| Steven Mays named captain of U.S. Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling team |
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By Gary Abbott USA Wrestling
09/13/2000
 Steven Mays (Pensacola, Fla./U.S. Navy), the U.S. competitor at 54 kg/119 lbs., has been elected by his teammates as the captain of the 2000 U.S. Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling team. Mays, at 34 years old, is the oldest member of the U.S. Greco-Roman team. Mays serves in the U.S. Navy, and has been chasing his Olympic dream since the late 1980's. "I am truly honored," said Mays. "It is rewarding that the guys feel this way about me. When they said that they were going to elect just one captain, rather than two like they had in Atlanta, I thought they would go for some other guy. I'm both surprised and happy." He is a native of Kalamazoo, Mich., where he attended Gull Lake High School. He has served in active duty in the U.S. Navy for over 15 years. He is an E6 rank, and works as an avaition boatswain mate. He is assigned to the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy on Mayport, Fla. Mays was second in the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, losing in the finals to eventual Olympic silver medalist Brandon Paulson. At the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Mays defeated Paulson to qualify for his first Olympic team. Mays competed at the 1999 World Championships, and won a bronze medal at the 1999 Pan American Games. He was a 1999 U.S. Nationals champion, and placed second at the 1996 and 2000 U.S. Nationals. He first joined the national scene in wrestling in 1987, when he placed fourth in the U.S. Nationals. He is coached by Rob Hermann, the assistant coach on the 2000 U.S. Olympic team and the head coach of the 1996 Olympic team.
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