Two U.S. Greco-Roman wrestlers, Joe Warren (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC ) at 60 kg/132 lbs. and Justin Ruiz (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 96kg/211.5 lbs., won two morning matches to advance to the quarterfinals of the Greco-Roman World Championships in Buapest, Hungary, October 2.

Warren's survived a wild second match against Luis Liendo of Venezuela, 9-5, 7-0.  In the match, Warren had two cautions against him before he took the top position in the second period.  Due to the new FILA rules, if Warren had not scored, he would have been disqualified from the match.

The first period saw a lot of scoring as Warren and Liendo traded points, scoring off cautions and reversals. Warren sealed the period when he reversed Liendo to his back and held him for the count late in the period.

In the second period, Warren held a 1-0 lead from a caution point when he took the top position in par terre.  Warren quickly released his reverse lock and applied a front headlock on Liendo, scoring three consecutive two-point rolls to win the period and the match 7-0.

Warren started his day pinning Eric Buisson of France 42 seconds into the second period when he put Buisson on his back with a cow catcher.  Prior to the pin, Warren hit an explosive body lock near the edge of the mat for three-points.

Warren had already won the first period 2-1, scoring on a caution and an out-of-bounds point before Buisson put a late point on the board when he drove Warren off the mat with three seconds remaining in the period.

In the quarterfinals, Warren will face two-time University World Champion Ali Ashkani of Iran. Askani was also the 2005 Asian Games champion.

Ruiz advanced to the quaterfinals with a determined performance in a 3-0, 0-5, 1-1 win over Marek Svec of the Czech Republic.

Ruiz scored all of the points in the first period, using a two-point gut wrench and strong par terre defense to earn a point when Sved was unable to score from the top position.

There was no scoring in the second period until Svec won the flip and threw Ruiz with a reverse body lock for five points 1:10 seconds into the period.  According to the new rules of FILA, a period ends if either wrestler scores with a five-point scoring hold.

In the third and decisive period, Ruiz and Sved again battled to a 0-0 tie at the midway point.  In the final minute of the match, neither wrestler was able to score from par terre.  Ruiz was awarded the victory because he scored the last points of the period when Sved received a caution for not scoring from the top position.

In his first match of the day, Ruiz won by disqualification (three cautions) over Azat Erkimbaev of Kazakhastan.

In the first period, Ruiz was awarded an appreciation point for his lift and two additional points when Erkimbaev was cautioned for use of legs in defending Ruiz's lift.  Ruiz's final point came when Erkimbaev received his second caution for not scoring from par terre.

Ruiz won the second period and the match at 1:30 when Erkimbaev again failed to score from par terre and received his third caution.  In all styles of international wrestling, a wrestler is disqualified when he or she receives three cautions.

Ruiz will wrestle Lajos Virag of Hungary in his quarterfinal match.

At 120 kg/264.5 lbs., 2002 World Champion Dremiel Byers (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) started the day with a victory, but was defeated in his second round match.

Byers stopped Rocco Daniele Ficara of Italy, 4-1, 2-0 in the first round.  Byers scored 39 seconds in the first period with a one-point arm drag and quickly followed with a two-point gut wrench.  Each wrestler earned one more point in the period when both wrestlers failed to score from par terre.

In the second period, Byers scored a one-point gut wrench and was awarded a point when Ficara was unable to score from par terre.

In his second round match, Byers lost a tight match to 2004 Olympic silver medalist Georgiy Tsurtsumia of Kazakhastan, 3-0, 1-1.

Tsurtsumia turned Byers with a two-point gut wrench to gain a 2-0 lead in the first period.  When Byers failed to score from par terre, Tsurtsumia was awarded one additional point to secure the period.

The second period was uneventful, as each wrestler received a point and caution against them for failing to score from par terre.  Because Tsurtsumia scored the last point of the period, he was awarded the period and the match.

For Byers to be able to enter the repechage (wrestlebacks) for the bronze medal, Tsurtsumia must qualify for the gold-medal finals.