Byers, Bergman win gold medals at Ion Corneanu Memorial in Romania
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by Gary Abbott
PITESTI, Romania - U.S. Greco-Roman wrestler Dremiel Byers (Colorado Springs, Colo../U.S. Army) and freestyle wrestler J.D. Bergman (Oak Harbor, Ohio/New York AC) won gold medals at the Ion Corneanu Memorial Championships, Aug. 22-23.
Byers, a 2002 World champion who is also a member of the 2009 U.S. World Team, won all three matches in a four-athlete round robin to capture the title. His key victory was over veteran Ivan Ivanov of Bulgaria, the eventual silver medalist. Other victories were against Constantin Scutariu of Romania and Anton Dok of Croatia.
In preparation for the World Championships in September, Byers has won a number of medals this summer. He won silver medals in the Heydar Aliyev Golden Grand Prix in Azerbaijan as well as the Pytlasinski Tournament in Poland.
Bergman, ranked No. 3 on Freestyle Team USA, also won three matches, defeating 2006 Junior World bronze medalist Nikolai Ceban of Moldova in the gold-medal finals. Other victories were against Viktor Aliasetskin of Greece and Georgi Sredcov of Bulgaria.
In total, the United States won seven medals, four in Greco-Roman and three in freestyle. As a team, the USA was third in the Greco-Roman competition, trailing only Romania and Turkey. With only four freestyle athletes entered, the U.S. placed sixth in the freestyle tournament.
Other Greco-Roman medalists were silver medalists Faruk Sahin (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. and Robbie Smith (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 96 kg/211.5 lbs., plus bronze medalist Joe Betterman (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 60 kg/132 lbs.
Sahin, a 2009 U.S. Greco-Roman World Team member, won three straight matches to reach the finals, including a key victory over Ian Panait of Romania in the semifinals. He was beaten in the finals by 2005 European silver medalist Christian Fetzer of Germany.
Smith defeated a pair of Romanian athletes to reach the finals, Anatolie Moldovan and Maran Cazac. He lost in the gold-medal match to 2005 European silver medalist Serkan Ozden of Turkey.
Betterman was beaten in his opening bout by three-time World bronze medalist Eusebio Diaconu of Romania, but won two repechage bouts to claim the bronze. He beat Aurelian Leciu of Romania in his bronze-medal match.
The other freestyle medalists were silver medalist Coleman Scott (Stillwater, Okla./Gator WC) at 60 kg/132 lbs. and bronze medalist Carl Fronhofer (Hoboken, N.J./Sunkist Kids) at 84 kg/185 lbs. Both are ranked No. 3 on Freestyle Team USA.
Scott defeated Andrei Prepelita of Moldova and Mehmet Yozgot of Turkey to reach the finals, where he was beaten by George Bucur of Romania. Bucur was fifth in the European Championships this year.
Fronhofer lost to eventual champion Anthony Fasugba of Italy in the first bout, but rebounded to defeat Vitalie Mandrescu of Moldova in the bronze-medal bout.
ION CORNEANU MEMORIAL
At Pitesti, Romania, Aug. 21-23
55 kg/121 lbs.
Gold - Virgil Munteanu (Romania)
Silver - Florin Gavrila (Romania)
Bronze - Anders Ronningen (Norway)
Bronze - Rusten Hammet (Turkey)
5th - Cristian Vagiunic (Romania)
5th - Laurentiu Macarei (Romania)
60 kg/132 lbs.
Gold - Eusebiu Diaconu (Romania)
Silver - Vyacheslav Pak (Ukraine)
Bronze - Soner Sucu (Turkey)
Bronze - Joe Betterman (USA)
5th - Alberto Martinez (Spain)
5th - Aurelian Leciu (Romania)
66 kg/145.5 lbs.
Gold - Christian Fetzer (Germany)
Silver - Faruk Sahin (USA)
Bronze - Ion Panait (Romania)
Bronze - Ismael Navaro (Spain)
5th - Vladimir Zaporojan (Moldova)
5th - Artem Kudyk (Ukraine)
74 kg/163 lbs.
Gold - Selcuk Cebi (Turkey)
Silver - Seref Tufenk (Turkey)
Bronze - Neven Zugaj (Croatia)
Bronze - Zoltan Lacatos (Hungary)
5th - Bozo Starceui (Croatia)
5th - Juan Ruiz (Spain)
84 kg/185 lbs.
