Skip to content
International
USAW

UPDATED: U.S. wins three Greco-Roman medals at CISM Military Worlds

Share:

by Van Stokes

Greco-Roman wrestling was completed at the 26th Military World Wrestling Championships in Split, Croatia Friday.

The Islamic Republic of Iran won three gold medals and a silver, while USA wrestlers garnered one silver and two bronze medals.

Organized by the Conseil Internationale du Sport Militare, known as CISM, over 20 sports are conducted annually with the motto of "Friendship Through Sports." The wrestling compeition featured the top military wrestlers from 24 countries.

In 66 Kg., SPC Faruk Sahin, of the Army's World World Class Athlete Program at Fort Carson, Colorado, took the silver medal after losing the championship bout to Afshin Biabanger, of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 0-5, 0-5. Both periods were scoreless after the first minute. Sahin was in the down position first in each period, and Biabanger took full advantage of Sahin with a lift and throw in each period for the margin of victory .

Sahin gained the championship bout by beating Mykola Savchenko, Ukraine, 1-1, 2-1 in the qualification round. Later, Sahin needed all three periods to defeat Hyouk Eom, Korea, 3-4, 5-2, 3-0.

At 55Kg., SPC Jermaine Hodge won the bronze medal by defeating Song Buer, China, 0-2, 4-2, 3-0. Hodge lost his opening bout to Gyu-Jin Choi, Korea, 1-3, 0-3. Choi, the gold medalist in the competition, pulled Hodge into the Repechage bout for the bronze against Buer, who lost to Choi in the semi-final bout.

Against Buer, the first minute of each period was scoreless. Hodge lost the draw in each of the three periods but seemed undaunted in the down position. Buer gained an exposure with a gut wrench and went on to win the first period. In the second period, Hodge lost two points when he was unable to execute the start, but quickly gained them back by turning Buer for two, and then hitting a high gut wrench for the margin.

The final period belonged to Hodge who was placed down first, and then kept Choi from scoring. Hodge picked up two more points when Buer was penalized for the start.

The other bronze medal was earned at 74 Kg. by SGT James Shillow, USMC, who beat Ju Bo of China, 7-0 in the first period. Bo was knocked out of the bout by a separated shoulde after Shillow stuck two gut wrenches and a tilt in the first period.

The United States placed fourth in the team standings, behind Ukraine, Iran and Belarus. There were 20 nations entered in the tournament.

SPC Aaron Sieracki, Army, lost his bronze medal match at 84 Kg. to Jan Fischer, Germany, 1-1, 0-4, 1-2 to place fifth. Sieracki beat Antti Hakala, Finland, 1-1, 2-1, to gain the medal match

At 96 Kg., SSG Deon Hicks of the Army was eliminated from medal contention in his first match, when he lost to Yasin Deliktas, Turkey, 2-2, 1-3.

At 60 Kg. SGT Donovan Depatto, USMC, defeated Alijaksandr Ruchko, Belarus, 3-0, 0-3, 1-1, before losing his quarterfinal bout to Artem Kudyk of Ukraine, 0-4, 0-6. Depatto was tossed in each period, and finished the competition out of medal contention.

At 120 Kg., SGT David Arendt, USMC, lost his opening bout to Hay Devender of India, 6-0, 1-2, 2-3, who subsequently lost in the semi-finals to the eventual gold medalist, Oleksandr Chernetskyi of Ukraine.

SSG Shon Lewis, of the Army, and the Head Coach of the Armed Forces Team, had high praise for the quality of the competition.

"As I watched the guys warm up, I am looking at four or five European or World Medalists," said Lewis. "This is an international first class tournament. I can't stress enough how tough it is."

When looking at the USA wrestlers, Lewis noted, "This is big for them because this is at such a high level. They need these international matches. This is huge."

Freestyle competition will be conducted on Saturday and Sunday.

