Billy Pierce wins gold medal, Quincey Clark wins silver medal at the 1999 Sweden Cup in Malmo, Sweden, February 26-28Two U.S. wrestlers, Billy Pierce (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm) and Quincey Clark (New Brighton, Minn./Minnesota Storm) claimed medals for the United States at the 1999 Sweden Cup in Malmo, Sweden, February 26-28. Pierce won the gold medal at 130 kg/286 lbs. while Clark won the silver medal at 85 kg/187.25 lbs.
Pierce, who placed second at the Sweden Cup last year, won five matches to win the gold medal, two by pins. He pinned his first two opponents, then won by referee's decision in the qualifying round over 1997 World Silver Medalist Mihaly Deak Bardos of Hungary, 2-1. In the semifinals, he won by disqualification over An. Sofianiclis of Greece at 4:39, then decisioned Georgii Soldadze of the Ukraine, 3-2, in the gold-medal finals.
Clark scored a technical fall over Torbjorn Ottersten of Sweden, 12-0 at 5:42 in his first match, then pinned Martin Johansen of Norway at 5:55 in the third round. He then beat two-time Olympian Dan Henderson of the USA, 10-6, to move to the final match. Clark lost to 1996 Olympic Champion Hamza Yerlikaya of Turkey in the gold-medal match, 8-0.
Dan Henderson (Huntington Beach, Calif./Dave Schultz WC) placed fourth at the 85 kg/187.25 lb. weight class. He first scored a decision over Fritz Aanes of Norway, 5-1, then decisioned Bartiojiej Pryczkowski of Poland, 4-0. In the qualifying round, he scored a decision over Th. Anagnostou of Greece, 4-3. After losing the semifinal match to Clark, he lost the third-place match by injury default.
The United States placed fourth in the tournament, behind Turkey, the Ukraine and China. A total of 14 teams participated in the tournament.
The U.S. team was coached by Dan Russell of Colorado Springs, Colo. and Beasey Hendrix of Marrietta, Ga.
1999 SWEDEN CUP at Malmo, Sweden, Feb. 26-28 Medalists
119 - 1st - Hui Wang (China); 2nd - Robert Sollie (Norway); 3rd - Weidong Liao (China)
127.75 - 1st - Oleksandr Stepanijan (Ukraine); 2nd - Remigijus Sukevicius (Lithuania); 3rd - Aigars Jansons (Latvia)
138.75 - 1st - Shanjun Yi (China); 2nd - Robert Mazouch (Chech Republic); 3rd - Robert Olsson (Sweden)
152 - 1st - Mecnun Guler (Turkey); 2nd - Gregorii Kamusjenko (Ukraine); 3rd - Valerij Nikitin (Estonia)
167.5 - 1st - Dimitris Avramis (Greece); 2nd - Tarnas Berzicza (Hungary); 3rd - Alexander Sjisjko (Belarus)
187.25 - 1st - Hamza Herlikaya (Turkey); 2nd - Quincey Clark (USA); 3rd - Nazmi Avluca (Turkey)
213.75 - 1st - Mikael Ljungberg (Sweden); 2nd - Hakki Basar (Turkey); 3rd - David Soldadze (Ukraine)
286 - 1st - Billy Pierce (USA); 2nd - Georgii Soldadze (Ukraine); 3rd - Dmitri Debelka (Belarus)
U.S. Performances
119 - Brandon Paulson, Minneapolis, Minn., dnp - dec. Hakan Nyblom (Denmark), 3-1; lost dec. to Robert Sollie (Norway), 3-0
119 - Shawn Sheldon, Colorado Springs, Colo., dnp - dec. Ruslov Vartanov (Lithuania), 2-1; lost dec. to Weidong Liao (China), 5-2
127.75 - Steve Mays, Pensacola, Fla., dnp - lost by pin to Oleksandr Stepanijan (Ukraine), 2:59; lost dec. to Grzegorz Szyszka (Poland), 6-0
138.75 - Ally Sleiman, Colorado Springs, Colo., dnp - lost by tech. fall to Robert Olsson (Sweden), 12-0, 2:59; lost dec. to Olari Suislep (Estonia), 6-4
167.5 - Kevin Vogel, Colorado Springs, Colo., dnp - lost dec. to Alberto Recuero (Spain), 7-3; pin Schou Jouwervers (Denmark), 4:05; dec. Mariusz Pawlowski (Poland), 3-1
187.25 - Quincey Clark, New Brighton, Minn., 2nd - won by tech. fall over Torbjorn Ottersten (Sweden), 12-0, 5:42; pin Martin Johansen (Norway), 5:55; dec. Dan Henderson (USA), 10-6; lost dec. to Hamza Yerlikaya (Turkey), 8-0
187.25 - Dan Henderson, Huntington Beach, Calif., dnp - dec. Fritz Aanes (Norway), 5-1; dec. Bartiojiej Pryczkowski (Poland), 4-0; dec. Th. Anagnostou (Greece), 4-3; lost dec. to Quincey Clark (USA), 10-6; lost by inj. def. to Nazmi Avluca (Turkey)
213.75 - Randy Couture, Gresham, Ore., dnp - lost dec. to Janos Toth (Hungary), 3-0; lost by pin to Hakki Basar (Turkey), 2:56
213.75 - Jason Klohs, Osseo, Minn., dnp - dec. Janne Fransson (Sweden), 10-5; lost dec. to Mikael Ljungberg (Sweden), 3-0
213.75 - Jason Gleasman, Boonville, N.Y., dnp - dec. Vello Parnpuu (Estonia), 5-3; lost dec. to Yuankai Zhang (China), 4-1; lost dec. to David Soldadze (Ukraine), 7-0
286 - Billy Pierce, Minneapolis, Minn., 1st - pin Saban Donat (Turkey), 3:07; pin David Vala (Czech Rep.), 1:26; won ref. dec. over Mihaly Deak Bardos (Hungary), 2-1, ot, 9:00; won by disqualification over An. Sofianidis (Greece), 4:39; dec. Georgii Soldadze (Ukraine), 3-2