Stensgard wins silver, Aybar, Brown, Hughes, Contarino take bronzes at Veterans Greco Worlds

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
10/08/2011


U.S. Veterans wrestlers Victor Aybar, Chris Brown, Gregg Stensgard, Steve Contarino and Ron Hughes (l. to r.) pose with their Veterans World medals. Eric Sypes photo.

RACIBORZ, Poland – Five U.S. wrestlers won medals on the first two days of competition at the Veterans World Greco-Roman Championships in Raciborz, Poland, October 7-8.

Veterans are athletes who are 35 years old and above. Five weight divisions have been held, with three on Friday (Div. B, E, F) and two on Saturday (Div. C, D). The final two divisions are scheduled for Sunday (Div. A, G).

Claiming a silver medal at 85 kg in Division D (51-55 years) was Gregg Stensgard of Vernal, Utah.

Stensgard opened with victories over Naser Yaghoubi of Iran and Boguslaw Zapotczny of Poland. He was defeated in the championship finals by Michael Bulgrin of Germany.

The U.S. earned bronze medals from:
• Victor Aybar of Manchester, Md. (Div. C, 58 kg)
• Ronald Hughes of Hollister, Calif. (Div. C 63 kg)
• Chris Brown of Boyds, Md. (Div. D 76 kg)
• Steve Contarino of Palmetto, Fla. (Div. E, 85 kg)

Aybar defeated Victor Ilienko of Russia in his bronze-medal bout.

Hughes, a past Veterans World Greco-Roman champion, went 2-1 for the day, defeating Mehmet Kenan Bektas of Turkey in the bronze-medal round.

Brown won a Veterans World medal for the third straight year, with a 2-1 record. He stopped Raines Mueller of Germany in the bronze-medal match. Brown won a silver medal in 2010 and a bronze medal in 2009. He also serves as team leader for the trip.

Contarino, who has competed on many past Veterans World Teams, won his bronze medal with a victory over Sergei Klimov of Kazakhstan.

One American lost a bronze medal match to place fifth, Peter Haag of Chicago, Ill., in 85 kg in Div. E.

Medal results for each weight class will be posted later. 

Those who wish to go through the brackets can Click Here

Live video of the event is available if you Click Here

VETERANS GRECO-ROMAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Raciborz, Poland, October 7-8

Results on Friday and Saturday

Division B (41-45 years)
69 kg – Steve Horton, Ramstein AFB, Germany
WIN Petri Kaunisto (Finland)
LOSS Frederic Paul (France)

85 kg – Rodney Fisher, Lewisburg, W.Va.
LOSS Arasto Nejad (Sweden)

85 kg – Kevin Pine, Las Vegas, Nev.
LOSS Mariusz Wisniewski (Poland)

97 kg – Jeffery Anderson, Zeeland, Mich.
LOSS Valeri Kelsch (Germany)

Division C (46-50 years)

58 kg – Victor Aybar, Manchester, Md., 3rd
LOSS Bozhin Tachev (Bulgaria)
WIN Victor Ilienko (Russia)

63 kg – Ronald Hughes, Hollister, Calif., 3rd
WIN Andrzej Wolniewicz (Poland)
LOSS Davide Longone (Italy)
WIN Mehmet Kenan Bektas (Turkey)

Division D (51-55 years)

76 kg – Chris Brown, Boyds, Md., 3rd
WIN Bruce Moe (USA)
LOSS Soslan Adyrkhaiev (Ukraine)
WIN Raines Mueller (Germany)

76 kg – Bruce Moe, Hillsborough, N.D.
LOSS Chris Brown (USA)

85 kg – Gregg Stensgard, Vernal, Utah, 2nd
WIN Naser Yaghoubi (Iran)
WIN Boguslaw Zapotczny (Poland)
LOSS Michael Bulgrin (Germany)

Division E (56-60 years)

85 kg – Steve Contarino, Palmetto, Fla., 3rd
LOSS Pavel Li-Yu (Russia)
WIN Sergei Klimov (Kazakhstan)

85 kg – Sarkis Dermenjian, Valley Glenn, Calif.
LOSS Sergei Klimov (Kazakhstan)

85 kg – Peter Haag, Chicago, Ill., 5th
WIN Hassan Saeidi Zad (Iran)
LOSS Zdzislaw Brzosowski (Poland)
LOSS Herbert Saum (Germany)

Division F (61-65 years)

58 kg - James Schartner, Frederick, Md.
LOSS Viktor Chirkov (Russia)
WIN Grigol Robakidze (Georgia)
LOSS Saeed Bayati (Iran)
LOSS Aleksandr Korenkov (Russia)