USA team ready for Veterans World Freestyle Championships in Skopje, Macedonia, Sept. 28-30
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
U.S Veterans wrestlers celebrate together after winning medals at the 2017 Veterans World Championships. Photo by Robbert Wijtman.
A group of 22 U.S. Veterans age athletes will compete this weekend at the Veterans World Freestyle Championships in Skopje, Macedonia.
In UWW international events, Veterans are 35 years old through 60 years old, and compete in five different age divisions. The U.S. team has athletes in each of the five age divisions.
Six 2017 Veterans World medalists from the USA are expected to return. They are:
• Greg Conn of New York, bronze at Div. B 130 kg
• Joe Raia of Illinois, bronze at 62 kg in Div. C
• Borys Kulich of Illinois, bronze at 78 kg in Div. C
• Kevin Pine of Las Vegas, bronze at 88 kg in Div. C
• Steve Horton of Texas, silver at 70 kg in Div. D
• Petros Petrosyan of California, bronze at 88 kg in Div. D
Raia, Kulich, and Pine all have moved up to Div. D this year, while Horton, Conn and Petrosyan return at the same age level.
The team features six 2018 U.S. Masters National freestyle champions, including Pine and Petrosyan, plus Jordin Humphrey of California (Div. A, 70 kg), James Medeiros of California (Div. A, 88 kg), Tom Donahue of Ohio (Div. B, 70 kg), Jeffrey Anderson (Div. D, 88 kg).
The Veterans World Freestyle Championships will be streamed live on TrackWrestling. Skopje is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time zone.
The Team Leader is two-time Veterans World Greco-Roman champion Chris Brown of Maryland, who is also a member of USA Wrestling’s Associated Styles Committee. Helping coach the team is Jon McGovern of Iowa, who is the head coach at the University of Dubuque.
Next week, the Veterans World Greco-Roman Championships will be held in Perm, Russia, October 5-7. A number of the athletes competing this week in Skopje will also wrestle in Greco-Roman in Perm.
Results from both of the UWW Veterans World Championships will score points towards USA Wrestling’s Masters Ironman standings. At these events, World champions score 20 points, World silver medalists 14 points, World bronze medalists 8 points and World fourth-place finishers (or fifth if there are two bronze medalists) two points. The current leaders of the Masters Ironman standings are Jeffrey Anderson of Michigan and Gabe Beauperthuy of Colorado.
VETERANS WORLD FREESTYLE CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Skopje, Macedonia, September 28-30
U.S. roster
Div. A (35-40 years old)
62 kg – Roger Stewart, Colorado Springs, Colo.
70 kg – Jordin Humphrey, Monrovia, Calif.
88 kg – James Medeiros, Van Nuys, Calif.
100 kg – Karl Junitz, Batavia, Ill.
Div. B (41-45 years old)
70 kg – Jason Cappiello, San Francisco, Calif.
70 kg – Tom Donahue, Bethel, Ohio
78 kg – Rudy James, St. Paul, Minn.
88 kg – Alsandro Turner, Woodbridge, Va.
100 kg – Victor Ledon, Coral Springs, Fla.
100 kg – Daniel Lovell, Jamestown, N.D.
130 kg – Greg Conn, Cortland, N.Y.
Div. C (46-50 years old)
70 kg – Ben Fielding, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Div. D (51-55 years old)
62 kg – Joe Raia, South Elgin, Ill.
70 kg – Stephen Horton, Cibolo, Texas
78 kg – Borys Kulich, Westmont, Ill.
78 kg – Louis Orr , Rochester, Minn.
88 kg – Jeffery Anderson, Zeeland, Mich.
88 kg – Petros Petrosyan, Loa Alamitos, Calif.
88 kg – Kevin Pine, Las Vegas, Nev.
Div. E (56-60 years old)
70 kg – Keith Stagg, Washington Twp., N.J.
88 kg – Jeff Henry, Los Angeles, Calif.
88 kg – Kevin Kares, Henderson, Nev.
Team Leader – Chris Brown, Boyds, Md.
Coach – Jon McGovern, Dubuque, Iowa
Referee – Jim Woolnough, Irving, Texas
Schedule (+6 hrs. ahead of U.S. Eastern time zone)
Friday, September 28 (Div. B, Div. E)
10:30 a.m. – Preliminaries
5:30 p.m. – Opening Ceremony
6:00 p.m. - Finals
Saturday, September 29 - (Div. C/ Div. D)
10:30 a.m. – Preliminaries
5:30 p.m. – Opening Ceremony
6:00 p.m. - Finals
Saturday, September 30 - (Div. E)
10:30 a.m. – Preliminaries
5:30 p.m. – Opening Ceremony
6:00 p.m. - Finals
A group of 22 U.S. Veterans age athletes will compete this weekend at the Veterans World Freestyle Championships in Skopje, Macedonia.
