Doug Schwab, shown at the 2008 Olympics, was one of three U.S. winners on Wednesday night. Larry Slater photo.

MOUNT VERNON, Iowa - Doug Schwab knows his formula for success in international wrestling is relatively simple.

When he is attacking and getting to his offense, he is very tough to beat.

The 2008 Olympian proved that in turning in a superb performance by downing Russia's Arsen Mairov 1-1, 3-0 before a packed house of 1,500 fans Wednesday night at Cornell College.

Schwab drove Mairov out of bounds in the closing seconds of the first period. He then fired in on another leg attack late in the second period to prevail at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. Mairov placed second in the 2009 Russian Nationals.

"If I pick up my pace and go to my offense, I know I can take anybody down," Schwab said. "To win a World championship, you have to watch guys like (Russia's Besik) Kudukhov and (American Jake) Herbert. They are going to their offense. You can't let matches come down to a coin flip where it's 50-50. I'm not real happy with winning like this. It doesn't need to be that close.

"To me, it's not about winning a dual meet like this. I'm training to win World titles."

Teammates Kyle Cerminara and Blake Gillis also added wins for Team USA as it dropped a 4-3 decision to the Russians.

Schwab, fifth in the 2007 World Championships, struggled during the 2009 season as he was hampered by a neck and shoulder injury.

"I wrestled with one arm at the World Team Trials," Schwab said. "After the Trials, I was off the mat for about four months. Now I'm back training again. I wanted to get some competition in front of a live crowd."

That crowd gave Schwab a big boost in his battle with the Russian.

"I felt like I was back in the gym at Osage (High School)," he said. "When you have all those people surrounding you and they are close to the mat, they get pretty loud when things get exciting. You know what, they get pretty quiet when you don't do anything. These fans are used to seeing Iowa wrestlers scoring a lot of points."

Cerminara controlled Magomed Magomadov of Russia 3-1, 2-1 at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. Gillis downed Alan Tsarikaev of Russia 1-0, 1-0 at 120 kg/264.5 lbs.

Russia defeated Team USA four matches to three on Sunday at Wright College in Chicago. The teams will battle in a third dual meet on Friday night at the New York Athletic Club in New York City.

RUSSIA 4, USA 3

x-96 kg/211.5 lbs. - Valeriy Bedoev (Russia) dec. Wynn Michalak (USA), 1-0, 4-3

55 kg/121 lbs. - Nariman Israpilov (Russia) dec. Paul Donahoe (USA), 2-0, 6-0

60 kg/132 lbs. - Vladimir Vilmov (Russia) dec. Mike Zadick (USA), 2-0, 1-0

66 kg/145.5 lbs. - Doug Schwab (USA) dec. Arsen Mairov (Russia), 1-1, 3-0

74 kg/163 lbs. - Rashid Kurbanov (Russia) dec. Lloyd Rogers (USA), 0-1, 2-1, 1-1

84 kg/185 lbs. - Anzor Urishev (Russia) dec. Bryce Hasseman (USA), 1-0, 0-1, 1-0

96 kg/211.5 lbs. - Kyle Cerminara (USA) dec. Magomed Magomadov (Russia), 3-1, 2-1

120 kg/264.5 lbs. - Blake Gillis (USA) vs. Alan Tsarikaev (Russia), 1-0, 1-0

x-exhibition match

Interview with 96kg Kyle Cerminara

Interview with 60kg Mike Zadick

Interview with 66kg Doug Schwab

Interview with 120kg Blake Gillis

Interview with U.S. National Freestyle Coach Zeke Jones