ALEXANDER KARELIN TO BATTLE MATT GHAFFARI IN GOLD-MEDAL BOUT AT GRECO-ROMAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, IN A REMATCH OF THEIR DRAMATIC FINALS IN THE 1996 OLYMPICS
Alexander Karelin of Russia, the greatest amateur athlete in the world, will battle his arch rival, Matt Ghaffari (Avon Lake, Ohio/Sunkist Kids), in the gold medal finals at 286 pounds at the Greco-Roman World Championships in Gavle, Sweden.
It will be a rematch of their gold-medal bout in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga., won by Karelin, 1-0 in overtime. Both wrestlers won semifinal bouts in the World Championships on Saturday, Aug. 29 to qualify for the gold-medal rematch, which will be held on Sunday.
Karelin has never lost an international wrestling match. He has won three Olympic gold medals (1988, 1992, 1996) and seven World Championship gold medals, for an unbelievable streak of over 10 years without a loss.
Ghaffari, the 1996 Olympic silver medalist, has also won the 1991 World silver medal and the 1995 World bronze medal. Ghaffari took over a year off and is competing in his first international tournament since the Atlanta Olympics. Ghaffari is originally from Paramus, N.J. and competed for Cleveland State.
Ghaffari defeated two-time World silver medalist Sergei Murieko of Bulgaria in the semifinals on Saturday, 3-1 in overtime at 6:57. Karelin scored a 4-0 decision over Georgij Soldadze of Ukraine in his semifinal bout.
LINDLAND PLACES SIXTH AT 167.5 POUNDS
U.S. wrestler Matt Lindland (Lincoln, Neb./Sunkist Kids) dropped his only match of the day, and placed sixth in the final standings at 167.5 pounds. He was stopped by Namzi Avluca of Turkey, 3-0, in the consolation semifinals, ending his quest for a bronze medal.
Lindland had reached the semifinals after a pair of wins on the opening day of the tournament. He ended with a 2-2 record in the tournament.
Lindland, a two-time U.S. nationals champion, is competing in his second World Championship. Lindland is originally from Gladstone, Ore., and competed for Clackamas CC and the Univ. of Nebraska.
CLARK ELIMINATED IN CONSOLATION ROUNDS
Quincey Clark (New Brighton, Minn./Minn. Storm) was defeated for the second time in the tournament, and was eliminated from medal contention at 187.25 pounds.
Clark opened Saturday¹s action with a 1-0 overtime referee's decision over Marcin Letki of Poland. In the next consolation round, Clark was defeated by technical fall, 10-0 in 43 seconds by Alexander Jovancevic of Yugoslavia. He had a 2-2 record in the tournament. Clark grew up in San Diego, Calif., and competed for San Diego State and the Univ. of Oklahoma.
The 1998 U.S. Greco-Roman World Team Coaches are Joe DeMeo of Niskayuna, N.Y., Dan Mello of Colorado Springs, Colo. and National Greco-Roman Coach Steve Fraser of Colorado Springs, Colo.
MEDALS AWARDED IN FOUR WEIGHT CLASSES
Medals were awarded in the first group of four weight classes contested in the Greco-Roman World Championships in Gavle, Sweden on August 29.
A pair of wrestlers from Kazakhstan won gold medals, Mkkhitar Manukian at 138.75 pounds and Bachtiar Baisetov at 167.5 pounds. It was the first gold medals in each of their careers.
1996 Olympic gold medalist Sim Kwon Ho of Korea won the gold medal at 119 pounds. He was also a World champion in 1995.
Gogi Koguachvili of Russia won fifth career World gold medal, claiming the title at 213.75 pounds. Koguachvili was also a World champion in 1989, 1993, 1994 and 1997.
GRECO-ROMAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS at Gavle, Sweden, Aug. 29
Final standings in first four weight divisions
54 kg/119 lbs. - 1st - Sim Kwon-Ho (Korea) dec. Marian Sandu (Romania), 5-3; 3rd - Khaled El Faraj (Egypt) dec. Boris Ambartsumov (Russia), 4-2, ot, 5:37; 5th - Dariusz Jablonski (Poland); 6th - Oleg Koutcherenko (Germany); 7th - Zigmunds Jansons (Latvia); 8th - Salah Belguidoum (France); 9th - Boris Radkevich (Belarus); 10th - Dilshod Aripov (Uzbekistan)
63 kg/138.75 lbs. - 1st - Mkkhitar Manukian (Kazakhstan) won by ref. dec. over Seref Eroglu (Turkey), 1-1, ot, 8:00; 3rd - Sang Sun Choi (Korea) won by ref. dec. over Nikolai Monov (Russia), 2-2, ot, 8:00; 5th - Juan Maren (Cuba); 6th - Peter Ronai (Hungary); 7th - Wlodzimierz Zawadzki (Poland); 8th - Bakhodir Kurbanov (Uzbekistan); 9th - Akaki Chachua (Georgia); 10th - Beat Motzer (Switzerland)
76 kg/167.5 lbs. - 1st - Bachtiar Baiseitov (Kazakhstan) dec. Filiberto Azcuy (Cuba), 9-3; 3rd - Namzi Avluca (Turkey) won by ref. dec. over Mourat Kordanov (Russia), 1-1, ot, 8:00; 5th - Levon Geghamuan (Armenia); 6th - Matt Lindland (United States); 7th - Khvicha Bichinashvili (Georgia); 8th - Tonis Naarits (Estonia); 9th - Marko Yli-Hannuksela (Finland); 10th - David Manukjan (Ukraine)
97 kg/213.75 lbs. - 1st - Gogi Koguachvili (Russia) dec. Marek Svec (Czech Rep.), 3-0, ot, 6:14; 3rd - David Soldadze (Ukraine) dec. Petru Sudureac (Romania), 4-0; 5th - Ali Mollov (Bulgaria); 6th - Hakki Basar (Turkey); 7th - Mikael Ljungberg (Sweden); 8th - Andrzej Wronski (Poland); 9th - Mohammed-Azar Sharabyani (Iran); 10th - Janos Toth (Hungary)
U.S. results on August 29
76 kg/167.5 lbs. - Matt Lindland, Lincoln, Neb. -lost dec. to Nazmi Avluca (Turkey), 3-0
85 kg/187.25 lbs. - Quincey Clark, New Brighton, Minn. - won by ref. dec. over Marcin Letki (Poland), 1-0, ot, 8:00; lost by tech. fall to Alexsander Jovancevic (Yugoslavia), 10-0, 0:43
130 kg/286 lbs. - Matt Ghaffari, Avon Lake, Ohio - dec. Sergeij Murieko (Bulgaria), 3-1, ot, 6:57
Gold medal pairings for August 30
58 kg/127.75 lbs. - Zetian Sheng (China) vs. In-Sub Kim (Korea)
69 kg/152 lbs. - Csaba Hirbik (Hungary) vs. Alexander Tretiakov (Russia)
85 kg/187.25 lbs. - Janos Kismoni (Hungary) vs. Alexander Menshikov (Russia)
130 kg/286 lbs. - Matt Ghaffari (United States) vs. Alexander Karelin (Russia)
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