Ellis Coleman receives his awards for winning the 66 kg division at the Austrian Junior Greco-Roman Open. Al Williams photo

GOTZIS, Austria – Four U.S. wrestlers from the FILA Junior age level captured gold medals at the Austrian Junior Greco-Roman Open on Saturday.

Winning titles were:
• Jesse Thielke, Germantown, Wis. (Ringers) at 55 kg/121 lbs.
• Ellis Coleman, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC) at 66 kg/145.5 lbs.
• Josh Castellano, Wood Dale, Ill. (USOEC) at 74 kg/163 lbs.
• Mark Stenberg, Lockport, Ill. (USOEC) at 84 kg/185 lbs. 

Coleman was a 2010 Junior World bronze medalist, and Thielke was a member of the 2010 Junior World Team.

The U.S. also had silver medals from Marcus Finau (Oahu, Hawaii/USOEC) at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. and Scott Helton (Elmhurst, Ill./USOEC) at 120 kg/264.5 lbs., and a bronze medal from Aaron Runzo (Virginia Beach, Va./USOEC) at 55 kg/121 lbs.

The United States won the team title, ahead of runner-up France and third-place Finland.

“The guys wrestled well,” said National Greco-Roman Developmental Coach Ike Anderson. “This was a great warmup event for our team. Jesse Thielke and Ellis Coleman dominated their opponents. We had many good performances from the wrestlers on this team.”

Next up for this team is the Petko Sirakov/Ivan Illiev Junior International in Varna, Bulgaria, March 11-13.

AUSTRIAN JUNIOR GRECO-ROMAN OPEN
At Gotzis, Austria, March 5

U.S. performances

55 kg/121 lbs. - Jesse Thielke, Germantown, Wis. (Ringers), 1st
WIN Lukas Staudacher (Austria), 0-7, pin 0:22
WIN Lukas Kathan (Austria), 6-0, 7-0
WIN Nika Tsetskhadze (Georgia), pin 1:50
WIN Allan Thiem Lemairt (France), 1-5, 3-0, 3-0

55 kg/121 lbs. - Aaron Runzo, Virginia Beach, Va. (USOEC), 3rd
LOSS Thiam Lemaire (France), 0-1, 0-1
WIN Ahmadi Karwan (Finland), 2-0, 2-1
WIN Nika Tsetskhadze (Georgia), 4-0, 0-7, 4-0

60 kg/132 lbs. - Joey Denova, Fortson, Ga. (USOEC), 4th
LOSS Antoine Schinzing (France), 0-2, 0-1
WIN Stefan Fuchsneiter (Austria), 7-0, 4-0
LOSS Amiran Shavdze (Georgia), 2-3, 0-4

66 kg/145.5 lbs. - Dillon Cowan, Harvard, Ill., 8th
WIN Roger Heinnger (Switzerland), pin 7-0, 6-0
WIN David Hungerbuhler (Switzerland), 7-1, 0-6, 6-0
LOSS Verni Varekoski (Finland), pin
LOSS Temuri Rukhavdze (Georgia), 1-7, 0-6

66 kg/145.5 lbs. - Ellis Coleman, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC), 1st
WIN Philippe Hausle (France), 4-0, 7-0
WIN Benedikt Puffer (Austria), 4-0, 8-0
WIN Petv Jonda (Czech Republic), pin 1:58
WIN Andre Kogler (Austria), 6-0, 5-0
WIN Morbitzer Matous, 5-0, 3-0
WIN Verni Varekoski (Finland), 2-1, 4-0

74 kg/163 lbs. - Josh Castellano, Wood Dale, Ill. (USOEC), 1st
WIN Antony Defrancheski (France), 2-0, 1-0
LOSS Oldrich Warg (Czech Republic), 2-0, 0-3, 0-1
WIN Artuu Koivlahti (Finland), pin 1:58
WIN Michael Wagner (Austria), 7-0, 2-1

74 kg/163 lbs. - Caleb Smith, Pakota, Ind. (USOEC), 5th
LOSS Damian Dietsche (Switzerland), 0-3, 0-4
LOSS Michael Wagner (Austria), fall 2:20
WIN Stefan Schwital (Austria), 1-0, 3-1
WIN Oldrich Warg (Czech Republic), 0-2, fall 0:15

84 kg/185 lbs. - Mark Stenberg, Lockport, Ill. (USOEC), 1st
WIN Daniel Gastl (Austria), 2-1, 0-1, 1-0

96 kg/211.5 lbs. - Marcus Finau, Oahu, Hawaii (USOEC), 2nd
WIN Kamil Slezacek (Switzerland), 1-0, 1-0
LOSS Tuomas Lathi (Finland), 2-3, 2-1, 0-1
WIN Ludek Kiewetter (Czech Republic), 1-0, 2-0
WIN Sebastian Huovinen (Finland), 3-1, 0-1, 2-0

120 kg/264.5 lbs. - Scott Helton (Elmhurst, Ill./USOEC), 2nd
LOSS Jusso Huovinen (Finland), 0-1, 0-6

Team Standings
1. United States
2. France
3. Finland
4. Czech Republic
5. Austria
6. Georgia
7. Switzerland
8. VLBG club, Austria