Holm, Ruiz, Byers win three straight to lift U.S. past international stars at Curby Cup

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Jason Bryant (USA Wrestling)
05/21/2011


Jordan Holm battles Hristo Marinov at 84kg/185 pounds at the Curby Cup in La Grange, Ill., on Saturday. Larry Slater Photo.

A year ago, Jordan Holm was readying to enter the Northern Plains Regionals with the hopes of qualifying for the U.S. World Team Trials.

Saturday night in front of well over 1,000 fans at Lyons Township High School in La Grange, Ill., Holm’s three-period victory over reigning world champion Hristo Marinov of Bulgaria was the highlight of the second annual Curby Cup.

Holm’s victory, coupled with wins by Justin Ruiz and Dremiel Byers, closed the 4-3 dual win over a team of international stars, including many world medalists.

“It feels great,” said Holm (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm). “It’s kind of the progression I was looking forward to and having the opportunity. I love the change to have the chance to wrestle the world champion here in Illinois, in the United States, I love it.”

The U.S. got into an 0-2 hole after Spenser Mango (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) and Joe Betterman (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) both dropped matches to world medalists at 55kg and 60kg causing U.S. Greco-Roman coach Steve Fraser to get a little anxious.

Mango fell to Korea’s Choi Gyu-Jin to open the dual 1-0, 2-0.

Betterman fought hard in a three-period loss to Japan’s Ryutaro Matsumoto. The Japanese world medalist prevailed 1-0, 0-2, 1-0.

The U.S. would notch its first win at 66kg as Justin Lester (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) used a lightning-quick duckunder late in the third period to defeat Serbia’s Aleksandar Maksimovic to ignite the pro-U.S. crowd.

“Justin Lester had to come deep from within his guts to score to win,” said Fraser.

Overall, Fraser was obviously pleased with the outcome.

“I was very happy,” said Fraser. “Losing the first three out of four, it started to get a little tense, but it was great. Everybody wrestled well. The guys that got beat, they wrestled well, they were in the matches. The guys wrestled like warriors.”

The international squad would win its last match at 74kg as Hungary’s Peter Bacsi rallied to defeat 20-year-old Ben Provisor (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) 0-2, 4-1, 1-0. 

Then Holm, who won his first national championship last month in Cleveland, picked up the biggest win of his career.

After dropping the first period after getting turned in par terre, Holm forced a third period with a clutch lift and exposure for three points late in the second. 

In the third period, Marinov and Holm wrestled a scoreless 90 seconds and went to the ball draw. The ball came up red, forcing Marinov into the top position with the onus on him to score in the bout’s final 30 seconds. 

Marinov bumped Holm, prompting an attention from the officials, and when the two reset, Marinov cheated the start again, getting dinged for a caution and a point. Marinov’s coaches challenged the call, but after the officials reviewed the video, the call on the mat was confirmed and Holm was awarded a second point for Marinov’s lost challenge.

It would be all Holm needed to win the bout.

“I don’t really know if that was part of what I was really going to do five seconds before it happened,” said Holm of his clutch second-period score.

Holm’s rapid improvement makes him dangerous, according to Fraser. 

“He wants it bad,” said Fraser. “He’s overcome a lot of stuff and I don’t know of a guy who wants this thing more than Jordan Holm does. He’s coachable, he’s a goer, he’s in great shape and he still has a lot to improve on, which is going to be great.”

Holm’s win was followed by another clutch performance by Ruiz (Boise, Idaho/NYAC) at 96kg, who used a third-period pushout to defeat Sweden’s Jimmy Lidberg in a matchup between two past world medalists.

Lidberg defeated Ruiz for the bronze medal at the 2010 World Championships.

So with the dual tied at three bouts apiece, Byers (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) finished off the U.S. win, turning 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Mindaugas Mizgaitis of Lithuania in the second period and earn a two-period victory at 120kg. 

“As far as it coming down to heavyweight, that’s an occupational hazard,” said Byers. “Something you learn in the early years of the sport, you need to be able to close the deal.”

Byers patiently set up his gutwrench and waited for the scoring opportunity to present itself. 

“I’ve done (the gutwrench) so much and they know it’s coming,” explained Byers. “A lot of guys prepare too much for it or over defend. I noticed his left hand was further out, so that means if it’s further out, he doesn’t really have any defense to absorb the impact, so he fell for it.”

The Curby Cup, held in memory of the late Jacob Curby, a U.S. National Team member who passed away last year at age 25, is part of the Jacob Curby Foundation. 

Coaches and athletes found the event extremely helpful to the U.S. hopes of winning world and Olympic medals. 

“When I first heard about the Curby Cup this year being the United States versus the world, maybe about a month before the open, that was part of my aspirations,” said Holm. “Part of my aspirations were to wrestle in the Curby Cup, not just to win the U.S. Open, but to know the reward for winning the U.S. Open was wrestling in the Curby Cup and represent the United States in my weight class.”

Byers echoed the sentiment. 

“I think we need more stuff like this to get guys matches and experience,” said Byers. “It was a real good turnout and for a great benefit for the Curby Family. This definitely honors him.”

Said Fraser: “What a great honor I think for Jacob Curby and his family. I don’t think you could have a better tribute. Jake meant a lot to this wrestling family. He was a hard-working son of a gun, he was coachable, he had a great attitude, never complained. He was a great example of what it takes to be good in this sport.”

Curby Cup Greco-Roman Dual
Lyons Township H.S., La Grange, Ill.
55kg – Choi Gyu-Jin (Korea) dec. Spenser Mango (USA) 1-0, 2-0.
60kg – Ryutaro Matsumoto (Japan) dec. Joe Betterman (USA) 1-0, 0-2, 1-0.
66kg – Justin Lester (USA) dec. Alexandar Maksimovic (Serbia) 3-0, 0-1, 2-1.
74kg – Peter Bacsi (Hungary) dec. Ben Provisor (USA) 1-2, 4-1, 1-0.
84kg – Jordan Holm (USA) dec. Hristo Marinov (Bulgaria) 0-3, 3-0, 2-0.
96kg – Justin Ruiz (USA) dec. Jimmy Lidberg (Sweden) 1-0, 0-2, 1-0
120kg – Dremiel Byers (USA) dec. Mindaugas Mizgaitis (Lithuania) 1-0, 2-0.

Note: Fans should keep an eye on the USA Wrestling YouTube channel for matches and interviews from the event soon.