UPDATE: Tuck wins gold, Pine gets bronze on day one of Greco-Roman at Veterans Worlds in Greece
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Michael Tuck of the USA battles with Juan Cortes Laszano of Mexico on the way to gold at 58 kg in Div. C in Greco-Roman. Photo by Robbert Wijtman, CSC Photography.
ATHENS, Greece – Michael Tuck of Smithville, Mo., won a gold medal at 58 kg in Div. C on the opening day of Greco-Roman at the Veterans World Championships on Friday.
Tuck went 4-0 in a five-athlete roundrobin, outscoring his opponents 25-8 in the matches. Included was a 4-2 win over eventual silver medalist Nikolaos Tsiakaras of Greece in his second bout.
In the fourth match, Tuck fell behind Juan Cortes Laszano of Mexico, 0-4 on a big throw, then came back with a takedown and three turns late in the first period for an 8-4 lead. No points were scored in the second period, giving Tuck the victory and the gold medal.
Tuck becomes the fifth U.S. wrestler to win a Veterans World title in Greco-Roman, joining Chris Brown in 2015, Gregg Stensgard in 2012, Valentin Kalika in 2009 and Ron Hughes in 2004.
“I'm pretty happy about this World Championship. I'm in a very select group of Americans that have won a Greco-Roman World Championship. I came to win freestyle but ended up with a silver for the second year in a row at Worlds. This has been an amazing experience being with this U.S. team and our international family of wrestlers,” said Tuck.
It was Tuck’s second medal of the week, after winning a silver medal at the same weight class in freestyle on Tuesday.
Winning a bronze medal at 85 kg in Div. C was Kevin Pine of Las Vegas, Nev., who finished with a 3-1 record. He beat opponents from Poland, Iran and Cyprus, with his only loss to eventual champion Martin Dalsbotten, 6-13.
Pine has also won two medals this week, with a bronze medal in freestyle in the same weight class on Wednesday.
Two Americans placed fifth, after dropping bronze-medal bouts, Victor Aybar of Manchester, Md. at 58 kg in Div. D and Bill Newton of San Jose, Calif., at 76 kg in Div. D.
The United States has now won seven gold medals at the 2015 Veterans Worlds. Joining Greco champion Tuck were freestyle champions Grant Johnson of Houston, Texas (97 kg, Div. A), Shirzad Ahmadi of Coventry, Conn. (63 kg, Div. G), James Kasser of Lewis Center, Ohio (63 kg, Div. D), Antonio Peraza of Shoreham, N.Y. (85 kg, Div. F, Meghan Marcello of Indian Springs, Nev. (53 kg, Div. A) and Marie Ziegler (48 kg, Div. B.)
Over four days of competition, the United States has won 30 medals.
Competition continues on Saturday with Greco-Roman action in Div. A and Div. G.
