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

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
10/20/2004


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 Bill Scherr vs. Alexei Golovko match at 100 kg/220 lbs. in the deciding USA vs. USSR dual meet at the 1990 Goodwill Games in men's freestyle wrestling.    The bout was held at the Hec Edmondson Center at the University of Washington. It was a key match in the championship dual meet between the United States and the Soviet Union, which was being televised live on TBS.    Both the United States and the Soviet Union were undefeated going into this showdown match. A sellout crowd of over 7,000 enthusiastic fans were there, cheering for Team USA in its attempt to defeat the world's most powerful wrestling team.    The dual meet is considered one of the classic events in international wrestling history. The U.S. won the first four matches in the dual meet, to ignite the large crowd.     At 105.5 pounds, Cory Baze beat Gnel Medzhlumyan, 13-7. At 114.5 pounds, Zeke Jones edged Sergey Zambalov, 4-3. At 125.5 pounds, Joe Melchiorre upset Ruslan Karaev, 3-0. In a rematch of the 1988 Olympic finals, John Smith beat Stepan Sarkissian, 3-1 at 136.5 pounds.    The Soviets stormed back with two wins. Superstar Arsen Fadzaev beat Nate Carr by disqualification at 149.75 pounds, and Adlan Varaev edged Rob Koll at 163 pounds, 3-2. The match at 180.5 pounds ended as a double disqualification between Kenny Monday and Elmadi Jabrailov. The Soviets won again at 198 pounds, as superstar Makharbek Khadartsev stopped Jim Scherr, 2-0.    Entering the Scherr vs. Golovko match, the U.S. led the dual meet 13-9. A win by Scherr would clinch the match for the United States. However, Scherr entered the match with a severe groin injury, which would play a factor in the match. When Scherr pulled some last-second heroics to win, he gave the U.S. its first-ever victory over the Soviet Union in a major multi-sport event. With a Soviet win at super heavyweight, the final scored ended up 17-13 for the United States.    The Seattle Times named the U.S. victory over the Soviet Union as the top highlight of the entire 1990 Goodwill Games.    At the time, this was expected to be the last match of Bill Scherr's amazing career. Although he won the World Team Trials in 1990, Scherr decided to not wrestle at the 1990 World Championships and enter into retirement. (Kirk Trost went instead and won a World bronze medal that year).    Scherr ran off an amazing five-year run of consecutive World-level medals for the United States. In 1985, competing on his first World Team, Scherr was a World Champion at 90 kg/198 pounds in Budapest, Hungary. The next year,  Scherr decided to move up to 100 kg/220 pounds, as his twin brother Jim moved up into the 90 kg/198 pound class. For the next four years, both Scherr brothers made the U.S. World and Olympic Teams, and were major international stars in their new divisions.    In 1986, Bill Scherr won a World silver medal. In 1987, he won a World bronze medal. At the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, Scherr claimed an Olympic bronze medal. In his final World  Championships appearance, Scherr won a World silver medal in 1989. His five consecutive World-level medals is one of U.S. wrestling's greatest feats, surpassed only by superstars Bruce Baumgartner, John Smith and Dave Schultz.    Bill won all of the other major events in the sport. He was a two-time World Cup champion, a Pan American Games champion, a World Grand Masters champion and a four-time U.S. Nationals champion. Scherr was a 1984 NCAA champion at the Univ. of Nebraska, where he also starred alongside brother Jim, as well as a two-time high school state champion from Mobridge, S.D.    Scherr's career did not end at the Goodwill Games. In 1992, he made a late comeback to the sport, winning the U.S. Nationals title and making the finals of the Olympic Team Trials, where he lost in a three-match classic to Mark Coleman.    Scherr has had a very successful business career since leaving the mat as an athlete. He was elected as a Distinquished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. He has recently returned to the sport in a coaching capacity, getting involved again on the college and international coaching levels.    Golovko's career did not flourish after his last-second loss to the legendary Bill Scherr. Had he been able to hold on and win that match, it would have been the biggest achievement of his international career.     Golovko never competed at a World Championships or Olympic Games for the powerful Soviets. His division was loaded within the Soviet Union at the time, led by many-time World and Olympic champion Leri Khabelov.    He showed his international abilities with a silver medal at the 1993 World Cup and a silver medal at the 1991 European Championships. He also won a gold medal at the internationally respected Yarygin Tournament in 1991. However, Golovko was one of many talented wrestlers in the former Soviet Union who did not break through the amazing strength and depth of the Soviet program at the time.     This popular feature will be changed on a regular basis, allowing members to enjoy many of the greatest matches in wrestling history.     Posted in the archive section of the Members Only web page are three features from the 2004 Olympic Games, focusing on Cael Sanderson, Rulon Gardner and Sara McMann. 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.     The web page is still available for all to view and sample for a short time. This will allow those not familiar with the site to enjoy the contents and become familiar with the features.    Once the sampling period ends, 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. At that time, USA Wrestling members will need to enter the number from their 2004-05 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  2004 Cael Sanderson vs. Moon Eui Jae men's freestyle match  2004 Rulon Gardner Olympic semifinals and finals men's Greco-Roman feature  2004 Sara McMann vs. Stavroula Zygouri women's freestyle match  2004 Toccara Montgomery vs. Kristie Marano women's freestyle match  2004 Joe Williams vs. Joe Heskett men's freestyle match  2004 Eric Guerrero vs. Mike Zadick men's freestyle match  2004 Cael Sanderson vs. Lee Fullhart men's freestyle match  2004 Dennis Hall vs. Brandon Paulson men's Greco-Roman match  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 vs. Andrei Shumilin men's freestyle match  2003 Cael Sanderson vs. Sajid Sajidov men's freestyle match