Cozart, Chaid, Burkholder win gold medals at Veterans World Freestyle Championships in Freiberg, Ger

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
08/06/2000


Tournament photos    Three U.S. wrestlers claimed gold medals at the Ninth FILA Veterans World Freestyle Championships in Freiburg, Germany, which completed on Sunday, August 6. The competition featured athletes 35 years old and above in five age divisions.    Winning gold medals for the United States were Russ Cozart of Brandon, Fla., Dan Chaid of San Jose, Calif. and Dwain Burkholder of Woodland Park, Colo.    Cozart won his sixth career Veterans World title, the most of any American. Cozart defeated Kvins Genusarijs of Latvia, 10-2,  in the gold-medal match at 152 lbs./69 kg in Div. C (46-50 years). Cozart has won Veterans World titles in 1992, 1993, and 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000.    Chaid defeated Johannes Rossouw of South Africa,  2-0 in overtime, in the gold-medal finals at 97 kg/213.75 lbs. in Div. A (35-39 years). Chaid is a former U.S. Nationals champion on the Senior level and member of Freestyle Team USA many times.    Burkholder  did not compete on Sunday. He won two matches on Friday and two matches on Saturday at 127.75 pounds in Div. D (51-55 years) to capture his five-athlete roundrobin competition.    Winning silver medals for the United States were James Nielsen of Moses Lake, Wash., Shirzad Ahmadi of Coventry, Conn. and Glenn Clark, an American who currently lives in Flatrock, Newfoundland, Canada.    Nielsen was pinned by World and Olympic medalist Andreas Schroeder of Germany in the gold-medal finals at 286 lbs./130 kg in Div. A.    Ahmadi, a three-time Veterans World champion clinched the silver medal at 138 lbs./63 kg. in Div. D (51-55 years), defeating Ognian Niklov Velikov of Bulgaria in his final match. Ahmadi finished with a 3-1 record in his five-athlete round-robin competition.    Clark lost to Alexander Istomin of Uzbekistan, 7-3,  in the gold-medal match at 187.25 lbs./85 kg in Div E (56 and older). Clark was a 1998 Veterans World Champion.    Winning bronze medals for the United States were Bradley Swartz of Auburn, Wash, Dale Porcher of Palm Beach, Fla. and Paul Hermann of York, Pa.     Swartz defeated Peter Van Rensburg  of South Africa , 9-1, in the bronze-medal bout at 167.5 lbs./76 kg in Div. A. Porcher pinned Davoud Bani of Iran in the bronze-medal match at 213.75 lbs./97 kg in Div. A. Hermann scored a 1-0 overtime referee's decision over Izak Steyn of South Africa at 138.75 lbs./63 kg in Div. B to claim the bronze medal.    Placing fourth for the United States was Joe Seay of Perry, Okla, who lost to Reinhard Zeiher of Germany, 4-0, in the bronze-medal match at 167.5 lbs./76 kg in Div. E. Seay was the head coach of the 1996 U.S. Olympic freestyle wrestling team.    A total of 26 U.S. wrestlers placed in the top 10 of their weight divisions.     Masaaki Hatta, who represents Japan at the event but lives in Michigan, won the gold medal at 127.75 lbs./58 kg in Div. E.     There are five age divisions at the 2000 World Championships: Div. A (35-40 years), Div. B (41-45 years), Div. C (46-50 years), Div. D (51-55 years) and Div. E (56 years and above). There are six weight classes within each division at the World Championships: 58 kg, 63 kg, 69 kg, 76 kg, 85 kg, and 130 kg. There is no prequalification required to participate in the Veterans World Championships.     