United World Wrestling will host a live webstream from the Veterans World Championships all week, along with complete results updates at:
https://unitedworldwrestling.org/event/world-championship-13
VETERANS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Athens, Greece
Greco-Roman champions
Division C champions
58 kg – Michael Tuck (USA)
63 kg – Anatolii Conchar (Russia)
69 kg – Erguder Bekisdamat (Turkey)
76 kg – Jonathan Molfino (Italy)
85 kg – Martin Dalsbotten (Norway)
97 kg – Bori Medvedev (Russia)
130 kg – Andrzej Wronski (Poland)
Div. D champions
58 kg – Ramil Rakhmangulov (Russia)
63 kg – Nykhuylo Nylypyuk (Ukraine)
69 kg – Domenico Piccinini (Italy)
76 kg – Bahram Seifkhani (Iran)
85 kg – Andrei Semanov (Russia)
97 kg – Toni Hannula Toni Le (Finland)
130 kg – Lev Voronin (Ukraine)
U.S. Greco-Roman performances
Div. C
58 kg – Michael Tuck, Smithville, Mo., gold medal
WIN Bard Fornebo (Norway), 5-2
WIN Nikolaos Tsiakaras (Greece), 4-2
WIN Svetoslav Pramatarov (Bulgaria), tech. fall 8-0
WIN Juan Cortes Lazcano (Mexico), 8-4
69 kg – Steve Horton, Cibolo, Texas, dnp/14th
LOSS Erguder Bekisdamat (Turkey), fall
LOSS Frederic-Mich Paul (France), 0-1
76 kg – Jon Banko, Pittsburgh, Pa., dnp/13th
LOSS Mamoei Seifollah (Iran), pin
85 kg – Kevin Pine, Las Vegas, Nev., bronze medal
WIN Janusz Lisiewski (Poland), tech. fall 10-0
LOSS Martin Dalsbotten (Norway), 6-13
WIN Eyatollah Zandyeganeh (Iran), forfeit
WIN Gagik Aparyan (Cyprus), injury default
97 kg – Eric Sypes, Gaithersburg, Md., 7th
LOSS Dmitri Safronov (Russia), pin
Div. D
58 kg – Victor Aybar, Manchester, Md., 5th
LOSS Ramil Rakhmangulov (Russia), tech. fall, 0-8
LOSS Susumu Hashiura (Japan), pin
76 kg – Bill Newton, San Jose, Calif., 5th
WIN Kadyrzhan Zhanpeisov (Kazakhstan), 8-2
LOSS Bahram Seifkhani (Iran), tech. fall 2-10
LOSS Uwe Hemmann (Germany), 0-4
85 kg – John Hanrahan, Alpharetta, Ga., 8th
WIN Reza Nasafian (Iran), tech. fall 10-0
LOSS Andrei Semanov (Russia), tech. fall 0-8
LOSS Gyozo Gyula Lakatos (Hungary), pin
97 kg – Steven Goss, Bay City, Mich., dnp/11th
LOSS Ari Markkola (Sweden), 0-4
LOSS Halil Ibrahim Yagci (Turkey), tech. fall 0-8
130 kg – Brian Jones, Los Angeles, Calif., 7th
LOSS Emil Toth (Hungary), tech. fall 2-10
ATHENS, Greece – Michael Tuck of Smithville, Mo., won a gold medal at 58 kg in Div. C on the opening day of Greco-Roman at the Veterans World Championships on Friday.
Tuck went 4-0 in a five-athlete roundrobin, outscoring his opponents 25-8 in the matches. Included was a 4-2 win over eventual silver medalist Nikolaos Tsiakaras of Greece in his second bout.
In the fourth match, Tuck fell behind Juan Cortes Laszano of Mexico, 0-4 on a big throw, then came back with a takedown and three turns late in the first period for an 8-4 lead. No points were scored in the second period, giving Tuck the victory and the gold medal.
Tuck becomes the fifth U.S. wrestler to win a Veterans World title in Greco-Roman, joining Chris Brown in 2015, Gregg Stensgard in 2012, Valentin Kalika in 2009 and Ron Hughes in 2004.
“I'm pretty happy about this World Championship. I'm in a very select group of Americans that have won a Greco-Roman World Championship. I came to win freestyle but ended up with a silver for the second year in a row at Worlds. This has been an amazing experience being with this U.S. team and our international family of wrestlers,” said Tuck.
It was Tuck’s second medal of the week, after winning a silver medal at the same weight class in freestyle on Tuesday.
Winning a bronze medal at 85 kg in Div. C was Kevin Pine of Las Vegas, Nev., who finished with a 3-1 record. He beat opponents from Poland, Iran and Cyprus, with his only loss to eventual champion Martin Dalsbotten, 6-13.
Pine has also won two medals this week, with a bronze medal in freestyle in the same weight class on Wednesday.
Two Americans placed fifth, after dropping bronze-medal bouts, Victor Aybar of Manchester, Md. at 58 kg in Div. D and Bill Newton of San Jose, Calif., at 76 kg in Div. D.
