Headlee takes bronze, three others are fifth on last day of Cerro Pelado International in Cuba

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
02/20/2011


Drew Headlee in action at the 2011 Dave Schultz Memorial International. Headlee won a 60 kg bronze medal in Cuba today. Larry Slater photo

HAVANA, Cuba – Drew Headlee (Morgantown, W.Va./Sunkist Kids) captured a bronze medal at 60 kg/132 lbs. on the final day of men’s freestyle competition at the Cerro Pelado International on Sunday.

Headlee finished with a strong 3-1 record, and pinned Canada’s James Mancini in his bronze-medal match in 1:33.

He opened with a win over Guillermo Torres of Mexico, but was defeated in the second match by 2010 Pan American champion Alejandro Valdes of Cuba.

Headlee defeated Wilfredo Enriquez of Venezuela in his first repechage match to qualify for the bronze-medal round.

Three U.S. wrestlers dropped bronze medal bouts to place fifth in their divisions: Coleman Scott (Stillwater, Okla./Gator WC) at 60 kg/132 lbs., Jack Jensen, Graham, N.C. (Gator WC) at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. and David Zabriskie (Ames, Iowa/Sunkist Kids) at 96 kg/211.5 lbs.

Scott was defeated in his bronze-medal bout by 2009 Pan American champion Makiel Perez of Cuba, 5-5, 2-4.

Jensen fell to Javier Cortina of Cuba, 0-1, 1-0, 0-7 in his bronze-medal match.

Zabriskie was injured in his second match against Eduardo Mesa of Cuba and withdrew, which dropped him to fifth in the weight class.

“We are improving, but we have a lot of learning to do,” said National Freestyle Coach Zeke Jones. “Cuba took all of the gold medals today, and we won’t be satisfied until we win them all. The guys who wrestled today still have a lot of freestyle to learn, but we are on track. We took a lot of young guys who had never competed here before. They have made progress.”

The U.S. finished the two day tournament with six medals.

On Saturday, Tommy Rowlands (Columbus, Ohio/Sunkist Kids) won a gold medal at 120 kg/264.5 lbs. and four U.S. athletes claimed bronze medals: Obe Blanc (Stillwater, Okla./Gator WC) at 55 kg/121 lbs., Sam Hazewinkel (Norman, Okla./Sunkist Kids) at 55 kg/121 lbs., Brent Metcalf (Iowa City, Iowa/New York AC) at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. and Keith Gavin (Bethlehem, Pa./Lehigh Valley WC) at 84 kg/185 lbs.

CERRO PELADO INTERNATIONAL
at Havana, Cuba, Feb. 20

60 kg/132 lbs. 
Gold – Alejandro Valdes (Cuba)
Silver – Howles Bonne (Cuba)
Bronze – Drew Headlee (USA)
Bronze – Makiel Perez (Cuba)
5th – James Mancini (Canada)
5th –Coleman Scott (USA)

Gold – Valdes dec. Bonne, 1-0, 0-1, 3-2
Bronze – Headlee pin Mancini, 1:33
Bronze – Perez dec. Scott, 5-5, 4-2

74 kg/163 lbs.
Gold – Yunieski Blanco (Cuba)
Silver – Ivan Fundora (Cuba)
Bronze – Pedro Polobus Allos (Venezuela)
Bronze – Andre Shyyka (Germany)
5th – Jose Mercado (Ecuador)
5th – Lazaro Montes De Oca (Cuba)

Gold – Blanco dec. Fundora, 1-0, 3-4, 1-1
Bronze – Shyyka dec. de Oca, 3-3, 9-3, 6-0
Bronze – Allos dec. Mercado, 2-0, 6-0

96 kg/211.5 lbs.
Gold – Michel Batista (Cuba)
Silver – Eduardo Mesa (Cuba)
Bronze – William Harth (Germany)
Bronze – Javier Cortina (Cuba)
5th – David Zabriskie (USA)
5th – Jack Jensen (USA)

Gold – Batista dec. Mesa, 1-0, 1-0
Bronze – Harth dec. Zabriskie, inj. dft.
Bronze – Cortina dec. Jensen, 1-0, 0-1, 7-0

U.S. performances on Sunday

60 kg/132 lbs. - Nick Simmons, Corvallis, Ore. (Sunkist Kids), dnp
WIN Herman Guzman (Colombia), pin 0:54
LOSS Howles Bonne (Cuba), 0-5, 0-6
LOSS Coleman Scott (USA), 0-6, 0-1

60 kg/132 lbs. - Coleman Scott, Stillwater, Okla. (Gator WC), 5th
LOSS Howles Bonne (Cuba), 1-4, 1-6
WIN Nick Simmons (USA), 6-0, 1-0
LOSS Makiel Perez (Cuba), 5-5, 2-4

60 kg/132 lbs. - Drew Headlee, Morgantown, W.Va. (Sunkist Kids), 3rd
WIN Guillermo Torres (Mexico), 3-2, 5-1
LOSS Alejandro Valdes (Cuba), 0-7, 1-5
WIN Wilfredo Enriquez (Venezuela), 0-1, 6-0, 5-0
WIN James Mancini (Canada), pin 1:33

74 kg/163 lbs. - Ryan Morningstar, Iowa City, Iowa (New York AC), dnp
WIN Daniel Malvino (Brazil), 1-0, 4-0
LOSS Lazaro Montes De Oca (Cuba), 0-1, 0-2

96 kg/211.5 lbs. – David Zabriskie, Ames, Iowa (Sunkist Kids), 5th
WIN Luis Zivnes (Venezuela), 1-0, 3-3, 6-0
LOSS Eduardo Mesa (Cuba), inj. dft.
withdrew

96 kg/211.5 lbs. - Jack Jensen, Graham, N.C. (Gator WC), 5th
LOSS Michel Batista (Cuba), 2-0, 0-2, 1-2
WIN Diego Rodriguez (Brazil), 2-1, 3-0
LOSS Javier Cortina (Cuba), 0-1, 1-0, 0-7