The U.S. Veterans World Team was led and coached by 1992 Olympic Freestyle Champion Kevin Jackson of Colorado Springs, Colo. Jackson was the 1991 and 1995 Senior World Champion and claimed World Cup victories in 1993, 1995 and 1997. He works as USA Wrestling's Resident Freestyle Coach.      A webpage has been created with results of this tournament at  http://home.t-online.de/home/KlausArmbruster/9_fila_masters_world_championshi.htm    2000 VETERANS WORLD FREESTYLE CHAMPIONSHIPS  at Freiburg, Germany, Aug. 6    Gold Medal matches featuring U.S. wrestlers    Div. A 97 kg - Dan Chaid (USA) won by ref. dec. over Johannes Rossouw (South Africa), 2-0, ot    Div. A 130 kg - Andreas Schroeder (Germany) pin James Nielsen (USA)    Div. C 69 kg - Russell Cozart (USA) dec. Kvins Genusarijs (Latvia), 10-2    Div. D 58 kg - Dwain Burkholder (USA), claimed gold with 4-0 roundrobin record on Saturday    Div. E 85 kg  - Alexander Istomin (Uzbekistan) dec. Glenn Clark (USA), 7-3    Bronze Medal matches featuring U.S. wrestlers    Div. A 76 kg - Bradley Swartz (USA) dec. Peter Van Rensburg (South Africa), 9-1    Div. A 97 kg  - Dale Porcher (USA) pin Davoud Bani (Iran)    Div. B 63 kg - Paul Hermann (USA) won by ref. dec. over Izak Steyn (South Africa), 1-0, ot    Div. E 76 kg - Reinhard Zeiher (Germany) dec. Joe Seay (USA), 4-0    Roundrobin match featuring U.S. wrestler    Div. D 63 kg - Shirzad Ahmadi (USA) won by inj. dft. over Ognian Niklov Velikov (Bulgaria), claims silver medal with 3-1 roundrobin record    Final U.S. athlete placements    Div. A (35-40 years)    127.75 lbs./58 kg - Michael Dehart,Bradford, Ohio, 7th    138.75 lbs./63 kg - Ronald Hughes, San Jose, Calif., 5th    138.75 lbs./63 kg - Jamie Wise, Moses Lake, Wash., 7th    167.5 lbs./76 kg -  Bradley Swartz, Auburn, Wash., 3rd    167.5 lbs./76 kg  - Kevius Hodges, Loxahatchee, Fla., 10th    167.5 lbs./76 kg  - Ken Wharry, Medford, Ore., 7th    187.5 lbs./85 kg - Hank Porcher, Palm Beach, Fla., 5th    213.75 lbs./97 kg -Daniel Chaid, San Jose. Calif. , 1st    213.75 lbs./97 kg - Dale Porcher, Palm Beach, Fla., 3rd    286 lbs./130 kg - Jim Nielsen, Moses Lake, Wash., 2nd    Div. B (41-45 years)    127.75 lbs./58 kg - George Dunn, Belleview, Wash., dnp    127.75 lbs./58 kg - John Henry Smithson, Ventura, Calif., 8th    138.75 lbs./63 kg - Paul Hermann, York, Pa., 3rd    167.5 lbs./76 kg -  Brad Brosius, Dover, Pa., 7th    167.5 lbs./76 kg -  Bruce Moe, Hillboro, N.D., 8th    187.5 lbs./85 kg - Michael Mitrowski, Shrewsbury, Mass., dnp    213.75 lbs./97 kg - Steve Goode, Brighton, Mass., dnp    213.75 lbs./97 kg - Jeffrey Henry, Santa Monica, Calif., dnp    Div. C (46-50 years)     152 lbs./69 kg - Russell Cozart, Brandon, Fla., 1st    152 lbs./69 kg - Jim Lucas, Santa Cruz, Calif. , dnp    213.75 lbs./97 kg - Ron Cole, Auburn, Wash., 6th    213.75 lbs./97 kg - Steve Contarino, Palmetto, Fla. , 7th    Div. D (51-55 years)     127.75 lbs./58 kg - Dwain Burkholder, Woodland Park, Colo., 1st    138.75 lbs./63 kg - Shirzad Ahmadi, Coventry, Conn., 2nd    167.5 lbs./76 kg -  James Butcher, 5th    187.5 lbs./85 kg - Paul Stull, Lemoyne, Pa., 9th    Div. E (56 years and above)    152 lbs./69 kg - Mansour Honarvar, Oceanside, Calif., 6th    167.5 lbs./76 kg -  Joe Seay, Perry, Okla., 4th    187.5 lbs./85 kg - Glenn Clark, Flatrock, Newfoundland (Canada), 2nd    187.25 lbs./85 kg - Bruce Bird, Novelty, Ohio, dnp     286 lbs./130 kg - David Battiste, Arvada, Colo., 8th    286 lbs./130 kg - Roger Olesen, Redwood City, Calif., 6th