The United States has now won seven gold medals at the 2015 Veterans Worlds. Joining Greco champion Tuck were freestyle champions Grant Johnson of Houston, Texas (97 kg, Div. A), Shirzad Ahmadi of Coventry, Conn. (63 kg, Div. G), James Kasser of Lewis Center, Ohio (63 kg, Div. D), Antonio Peraza of Shoreham, N.Y. (85 kg, Div. F, Meghan Marcello of Indian Springs, Nev. (53 kg, Div. A) and Marie Ziegler (48 kg, Div. B.)
Over four days of competition, the United States has won 30 medals.
Competition continues on Saturday with Greco-Roman action in Div. A and Div. G.
United World Wrestling will host a live webstream from the Veterans World Championships all week, along with complete results updates at:
https://unitedworldwrestling.org/event/world-championship-13
VETERANS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Athens, Greece
Greco-Roman champions
Division C champions
58 kg – Michael Tuck (USA)
63 kg – Anatolii Conchar (Russia)
69 kg – Erguder Bekisdamat (Turkey)
76 kg – Jonathan Molfino (Italy)
85 kg – Martin Dalsbotten (Norway)
97 kg – Bori Medvedev (Russia)
130 kg – Andrzej Wronski (Poland)
Div. D champions
58 kg – Ramil Rakhmangulov (Russia)
63 kg – Nykhuylo Nylypyuk (Ukraine)
69 kg – Domenico Piccinini (Italy)
76 kg – Bahram Seifkhani (Iran)
85 kg – Andrei Semanov (Russia)
97 kg – Toni Hannula Toni Le (Finland)
130 kg – Lev Voronin (Ukraine)
U.S. Greco-Roman performances
Div. C
58 kg – Michael Tuck, Smithville, Mo., gold medal
WIN Bard Fornebo (Norway), 5-2
WIN Nikolaos Tsiakaras (Greece), 4-2
WIN Svetoslav Pramatarov (Bulgaria), tech. fall 8-0
WIN Juan Cortes Lazcano (Mexico), 8-4
69 kg – Steve Horton, Cibolo, Texas, dnp/14th
LOSS Erguder Bekisdamat (Turkey), fall
LOSS Frederic-Mich Paul (France), 0-1
76 kg – Jon Banko, Pittsburgh, Pa., dnp/13th
LOSS Mamoei Seifollah (Iran), pin
85 kg – Kevin Pine, Las Vegas, Nev., bronze medal
WIN Janusz Lisiewski (Poland), tech. fall 10-0
LOSS Martin Dalsbotten (Norway), 6-13
WIN Eyatollah Zandyeganeh (Iran), forfeit
WIN Gagik Aparyan (Cyprus), injury default
97 kg – Eric Sypes, Gaithersburg, Md., 7th
LOSS Dmitri Safronov (Russia), pin
Div. D
58 kg – Victor Aybar, Manchester, Md., 5th
LOSS Ramil Rakhmangulov (Russia), tech. fall, 0-8
LOSS Susumu Hashiura (Japan), pin
76 kg – Bill Newton, San Jose, Calif., 5th
WIN Kadyrzhan Zhanpeisov (Kazakhstan), 8-2
LOSS Bahram Seifkhani (Iran), tech. fall 2-10
LOSS Uwe Hemmann (Germany), 0-4
85 kg – John Hanrahan, Alpharetta, Ga., 8th
WIN Reza Nasafian (Iran), tech. fall 10-0
LOSS Andrei Semanov (Russia), tech. fall 0-8
LOSS Gyozo Gyula Lakatos (Hungary), pin
97 kg – Steven Goss, Bay City, Mich., dnp/11th
LOSS Ari Markkola (Sweden), 0-4
LOSS Halil Ibrahim Yagci (Turkey), tech. fall 0-8
130 kg – Brian Jones, Los Angeles, Calif., 7th
LOSS Emil Toth (Hungary), tech. fall 2-10