Gold - Hristo Marinov (Bulgaria)
Silver - Nenad Zugaj (Croatia)
Bronze - Amer Hrutanovic (Austria)
Bronze - Zsolt Dajko (Hungary)
5th - Pedro Garcia (Spain)
5th - Laszlo Antunovics (Hungary)
96 kg/211.5 lbs.
Gold - Ozden Serkan (Turkey)
Silver - Robbie Smith (USA)
Bronze - Anatolie Moldovan (Moldova)
Bronze - Theodoros Tounousidis (Greece)
5th - Marin Cazac (Moldova)
6th - Dumitru Lupu (Moldova)
120 kg/264.5 lbs.
Gold - Dremiel Byers (USA)
Silver - Ivan Ivanov (Bulgaria)
Bronze - Constantin Scutariu (Romania)
4th - Anton Dok (Croatia)
Team Standings
1. Romania, 23
2. Turkey, 20
3. United States, 16
4. Croatia, 10
5. Bulgaria, 9
6. Hungary, 7
7. Moldova, 6
8. Spain, 6
9. Germany, 5
10. Ukraine, 5
(of 19 nations)
U.S. Greco-Roman performance
60 kg/132 lbs. - Joe Betterman, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC), 3rd
LOSS Eusebio Diaconu (Romania)
WIN Jeremiah Davis (USA)
WIN Aurelian Leciu (Romania)
60 kg/132 lbs. - Jeremiah Davis, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army), dnp
WIN Rumen Savchev (Bulgaria)
LOSS Eusebia Dianconu (Romania)
LOSS Joe Betterman (USA)
60 kg/132 lbs. - Chad Vandiver, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids), dnp
WIN Art Hatsatcourov (Greece)
LOSS Aurelian Leciu (Romania)
66 kg/145.5 lbs. - Faruk Sahin, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army), 2nd
WIN Ion Selaru (Romania)
WIN Vladimir Zaporojan (Moldova)
WIN Ion Panait (Romania)
LOSS Christian Fetzer (Germany)
66 kg/145.5 lbs. - Jake Curby, Marquette, Mich. (USOEC/Gator WC), dnp
LOSS Christian Fetzer (Germany)
WIN Nikolai Cercel (Romania)
LOSS Artem Kudyk (Ukraine)
74 kg/163 lbs. - George Bancroft, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Bison WC), dnp
WIN Anton Gottfredson (USA)
LOSS Juan Ruiz (Spain)
74 kg/163 lbs. - Anton Gottfredson, Colorado Springs, Colo. (USOTC), dnp
LOSS George Bancroft (USA)
84 kg/185 lbs. - Tomas Gonzales, Fontanafredda, Italy (U.S. Army), dnp
LOSS Zsolt Dajko (Hungary)
96 kg/211.5 lbs. - Robbie Smith, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC), 2nd
WIN Anatolie Moldovan (Moldova)
WIN Maran Cazac (Moldova)
LOSS Serkan Ozden (Turkey)
120 kg/264.5 lbs. - Dremiel Byers, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army), 1st
WIN Ivan Ivanov (Bulgaria)
WIN Anton Dok (Croatia)
WIN Constantin Scutariu (Romania)
Freestyle results
55 kg/121 lbs.
Gold - Andrei Ducov (Romania)
Silver - Ion Guidea (Moldova)
Bronze - Alexandru Chirtoaca (Moldova)
Bronze - Tim Schleicher (Germany)
5th - Valentin Popescu (Romania)
5th - Csaba Uveges (Romania)
60 kg/132 lbs.
Gold - George Bucur (Romania)
Silver - Coleman Scott (USA)
Bronze - Andrei Prepelita (Moldova)
Bronze - Svetoslav Neychev (Bulgaria)
5th - Mehmet Yozgot (Turkey)
5th - Davor Tasey (Macedonia)
66 kg/145.5 lbs.
Gold - Gergo Weller (Hungary)
Silver - Saba Bolaghi (Germany)
Bronze - Yakup Gor (Turkey)
Bronze - Stefan Daniliuc (Romania)
5th - Dimitar Tsvetkov (Bulgaria)
5th - Ariz Bolat (Turkey)
74 kg/163 lbs.
Gold - Andriy Shyyka (Germany)
Silver - Hatos Gabor (Hungary)
Bronze - Apostolos Taskoudis (Greece)
Bronze - Alexandru Burca (Moldova)
5th - Laszlo Szabolos (Romania)
5th - Ivan Deliverschi (Bulgaria)
84 kg/185 lbs.
