Hall vs. Paulson is the new “Bout of the Week” on USA Wrestling Members-Only website

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
06/11/2004


USA Wrestling has updated its new "Bout of the Week" on USA Wrestling's Members-Only website.    The featured match this week will be the deciding match of the Dennis Hall vs. Brandon Paulson series at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in 55 kg/121 lbs. in Greco-Roman wrestling.    The series was held in Indianapolis, Ind. It featured two of the greatest U.S. Greco-Roman wrestlers of this generation. Both were silver medalists at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga., with Paulson winning at 52 kg and Hall winning at 57 kg. The athletes are good friends and frequent training partners. Hall made the move down to this division this year, attempting to make a third U.S. Olympic Team. Paulson has been No. 1 at this division for three straight seasons.    Posted is the third match of the championship series. Hall won the first match 3-2 in overtime, and Paulson won the second match, 3-1. A spot on the Olympic Team was in the balance in bout three.     The match was tied at 3-3 in regulation and went to overtime. A rule used by USA Wrestling at the Olympic Trials allows a match to go into an unlimited sudden death overtime if all criteria are tied at the end of the three-minute overtime period. This match just kept going on, with both athletes battling hard but unable to complete a scoring maneuver. The anticipation and excitement built with each passing minute. The winning score did not come until the 16:54 mark, one of the longest matches in U.S. history and clearly one of the most memorable. Those who were there in person will remember this for a lifetime.    What is also memorable is the display of sportsmanship and class by both athletes at the end of the ordeal. Both were immediately interviewed by the USA Network crew in site of all of the fans. Afterwards, Hall and Paulson appeared together in a major press conference, sharing their personal stories with the national media. Although there was only one winner of this match, it featured two great champion people.    By making his third Olympic team, Hall continues to add to his legacy as one of the all-time greats. In addition to his Olympic silver medal, Hall was a 1995 World champion and a 1994 World bronze medalist. No other U.S. Greco-Roman wrestler has won a World-level medal of each kind (gold, silver, bronze). Only four U.S. wrestlers have ever won a World title, and Hall was the second to reach that hallowed ground. He is legendary for his intensity and passion on the mat.    Hall is an example of how choosing to specialize in Greco-Roman early in his life paid off with major success. He won three Junior National titles in Greco-Roman as a high school star from Wisconsin, and was also a two-time state champion. He attended the Univ. of Wisconsin initially, but chose after that season to concentrate on Greco-Roman instead of a college folkstyle career. He made his first U.S. World Team in 1990 at the age of 19. By the 1992 season, he made the U.S. Olympic Team at the age of 21, and placed eighth at the Barcelona Olympic Games.    Hall started a period of dominance in his weight class within the United States, winning 10 straight U.S. Nationals titles from 1992 through 2001. He competed on every U.S. World or Olympic team from 1992-1999. He had a three-year run of medals, winning the 1994 World bronze, 1995 World gold and 1996 Olympic silver in an amazing streak of success. He was also sixth at the 1997 World Championships. Included in his long list of achievements are two Pan American Games gold medals.    The period of U.S. dominance ended in 2000, when his longtime rival Jim Gruenwald defeated Hall in the Olympic Team Trials in Dallas, Texas. Although Hall got a few more wins on Gruenwald, it was Gruenwald who earned the No. 1 spot for five straight years. With the new weight class structure, and a desire to be a three-time Olympian, Hall made the move down to 55 kg (the lightest he had been since high school) to challenge Paulson for the Olympic spot. With a leg injury at the 2004 U.S. Nationals, Hall had to withdraw and never faced Paulson. He got his chance by winning the Challenge Tournament in Indianapolis and making the finals series.    Paulson was also a career Greco-Roman specialist, beginning to show great talent in the style as a youth. As he was busy collecting numerous USA Wrestling age-group titles, Paulson also competed on the Senior level very early. He became the first high school wrestler to qualify for the Senior Team USA when he placed third in the 1991 World Team Trials. His top age group achievement was a silver medal in the 1993 Espoir World Championships.    He attended the Univ. of Minnesota and was a competitive Div. I wrestler for the Gophers. In 1996, he took an Olympic redshirt season to pursue a spot on the Greco-Roman Olympic Team. Although he was third at the U.S. Nationals that year, Paulson won the Olympic Team Trials, beating two-time Olympian Shawn Sheldon for the spot. In Atlanta, he had an amazing run, qualifying for the finals, and losing a tight battle with superstar Armen Nazarian (then of Armenia, now of Bulgaria).    The 1997-2000 quadrennium was a challenge for Paulson, who was finishing college and getting his family life started. He was seventh in the 1998 NCAA Championships, his best college performance and took time off from international wrestling. He made a run for the next Olympic Team, and had a strong comeback with his first U.S. Nationals title in 2000. However, at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Dallas, he was upset by Steven Mays in the Championship Series.    After a short time off, Paulson decided to go for another Olympic cycle. He made the 2001 U.S. World Team and had his best World Championships performance, winning the World silver medal. He claimed three straight U.S. Nationals titles from 2002-04, and made three straight World Teams. Along the way, Paulson scored wins against most of the major international athletes in his division, including a number of World Champions. He won an Olympic qualifying event in 2004, beating many top challengers. Going into the Indianapolis event, Paulson was at his best, clearly one of the international stars of his weight division.     This popular feature will be changed on a regular basis, allowing members to enjoy many of the greatest matches in wrestling history.     Moving into the archived section of Bouts of the Week was last week's 1996 Townsend Saunders vs. Pat Santoro men's freestyle match. Many other entertaining and historic matches are in the archive section for the Bout of the Week.     USA Wrestling has done a complete redesign and expansion of its Members-Only website, providing all USA Wrestling members with an impressive new resource stocked with interactive learning tools and entertaining features.     This on-line resource is available free of charge only to current members of USA Wrestling, one of the most exciting benefits of joining the organization.    USA Wrestling members will only need to enter the number from their 2003-04 membership card into an entry form, and the exciting new Members-Only page will become available to them.    RECENT BOUTS OF THE WEEK PLACED IN ARCHIVE  1996 Townsend Saunders vs. Pat Santoro men's freestyle match  1988 Mark Fuller vs. T.J. Jones men's Greco-Roman match  1988 Nate Carr vs. Andre Metzger men's freestyle match  2004 Jared Frayer vs. Eric Larkin men's freestyle match  1987 Bill Scherr vs. Greg Gibson men's freestyle match  1992 Dennis Koslowski vs. Andrzej Wronski men's Greco-Roman match  1989 Jim Scherr vs. Makharbek Khadartsev men's freestyle match  2003 Sally Roberts vs. Marianna Sastin women's freestyle match  1996 Melvin Douglas vs. Mike Van Arsdale men's freestyle match  1988 Ike Anderson vs. Buddy Lee men's Greco-Roman match  1996 Tom Brands vs. Jang Jae-Sung men's freestyle match  2004 Eric Larkin vs. T.J. Williams men's freestyle match  1992 Rodney Smith vs. Cecilio Rodriguez men's Greco-Roman match  1988 Rico Chiapparelli vs. Lukman Jabrailov men's freestyle match  2003 Kristie Marano vs. Ewelina Pruszko women's freestyle match  1999 Stephen Neal