Brown wins silver medal at Veterans Greco-Roman Worlds in Serbia, August 13-15

BELGRADE, SERBIA - Chris Brown of Boyds, Md. claimed a silver medal at 76 kg in Div. D (51-55 years old) at Veterans Greco-Roman World Championships at the SUMICE Arena in Belgrade, Serbia, August 13-15.

Veterans are athletes who are 35 years old and above. Competition was held in five age categories.

Brown was defeated in the gold-medal finals by Soslan Adyrkhaiev of Ukraine, 3-0, 4-0. He opened the tournament with two straight wins, stopping S. Rahami of Iran, 0-5, 1-0, 7-3 and Alexandr Sargachev of Russia, 1-0, 5-0.

It was the second straight year which Brown has won a Veterans World medal. He claimed a bronze medal in 2009 in Kouvola, Finland, competing in the same age division and weight class. He was also a U.S. Veterans National champion this year.

Brown also served as Team Leader for the U.S. delegation, which featured seven athletes.

2009 Veterans World champion Valentin Kalika of Laguna Niguel, Calif. placed 5th at 69 kg in Div. D. He won his first match over Nikolajus Ilkevicius of Lithuania, 1-0, 1-0, but was defeated in the semifinals by Zbigniew Krasoski of Poland. In a bronze-medal bout, he fell to Hans Unnlindhal of Sweden.

The only other U.S. wrestler to win a bout was Stephen Contarino of Palmetto, Fla, who placed seventh in Div. E at 85 kg. Contarino opened with a victory over Koo Vujadin of Croatia, 6-0, 4-0, but was eliminated by Sergey Klimov of Kazakhstan, 2-5, 0-2.

Four U.S. wrestlers lost their first match and did not qualify for the repechage when their opponents failed to reach the gold-medal finals.

VETERANS WORLD GRECO-ROMAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Belgrade, Serbia, Aug. 13-15

Champions

Div. A champions (35-40 years)
58 kg - Tero Katajisto (Finland)
63 kg - Edward Kruse (Germany)
69 kg - Dragan Markovic (Bosnia-Herzogovina)
74 kg - Johan Hedberg (Sweden)
84 kg - Hamid Jamshid (Iran)
97 kg - Yousof Nematpour (Iran)
130 kg - M Ansarefard (Iran)

Div. B champions (41 to 45 years)
58 kg - Bonev Dimche (Bulgaria)
63 kg - Stephen Margic (Croatia)
69 kg - Emil Budinov (Bulgaria)
74 kg - Roger Sjoegvist (Sweden)
84 kg - Roy B. Andersen (Norway)
97 kg - Boris Medvedev (Russia)
130 kg - Oleg Tashilin (Russia)

Div. C champions (46-50 years)
58 kg - Igor Chuev (Russia)
63 kg - Petrov Stoyanov (Bulgaria)
69 kg - Gadziev Hazbulat (Sweden)
74 kg - S. Seifkhani (Iran)
84 kg - Morten Hageld (Norway)
97 kg - Milos Govedarica (Germany)
130 kg - Lev Voronin (Ukraine)

Div. D champions (51-55 years)
58 kg - Nikolai Borisov (Bulgaria)
63 kg - E. Rajab (Iran)
69 kg - Georgi Hristov (Bulgaria)
74 kg - Soslan Adyrkhaiev (Ukraine)
84 kg - Nikolay Krazakov (Russia)
97 kg - M. Wieczorkiewicz (Poland)
130 kg - Alexander Pisakin (Russia)

Div. E champions (56 years and older)
58 kg - Abdolrahman Moarefiyanpour (Iran)
63 kg - Peter Heckmann (Germany)
69 kg -Nadelcho Todorov Paneva (Bulgaria)
74 kg - Oleg Kirrend (Estonia)
84 kg - Pavel Li-Yu (Russia)
97 kg - Vladimir Bockarev (Russia)
130 kg - Masoud Mogharebi (Iran)

U.S. performances

Div. A 69 kg - Anthony Piva, Driggs, Idaho, 8th
LOSS Alexei Tartarinsev (Russia), 2-1, 0-2, 0-1

Div. B 97 kg - Ronald Ayres, Las Vegas, Nev., tied 10th
LOSS Sisna Rabic (Croatia), 0-2, 0-2

Div. B 97 kg - Jeffery Anderson, Zeeland, Mich., tied 10th
LOSS Ibragim Nagaev (Russia), 0-3, 0-1

Div. D 69 kg - Valentin Kalika, Laguna Niguel, Calif., 5th
WIN Nikolajus Ilkevicius (Lithuania), 1-0, 1-0
LOSS Zbigniew Krasoski (Poland), pin
LOSS Hans Unnlindhal (Sweden), default

Div. D 76 kg - Chris Brown, Boyds, Md., 2nd
WIN S. Rahami (Iran), 0-5, 1-0, 7-3
WIN Alexandr Sargachev (Russia), 1-0, 5-0
LOSS Soslan Adyrkhaiev (Ukraine), 3-0, 4-0

Div. E. 58 kg - James Schartner, Frederick, Md., dnp/12th
LOSS M. Ali Taher (Iran), pin

Div. E. 85 kg - Stephen Contarino, Palmetto, Fla., 7th
WIN Koo Vujadin (Croatia), 6-0, 4-0
LOSS Sergey Klimov (Kazakhstan), 2-5, 0-2