26th CISM Military World Wrestling Championships
At Split, Croatia

Greco-Roman results

55 kg/121 lbs.
Gold - Mohsen Hajipoor (Iran)
Silver - Gyu-Jin Choi (Korea)
Bronze - SPC Jermaine Hodge (USA)
Bronze - Vugar Ragymov (Ukraine)
5th - Song Buer (China)
5th - Maksim Zaharski (Belarus)

60 kg/132 lbs.
Gold - Mohammad Mohseni (Iran)
Silver - Suresh Kumar (India)
Bronze - Seung-Jae Wo (Korea)
Bronze - Ismail Goze (Turkey)
5th - Svajunas Asomaitis (Lithuania)
7th - SGT Donovan Depatto (USA)

66 kg/145.5. lbs.
Gold - Afshin Biabangard (Iran)
Silver - SPC Faruk Sahin (USA)
Bronze - Heinz Marnette (Germany)
Bronze - Viasheslav Silivonchyk (Belarus)
5th - Bhauso Patil (India)
5th - Mykola Savchenko (Ukraine)

74 kg/163 lbs.
Gold - Neven Zugaj (Croatia)
Silver - Yauheni Silivonchyk (Belarus)
Bronze - Dmytro Pyshkov (Ukraine)
Bronze - SGT James Shillow (USA)
5th - Kim-Jussi Nurmela (Finland)
5th - Bo Ju (China)

84 kg/185 lbs.
Gold - Artur Michalkiewicz (Poland)
Silver - Andrei Baranovski (Belarus)
Bronze - Nenad Zugaj (Croatia)
Bronze - Jan Fischer (Germany)
5th - Bolat Abdulayev (Ukraine)
5th - SPC Aaron Sieracki (USA)

96 kg/211.5 lbs.
Gold - Andrzej Deberny (Poland)
Silver - Sergiy Yeroshkin (Ukraine)
Bronze - Reza Farzizadeh (Iran)
Bronze - Mindaugas Ezerskis (Lithuania)
5th - Han Zengfeng (China)
5th - Yasin Deliktas (Turkey)
10th - SSG Deon Hicks (USA)

120 kg/264.5 lbs.
Gold - Oleksandr Chernetskyi (Ukraine)
Silver - Bashir Babajanzadeh (Iran)
Bronze - Mindaugas Mizgaitis (Lithuania)
Bronze - Ioseb Chugoshvili (Belarus)
5th - Marek Mikulski (Poland)
5th - Hay Devender (India)
8th - SGT David Arendt (USA)

U.S. performances

55 kg/121 lbs. - SPC Jermaine Hodge (U.S. Army), 3rd
LOSS Gyu-Jin Choi (Korea), 1-3, 0-3.
WIN Song Buer (China), 0-2, 4-2, 3-0

60 kg/132 lbs. - SGT Donovan Depatto (U.S. Marine Corps), 7th
WIN Alijaksandr Ruchko (Belarus), 3-0, 0-3, 1-1
LOSS Artem Kudyk (Ukraine), 0-4, 0-6.

66 kg/145.5. lbs. - SPC Faruk Sahin (U.S. Army), 2nd
WIN Mykola Savchenko (Ukraine), 1-1, 2-1
WIN Hyouk Eom (Korea), 3-4, 5-2, 3-0
WIN Viacheslav Silivonchyk (Belarus), 4-0, 3-3
LOSS Afshin Biabangard (Iran), 0-5, 0-5

74 kg/163 lbs. - SGT James Shillow (U.S. Marine Corps), 3rd
WIN Kumare Suranga (Sri Lanka), 7-0, 4-0
LOSS Yauheni Silivonchyk (Belarus), 1-2, 1-2
WIN Bakhit Sharif Badr (Qatar), 6-0, 4-0
WIN Ju Bo (China), 7-0, inj.

84 kg/185 lbs. - SPC Aaron Sieracki (U.S. Army), 5th
LOSS Andrei Baranovski (Belarus), 0-3, 0-2
WIN Antti Hakala (Finland), 1-1, 2-1
LOSS Jan Fischer, Germany, 1-1, 0-4, 1-2.

96 kg/211.5 lbs. - SSG Deon Hicks (U.S. Army), 10th
LOSS Yasin Deliktas (Turkey), 2-2, 1-3.

120 kg/264.5 lbs. - SGT David Arendt (U.S. Marine Corps), 8th
LOSS Hay Devender (India), 6-0, 1-2, 2-3

Greco-Roman Team Standings
1. Ukraine, 53 pts.
2. Iran, 50 pts.
3. Belarus, 45 pts.
4. United States, 39 pts.
5. Poland, 33 pts.
6. Korea, 25 pts.
7. India, 24 pts.
8. Lithuania, 23 pts.
9. Turkey, 23 pts.
10. China, 20 pts.
of 20 nations

Read More#