BLACKMON, MARIANETTI WIN GOLD MEDALS AT HENRI DEGLANE CHALLENGE IN NICE, FRANCE, NOV. 27-28 
 Two U.S. wrestlers, Ramico Blackmon (Colorado Springs, Colo./Team Excel) at 152 pounds and Steve Marianetti (Urbana, Ill./New York AC) at 167.5 pounds., won gold medals at the 1999 Henri Deglane Challenge in Nice, France, Nov. 27-28.  
 This international competition featured top athletes from a variety of nations in both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. In the past, the Henri Deglane Challenge was conducted in a dual meet format. This year, however, it will be held as an individual tournament. 
 Blackmon won four matches on the way to the title, including a 4-2 overtime victory over Yordan Ravev of Bulgaria in the finals. In the semifinals, Blackmon stopped Pat Santoro (Bethlehem, Pa./New York AC), by a 5-4 margin. Blackmon holds a No. 6 ranking in the USA, while Santoro is ranked No. 2 in the nation. 
 Marianetti, the No. 2 ranked wrestler in the USA, won five matches in the tournament. He defeated Brandon Slay (Colorado Springs, Colo./Dave Schultz WC) in the gold-medal finals, 4-0. Slay is ranked No. 6 in the nation.  
 Winning silver medals for the United States were Slay and Jason Kutz (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) at 127.75 pounds. 
 Slay won three straight matches before losing to Marianetti in the gold-medal finals. Kutz also won his first three matches, before falling to Alexandre Kolavanov of Russia, 7-5 in the finals. 
 Three U.S. freestyle wrestlers claimed bronze medals: Santoro, plus Kerry Boumans (Colorado Springs, Colo./Dave Schultz WC) at 138.75 pounds and Dominic Black (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) at 213.75 pounds. All three wrestlers dropped their semifinal matches, but came back to win in the bronze-medal round. Boumans was wrestling up one weight class from his usual 127.75 pounds. 
 Two U.S. wrestlers were fourth, Greco-Roman wrestler Mike Ellsworth (Colorado Springs, Colo./Michigan WC) at 152 pounds and freestyle wrestler Burke Tyree (Colorado Springs, Colo./Team Excel) at 127.75 pounds. 
 The U.S. team was coached by USA Wrestling's Freestyle Resident Coach Kevin Jackson of Colorado Springs, Colo. Jackson was a 1992 Olympic gold medalist and won World gold medals in 1991 and 1995. 
 The United States placed third in the tournament, which combined the scores of both the freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestlers. Russia won the team title, with host France placing second. A total of 16 teams were entered in the tournament. 
 HENRI DEGLANE CHALLENGE at Nice, France, Nov. 27-28 
 Freestyle results 
 127.75 - 1st - Alexander Kolavanov (Russia); 2nd - Jason Kutz (USA); 3rd - Fanel Carp (France); 4th - Burke Tyree (USA) 
 138.75 - 1st - Soslan Tomaev (Russia); 2nd - Mohammed Talaie (Iran); 3rd - Kerry Boumans (USA); 4th - Orazio Seafiti (Italy) 
 152 - 1st - Ramico Blackmon (USA); 2nd - Yordan Ravev (Bulgaria); 3rd - Pat Santoro (USA); 4th - Patrick Vazeille (France) 
 167.5 - 1st - Steve Marianetti (USA); 2nd - Brandon Slay (USA); 3rd - Fabio Camarda (Italy); 4th - Ibrahim Zengin (France) 
 187.25 - 1st - Vadim Laliev (Russia); 2nd - Sabouri Hesmatollar (Iran); 3rd - Oleg Kallagov (France); 4th - Vincent Aka (France) 
 213.75 - 1st - Artour Taimazov (Russia); 2nd - Aldo Karegar (Iran); 3rd - Dominic Black (USA); 4th - Dimitov Anguelov (Bulgaria) 
 Greco-Roman results 
 127.75 - 1st - Valeri Nikoronov (Russia); 2nd - Roman Boultounov (Russia); 3rd - Stoyan Spassov (Bulgaria); 4th - Morgan Lemourouz (France) 
 138.75 - 1st - Vladimir Bolchanov (Russia); 2nd - Phillipe Bendjoudi (France); 3rd - Moises Sanchez (Spain); 4th - Sebastien Hidalgo (France) 
 152 - 1st - Alexandre Glouchkov (Russia); 2nd - Aurelien Bozonet (France); 3rd - Alain Hassli (France); 4th - Mike Ellsworth (USA) 
 167.5 - 1st - Valeri Kapaev (Russia); 2nd - Christophe Guenot (France); 3rd - Nestor Almanza Baro (Cuba); 4th - Hafid Esslimi (France) 
