LESTER WINS GOLD MEDAL, MARTINEZ WINS BRONZE MEDAL AT FILA CADET WORLD FREESTYLE CHAMPIONSHIPS IN POLANDHarry Lester of Akron, Ohio won a gold medal at 119 pounds, and Israel Martinez of Aurora, Ill. captured a bronze medal at 127.75 pounds at the 1999 FILA Cadet Freestyle World Championships in Lodz, Poland, August 4-7. The competition featured the best 15-17 year old wrestlers in the world.
Lester won five matches on the way to the title, including a victory in the gold-medal finals by injury default over Arif Mekhliev of Azerbaijan.
Lester opened with a pair of technical falls, defeating Arturs Mihalevichs of Latvia, 15-4, and Jani Haapaman of Finland, 13-3. In the quarterfinals, he stopped Kumar Krishnan of India, 8-7. He won an exciting 11-8 match over Soslan Tegueev of Russia in the semifinals. In the finals, his opponent Mekhliev was injured and did not compete, and Lester won the title without a match.
Lester was a 1999 Cadet Nationals champion in Greco-Roman and placed second in freestyle.
Martinez earned a 4-2 record in the tournament, including a tight 2-2 overtime referee's decision over Zaur Najmudinov of Russia in the bronze-medal match.
Martinez split his first two matches, defeating Goran Alanasov of Macedonia, 7-3 and losing to Alexander Burca of Moldova, 7-5. He scored enough points in his pool to advance into the next round, where he scored a 14-0 technical fall over Katsuya Kuroda of Japan, 14-0. In the quarterfinals, Martinez defeated Jamshid Ahmadi of Iran, 4-2, but was then defeated in the semifinals by Saday Ismanov of Azerbaijan, 11-6.
Martinez has won the Cadet World Team Trials for two straight years, but did not compete in last year's World Championships.
The United States placed eighth in the final standings in a field of 47 teams. Russia won the team title, followed by Azerbaijan and Iran.
Matt Daddino of Franklin Square, N.Y., placed fourth at 187.25 pounds. He opened with three straight wins, including two pins and a decision. In the semifinals, Daddino lost a 5-0 match to Murzhan Katayev of Kazakhstan, then fell to Serhat Balci of Turkey, 8-0 in the bronze-medal match.
Marcus Levessuer of Minneapolis, Minn. placed sixth at 138.75 pounds. He also started very strongly, winning his first three matches. In the quarterfinals, Levesseur was defeated by Nikoloz Lobsanidze of Georgia, 4-2 and eliminated from medal contention.
Kyle Ott of Huber Heights, Ohio, placed eighth at 110 pounds with a 2-2 record in the tournament. Ott placed at the Cadet World Championships for the second straight year, after a ninth-place finish at the 1998 World Championships.
Team USA was coached by head coach Mark Perry of Stillwater, Okla., the assistant coach at Oklahoma State Univ., and Lew Sondgeroth of Denver, Colo.
The team featured medalists from the 1999 Cadet World Team Trials at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., April 10-11.
CADET WORLD FREESTYLE CHAMPIONSHIPS at Lodz, Poland, August 4-7
Final results
42 kg/92.5 lbs.- Gold - Dutt Yogeshwar (India); Silver - Yasser Khalpoir (Iran); Bronze - Eugeni Kolbine (Russia); 4th - Vitali Stancev (Russia); 5th - Askar Adajev (Mongolia); 6th - Volodimyr Ponomarov (Ukraine); 7th - Bahruz Niftiev (Azerbaijan); 8th - Medet Alikulov (Kazakhstan); 9th - Yaroslav Zaitsev (Belarus); 10th - Bacek Biniashvili (Israel)
46 kg/101.5 lbs.- Gold - Namiq Sevdimov (Azerbaijan); Silver - Nurlan Amanskossov (Kyrgyzstan); Bronze - Amiban Elbakidze (Georgia); 4th - Mosstafa Akhonid (Iran); 5th - Ernest Khaliyev (Ukraine); 6th - Asset Orazgaliyev (Kazkahstan); 7th - Tsegsegmaa Batrorig (Mongolia); 8th - Fekri Memisi (Macedonia); 9th - Tomasz Kuszek (Poland); 10th - Vasile Bourda (Moldova)
50 kg/110 lbs.- Gold - Kumar Sushil (India); Silver - Batraz Tidiev (Russia); Bronze - Majod Roudbari (Iran); 4th - Adrian Roman (Romania); 5th - Asset Serikbayev (Kazakhstan); 6th - Ilie Esir (Moldova); 7th - Myroslav Dykun (Ukraine); 8th - Kyle Ott (USA); 9th - Besarion Gochashvili (Georgia); 10th - Artyom Martirosyan (Armenia)
