriously against the other nations of the world in this international venue. I suppose I was somewhat caught by the adage of “not seeing the forest for the trees.” The trees were our wrestlers, and I was entirely focused on them and forgot about considering the team. Third, it frankly did not seem to me that what we were doing was that monumental compared to what other countries were doing.

For those of you who are experienced in following our national teams, I’m sure my reasons seem quite naive at best. Perhaps so, but in my defense I would point out that USAW needs people like me whose primary focus is on the grassroots level. Having said that, I am finding that I’ve missed a lot in not taking a little extra time to learn about our national team members and to follow their quest to become the best in the world. Yes, I’ve always watched our team at the Olympics and paid attention to how our national team has done at major events like the Pan Am Games and the World Championships, but I’ve not ever really focused on the individuals on that team and what they were like. So maybe, in a way, my total ignorance in how the team score was going was a sign of my development as a fan of our sport at the elite level.

In any event, I entered the arena yesterday afternoon with a new level of excitement and a bit of trepidation after being told that we were within striking distance of earning our first ever world championship. Part of the equation that was going to give us the outcome we wanted was entirely in our control, but the other part relied on the team we were racing for the top spot losing their final match, and against an opponent who they had beaten at least twice before. Honestly it all seemed a like the odds were against us, but isn’t it when the odds are greatest that the emotional rewards are the highest?

As that Russia/Cuba match began, my anticipation turned to hope, then anticipation and finally belief as I saw the Cuban wrestler avenge his prior losses to his Russian opponent and secure us the world championship title!

Wow!
Posted By: Pelland Re: From the World Championships - 09/21/07 02:48 AM
This experience must be right up there with having your first child ( not really but you know what I mean). Keep the posts coming. I feel like I'm right there with you.
Posted By: Mike Juby Re: From the World Championships - 09/21/07 02:09 PM
Yesterday was a tough day for our team, albeit with a silver lining. For the first time since I’ve begun attending the World Championships (that’s four days, for those who are counting), Team USA did not have an athlete on the medal stand. Joe Heskett, Joe Williams and Doug Schwab all managed to come one win shy of the bronze medal, but that’s where their tournaments ended. A single positive aspect to come out of the day was that we qualified all three weights for next year’s Olympics, not an insignificant thing.

Today is starting to look at lot like yesterday, although I’m counting on a different ending. All three of our wrestlers, Daniel Cormier, Tommy Rowlands and Stephanie Murata, lost on the front side and were forced to wait and watch and hope that their opponent was able to advance to the finals, qualifying them for the Repechage (back side matches). In each case, the wrestler that they lost to was successful in making the finals, which means that they each have a chance to earn the bronze medal. Daniel must win two matches, Tommy has to win three and Stephanie must go four unbeaten matches to get the bronze.

Yesterday I was introduced by Rich Bender, USA Wrestling’s Executive Director, to FILA President Raphael Martinetti. I also had a chance to sit with Stan Dziedzic, former Olympic medalist, World Champion and the only U.S. member on the FILA board, and watch all of our three bronze medal matches. Since we lost all three of them I’m pretty sure that Stan wants nothing else to do with me.

One non-U.S. match yesterday that I enjoyed (among many) was when Temrezov of Azerbaijan wrestled Yazdani of Iran at 84 kg. In a terrific match between two highly talented wrestlers and backed by the hometown crowd vs. the most enthusiastic group of wrestling fans in the venue, the place was sizzling with electricity. The Iranian won the second period after the Azerbaijani won the first period, sending their match into a third and deciding round, where Yazdani won a 1-0 victory that helped propel him to his second consecutive World Championships bronze medal. What stood out most in this match was the great deal of scrambling that went on, reminding me very much of good American funk wrestling.

Today I got to witness the weigh-in, which would be familiar to any U.S. wrestling fan except for one distinction. Instead of drawing random numbers for their spot on the bracket after weighing in, they were presented with a computer screen with a digital deck of cards displayed, one for every wrestler in their weight class. They would choose their card, which would be clicked with a mouse to display their spot. All of this was also put up on large displays so everyone in the room could see the results as they happened. Since the byes all go to the top of the bracket, everyone is hoping for a small number. The display also shows all of the other wrestlers who have already picked their numbers so you can quickly see who your first round opponent will be.

There are a few other things that I’ve noticed that remind me I’m not at a tournament back home. One is the call for the top eight in each bracket to report to a special room after their awards ceremony is complete. My first thought was that this was for some type of private honor (once again displaying my ignorance). It didn’t take me too long to recognize what was really going on – the athletes were being required to undergo testing for banned substances. Of course I knew that this was required, it’s just easy to forget the differences at times. Another difference, and I’ll try to be delicate here, the men’s restrooms do not have stools. Everything that needs to be done in there is done standing up. I don’t think I’ll ever be comfortable with that.

