Four World silver medalists among stars for Hungary at the 1999 Concord Cup

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
05/25/1999


Four World silver medalists, Hirbik, Berzicza, Kismoni and Deak among stars for Hungary at the 1999 Concord Cup to be held at the Concord Pavilion in Concord, Calif., May 28-30 

World silver medalists Csaba Hirbik, Tamas Berzicza, Janos Kismoni and B. Mihaly Deak lead the Hungary lineup for the 1999 Concord Cup of Greco-Roman wrestling at the Concord Pavilion in Concord, Calif., May 28-30.

In addition to Hungary, the 1999 Concord Cup will feature teams from Cuba, France, Mexico, Venezuela, Japan and four teams from the United States.

Hirbik was a silver medalist at the 1998 World Championships, and placed ninth in the 1999 European Championships. He will wrestle at 152 pounds. Berzicza won a silver medal at the 1997 World Championships and was a member on the 1998 and 1995 teams. He also placed sixth in the 1996 Olympic Games. He will wrestle at 167.5 pounds.

Kismoni will wrestle at 187.25 pounds. He won a silver medal at the 1998 World Championships and was tenth in the 1998 European Championships. Deak will end the lineup at 286 pounds. He was a silver medalist in the 1997 World Championships and placed ninth in the 1998 World Championships.

Other World team members include: Peter Ronai at 138.75 pounds, Janos Toth at 213.75 pounds and Bela Kalo at 213.75 pounds.

Ronai placed sixth in the 1998 World Championships and will wrestle at 138.75 pounds. Both Toth and Kalo were World team members, but did not place at the events. Toth was a 1998 team member and will wrestle at 213.75 pounds, while Kalo was a member of the 1997 World team and is also at 213.75 pounds.

Others to compete for Hungary are: Balasz Nagy at 119 pounds, Sandor Bardosi at 167.5 pounds and Zsolt Simita at 187.25 pounds.

This year the format for the Concord Cup has changed. First, the teams will compete against each other in dual meets, not an open individual tournament which it has been in the past. Second, for the first time there will be $26,000 of prize money to be awarded to the athletes and their coaches based upon their team performance. Third, there will still be an individual champion determined at each weight class based upon overall record, and number of falls and classification points.

Each of the U.S. teams will only wrestle the foreign teams, and the foreign teams will only wrestle the U.S. teams. The foreign teams will not wrestle each other, nor will the U.S. teams wrestle each other.

The Concord Pavillion will be host to other amateur sports activities over the holiday weekend. Tickets can be purchased at the door the days of the event or can be ordered ahead of time by calling the Bass ticket agency at 1-925-762-BASS. Tickets are $5 for general admission into the pavillion and $10 for the reserved section for wrestling. For more information, contact Heather Folks of USA Wrestling at 719-598-8181.

HUNGARY LINEUP FOR 1999 CONCORD CUP

May 28-30 in Concord, Calif.

54 kg/119 lbs. - Balasz Nagy

63 kg/138.75 lbs. - Peter Ronai

69 kg/152 lbs. - Csaba Hirbik

76 kg/167.5 lbs. - Sandor Bardosi and Tamas Berzicza

85 kg/187.25 lbs. - Zsolt Simita and Janos Kismoni

97 kg/213.75 lbs. - Janos Toth and Bela Kalo

130 kg/286 lbs. - B. Mihaly Deak

Coach - Csaba Ubrankovics

Team Leader - Jozsef Balla