U.S. beats Belarus, 14-12, on first day of Greco-Roman World Cup in Georgia

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
11/06/2004


The United States opened the Greco-Roman World Cup with a win over Belarus, 14-12, taking a 1-0 record into the second day of competition.    The World Cup is the annual international dual meet championship, and is being held in Tbilisi, Georgia, Nov. 5-6.     The U.S. won only three of the seven bouts against Belarus, but earned the overall victory due to bonus points, as well as earning classification points in three of the four losses.    Claiming wins for the United States were Joe Warren (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 60 kg/132 lbs., 2004 Olympian Brad Vering (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 84 kg/185 lbs. and Russ Davie (Cleveland, Ohio/New York AC) at 120 kg/264.5 lbs.    Warren dominated his match, scoring a pin over Mikhail Semionov in 2:55. The score was 10-2 in favor of Warren when he secured the pin.    Vering scored all of his points in the first period, on the way to a 4-0 shutout over Dimitri Kruglik.    Davie's match went into overtime with the bout tied at 1-1. The match ended at the 8:26 mark of the match, when Marusov was hit with his third caution call and disqualified. This outcome gave the U.S. four team points and Belarus none, and proved to be the margin of victory for the team.    Three U.S. wrestlers lost matches, but scored a technical point in their bouts, giving the U.S. one team point for that match: Glenn Garrison (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) at 66 kg/145.5 lbs., Darryl Christian (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 74 kg/163 lbs. and Adam Wheeler (Marquette, Mich./Gator WC) at 96 kg/211.5 lbs.    With five teams in the tournament, the U.S. drew a bye in the first round.  The U.S. will compete against teams from Iran, France and host Georgia on the second day of competition.    2004 U.S. Greco-Roman World Cup Team  at Tbilisi, Georgia, November 5-7  55 kg/121 lbs. - Lindsey Durlacher, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC)  60 kg/132 lbs. - Joe Warren, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC)  66 kg/145.5 lbs. - Glenn Garrison, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)  74 kg/163 lbs. - Darryl Christian, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC)  84 kg/185 lbs. - Brad Vering, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC)  96 kg/211.5 lbs. - Adam Wheeler, Marquette, Mich. (Gator WC)  120 kg/264.5 lbs. - Russ Davie, Cleveland, Ohio (New York AC)  Coaches: Joe DeMeo, Niskayuna, N.Y., Bob Anderson, Chula Vista, Calif., and Momir Petkovic, Colorado Springs, Colo.