FLASH: Ahmadi, Schyck, Turgeon win golds and 12 medal in freestyle at Veterans Worlds in Hungary

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
09/21/2012


The 12 U.S. wrestlers who won men's freestyle medals on Friday pose together in Budapest, Hungary. Mike Torriero photo

BUDAPEST, Hungary – The United States had a strong day, with three champions and 12 medalists on the first day of men’s freestyle action at the Veterans World Championships on Friday. 

Claiming an eighth career Veterans World title was Shirzad Ahmadi of Coventry, Conn. at 63 kg in Div. F (61 – 65 years old). 

Ahmadi went 4-0 in a five-athlete roundrobin. He scored victories over runner-up Jack Hornbuckle of Poteau, Okla., along with two opponents from Russia and one from Azerbaijan.

The other two U.S. champions were Michael Schyck of Port Charlotte, Fla. at 85 kg in Div. B (41 – 45 years old) and Steven Turgeon of South Windsor, Conn. at 58 kg in Div. E (56 – 60 years old).

Schyck won four matches, including a pin over Sergey Pogorelov of Russia in the finals by pin. He also beat eventual bronze medalist Kevin Pine of Las Vegas, Nev., as well as opponents from Hungary and South Africa.

Details on Turgeon’s opponents are not currently available.

“Hearing the national anthem never gets old,” said Schyck, who won his first Veterans gold. “I am a competitor and I like to win. I have some incentive. I have two kids of my own who I would like to inspire. I didn’t know what to expect because I hadn’t done this in awhile. Once you get the competitive juices going, you go for it.”

The U.S. had  11 total medals on Friday, its best day so far at the Veterans World Championships which started on Tuesday.

Winning silver medals were:
•	Jack Hornbuckle, Poteau, Okla. (63 kg in Div. F)
•	Greg Archer, Terre Haute, Ind. (76 kg in Div. F)

Winning bronze medals were:
•	Dave Cannizzo, New York, N.Y. (69 kg in Div. B.)
•	Borys Kulich, Westmont, Ill., (85 kg in Div. B)
•	Kevin Pine, Las Vegas, Nev.(85 kg in Div. B)
•	Zelig Ziegelbaum, Port Washington, N.Y. (76 kg in Div. E)
•	Steve Contarino, Palmetto, Fla. (85 kg in Div. E)
•	Pat Ancil, Bradenton, Fla. (76 kg in Div. F)
•	Garry Price, Mifflintown, Pa. (85 kg in Div. F)

Updated information will be provided when available.

Two more age divisions in Greco-Roman will compete on Wednesday, Div. C (46 – 50 years old) and Div. D (51 – 55 years old).

VETERANS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Budapest, Hungary, September 21

Freestyle champions

Div. B (41 – 45 years old)
58 kg – Zoltan Tamas (Austria)
63 kg – Karo Simonyan (Russia)
69 kg – Abdulmuttalip Melek (Turkey)
76 kg –Fatih Ozbas (Turkey)
85 kg –Michael Schyck (USA) 
97 kg – A. Magomedov (Russia)
130 kg – Thomas Summ (Germany)

Div. E (56 – 60 years old)
Information not currently available

Div. F (61 – 65 years old)
58 kg – Victor Chirkov (Russia)
63 kg – Shirzad Ahmadi (USA)
69 kg – Ismail Kosukoglu (Ukraine)
76 kg –Magomed Badrudinov (Russia)
85 kg – Siegfried Jozlowski (Germany)
97 kg – Artur Sammet (Germany)
130 kg – George Etzebeth (South Africa)

U.S. men’s freestyle results

Div. B (41 – 45 years old)
69 kg – Dave Cannizzo, New York, N.Y., 3rd
69 kg – Greg Welch, Germantown, Md., dnp/11th
76 kg – Anthony Piva, Meridian, Idaho, 5th
85 kg – Michael Schyck, Port Charlotte, Fla., 1st
85 kg – Borys Kulich, Westmont, Ill., 3rd
85 kg – Kevin Pine, Las Vegas, Nev., 3rd

Div. E (56 – 60 years old)
58 kg – Steven Turgeon, South Windsor, Conn., 1st
63 kg – Steve Barkman, Bloombury, N.J., did not medal
69 kg – Craig Johnson, Broomfield, Colo., did not medal
76 kg- Zelig Ziegelbaum, Port Washington, N.Y., 3rd
85 kg – Peter Haag, Chicago, Ill., did not medal
85 kg – Steve Contarino, Palmetto, Fla., 3rd

Div. F (61 – 65 years old)
63 kg – Shirzad Ahmadi, Coventry, Conn., 1st
63 kg – Jack Hornbuckle, Poteau, Okla., 2nd
76 kg – Pat Ancil, Bradenton, Fla., 3rd
76 kg – Greg Archer, Terre Haute, Ind., 2nd
85 kg – Garry Price, Mifflintown, Pa., 3rd