A final difference is how confrontations are handled. Generally, in the U.S., if venue security personnel asks you to move, you may grumble but most people will comply, knowing that arguing too long or too heatedly will get you ejected. Here, nearly every time I see someone sit or go someplace they aren’t supposed to be and are approached by one of the security people and told to move/leave the area, a heated argument ensues. In some cases I see security actually lose the argument and walk away in disgust, and I hardly ever see any actual action taken against these people. I’m sure there is a line that can’t be crossed, but there seems to be a lot of gray area that involves a lot of very heated arguing.

Good luck to our three wrestlers today … we especially need wins from our freestyle men to avoid a medal shutout at this year’s World Championships!

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I wrote the preceding during the break before the start of the Repechage session, but was unable to post it at that time due to the Internet being down (again). Our athletes did a great job in this final session, lead by Daniel Cormier winning three matches on his way to earning the bronze medal (and making sure Team USA Freestyle was not shut out of the medal stand). Tommy Rowlands won two matches and Stephanie Murata had three straight victories which advanced both of them to the bronze medal match, but they came up short of the medal. All three of them qualified their weight for the U.S. at next year's Olympic team.
Posted By: Mike Juby Re: From the World Championships - 09/23/07 06:35 AM
This will be a short report in that I really don’t have a lot to report on. Yesterday all of our women were eliminated in the first session. This is the first time this has happened to Team USA at the World Championships, and left me with an afternoon and evening open. My roommate Larry Slater wanted to see the old city to take some photographs and I offered to serve as amateur guide since I had gone there the day before competition began. Larry is responsible for most of the U.S. photos here; you can see his photographs at http://lbsphoto.smugmug.com/Olympic%20Wrestling/361752.

Yesterday evening I went to a FILA banquet with Jim Ravannack, Stan Dziedzic, his wife Arlene and Hank Goldman where we sat at an all English speaking table that included representatives from Australia and Canada. It was nice having conversations that did not involve hand gestures and simple one-word phrases. At the banquet Stan Dziedzic presented awards to the current inductees into FILA’s hall of fame.

Today’s session is going much better. Kristie Marano is our first and only woman to reach the finals, where she will wrestle last year’s world champion Stanka Zlateva for this year’s title. Katie Downing lost in the semifinals and needs to win her next match to claim the bronze. Sara Mc Mann lost her first match of the day to Kaon Icho, but since Icho has advanced to the finals Sara will get the chance to wrestle back through the Repechage.

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Update #1: Both of the U.S. women wrestling in the Repechage won their matches to advance to the bronze medal match! In about an hour, we will have three wrestlers looking to medal at these World Championships. Hopefully, before most of you wake up this Sunday morning, we will have added three medals to our totals (one gold and two bronze). Wouldn’t be a bad way to end the 2007 World Championships!

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Update #2: One final first for me before I leave Baku. All three wrestlers today earned medals in their weight class, with Katie Downing and Sara Mc Mann receiving the bronze medal and Kristie Marano the silver. Today was definitely an improvement over yesterday. It is currently about 7 p.m. here in Azerbaijan. My flight will be leaving in nine hours and I'll arrive home about 27 hours later. I doubt that I'll be posting during the trip home and will probably need some time to recover and catch up on work, so this will be the last post for awhile. I hope you found the reporting enjoyable and informative!

Go USA!!
Posted By: usawks1 Re: From the World Championships - 09/23/07 03:22 PM
Great job Mike and have a safe trip home!!

I really enjoyed your reports!
Posted By: Chief Renegade Re: From the World Championships - 09/24/07 04:46 PM
Final Freestyle Standings from the World Championships!

Senior Freestyle Results
Team Score
1 RUSSIA, 68 pts.
2 TURKEY, 40 pts.
3 CUBA, 34 pts.
4 UNITED STATES, 32 pts.
5 UZBEKISTAN, 31 pts.
6 UKRAINE, 28 pts.
7 IRAN, 19 pts.
8 KYRGYZSTAN, 14 pts.
9 BULGARIA, 12 pts.
9 MONGOLIA, 12 pts.
9 GEORGIA, 12 pts.
9 AZERBAIJAN, 12 pts.
13 TAJIKISTAN, 9 pts.
14 ALBANIA, 8 pts.
14 BELARUS, 8 pts.
16 GERMANY, 7 pts.
16 INDIA, 7 pts.
18 CHINA, 6 pts.
18 ROMANIA, 6 pts.
18 KAZAKHSTAN, 6 pts.
21 GREECE, 5 pts.
22 COLOMBIA, 4 pts.
22 HUNGARY, 4 pts.
22 KOREA, 4 pts.
25 CANADA, 3 pts.
25 MACEDONIA, 3 pts.
27 SPAIN, 2 pts.
27 JAPAN, 2 pts.
27 SYRIA, 2 pts.
30 CYPRUS, 1 pts.


Russia dominated to say the least. They went 37-1 in matches and won 6 Gold's out of 7 weights. They won 74 out of 81 periods!

The U.S. qualified 5 of their 7 wrestlers.

Cejudo - 0-1 - DNP
Zadick - 0-1 - DNP
Schwab - 3-2 - 5th place
Heskett - 4-2 - 5th place
Williams - 4-2 - 5th place
Cormier - 4-1 - 3rd place
Rowlands - 3-2 - 5th place
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