54 kg/119 lbs.- Gold - Harry Lester (USA); Silver - Arif Mekhliev (Azerbaijan); Bronze - Soslan Tcguecv (Russia); 4th - Nazar Osaoltsh (Ukraine); 5th - Florian Buga (Romania); 6th - Kumar Krishnan (India); 7th - B. Kasinbetov (Uzbekistan); 8th - Ayssoun Habil (Bulgaria); 9th - Dugarsuren Lkhacvadorj (Mongolia); 10th - Talgat Zhaisenov (Kazakhstan)
58 kg/127.75 lbs.- Gold - Erhan Bakir (Turkey); Silver - Saday Ismanov (Azerbaijan); Bronze - Israel Martinez (United States); 4th - Zarour Najmudinov (Russia); 5th - Alexandr Burca (Moldova); 6th - Mars Yerhazarov (Kyrgyzstan); 7th - Jamshid Ahmadi (Iran); 8th - Uly Janabay (Kazakhstan); 9th - Tariel Khonelidze (Ukraine); 10th - Juraj Prascak (Slovakia)
63 kg/138.75 lbs. - Gold - Nikolz Lobasanidze (Georgia); Silver - Amir Dalvand (Iran); Bronze - Leon Pentelei (Moldova); 4th - Alan Hassiev (Russia); 5th - Sabit Kendybayer (Kazakhstan); 6th - Marcus Levesseur (USA); 7th - Andrey Stadnik (Ukraine); 8th - Theodossis Pavlidis (Greece); 9th - Sardar Djarchiev (Azerbaijan); 10th - Aren Mehrabyan (Armenia)
69 kg/152 lbs. - Gold - Kazbek Dagataev (Azerbaijan); Silver - Oleh Ilayev (Ukraine); Bronze - Michael Chikovani (Georgia); 4th - Jeia Souk (Russia); 5th - Nouray Ibriamov (Bulgaria); 6th - Achmed Magomedov (Tajikistan); 7th - Vitalie Petcov (Moldova); 8th - Seieaddin Osmanov (Kazakhstan); 9th - Davit Papoyan (Armenia); 10th - Haralabos Kesanidis (Greece)
76 kg/167.5 lbs. - Gold - Sergei Witkowski (Russia); Silver - Askhat Ahamsutdinov (Kazakhstan); Bronze - Oleksandr Korol (Ukraine); 4th - Shola Bogolashvili (Georgia); 5th - Narantsetseg Burembaatar (Mongolia); 6th - Ruslan Sumenkov (Kyrgyzstan); 7th - Hadi Puralijan (Iran); 8th - B. Kurbanov (Uzbekistan); 9th - Singh Narender (India); 10th - Hovhannes Mkrtchyan (Armenia)
85 kg/187.25 lbs. - Gold - Murzhan Katayev (Kakzakhstan); Silver - Khizri Chupanov (Azerbaijan); Bronze - Serhat Balci (Turkey); 4th - Matt Daddino (USA); 5th - Michael Bagauri (Georgia); 6th - Magomed Ibragimov (Russia); 7th - Zsolt Balough (Hungary); 8th - Artiom Maler (Moldova); 9th - Roman Usok (Ukraine); 10th - Hossein Khaleghi Far (Iran)
100 kg/220.25 lbs. - Gold - Yasser Nourzaee (Iran); Silver - Khalif Oumakhanov (Russia); Bronze - Msait Bingol (Turkey); 4th - Zviad Sisauri (Georgia); 5th - Seymur Gouseynov (Azerbaijan); 6th - Gheorghe Mitioglo (Moldova); 7th - Sergey Monzhayev (Kazakhstan); 8th - Bahtiar Ahmedov (Bulgaria); 9th - Sirmais Kaspars (Latvia); 10th - Rafal Gladysz (Poland)
Teams - 1. Russia, 70 pts.; 2. Azerbaijan, 59 pts.; 3. Iran, 52 pts.; 4. Kazakhstan, 50 pts.; 5. Georgia, 48 pts.; 6. Ukraine, 47 pts.; 7. Moldova, 39 pts.; 8. United States, 33 pts.; 9. India, 27 pts.; 10. Turkey, 26 pts.; 11. Kyrgyzstan, 19 pts.; 12. Mongolia, 18 pts.; 13. Romania, 13 pts.; 14. Bulgaria, 12 pts.; 15. Uzbekistan, 7 pts.; 16. Tajikistan, 5 pts.; 17. Armenia, 5 pts.; 18. Hungary, 4 pts.; 19. Greece, 4 pts.; 20 Macedonia, 3 pts. (of 47 nations)
U.S. performances
42 kg/92.5 lbs. - Tim Kephart, Ballwin, Mo., dnp - lost dec. to Marcin Medes (Poland), 5-4; lost dec. to Medet Alikulov (Kazakhstan), 9-4
46 kg/101.5 lbs. - Todd Meneely, Omaha, Neb., dnp - pin Alaa Mansour Abas (Egypt); lost by tech. fall to Namiq Sevdimov (Azerbaijan), 10-0
50 kg/110 lbs. - Kyle Ott, Huber Heights, Ohio, 8th - won by tech. fall over Leanid Minkevich (Belarus), 10-0; lost dec. to Ilie Esir (Moldova), 8-1; dec. Sait Prizreni (Albania), 5-0; lost dec. to lost dec. to Roman Adrian (Romania), 6-2
54 kg/119 lbs. - Harry Lester, Akron, Ohio, 1st - won by tech. fall over Arturs Mihalevichs (Latvia), 15-4; won by tech. fall over Jani Haapaman (Finland), 13-3; dec. Kumar Krishnan (India), 8-7; dec. Soslan Tegueev (Russia), 11-8; won by inj. dft. over Arif Mekhliev (Azerbaijan)
58 kg/127.75 lbs. - Isreal Martinez, Aurora, Ill., 3rd - dec. Goran Alanasov (Macedonia), 7-3; lost dec. to Alexander Burca (Moldova), 7-5; won by tech. fall over Katsuya Kuroda (Japan), 14-0; dec. Jamshid Ahmadi (Iran), 4-2; lost dec. to Saday Ismanov (Az