ATHENS, GREECE - U.S. wrestlers Aaron Sieracki (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) and Philip Johnston (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) captured bronze medals in Greco-Roman wrestling at the Acropolis Grand Prix on Feb. 24.

Sieracki, who competes at 84 kg/185 lbs., lost his opening match of the tournament to Artur Michalkiewicz of Poland, a 2006 European champion. When Michalkiewicz qualified for the gold-medal finals, Sieracki was drawn into the wrestleback rounds.

He defeated Armen Grigoryan of Russia in his first wrestle-back match, then defeated Hannes Haring of Austria in the bronze-medal match.

Johnston had a 3-1 record for the day. He opened with a win over fellow American R.C. Johnson (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC), then lost in the second round to Sergey Yaroshevich of Russia. When Yaroshevich made it to the championship finals, Johnston was eligible for the wrestlebacks.

Johnston beat two athletes from Greece in the wrestlebacks, first stopping Ioannis Arzoumanidis then beating Theodoris Tounousidis in the bronze-medal match.

Both Sieracki and Johnston have a No. 2 ranking on Greco-Roman Team USA, after placing second at the 2006 U.S. World Team Trials in their weight classes.

One other wrestler qualified for a medal match, James Shillow (Quantico, Va./U.S. Marines), who placed fifth at 66 kg/145.5 lbs.

Shillow lost his opening match to Ion Panait of Romania, who went on qualify for the finals. In his first wrestleback match, Shillow defeated Kwit Lukjan of Poland. He was then defeated in the bronze-medal match by Georgios Boukis of Greece.

Coaching the U.S. athletes were Shon Lewis of Colorado Springs, Colo., Dan Hicks of Quantico, Va. and James Johnson of Tempe, Ariz.

ACROPOLIS GRAND PRIX
At Athens, Greece, Feb. 24 

Individual results

55 kg/121 lbs.
Gold - Ryo Minemura (Japan)]
Silver - Ulen Hocko (Czech Republic)
Bronze - Artiom Kiouregian (Greece)
Bronze - Giorgi Gvenetadze (Georgia)
5th - Maksim Tokarev (Russia)
5th - Hassan Mustafa (Egypt)

60 kg/132 lbs.
Gold - Viacheslav Djaste (Russia)
Silver - Mohamed Ashraz (Egypt)
Bronze - Hristos Gikas (Greece)
Bronze - Mustafa Mohamed (Egypt)
5th - Apostolos Maouilidis (Greece)
5th - Johannes Lienbacher (Austria)

66 kg/145.5 lbs.
Gold - Ruslan Balkharoev (Russia)
Silver - Ion Panait (Romania)
Bronze - Georgios Boukis (Greece)
Bronze - Ion Puscasu (Romania)
5th - Aleksander Maksnouc (Serbia)
5th - James Shillow (USA)

74 kg/163 lbs.
Gold - Kostas Papadopoulos (Greece)
Silver - Sergios Solontki (Greece)
Bronze - Ahmad Abde Sadek (Egypt)
Bronze - Alexey Ivanov (Russia)
5th - Mihajlo Bajlovic (Serbia)
5th - Tomas Sobecky (Czech Republic)

84 kg/185 lbs.
Gold - Artur Michalkiewicz (Poland)
Silver - Attila Batky (Slovakia)
Bronze - Viachaslav Makharanka (Belarus)
Bronze - Aaron Sieracki (USA)
5th - Alexandros Poikilidis (Greece)
5th - Hannes Haring (Austria)

96 kg/211.5 lbs.
Gold - Sergey Yaroshevich (Russia)
Silver -Andrei Batura (Belarus)
Bronze - Georgios Koutsioubas (Greece)
Bronze - Philip Johnston (USA)
5th - Roman Meduna (Slovakia)
5th - Theodoris Tounousidis (Greece)

120 kg/264.5 lbs.
Gold - David Vala (Czech Republic)
Silver - Lukasz Banaj (Poland)
Bronze - Aleksandr Ekimov (Russia)
Bronze - Panagiotis Papadopoulos (Greece)
5th - Yuri Dabko (Belarus)
5th - Sark Yasser (Egypt)

U.S. performances

55 kg/121 lbs. - Jermaine Hodge, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army), dnp
WIN Ali Reza Tung (Austria)
LOSS Hassan Mustafa (Egypt)

60 kg/132 lbs. - Jeremy McLean, Quantico, Va. (U.S. Marine Corps), dnp
LOSS Vlahos Mihalis (Greece)

60 kg/132 lbs. - Donnie Depatto, Quantico, Va. (U.S. Marine Corps), dnp
LOSS Mohamed Ashraz (Egpyt)
LOSS Johannes Lienbacher (Austria)

66 kg/145.5 lbs. - Marcel Cooper, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army), dnp
LOSS Glenn Garrison (USA)

66 kg/145.5 lbs. - James Shillow, Quantico, Va. (U.S. Marine Corps), 5th
LOSS Ion Painat (Romania)
WIN Kwit Lukjan (Poland)
LOSS Georgios Boukis (Greece)

66 kg/145.5 lbs. - Glenn Garrison, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army), dnp
WIN Marcel Cooper (USA)
LOSS Georgios Boukis (Greece)

74 kg/163 lbs - Phillip Padilla, Phoenix, Ariz. (Team Arizona), dnp
LOSS Alexey Ivanov (Russia)

74 kg/163 lbs. - Steve Forrest, Quantico, Va. (U.S. Marine Corps), dnp
LOSS Ahmad Sadek (Egypt)

84 kg/185 lbs. - Aaron Sieracki, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army), 3rd
LOSS Artur Michalkiewicz (Poland)
WIN Armen Grigoryan (Russia)
WIN Hannes Haring (Austria)

96 kg/211.5 lbs. - R.C. Johnson, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids), dnp
LOSS Philip Johnston (USA)

96 kg/211.5 lbs. - Philip Johnston, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army), 3rd
WIN R.C. Johnson (USA)
LOSS Sergey Yaroshevich (Russia)
WIN Ioannis Arzoumanidis (Greece)
WIN Theodoris Tounousidis (Greece)

120 kg/264.5 lbs. - Russ Davie, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC), dnp
LOSS Aleksandr Ekimov (Russia)

120 kg/264.5 lbs.- Brandon Ruiz, Salt Lake City, Utah (Sunkist Kids), dnp
LOSS Panagiotis Papadopoulos (Greece)

Team Standings
1. Russia, 28 ots.
2. Greece, 28 pts.
3. Czech Republic, 13 pts.
4. Egypt, 13 pts.
5. Poland, 11 pts.
6. Belarus, 11 pts.
7. United States, 10 pts.
8. Slovakia, 7 pts.
9. Japan, 6 pts.
10. Romania, 5 pts.
(of 14 nations)