Sunkist Kids International freestyle finals are the new “Bout of the Week” on USA Wrestling Members-
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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
11/02/2004
USA Wrestling has updated its new "Bout of the Week" on USA Wrestling's Members-Only website. The featured matches this week will be the seven men's freestyle gold-medal finals from the 2004 Sunkist Kids/ASU International Open, held in Tempe, Ariz., October 29-30. The Sunkist Kids International was a test event of the new rules of international wrestling, announced by the international wrestling federation FILA during the 2004 Olympic Games. These rules are in their test phase, and will take affect completely in January 2005. The lineup of the matches include: 55 kg - Matt Azevedo (Sunkist Kids) vs. Fredy Serrano (Colombia/Bogota) 60 kg - Nate Gallick (Sunkist Kids) vs. Saeed Azarbayjani (Canada) 66 kg - Chris Bono (Sunkist Kids) vs. Eric Larkin (Sunkist Kids) 74 kg - Joe Williams (Sunkist Kids) vs. Muzaffor Abdunkhmonov (Gator) 84 kg - Lee Fullhart (Gator WC) vs. Clint Wattenberg (NYAC) 96 kg - Tommy Rowlands (DSWC) vs. Dawid Rechul (NYAC) 120 kg - Mike Faust (Sunkist Kids) vs. Michael Irving (unattached) Of this group, Joe Williams was a member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team. Lee Fullhart was a runner-up in the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials. Chris Bono was a member of two U.S. World Teams. There are some top international athletes in the matches, including Fredy Serrano of Colombia at 55 kg, Saeed Azarbayjani of Canada at 60 kg and Muzaffor Abdunkhmonov of Uzbekistan at 74 kg. The new rules are very interesting and a major change from previous formats. Some of the changes include: * A wrestler must win two of the three periods of a match to claim a victory, similar to the concept of sets in tennis. The total score of all three periods no longer matter. A wrestler could win the match in two straight periods and end it in just four minutes. * The match was changed to three periods of two minutes each. * There were no more "pools" for the pairing of wrestlers. The athletes are placed in a bracket format. * If a wrestler steps out of bounds, a point is awarded to his/her opponent. * A wrestler wins a period if he/she has a six point lead on the opponent during that period. See for yourself what the new rules look like, in championship action during a major international competition, the Sunkist Kids/ASU International Open. 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 is the 1990 Bill Scherr vs. Alexei Golovko 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. 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 1990 Bill Scherr vs. Alexei Golovko men's freestyle match 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