Vering, Wheeler and Byers receive draws for Greco-Roman wrestling on Thursday
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by Gary Abbott
BEIJING, CHINA - The last three U.S. wrestlers on the Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling team have weighed in and received their draws for competition on Thursday at the China Agricultural University Gymnasium.
Taking the mats on the final day of Greco-Roman competition will be Brad Vering (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 84 kg/185 lbs., Adam Wheeler (Colorado Springs, Colo./Gator WC) at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. and Dremiel Byers (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) at 120 kg/264.5 lbs.
Vering will be competing in his second Olympic Games. He was a 2007 World silver medalist and has twice placed fifth at the World Championships.
Vering will face Artur Mikalkiewicz of Poland in his first match. If he wins, he will face the winner of the bout between Shingo Matsumoto of Japan and Denis Forov of Armenia.
Olympic and World champion Aleksey Mishine of Russia is on Vering's side of the bracket and could potentially meet him in the semifinals. Another past World champion on Vering's side is Ara Abrahamian of Sweden.
"Brad is doing great," said National Greco-Roman Coach Steve Fraser. "He has trained very hard and very smart. He has been an example for all our athletes to follow, a great leader. He wants this badly. I expect him to do great here. He has been here before. He is excited for the challenge. He won a silver medal last year. I know he wants to improve it to gold."
Wheeler is competing at his first World-level event, after defeating 2005 World bronze medalist Justin Ruiz in the Olympic Trials finals.
Wheeler has drawn 2005 World silver medalist Lajos Virag of Hungary in his first match. If he wins, he will face the winner of the match between Samir Bouguerra of Algeria and Jiang Huachen of China in the quarterfinals.
Wheeler is in the top bracket and will not have a qualification match. In his half-bracket is 2004 Olympic champion Karam Gaber of Egypt.
"He has done a nice job of refining his needs for improvement during the last month and a half," said Fraser. "He is hoping to show the wrestling world that he can win a medal. He deserves it. He has worked hard for years. He is very talented, very big and strong. If he brings it, he will be right where he wants to be."
Byers was a 2002 World Champion and won a bronze medal at the 2007 World Championships. He is a member of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program.
Byers will be paired against Oleksandr Chernetskyi of Ukraine in the first round. If he wins, his opponent will be either Panagiotis Papadopoulous of Greece or Liu Deli of China.
Among the athletes in his half of the bracket are reigning World champion Mijian Lopez of Cuba.
"Byers has been at this level a few times himself. He was a World champion and a World bronze medalist. He had all the pressure of the team on his shoulders for winning the World Team title last year. There would be nothing better for him than to accomplish his goals, and win a gold for himself and his country. He has trained well, he is talented and he knows most of these guys. I believe he is ready to go," said Fraser.
Fraser does not put too much importance on the draw for these wrestlers.
"There is no ducking anybody here," said Fraser. "They are all tough draws. You have to beat them all. They need to go one match at a time."
Fraser is certain what his three athletes will need to do on Thursday if they intend to close out the Greco-Roman tournament with a strong finish.
"The key for all our guys is that they have to go after it. You have to take all you have learned, throw out ¼ of it, and just go out and battle. Whoever fights more and wants it more will make the finals. We have got to bring it with an attitude like there is no tomorrow. The last few days, former World and Olympic champions are dropping. It is the battle of the fittest. Whoever wants it, scraps for it and is willing to do whatever it takes, and then some, will win. Anybody can beat anybody. I feel good about these three guys. They are the strength of our team," said Fraser.
Taking the mats on the final day of Greco-Roman competition will be Brad Vering (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 84 kg/185 lbs., Adam Wheeler (Colorado Springs, Colo./Gator WC) at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. and Dremiel Byers (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) at 120 kg/264.5 lbs.
Vering will be competing in his second Olympic Games. He was a 2007 World silver medalist and has twice placed fifth at the World Championships.
Vering will face Artur Mikalkiewicz of Poland in his first match. If he wins, he will face the winner of the bout between Shingo Matsumoto of Japan and Denis Forov of Armenia.
Olympic and World champion Aleksey Mishine of Russia is on Vering's side of the bracket and could potentially meet him in the semifinals. Another past World champion on Vering's side is Ara Abrahamian of Sweden.
"Brad is doing great," said National Greco-Roman Coach Steve Fraser. "He has trained very hard and very smart. He has been an example for all our athletes to follow, a great leader. He wants this badly. I expect him to do great here. He has been here before. He is excited for the challenge. He won a silver medal last year. I know he wants to improve it to gold."
Wheeler is competing at his first World-level event, after defeating 2005 World bronze medalist Justin Ruiz in the Olympic Trials finals.
Wheeler has drawn 2005 World silver medalist Lajos Virag of Hungary in his first match. If he wins, he will face the winner of the match between Samir Bouguerra of Algeria and Jiang Huachen of China in the quarterfinals.
Wheeler is in the top bracket and will not have a qualification match. In his half-bracket is 2004 Olympic champion Karam Gaber of Egypt.
"He has done a nice job of refining his needs for improvement during the last month and a half," said Fraser. "He is hoping to show the wrestling world that he can win a medal. He deserves it. He has worked hard for years. He is very talented, very big and strong. If he brings it, he will be right where he wants to be."
Byers was a 2002 World Champion and won a bronze medal at the 2007 World Championships. He is a member of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program.
Byers will be paired against Oleksandr Chernetskyi of Ukraine in the first round. If he wins, his opponent will be either Panagiotis Papadopoulous of Greece or Liu Deli of China.
Among the athletes in his half of the bracket are reigning World champion Mijian Lopez of Cuba.
"Byers has been at this level a few times himself. He was a World champion and a World bronze medalist. He had all the pressure of the team on his shoulders for winning the World Team title last year. There would be nothing better for him than to accomplish his goals, and win a gold for himself and his country. He has trained well, he is talented and he knows most of these guys. I believe he is ready to go," said Fraser.
Fraser does not put too much importance on the draw for these wrestlers.
"There is no ducking anybody here," said Fraser. "They are all tough draws. You have to beat them all. They need to go one match at a time."
Fraser is certain what his three athletes will need to do on Thursday if they intend to close out the Greco-Roman tournament with a strong finish.
"The key for all our guys is that they have to go after it. You have to take all you have learned, throw out ¼ of it, and just go out and battle. Whoever fights more and wants it more will make the finals. We have got to bring it with an attitude like there is no tomorrow. The last few days, former World and Olympic champions are dropping. It is the battle of the fittest. Whoever wants it, scraps for it and is willing to do whatever it takes, and then some, will win. Anybody can beat anybody. I feel good about these three guys. They are the strength of our team," said Fraser.
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