In UWW international events, Veterans are 35 years old through 60 years old, and compete in five different age divisions. The U.S. team has athletes in each of the five age divisions.
Six 2017 Veterans World medalists from the USA are expected to return. They are:
• Greg Conn of New York, bronze at Div. B 130 kg
• Joe Raia of Illinois, bronze at 62 kg in Div. C
• Borys Kulich of Illinois, bronze at 78 kg in Div. C
• Kevin Pine of Las Vegas, bronze at 88 kg in Div. C
• Steve Horton of Texas, silver at 70 kg in Div. D
• Petros Petrosyan of California, bronze at 88 kg in Div. D
Raia, Kulich, and Pine all have moved up to Div. D this year, while Horton, Conn and Petrosyan return at the same age level.
The team features six 2018 U.S. Masters National freestyle champions, including Pine and Petrosyan, plus Jordin Humphrey of California (Div. A, 70 kg), James Medeiros of California (Div. A, 88 kg), Tom Donahue of Ohio (Div. B, 70 kg), Jeffrey Anderson (Div. D, 88 kg).
The Veterans World Freestyle Championships will be streamed live on TrackWrestling. Skopje is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time zone.
The Team Leader is two-time Veterans World Greco-Roman champion Chris Brown of Maryland, who is also a member of USA Wrestling’s Associated Styles Committee. Helping coach the team is Jon McGovern of Iowa, who is the head coach at the University of Dubuque.
Next week, the Veterans World Greco-Roman Championships will be held in Perm, Russia, October 5-7. A number of the athletes competing this week in Skopje will also wrestle in Greco-Roman in Perm.
Results from both of the UWW Veterans World Championships will score points towards USA Wrestling’s Masters Ironman standings. At these events, World champions score 20 points, World silver medalists 14 points, World bronze medalists 8 points and World fourth-place finishers (or fifth if there are two bronze medalists) two points. The current leaders of the Masters Ironman standings are Jeffrey Anderson of Michigan and Gabe Beauperthuy of Colorado.
VETERANS WORLD FREESTYLE CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Skopje, Macedonia, September 28-30
U.S. roster
Div. A (35-40 years old)
62 kg – Roger Stewart, Colorado Springs, Colo.
70 kg – Jordin Humphrey, Monrovia, Calif.
88 kg – James Medeiros, Van Nuys, Calif.
100 kg – Karl Junitz, Batavia, Ill.
Div. B (41-45 years old)
70 kg – Jason Cappiello, San Francisco, Calif.
70 kg – Tom Donahue, Bethel, Ohio
78 kg – Rudy James, St. Paul, Minn.
88 kg – Alsandro Turner, Woodbridge, Va.
100 kg – Victor Ledon, Coral Springs, Fla.
100 kg – Daniel Lovell, Jamestown, N.D.
130 kg – Greg Conn, Cortland, N.Y.
Div. C (46-50 years old)
70 kg – Ben Fielding, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Div. D (51-55 years old)
62 kg – Joe Raia, South Elgin, Ill.
70 kg – Stephen Horton, Cibolo, Texas
78 kg – Borys Kulich, Westmont, Ill.
78 kg – Louis Orr , Rochester, Minn.
88 kg – Jeffery Anderson, Zeeland, Mich.
88 kg – Petros Petrosyan, Loa Alamitos, Calif.
88 kg – Kevin Pine, Las Vegas, Nev.
Div. E (56-60 years old)
70 kg – Keith Stagg, Washington Twp., N.J.
88 kg – Jeff Henry, Los Angeles, Calif.
88 kg – Kevin Kares, Henderson, Nev.
Team Leader – Chris Brown, Boyds, Md.
Coach – Jon McGovern, Dubuque, Iowa
Referee – Jim Woolnough, Irving, Texas
Schedule (+6 hrs. ahead of U.S. Eastern time zone)
Friday, September 28 (Div. B, Div. E)
10:30 a.m. – Preliminaries
5:30 p.m. – Opening Ceremony
6:00 p.m. - Finals
Saturday, September 29 - (Div. C/ Div. D)
10:30 a.m. – Preliminaries
5:30 p.m. – Opening Ceremony
6:00 p.m. - Finals
Saturday, September 30 - (Div. E)
10:30 a.m. – Preliminaries
5:30 p.m. – Opening Ceremony
6:00 p.m. - Finals
