George vs. Van Dusen is new Bout of the Week on TheMat.com Audio/Video website

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
07/13/2005


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 are the 2005 Tina George vs. Marcie Van Dusen women's freestyle match in the Special Wrestle-off for the position on the Women's World Team at 55 kg/121 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 best of three series for the spot on the 2005 U.S. Women's World Team. George, the 2005 U.S. Nationals champion, suffered hand and knee injuries, and took an extension on her Championship Series, when she was unable to compete due to injury at the World Team Trials in Ames, Iowa. Only U.S. Nationals champions may take an extension at the World Team Trials.    Van Dusen earned a position in the Special Wrestle-off by winning the title at the World Team Trials in Ames. She defeated Chelynne Pringle of the Minn. Storm, 2-2, 1-0 in bout one and 5-0, 2-0 in bout two in the Championship Series.    The Special Wrestle-off series was a rematch of the championship finals of the 2005 U.S. Nationals, where George defeated Van Dusen, 4-0, 2-1.    George is a two-time World silver medalist, winning her medals at the 2002 and 2003 World Championships. In both matches, she lost to Japan's superstar Saori Yoshida in the finals.     George made her first splash on the national level as a teenage, breaking through as a student on the women's wrestling team at the Univ. of Minnesota-Morris. She started her wrestling career as a high school wrestler in Cleveland, Ohio.  After competing in college, George moved to Colorado Springs, Colo., and became a part of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program (WCAP). She trained at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, as well as at Fort Carson, where the WCAP men wrestlers are based.     She quickly became the top in her weight class, wrestling with power and speed and seeming to put her best performances together at the World Team Trials event.     Her biggest disappointment came in 2004, when she entered as the national champion and top seed at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. She did not earn a spot on the first U.S. Olympic team for women's wrestling, when she was defeated in two straight matches in the Championship Series by Tela O'Donnell. George had defeated O'Donnell in the U.S. Nationals finals that season.    Van  Dusen was a very successful age group wrestler within USA Wrestling from California, winning four Cadet National titles and a pair of Cadet World bronze medals. She also competed on the high school level there, placing at the sectional level competing against boys.    She did not go straight into wrestling on the Senior level, taking some time away from the sport after high school, although she did attend college. However, her wrestling career revived when she spent a year on the women's wrestling team at UM-Morris, and established herself as a top contender on the Senior level. This led to an opportunity to become one of the first members of the U.S. Olympic Training Center's women's resident program, where she has trained ever since.    Van Dusen advanced quickly in the program, and for two seasons placed third at the World Team Trials, qualifying for Women's Team USA. Like George, the 2004 Olympic year was one of challenge for her, facing a knee injury that slowed her training and ultimately ended with a fifth place finish at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials. However, after the Olympic Trials, Van Dusen proved her international potential and abilities by winning a gold medal at the 2004 World University Championships.    Both athletes made a commitment to compete for another Olympic cycle, and have quickly put together strong seasons. George was on a tear, winning numerous events in the USA and around the world Among the victories for her this season were the three top U.S. international events 2005 Dave Schultz Memorial, 2004 New York AC Christmas International, 2004 Sunkist Kids International), along with the 2005 Trophe Milone in Italy and the 2005 Klippan Ladies Open in Sweden. Van Dusen added a 2005 University Nationals title, giving her good preparation prior to the World Team Trials event.    When George could not compete at the World Team Trials in Ames, Iowa, Van Dusen had a strong performance to win the event and earn a spot at the Special Wrestle-off at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Posted here are the two matches of that Special Wrestle-off, matches that had a similar outcome but were completely different in their action and momentum. In this instance, experience won out over the young challenger, and the U.S. will have a veteran going to the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.    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 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. 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  2005 Joe Warren vs. Jacob Hey men's Greco-Roman match   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 semif