Gold - Anthony Fasugba (Italy)
Silver - Dejan Bogdanov (Macedonia)
Bronze - Carl Fronhofer (USA)
Bronze - Andrei Frant (Romania)
5th - Vitalie Mandrescu (Moldova)
5th - Iliev Lyuben (Bulgaria)
96 kg/211.5 lbs.
Gold - J.D. Bergman (USA)
Silver - Nicolae Ceban (Moldova)
Bronze - Georgi Sredcov (Bulgaria)
Bronze - Kenan Gor (Turkey)
5th - Viktor Aliosetskin (Greece)
5th - Hakki Ceylan (Turkey)
120 kg/264.5 lbs.
Gold - Recef Icara (Turkey)
Silver - Dimiter Cumcev (Bulgaria)
Bronze - Claudiu Moldovan (Romania)
Bronze - Iuszup Murgev (Hungary)
5th - Fatih Kakiroglu (Turkey)
5th - Andrei Pdosevalinicov (Moldova)
Team Standings
1. Romania, 22
2. Moldova, 20
3. Turkey, 15
4. Bulgaria, 13
5. Germany, 13
6. USA, 12
7. Hungary, 7
8. Italy, 5
9. Macedonia, 4
10. Greece, 3
(of 18 nations)
U.S. men's Freestyle performance
55 kg/121 lbs. - Obenson Blanc, Stillwater, Okla. (Gator WC), dnp
WIN Yildiz Gakhan (Turkey)
LOSS Tim Schleicher (Germany)
60 kg/132 lbs. - Coleman Scott, Stillwater, Okla. (Gator WC), 2nd
WIN Andrei Prepelita (Moldova)
WIN Mehmet Yozgot (Turkey)
LOSS George Bucur (Romania)
84kg/185 lbs. - Carl Fronhofer, Hoboken, N.J. (Sunkist Kids), 3rd
LOSS Anthony Fasugba (Italy)
WIN Vitalie Mandrescu (Moldova)
96 kg/211.5 lbs. - J.D. Bergman, Oak Harbor, Ohio (New York AC), 1st
WIN Viktor Aliasetskin (Greece)
WIN Georgi Sredcov (Bulgaria)
WIN Nikolai Ceban (Moldova)
Byers, a 2002 World champion who is also a member of the 2009 U.S. World Team, won all three matches in a four-athlete round robin to capture the title. His key victory was over veteran Ivan Ivanov of Bulgaria, the eventual silver medalist. Other victories were against Constantin Scutariu of Romania and Anton Dok of Croatia.
In preparation for the World Championships in September, Byers has won a number of medals this summer. He won silver medals in the Heydar Aliyev Golden Grand Prix in Azerbaijan as well as the Pytlasinski Tournament in Poland.
Bergman, ranked No. 3 on Freestyle Team USA, also won three matches, defeating 2006 Junior World bronze medalist Nikolai Ceban of Moldova in the gold-medal finals. Other victories were against Viktor Aliasetskin of Greece and Georgi Sredcov of Bulgaria.
In total, the United States won seven medals, four in Greco-Roman and three in freestyle. As a team, the USA was third in the Greco-Roman competition, trailing only Romania and Turkey. With only four freestyle athletes entered, the U.S. placed sixth in the freestyle tournament.
Other Greco-Roman medalists were silver medalists Faruk Sahin (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. and Robbie Smith (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 96 kg/211.5 lbs., plus bronze medalist Joe Betterman (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 60 kg/132 lbs.
Sahin, a 2009 U.S. Greco-Roman World Team member, won three straight matches to reach the finals, including a key victory over Ian Panait of Romania in the semifinals. He was beaten in the finals by 2005 European silver medalist Christian Fetzer of Germany.
Smith defeated a pair of Romanian athletes to reach the finals, Anatolie Moldovan and Maran Cazac. He lost in the gold-medal match to 2005 European silver medalist Serkan Ozden of Turkey.
Betterman was beaten in his opening bout by three-time World bronze medalist Eusebio Diaconu of Romania, but won two repechage bouts to claim the bronze. He beat Aurelian Leciu of Romania in his bronze-medal match.
