Freestylers get accustomed to workouts in Turkey

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John Fuller (USA Wrestling)
08/09/2005


Practice photos    Izmir, Turkey - The U.S. men's freestyle wrestling team spent Tuesday working on technique, strategy and getting down to weight for competition at the 2005 World University Games.    The team, as will all three wrestling squads when they arrive, is training at the Ahmet Taner Kislali Sports hall in Izmir. The facility is approximately a 15-minute drive southeast of the Athlete Village. However, competition will take place at the Ozel Yamanlar High School Sports Hall, which is nearly a one-hour drive around the Aegean Sea from the Athlete Village.    The training facility is as good as any overseas facility. The coaching staff has been very pleased. Three mats with brand new covers stretch across the gym floor. There are nearly 300 seats in the gym and plenty of floor space around the mats to jog following a workout.    "We like the training facility," men's freestyle coach and current U.S. Naval Academy coach Bruce Burnett said. "For overseas conditions, this is generally as good as it gets."    The men's freestyle team was the first to use the facility. As no participation lists have been made available for wrestling, or any other sport as well, the first glimpse the American athletes may have of their opponents could take place in the training facility.    The wrestlers from North Korea worked out during the practice today, but with only four wrestlers on the squad, overcrowding was not a problem with the three mats.    The biggest task so far for the team has been finding a sauna or steam room and an accurate check scale. There are saunas on site at the Athlete Village, but according to reports from many athletes in the village, it is hotter outside than in the sauna.    The team did not bring a check scale with them from the United States, and there is no exact telling of how reliable the scales at the Athletes Village are as compared to the scales that FILA will use during weigh-ins. However, all of the athletes have managed their weight well and being on weight by the 12th and 13th should not be a problem.    With only six wrestlers now in the wrestling room, the team has paired off into natural workout partners. Nick Simmons (55 kg/121 lbs.) and Nate Gallick (60 kg/132 lbs.) have worked out with each other. Jesse Jantzen (66 kg/145.5 lbs.) and Tyrone Lewis (74 kg/163 lbs.) have paired off and Chris Pendleton (84 kg/185 lbs.) and Tommy Rowlands (96 kg/211.5 lbs.) are working out together.    Other Training Notes:  
  • Heavyweight Steve Mocco did not make the trip to Turkey with the team. A full release will be available on TheMat.com soon after the U.S. Olympic Committee releases the final rosters for the World University Games.
  • The men's freestylers have acclimated to the climate and time change (seven hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time) very quickly. All received a good night of rest the first night they arrived and have also been able to rest between workouts.
  • Nick Simmons, wrestling at 55 kg/121 lbs., is still nursing a sore shoulder that he hurt during a training camp a few weeks ago, but it is nothing that will come close to holding him out of competition. The U.S. Olympic Committee medical staff has made sure that he is as close to 100 percent as possible.
  • The men's freestyle team will receive one day of rest on Wednesday to prepare for the final weight cut for competition. Four weight classes (55 kg/121 lbs., 66 kg/145.5 lbs., 84 kg/185 lbs. and 120 kg/264.5 lbs.) will weigh-in on Friday, August 12. The other three weights (60 kg/132 lbs., 74 kg/163 lbs. and 96 kg/211.5 lbs.) will weigh-in on Saturday, August 13.