BEIJING, China – Tom LeCuyer (Plano, Ill. (Atlas XT/Torres MA) won a bronze medal at the Men’s 70 kg/154 lbs. division in the No-Gi Grappling event at the SportAccord World Combat Games on Thursday.

The other American in the event, Tara LaRosa (Woodstown, N.J./Philadelphia Fight Factory), placed fourth at the Women’s 60 kg/132 lbs.

This unique competition includes elite international competition in a number of combat and martial arts disciplines.

In the bronze-medal match. LeCuyer won by submission over Aleksandar Kamenov of Bulgaria. It was LeCuyer’s third submission victory for the day. Both LeCuyer and Kamenov won World bronze medals at the 2010 Grappling World Championships.

LeCuyer placed second in his pool with a 2-1 record. He was defeated in his first match by 2010 World Grappling champion Maciej Polok of Poland, 3-1, but came back with submission victories over Mykhailo Lasiuchenko of Ukraine and Martin Hedenbergh of Sweden.

In her bronze medal match, LaRosa lost to Oceane Talvard of France, 1-6. Talvard was a 2010 Grappling World silver medalist at 55 kg.

LaRosa was second in her pool with a 2-1 record. She opened with a submission win over Victoria Syniavina of Ukraine, then lost 9-0 to 2010 World champion Shiela Bird of Canada. She came back to defeat Evelin Banyai of Hungary, 4-1.

Both U.S. entries are past Grappling World champions for the United States. LaRosa was a Gi gold medalist at the 2009 Grappling World Championships, and won a No-Gi gold medal in the Grappling competition at the World Wrestling Games in 2007. LeCuyer won a No-Gi gold medal at the 2009 Grappling World Championships.

The U.S. earned its positions in Grappling at the World Combat Games based upon the No-Gi results of the 2010 World Grappling Championships held in Krakow, Poland where LeCuyer and LaRosa both won bronze medals.

LeCuyer’s bronze was the second SportAccord World Combat Games medal won by a USA Wrestling athlete. On Wednesday, Amberle Montgomery (Kent, Wash./Gator WC/OCU) won a silver medal at 63 kg/138.75 lbs. in women’s freestyle wrestling.

SPORTACCORD WORLD COMBAT GAMES
At Beijing, China, Sept. 2

No-Gi Grappling results

Women’s 60 kg
Gold – Shiela Bird (Canada)
Silver – Irena Preiss (Poland)
Bronze –Oceane Talvard (France)
4th – Tara LaRosa (USA)
5th – Evelin Banyai (Hungary)
6th – Arnela Hadzisulehmanovic (Sweden)
7th – Viktoriua Syniavina (Ukraine)
8th – Julia Klammsteiner (Italy)

Men’s 70 kg
Gold – Maciej Polok (Poland)
Silver – Mattieu Husson (France)
Bronze – Tom LeCuyer (USA)
4th – Aleksandar Kamenov (Bulgaria)
5th – Carlos Polo (Spain)
6th –Mykhailo Lasiuchenko (Ukraine)
7th – Martin Hedenbergh (Sweden)
8th – Ciro Ruotolo (Italy)

Men’s 80 kg
Gold – David Pierre-Louis (France)
Silver – Krzyszstof Lukaszewicz (Poland)
Bronze – Sergi Sergiienko (Ukraine)
4th – Svetlozar Savov (Bulgaria)
5th – Bernardo Serrini (Italy)
6th – Andras Mathe (Hungary)
7th – Andrey Rychin (Russia)
8th – Maite Janssen (Germany)

Men’s 90 kg
Gold – Zbigniew Tuszka (Poland)
Silver – Jose Rodenas (Spain) vs.
Bronze –Lamberto Raffi (Italy)
4th – Mats Nilsson (Sweden)
5th – Dmytro Biloshapka (Ukraine)
6th –Masayoshi Shirai (Japan)
7th – Takanori Kuno (Japan)
8th – Srdna Rokovic (Serbia)

U.S. No-Gi Grappling results

Men’s 70 kg/154 lbs. - Tom LeCuyer, Plano, Ill. (Atlas XT/Torres MA), 3rd
LOSS Maciej Polok (Poland), 3-1
WIN Mykhailo Lasiuchenko (Ukraine), submission
WIN Martin Hedenbergh (Sweden), submission
WIN Aleksandar Kamenov (Bulgaria), submission

Women’s 60 kg/132 lbs. – Tara LaRosa, Woodstown, N.J. (Philadelphia Fight Factory), 4th
WIN Victoria Syniavina (Ukraine), submission
LOSS Shiela Bird (Canada), 0-9
WIN Evelin Banyai (Hungary), 4-1
LOSS Oceane Talvard (France), 1-6