GRUENWALD WINS A GOLD MEDAL AT SWEDEN CUP GRAND PRIX; PIERCE WINS SILVER MEDAL AND KLOHS TAKES BRONZE MEDALJames Gruenwald (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) claimed a gold medal at 127.75 pounds at the Sweden Cup Grand Prix in Hasselholm, Sweden, Feb. 27-March 1.
Gruenwald defeated 1996 Olympic freestyle silver medalist Armen Mkrttchyan of Armenia in the gold-medal finals, 3-1 in overtime. Gruenwald won four straight matches to claim the title.
Gruenwald is a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete, and is ranked No. 2 in the United States behind Olympic silver medalist Dennis Hall.
Also claiming medals for the USA were Billy Pierce (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm), who won a silver medal at 286 pounds and Jason Klohs (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm), who won a bronze medal at 213.75 pounds.
Pierce was edged in the championship finals by veteran Juha Ahokas of Finland, 1-0 in overtime. Pierce won his first two bouts to qualify for the finals. Pierce is ranked No. 2 in the USA at his weight class.
Klohs had an impressive 5-1 record in the tournament, including a 2-2 referee's decision over Mehmet Ozal of Turkey in the bronze-medal match. Among his victories was a 3-2 decision over 1996 Olympic silver medalist Jacek Fafinski of Poland. Klohs' only loss came to 1995 World Champion Hakki Basar of Turkey in the second round. Klohs is currently ranked No. 4 in the United States.
Quincey Clark (Eagan, Minn./Minnesota Storm) placed fourth at 187.25 pounds with a 4-2 record. He was defeated in the bronze-medal match by Alexander Pokalo of Belarus, 8-3.
Derrick Mountsier (Ames, Iowa/Sunkist Kids) placed sixth at 152 pounds with a 3-2 record.
Turkey won the tournament with 11 medal points, followed by Belarus with 10. Korea was third with eight points and the United States was fourth with six points. A total of 10 nations participated in the tournament.
The U.S. team was coached by Dan Mello of Daphne, Ala. and Andy Seras of Niskayuna, N.Y.
SWEDEN CUP GRAND PRIX at Hasselholm, Sweden, Feb. 27-March 1
Medalists
54 kg/119 lbs. - Gold -Kwon-Ho Sim (Korea); Silver - Zigmunds Jansons (Latvia); Bronze - Ercan Yildiz (Turkey)
58 kg/127.75 lbs. - Gold - James Gruenwald (USA); Silver - Armen Mkrttchyan (Armenia); Bronze - Tae-Ho Lee (Korea)
63 kg/138.75 lbs. - Gold - Mehmet Akif Pirim (Turkey); Silver - Pavel Panisj (Belarus); Bronze - Hung-Ju Kim (Korea)
69 kg/152 lbs. - Gold -Sang-Pil Song (Korea); Silver - Vitalij Tjuk (Belarus); Bronze- Samvel Manukian (Armenia)
76 kg/167.5 lbs. - Gold - Nazmi Avluca (Turkey); Silver - Dmitrus Avramus (Greece); Bronze - Takamitsu Katayama (Japan)
85 kg/187.25 lbs. - Gold -Hamza Yerlikaya (Turkey); Silver - Adam Jaroszek (Poland); Bronze - Alexander Pokalo (Belarus)
97 kg/213.75 lbs. - Gold - Anatolij Federenko (Belarus); Silver - Sergeij Lisjtvan (Belarus); Bronze - Jason Klohs (USA)
130 kg/286 lbs. - Gold - Juha Ahokas (Finland); Silver - Billy Pierce (USA); Bronze - Saban Donot (Turkey)
Results of U.S. athletes
54 kg/119 lbs. - Lindsay Durlacher, Champaign, Ill., dnp - lost by tech. fall to Joachim Soderman (Sweden), 10-0, 4:04; lost by tech. fall to Masatsune Sasaki (Japan), 13-0, 2:59
58 kg/127.75 lbs. -James Gruenwald, Colorado Springs, Colo., 1st -pin Ali Mokhtarzadeh (Sweden), 3:08; dec. Kenichi Nishimi (Japan), 5-1; dec. Tae-Ho Lee (Korea), 4-1; dec. Armen Mkrttchyan (Armenia), 3-1, ot, 6:40
69 kg/152 lbs. - Derrick Mountsier, Ames, Iowa, 6th - lost dec. to San-Pil Son (Korea), 5-0; dec. Theodoris Voltsidis (Greece), 5-3; dec. Ole Petter Tveiten (Norway), 7-3; lost dec. to Tryggve Gustavsson (Sweden), 7-3; dec. Katsuhiko Nagata (Japan), 4-2
69 kg/152 lbs. - Steven Woods, Colorado Springs, Colo., dnp - lost by tech. fall to Samvel Manukian (Armenia), 11-0, 1:22; lost by tech. fall to Masanori Oi (Japan), 17-6, 4:01
85 kg/187.25 lbs. -Quincey Clark, Eagan, Minn., 4th - lost dec. to Hamza Yerlikaya (Turkey), 5-0; won by forfeit over Martin Lidberg (Sweden); dec. Ray Brinzer (USA), 9-1; dec. Hideakazu Yokoyama (Japan), 7-3; dec. Toomas Proovel (Estonia), 4-0, ot, 7:49; lost dec. to Alexander Pokalo (Belarus), 8-3
85 kg/187.25 lbs. -Ray Brinzer, Colorado Springs, Colo., dnp - lost dec. to Serkan Ozden (Turkey), 6-3; pin Jorgen Andersson (Sweden), 1:54; lost dec. to Quincey Clark (USA), 9-1
85 kg/187.25 lbs. -Ethan Bosch, Colorado Springs, Colo., dnp - lost pin to Adam Jaroszek (Poland), 2:52, withdrew with injury
97 kg/213.75 lbs. -Jason Klohs, Minneapolis, Minn., 3rd - dec. Woo Park (Korea), 6-0; lost pin to Hakki Basar (Turkey), 3:40; won by tech. fall over Shoji Shinozaki (Japan), 10-0, 2:42; won by ref. dec. over Vello Parnpuu (Estonia), 0-0, ot, 8:00; dec. Jacek Fafinski (Poland), 3-2; won by ref. dec. over Mehmet Ozal (Turkey), 2-2, ot, 8:00
130 kg/286 lbs. - Billy Pierce, Minneapolis, Minn., 2nd - dec. Grzegorz Pieronhiewiecz (Poland), 7-0; dec. Sergeij Fjordorov (Estonia), 4-0; lost by ref. dec. to Juha Ahokas (Finland), 1-0, ot, 8:00