The other freestyle medalists were silver medalist Coleman Scott (Stillwater, Okla./Gator WC) at 60 kg/132 lbs. and bronze medalist Carl Fronhofer (Hoboken, N.J./Sunkist Kids) at 84 kg/185 lbs. Both are ranked No. 3 on Freestyle Team USA.
Scott defeated Andrei Prepelita of Moldova and Mehmet Yozgot of Turkey to reach the finals, where he was beaten by George Bucur of Romania. Bucur was fifth in the European Championships this year.
Fronhofer lost to eventual champion Anthony Fasugba of Italy in the first bout, but rebounded to defeat Vitalie Mandrescu of Moldova in the bronze-medal bout.
ION CORNEANU MEMORIAL
At Pitesti, Romania, Aug. 21-23
55 kg/121 lbs.
Gold - Virgil Munteanu (Romania)
Silver - Florin Gavrila (Romania)
Bronze - Anders Ronningen (Norway)
Bronze - Rusten Hammet (Turkey)
5th - Cristian Vagiunic (Romania)
5th - Laurentiu Macarei (Romania)
60 kg/132 lbs.
Gold - Eusebiu Diaconu (Romania)
Silver - Vyacheslav Pak (Ukraine)
Bronze - Soner Sucu (Turkey)
Bronze - Joe Betterman (USA)
5th - Alberto Martinez (Spain)
5th - Aurelian Leciu (Romania)
66 kg/145.5 lbs.
Gold - Christian Fetzer (Germany)
Silver - Faruk Sahin (USA)
Bronze - Ion Panait (Romania)
Bronze - Ismael Navaro (Spain)
5th - Vladimir Zaporojan (Moldova)
5th - Artem Kudyk (Ukraine)
74 kg/163 lbs.
Gold - Selcuk Cebi (Turkey)
Silver - Seref Tufenk (Turkey)
Bronze - Neven Zugaj (Croatia)
Bronze - Zoltan Lacatos (Hungary)
5th - Bozo Starceui (Croatia)
5th - Juan Ruiz (Spain)
84 kg/185 lbs.
Gold - Hristo Marinov (Bulgaria)
Silver - Nenad Zugaj (Croatia)
Bronze - Amer Hrutanovic (Austria)
Bronze - Zsolt Dajko (Hungary)
5th - Pedro Garcia (Spain)
5th - Laszlo Antunovics (Hungary)
96 kg/211.5 lbs.
Gold - Ozden Serkan (Turkey)
Silver - Robbie Smith (USA)
Bronze - Anatolie Moldovan (Moldova)
Bronze - Theodoros Tounousidis (Greece)
5th - Marin Cazac (Moldova)
6th - Dumitru Lupu (Moldova)
120 kg/264.5 lbs.
Gold - Dremiel Byers (USA)
Silver - Ivan Ivanov (Bulgaria)
Bronze - Constantin Scutariu (Romania)
4th - Anton Dok (Croatia)
Team Standings
1. Romania, 23
2. Turkey, 20
3. United States, 16
4. Croatia, 10
5. Bulgaria, 9
6. Hungary, 7
7. Moldova, 6
8. Spain, 6
9. Germany, 5
10. Ukraine, 5
(of 19 nations)
U.S. Greco-Roman performance
60 kg/132 lbs. - Joe Betterman, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC), 3rd
LOSS Eusebio Diaconu (Romania)
WIN Jeremiah Davis (USA)
WIN Aurelian Leciu (Romania)
60 kg/132 lbs. - Jeremiah Davis, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army), dnp
WIN Rumen Savchev (Bulgaria)
LOSS Eusebia Dianconu (Romania)
LOSS Joe Betterman (USA)
60 kg/132 lbs. - Chad Vandiver, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids), dnp
WIN Art Hatsatcourov (Greece)
LOSS Aurelian Leciu (Romania)
66 kg/145.5 lbs. - Faruk Sahin, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army), 2nd
WIN Ion Selaru (Romania)
WIN Vladimir Zaporojan (Moldova)
WIN Ion Panait (Romania)
LOSS Christian Fetzer (Germany)
66 kg/145.5 lbs. - Jake Curby, Marquette, Mich. (USOEC/Gator WC), dnp
LOSS Christian Fetzer (Germany)
WIN Nikolai Cercel (Romania)
LOSS Artem Kudyk (Ukraine)
74 kg/163 lbs. - George Bancroft, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Bison WC), dnp
WIN Anton Gottfredson (USA)
LOSS Juan Ruiz (Spain)
74 kg/163 lbs. - Anton Gottfredson, Colorado Springs, Colo. (USOTC), dnp
LOSS George Bancroft (USA)
84 kg/185 lbs. - Tomas Gonzales, Fontanafredda, Italy (U.S. Army), dnp
LOSS Zsolt Dajko (Hungary)
96 kg/211.5 lbs. - Robbie Smith, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC), 2nd
WIN Anatolie Moldovan (Moldova)
WIN Maran Cazac (Moldova)
LOSS Serkan Ozden (Turkey)
120 kg/264.5 lbs. - Dremiel Byers, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army), 1st
WIN Ivan Ivanov (Bulgaria)
WIN Anton Dok (Croatia)
WIN Constantin Scutariu (Romania)
Freestyle results
55 kg/121 lbs.
