Jantzen claims World title, Simmons places fifth at 2005 World University Games

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John Fuller (USA Wrestling)
08/13/2005


Izmir, Turkey - Jesse Jantzen (Brookline, Mass./Harvard Univ./New York AC) became just the third U.S. wrestler to win a gold medal at the World University Games on Saturday evening at Ozel Yamanlar High School Sports Hall.    Jantzen joins Wade Schalles (1977) and Bruce Baumgartner (1981) as the only champions from this event after he dominated Kelaxsaev Berding of Russia, 4-0, 2-0 in the finals.    In the first period, Jantzen scored two takedowns to take a 2-0 lead. He then padded his lead with a two-point turn. In the second period, Jantzen again scored two takedowns, both in the first half of the period.    With the two-period win, Jantzen did not lose a single period in this year's World University Games, and shut out his opponent in seven of the 10 periods over all.    "I didn't know any of these guys, being kind of new to international (competition)," Jantzen said. "Sometimes I think that is good to your wrestling style. Fortunately, I just had those two periods each time, which definitely helps in this environment and with only 15 minutes between matches."    Nick Simmons (Williamston, Mich./Michigan State Univ./Michigan WC) placed fifth after losing a close bronze-medal bout to Hgyun-Jin Yoo of Korea, 3-5, 10-4, 1-2.    In the first period, Simmons took a 3-0 lead of a throw, but Yoo scored three straight takedowns to tie the match and then took the period with a two-point turn late in the period.    Simmons battled back in the second period, breaking a 4-4 tie with 30 seconds left by scoring on a takedown, two, two-point turns and an exposure held for a count of five.    In the final period, Simmons settled down. He took the lead with a takedown with only 31 seconds left in the period. But Yoo did not quit, and he scored on a two-point turn with only eight seconds remaining in the bout.    "I don't know what I was thinking at all. I kind of shut down," Simmons said after the bout. "I had every period won until the last 10 seconds. I just have to go back, figure out what I was doing wrong and wrestle the whole time."    The final three men's freestyle weights, 60 kg/132 lbs., 74 kg/163 lbs. and 96 kg/211.5 lbs. will compete on Sunday, August 14 with preliminary matches beginning at 10:00 a.m.