Warren vs. Hey is new Bout of the Week on TheMat.com Audio/Video website

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
05/10/2005


USA Wrestling has updated its new "Bout of the Week" which has been posted as a video file on-line on  TheMat.com Audio/Video website .    The feature this week is the 2005 Joe Warren vs. Jacob Hey men's Greco-Roman match from the finals of the U.S. National Championships in Las Vegas, Nev. at 60 kg/132 lbs.    This match has been placed on the TheMat.com's new Audio/Video website, which was the former USA Wrestling Member's Only website. The new website has been redesigned and reformatted and was launched today. It is an exciting upgrade that will better serve the wrestling community and provides cutting-edge technology.    This was a showdown match between the No. 1 and No. 2 seeded wrestlers at the weight class, in the first U.S. Nationals after the 2004 Olympic Games. Jim Gruenwald, who competed on the last two Olympic teams at this weight, was not entered in the tournament. A new champion was set to be crowned, and a new four-year Olympic cycle has begun.    Joe Warren is an exciting young athlete who has truly picked up the pace in recent seasons. A star in high school in Michigan, he was known as a takedown machine and pinner in winning a state title. He moved on to the Univ. of Michigan, where he continued to compete with intensity and passion. Warren was twice an All-American in college for the Wolverines.    His Greco-Roman career received a jumpstart when Warren was selected to train at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. In college, Warren was an age-group All-American in Greco-Roman, and actually placed in the  1988 Senior World Team Triuals while still an undergrad. However, once Warren started concentrating on Greco-Roman full-time, his stock rose as did his performances.    Hey was a high school star in Illinois, winning a state title. He went on to Illinois State, which dropped its wrestling team, so Hey then transferred to the Univ. of Illinois. However it was in the U.S. Air Force program that Hey began getting involved on the national level in Greco-Roman, and where he has developed into a winner.    Warren and Hey had some major challenges ahead of them in this weight division. There was Gruenwald, who took over the division in 2000 and never let it go. In addition, Glenn Nieradka of the U.S. Army was able to win a national title at this division and was always in the fight for the top. Then you add in Dennis Hall, a World champion, Olympic medalist and one of the greatest Greco-Roman wrestlers of all time. Hall was right in the fight every year, unable to win at the World Team Trials but beating top athletes along the way. Cracking into that company was very difficult, but certainly made the rest of the weight much tougher when their time came.    Neither Warren or Hey were able to reach a U.S. Nationals finals until their matchup this year. Warren was third in both the 2003 and 2004 U.S. Nationals. He made his biggest move in the standings at this division at the Olympic Team Trials. Hall dropped to 55 kg, where he made the Olympic Team. Warren defeated Nieradka to win the Challenge Tournament, and move on to the Championship Series. There he was defeated in finals by Gruenwald in two straight matches, to place second in the Olympic Trials. Hey was fourth in the Challenge Tournament in the Olympic Team Trials, for a final Team USA ranking of No. 5.    This season, Gruenwald wrestled a bit in the fall, but has not wrestled since January. Nieradka has been fulfilling a military commitment. Hall has not returned to the mats. Warren and Hey have wrestled well. Warren has won gold medals at the New York AC Christmas International, the Dave Schultz Memorial International and the Poland Open. Hey captured the title at the Armed Forces Championships.    Both lived up to their seeds at the 2005 U.S. Nationals. Warren scored a pin and a technical fall in the early bouts, then edged talented young Jeremiah Davis in the semifinals, 1-0, 1-0. Hey won two decisive matches, then got past veteran Duaine Martin in the semifinals in a rugged 0-1, 1-0, 1-0 match.     This finals match showed the progress of both wrestlers. With his victory, Warren has proven that he is now the top man in the division, heading into the new Olympic cycle. Going into the World Team Trials, Hey will have to wrestle in the Challenge Tournament and earn the right for a rematch with Warren for the World Team spot. Warren waits for one challenger, needed to win a best-of-three series to make his first World Team.    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 was the 2000 Les Gutches vs. Cael Sanderson men's freestyle match from the semifinals of the 2000 U.S. National Championships in Las Vegas, Nev. Many other entertaining and historic matches are in the archive section for the Bout of the Week.     While many of the features of the site will be available for everyone to use, the video clips will be accessible only to current members of USA Wrestling. To view the videos on this site, you must be logged into your TheMat.com passport account, which also must include your USA Wrestling Membership number. This is the same account used for TheMat.com Message Boards.     If you already have a Passport Account, make sure you are logged in and that your profile includes your USA Wrestling Membership Number. If you are a member and have not already registered for your online account, click the "Get Passport Account" at the top of the page. If you have an account and are not a current member of USA Wrestling, you will find a link to "Join USA Wrestling" on the Edit Passport Profile page.    The audio and video in this section are in a variety of formats, including Windows Media Player, RealPlayer, and Quicktime formats. If you do not currently have one of these players, you will find helpful links under the player windows for downloading and installing these free players. Due to the nature of video online, a high-speed Internet connection, such as Cable or DSL, is necessary to view videos.    RECENT BOUTS OF THE WEEK PLACED IN ARCHIVE  2000 Les Gutches vs. Cael Sanderson men's freestyle match  1999 Terry Brands vs. Eric Guerrero men's freestyle matches  2004 Cael Sanderson vs. Adam Saitiev men's freestyle match  1990 Rob Koll vs. Rahmat Sofiyadi men's freestyle match  1989 Michial Foy vs. Atanas Komchev men's Greco-Roman match  1995 Elbrus Tedeev vs. Takahiro Wada men's freestyle match  1993 Terry Brands vs. Jesus Wilson men's freestyle match  2005 Sally Roberts vs. Tela O'Donnell women's freestyle match  1999 Stephen Neal vs. Aydin Polatci men's freestyle match  1992 highlight video of U.S. Olympic Wrestling team in Barcelona, Spain  1988 Andy Seras vs. Mike Mann men's Greco-Roman match   1992 Kevin Jackson vs. Rasul Khadem men's freestyle match  1992 Chris Campbell vs. Puntsag Sukhbat men's freestyle match  2000 Garrett Lowney vs. Gogi Koguachvili men's Greco-Roman match  1988 Randy Lewis vs. Stepan Sarkissian men's freestyle match  1996 Kurt Angle vs. Abbas Jadidi men's freestyle match  1990 Chris Wilson vs. Arsen Fadzeav men's freestyle match  1990 John Smith vs. Stepan Sarkissian men's freestyle match  2004 Sunkist Kids International Open men's Greco-Roman gold-medal matches  2004 Sunkist Kids International Open men's freestyle gold-medal matches  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 m