Gold - Andrei Ducov (Romania)
Silver - Ion Guidea (Moldova)
Bronze - Alexandru Chirtoaca (Moldova)
Bronze - Tim Schleicher (Germany)
5th - Valentin Popescu (Romania)
5th - Csaba Uveges (Romania)
60 kg/132 lbs.
Gold - George Bucur (Romania)
Silver - Coleman Scott (USA)
Bronze - Andrei Prepelita (Moldova)
Bronze - Svetoslav Neychev (Bulgaria)
5th - Mehmet Yozgot (Turkey)
5th - Davor Tasey (Macedonia)
66 kg/145.5 lbs.
Gold - Gergo Weller (Hungary)
Silver - Saba Bolaghi (Germany)
Bronze - Yakup Gor (Turkey)
Bronze - Stefan Daniliuc (Romania)
5th - Dimitar Tsvetkov (Bulgaria)
5th - Ariz Bolat (Turkey)
74 kg/163 lbs.
Gold - Andriy Shyyka (Germany)
Silver - Hatos Gabor (Hungary)
Bronze - Apostolos Taskoudis (Greece)
Bronze - Alexandru Burca (Moldova)
5th - Laszlo Szabolos (Romania)
5th - Ivan Deliverschi (Bulgaria)
84 kg/185 lbs.
Gold - Anthony Fasugba (Italy)
Silver - Dejan Bogdanov (Macedonia)
Bronze - Carl Fronhofer (USA)
Bronze - Andrei Frant (Romania)
5th - Vitalie Mandrescu (Moldova)
5th - Iliev Lyuben (Bulgaria)
96 kg/211.5 lbs.
Gold - J.D. Bergman (USA)
Silver - Nicolae Ceban (Moldova)
Bronze - Georgi Sredcov (Bulgaria)
Bronze - Kenan Gor (Turkey)
5th - Viktor Aliosetskin (Greece)
5th - Hakki Ceylan (Turkey)
120 kg/264.5 lbs.
Gold - Recef Icara (Turkey)
Silver - Dimiter Cumcev (Bulgaria)
Bronze - Claudiu Moldovan (Romania)
Bronze - Iuszup Murgev (Hungary)
5th - Fatih Kakiroglu (Turkey)
5th - Andrei Pdosevalinicov (Moldova)
Team Standings
1. Romania, 22
2. Moldova, 20
3. Turkey, 15
4. Bulgaria, 13
5. Germany, 13
6. USA, 12
7. Hungary, 7
8. Italy, 5
9. Macedonia, 4
10. Greece, 3
(of 18 nations)
U.S. men's Freestyle performance
55 kg/121 lbs. - Obenson Blanc, Stillwater, Okla. (Gator WC), dnp
WIN Yildiz Gakhan (Turkey)
LOSS Tim Schleicher (Germany)
60 kg/132 lbs. - Coleman Scott, Stillwater, Okla. (Gator WC), 2nd
WIN Andrei Prepelita (Moldova)
WIN Mehmet Yozgot (Turkey)
LOSS George Bucur (Romania)
84kg/185 lbs. - Carl Fronhofer, Hoboken, N.J. (Sunkist Kids), 3rd
LOSS Anthony Fasugba (Italy)
WIN Vitalie Mandrescu (Moldova)
96 kg/211.5 lbs. - J.D. Bergman, Oak Harbor, Ohio (New York AC), 1st
WIN Viktor Aliasetskin (Greece)
WIN Georgi Sredcov (Bulgaria)
WIN Nikolai Ceban (Moldova)
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