WORLD CHAMPIONS BRANDS, GUTCHES LEAD U.S. FREESTYLE TEAM FOR THE PAN AMERICAN GAMES IN WINNIPEG, CANADA, JULY 27-28The best freestyle wrestlers in the nation have qualified to compete for the U.S. team at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The freestyle wrestling competition is scheduled for July 27-28.
The U.S. team will consist of the champions from the 1999 Freestyle World Team and Pan American Games Trials, held in Seattle, Wash., June 18-19.
This is the same team that will represent the United States at the 1999 World Freestyle Wrestling Championships in Ankara, Turkey, Oct. 8-11.
The most experienced member of the Pan American Games team is two-time World Champion Terry Brands (Iowa City, Iowa/Hawkeye WC) at 127.75 pounds. Brands won a gold medal at the 1995 Pan American Games, the only member of the freestyle team with previous Pan American Games experience.
Brands was a 1993 and 1995 World champion, and also boasts World Cup gold medals. He was a two-time NCAA champion for the Univ. of Iowa.
Another top star on the squad is 1997 World Champion Les Gutches (Corvallis, Ore./Sunkist Kids) at 187.25 pounds. Gutches was seventh in the 1996 Olympic Games, and has won four straight U.S. Nationals titles. Gutches was a two-time NCAA champion for Oregon State Univ.
Two other World medalists will be featured on the U.S. team: Cary Kolat (Bethlehem, Pa./Dave Schultz WC) at 138.75 pounds and Lincoln McIlravy (Iowa City, Iowa/Gateway WC) at 152 pounds.
Kolat was a 1997 World silver medalist and 1998 World bronze medalist. He has won two World Cup gold medals, and was a 1998 Goodwill Games champion. He was a two-time NCAA champion for Lock Haven Univ.
McIlravy was a 1998 World bronze medalist. McIlravy, who has won three straight U.S. Nationals freestyle titles, also boasts two World Cup gold medals and a Goodwill Games title. He was a three-time NCAA champion at the Univ. of Iowa.
Four of the Pan American Games team members have captured the No. 1 position in the United States at their weight classes for the first time. They include Eric Akin (Overland Park, Kan./Dave Schultz WC) at 119 pounds, Joe Williams (Iowa City, Iowa/Hawkeye WC) at 167.5 pounds, Dominic Black (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) at 213.75 pounds and Stephen Neal (San Diego, Calif./Dave Schultz WC) at 286 pounds.
Akin was second in the 1996 Olympic Team Trials, and was also second in the 1998 World Team Trials. He was an NCAA runner-up for Iowa State Univ.
Williams is competing on the international level for the first time this year. He swept the 1999 U.S. Nationals and World Team Trials events. Williams was a three-time NCAA champion for the Univ. of Iowa.
Black also won the U.S. Nationals and World Team Trials for the first time in 1999. He was a 1995 World Cup gold medalist. A former All-American for West Virginia Univ., Black joined the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program this year.
Neal just completed his senior year at Cal-State Bakersfield, where he won two NCAA titles. He also added 1999 gold medals at the University Nationals, the U.S. Nationals and the World Team Trials. In 1996, as a college sophomore, Neal was third in the Olympic Team Trials.
All athlete selections are subject to final approval by the U.S. Olympic Committee.
The U.S. team will be led by head coach John Smith of Stillwater, Okla. and assistant coach Greg Strobel of Bethlehem, Pa.
Smith has also been named co-coach of the 1999 U.S. World Team and the 2000 U.S. Olympic team. He works as the head wrestling coach at Div. I wrestling power Oklahoma State. Smith served as head coach of the 1998 U.S. World team and 1998 Goodwill Games team. As an athlete, he was considered the greatest U.S. freestyle wrestler ever, winning two Olympic gold medals and four World gold medals.
Strobel is also co-coach of the 1999 U.S. World Team and the 2000 U.S. Olympic team. He was assistant coach of the 1996 U.S. Olympic team, and head coach of the 1994 Goodwill Games team. He works as the head wrestling coach at Div. I power Lehigh Univ. Strobel served nine years as USA Wrestling's National Teams Director.
Other coaches that will be working with the team are USA Wrestling National Freestyle Coach Bruce Burnett of Colorado Springs, Colo., as well as Dan Gable of Iowa City, Iowa.
Burnett has been USA Wrestling's National Freestyle Coach since 1992, working full-time with the U.S. national team. He helped lead the USA to team titles at the 1993 and 1995 World Championships, as well as the medal count victory at the 1996 Olympic Games.
Gable has been named as co-coach of the 1999 U.S. World Team and the 2000 Olympic Games. He served as head coach of the 1980 and 1984 U.S. Olympic freestyle wrestling teams. Gable also served as the head coach of five U.S. World teams (1977, 1978, 1979, 1983 and 1994). He retired as head coach for the Univ. of Iowa, where his teams won 15 NCAA team titles during his 21-year career.
Once every four years, the nations from the North America, South America and Central America converge to participate in the prestigious Pan American Games, a multi-sport event featuring the best athletes in the Western Hemisphere.
The last Pan American Games were held in 1995 in Mar del Plata, Argentina. The United States won the freestyle wrestling competition, with 10 medalists including seven individual champions.
The 1995 U.S. Pan American Games freestyle champions were Zeke Jones (114.5), Terry Brands (125.5), Tom Brands (136.5), Townsend Saunders (149.5), Kevin Jackson (180.5), Melvin Douglas (198) and Bruce Baumgartner (286).
1999 U.S. PAN AMERICAN GAMES FREESTYLE WRESTLING TEAM
to compete in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, July 27-28
119 lbs./54 kg - Eric Akin, Overland Park, Kan. (Dave Schultz WC)
127.75 lbs./58 kg - Terry Brands, Iowa City, Iowa (Hawkeye WC)
138.75 lbs./63 kg - Cary Kolat, Bethlehem, Pa. (Dave Schultz WC)
152 lbs./69 kg - Lincoln McIlravy, Iowa City, Iowa (Gateway WC)
167.5 lbs./76 kg - Joe Williams, Iowa City, Iowa (Hawkeye WC)
187.25 lbs./85 kg - Les Gutches, Corvallis, Ore. (Sunkist Kids)
213.75 lbs./97 kg - Dominic Black, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)
286 lbs./130 kg - Stephen Neal, San Diego, Calif. (Dave Schultz WC)
Head Coach - John Smith, Stillwater, Okla.
Assistant Coach - Greg Strobel, Bethlehem, Pa.
Team Leader - Scott Beck, Boulder, Colo.
Coaching staff members - Bruce Burnett, Colorado Springs, Colo., Dan Gable, Iowa City, Iowa