New FILA rules tested at 20th annual Sunkist Kids Open; Semifinals field set in men's competition
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Meredith Wilson (USA Wrestling)
10/29/2004
TEMPE, Ariz. - Some 222 men's wrestlers took to the mat today to test out the new FILA rules at the 20th annual Sunkist International Open on the campus of Arizona State University. Today was a true test of the new competition rules adopted by FILA during their last board meeting in Athens. Before the tournament began, officials spent an entire day in clinics learning how to apply the rules. Athletes too, where provided a demonstration and clinic by FILA representative Mario Saletnig prior to competition this morning. Although there was some confusion in the early rounds, by the end of the first session the tournament appeared to be running smoothly with few timeouts for clarification. Both Men's Freestyle and Greco-Roman fields have been narrowed down to the semifinalists. Contrary to the new rules, the men's tournaments will be contested over the course of two day, rather than one. Two World and Olympic team members tested the new waters today, including Jim Gruenwald and Joe Williams, both representing the Sunkist Kids. Greco-Roman wrestler Gruenwald dished out tech falls to both his opponents in the first two rounds, and will face Jeremiah Davis of the USOEC in the semifinals. Freestyler Williams also handed two-period losses to his opponents in the preliminary and quarterfinal rounds; he faces Carl Fronhofer of Pittsburg in the semis A few well-known freestylers had scares in early rounds but still managed to make it through. At 66 kg. SunDevil alum Eric Larkin took his second round preliminary match into the third period after a 0-6 loss in the second period to Canada's Chris Pricket. While Kirk White of the Dave Schultz Wrestling Club dropped the first period of his first match 0-2 to Sunkist Kid Nick Passolano, but advanced after winning both the second and third periods of the match. In Greco action, the USOEC program at Northern Michigan made a statement, landing seven athletes in the semis, including Joseph Betterman, Jeremiah Davis, Willie Madison, Jacob Curby, Harry Lester, Kevin Lozano, Aaron Boone. Semifinal and consolation rounds in the men's tournaments will begin again Saturday morning at 9 a.m. ET, along with the start of the Women's Freestyle competition. Semifinal Matchups Men's Freestyle 55 kg/121 lbs. Matt Azevedo (Sunkist Kids) v. Jeremy Mendoza (Sunkist) Fredy Serrano (Bogota) v. Jamie Macari (Brock) 60 kg/132 lbs. Tony Deanda (NYAC) v. Nate Gallick (Sunkist) Saeed Azarbayjani (Brock) v. Danny Felix (Sunkist) 66 kg/145.5 lbs. Eric Larkin (Sunkist Kids) v. Zack Roberson (Sunkist) Evan McDonald (Brock) v. Chris Bono (Sunkist Kids) 74 kg/163 lbs. Joe Williams (Sunkist Kids) v. Carl Fronhofer (Pittsburg) Muzaffor Abdunkhmonov (Gator) v. Kirk White (DSWC) 84 kg/185 lbs. Lee Fullhart (Gator WC) v. Greg Jones (Sunkist) Clint Wattenberg (NYAC) v. Frank Cornely (NC) 96 kg/211.5 lbs. Tommy Rowlands (DSWC) v. Matt Greenberg (NYAC) Nik Fekete (Sunkist) v. Dawid Rechul (NYAC) 120 kg/264.5 lbs. Mike Faust (Sunkist) v. Cain Velasquez (Sunkist) Michael Irvins (UNA) v. Pat Cummins (NYAC) Greco-Roman 55 kg/121 lbs. Lindsey Durlacher (New York AC) v. Chris Williams (UNA) Neal Rodak (Gator) v. Joseph Betterman (USOEC) 60 kg/132 lbs. Jim Gruenwald (Sunkist Kids) v. Jeremiah Davis (USOEC) Jared Esala (Unattached) v. Willie Madison (USOEC/Gator) 66 kg/145.5 lbs. Glenn Garrison (U.S. Army) v. Jacob Curby (USOEC/Gator) Mark Rial v. Harry Lester (USOEC/Gator) 74 kg/163 lbs. Steve Woods (USAF) v. Jacob Volkmann (Mn Storm) Kevin Lozano (USOEC/Gator) v. Curtis Barnes (USMC) 84 kg/185 lbs. Jake Clark (U.S. Marine Corps) v. John Wechter (UNA) Jeff Funicello (Sunkist) v. Aaron Boone (USOEC) 96 kg/211.5 lbs. Adam Wheeler (Gator WC) v. Adam Haglie (Mn Storm) bye RC Johnson (NYAC) v. Brandon Ruiz (Sunkist) 120 kg/264.5 lbs. Khoren Papayan (Sunkist) v. David Walker Travis Clark (USMC) v. Mark Knauer (Cyclone) Deciphering the Results The style of results reporting will also change along with the rules. The official score is only the score of the last period of the match. However, in order to give a more clear representation of what actually happened in the match, the results will be posted in three-period sets similar to tennis. For example, while a typical score might read: Winning Wrestler dec. Losing Wrestler, 3-0. The new format will appear like this: Winning Wrestler dec. Losing Wrestling, 0-6; 6-2; 4-4. In this example, in the first period the Losing Wrestler won the period 6-0; the Winning Wrestler won the second period 6-2; and the Winning Wrestler won the third period 4-4 based on criteria.