 187.25 - 1st - Alexandre Dyba (Russia); 2nd - David Millien (France); 3rd - Yvan Gebout (France); 4th - Juan Carlos Ramon (SPain) 
 213.75 - 1st - Viacheslav Belmas (Russia); 2nd - Cedric Theval (France); 3rd - Borislav Dinov (Bulgaria); 4th - Frncesco Matteucci (Italy) 
 U.S. freestyle performances 
 127.75 - Jason Kutz, Colorado Springs, Colo., 2nd - won by tech. fall over Stephen Spengley (France), 10-0; won by tech. fall over David LeGrand (France), 12-1; won by tech. fall over Burke Tyree (USA), 10-0; lost dec. to Alexandre Kolavanov (Russia), 7-5 
 127.75 - Burke Tyree, Colorado Springs, Colo., 2nd - won by tech. fall over Julio Rodriguez Facz (France), 10-0; dec. Wilfried Arondel (France), 5-2; lost by tech. fall to Alexandre Kolavanov (Russia), 12-2; lost by tech. fall to Jason Kutz (USA), 10-0; lost by tech. fall to Fanel Carp (France), 13-3 
 138.75 - Kerry Boumans, Colorado Springs, Colo., 3rd - won by tech. fall over Luca Martorana (Italy), 11-0; pin Karim Makhlouf (France), 5:01; lost dec. to Soslan Tomaev (Russia), 3-2; pin Orazio Scafiti (Italy), 2:39 
 152 - Ramico Blackmon, Colorado Springs, Colo. , 1st - won by tech. fall over Michael Whalen (France), 21-0; won by tech. fall over Carlos Dominguez (Spain), 12-2; dec. Pat Santoro (USA), 5-4; dec. Yordan Ravev (Bulgaria), 4-2, ot, 6:30 
 152 - Pat Santoro, Bethlehem, Pa., 3rd - won by tech. fall over Lauren Clergent (France), 11-0; won by tech. fall over Trenta Diego (Italy), 12-0; dec. Ibrahim Selloum (France), 9-3; lost dec. to Ramico Blackmon (USA), 5-4; pin Patrick Vazeille (France), 1:40 
 167.5 - Steve Marianetti, Urbana, Ill., 1st - won by tech. fall over Max Tudezca (France), 11-1; dec. Masoud Hourazi (Iran), 5-1; won by tech. fall over Nicolas Fevre (France), 11-0; won by tech. fall over Ibrahim Sengin (France), 10-0; dec. Brandon Slay (USA), 4-0 
 167.5 - Brandon Slay, Colorado Springs, Colo., 2nd - won by tech. fall over Ivaylo Anguelov (Bulgaria), 10-0; dec. Petre Valevica (France), 9-2; won by tech. fall over Fabio Camarda (Italy), 11-1; lost dec. to Steve Marianetti (USA), 4-0 
 167.5 - Matt Marciniak, Colorado Springs, Colo. , dnp - dec. Marco Anfe (France), 4-2; lost dec. to Fabio Camarda (Italy), 7-1 
 187.25 - Mike Van Arsdale, Colorado Springs, Colo., dnp- lost by inj. dft. to Oleg Kallegov (Russia), withdrew 
 213.75 - Dominic Black, Colorado Springs, Colo., 3rd - won by tech. fall over Nicola Castr Segane (France), 11-0; won by tech. fall over Dimitov Anguelov (Bulgaria), 11-1; lost dec. to Aldo Karegar (Iran), 7-5; pin Dimitov Anguelov (Bulgaria), 2:00 
 U.S. Greco-Roman performances  
 138.75 - Steve Horton, Colorado Springs, Colo., dnp - won by tech. fall over Arno Bromme (France), 10-0; won by tech. fall over Ruben Campos (France), 10-0; lost by tech. fall to Phillippe Bendjoudi (France), 12-2; lost dec. to Dimitar Taney (Bulgaria), 3-2 
 152 - Mike Ellsworth, Colorado Springs, Colo., 4th -  dec. Atafi Chookri (France), 6-3; lost dec. to Aurelian Bozonet (France), 4-0; pin Ren Zimmerman (Germany), 2:05; lost by tech. fall to Alexandre Glouchkov (Russia), 10-0; lost dec. to Alain Hassli (France), 5-4 
 152 - Zac Dominguez, Marquette, Mich., dnp - lost dec. to Alberto Recuero (Spain), 12-9; lost pin to Brian Medlin (USA), 1:36; lost dec. to Nestor Almanza Baro (Cuba), 9-0 
 152 - Brian Medlin, Marquette, Mich., dnp - lost dec. to Nestor Almanza Baro (Cuba), 9-0; pin Zac Dominguez (USA), 1:36; lost dec. to Alberto Recuero (Spain), 5-0 
 187.25 - Jason Nunn, Marquette, Mich., dnp - lost dec. to Juan Carlos Ramos (Spain), 5-0; lost by tech. fall to David Millien (France), 10-0 
 213.75 - Royce Teague, Minneapolis, Minn., dnp - lost pin to Viatcheslav Belmas (Russia), 4:25; lost pin to Raphael Samourgachev (Russia), 2:00; lost by tech. fall to Borislav Dimov (Bulgaria), 10-0 
 Teams (both styles combined) - 1. Russia; 2. France; 3 United States (of 16 teams)