KECK WINS SILVER AND SHELDON TAKES BRONZE AT VAANTA CUP IN FINLAND, DEC. 13-14A pair of U.S. wrestlers claimed medals at the Vaanta Cup of Greco-Roman wrestling in Vaanta, Finland, Dec. 13-14.
Claiming a silver medal was Brian Keck (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 286 pounds, and winning a bronze medal was Shawn Sheldon (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 119 pounds. Both are U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athletes.
Keck was defeated in the gold-medal finals by veteran Georgi Soldadze of Ukraine, 5-0. He won his first two matches with solid wins over Juri Uustalu of Estonia, 5-0 and Laurentiu Amariei of Romania, 3-1.
Sheldon won four of his five matches, including a victory over Alexei Shevtsov of Russia, 7-3 in the bronze-medal match. His only loss was a second-round 4-1 defeat to former World medalist Tero Katajisto of Finland.
Sheldon was fourth in the 1992 Olympics and also competed in the 1998 Olympic Games. He was a World silver medalist in 1991, and is currently ranked No. 2 in the United States.
Ethan Bosch (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) placed fourth at 187.25 pounds. He won four of his six matches, including two pins. He lost twice to the same athlete, Alexej Sardarian of Ukraine, 7-2 in the first round and 8-0 in the bronze-medal match.
Placing sixth at 152 pounds was Marcel Cooper (Quantico, Va./U.S Marines), who had a 3-3 record in the competition.
A team of U.S. Marines participated in the tournament, along with a number of other U.S. athletes from other clubs.
VAANTA CUP at Vaanta, Finland, Dec. 13-14
Medalists
119 - 1st - Tero Katajisto (Finland); 2nd - Artem Kureguian (Russia); 3rd - Shawn Sheldon (USA)
127.75 - 1st - Olexandr Stepanian (Ukraine); 2nd - Alexandr Ivanshkin (Russia); 3rd - Marian Sandu (Romania)
138.75 - 1st - Akaki Chachua (Georgia); 2nd - Matti Oivio (Finland); 3rd - Ismo Kamesaki (Finland)
152 - 1st - Valeri Nikitin (Estonia); 2nd - George Jinchvelashvili (Georgia); 3rd - Grigorie Kamychenko (Ukraine)
167.5 - 1st - Khvich Bichinashvili (Georgia); 2nd - Rustem Adzhi (Ukraine); 3rd - Marko Yli-Hannuksela (Finland)
187.25 - 1st - Tomi Rajamaki (Finland); 2nd - Emzar Makharadze (Georgia); 3rd - Alexej Sardarian (Ukraine)
213.75 - 1st - David Soldadze (Ukraine); 2nd - Marek Svec (Czech Rep.); 3rd - Zaza Silagadze (Georgia)
286 - 1st - Georgi Soldadze (Ukraine); 2nd - Brian Keck (USA); 3rd - Mirian Giorgadze (Georgia)
U.S. entries
119 - Shawn Sheldon, Colorado Springs, Colo., 3rd - won by tech. fall over Risto Kauko (Finland), 13-2, 3:58; lost dec. to Tero Katajisto (Finland), 4-1; pin Teemu Mattila (Finland), 1:36; dec. Magomed Magomedov (Russia), 6-3; dec. Alexei Shevtsov (Russia), 7-3
127.75 - Duaine Martin, Quantico, Va., dnp - lost dec. to Olexander Stepanian (Ukraine), 9-2; pin Riku Hynninen (Finland), 2:55; lost dec. to Terho Kettunen (Finland), 5-0
138.75 - Curt Onstad, Quantico, Va., dnp - lost dec. to Mikael Lindgren (Finland), 3-0, ot, 6:27; lost pin to Timo Tuuri (Finland), 1:25
152 - Marcel Cooper, Quantico, Va., 6th - won by tech. fall over Raul Otsa (Estonia), 11-0, 2:35; lost dec. Juha Lappalainen (Ukraine), 8-1; dec. Youry Krikoukha (Russia), 5-4; dec. Andrei Komarov (Russia), 7-3; lost dec. to Grigori Kamychenko (Ukraine), 4-2, ot, 6:31; lost by inj. dft. to Petrus Sundell (Finland)
152 - Mike Ellsworth, Colorado Springs, Colo., dnp - lost dec. to Youry Krikoukha (Russia), 7-0; lost dec. to Grigorie Kamychenko (Ukraine), 9-0
167.5 - Mike Uker, Colorado Springs, Colo., dnp - lost by tech. fall to Khvich Bichinashvili (Georgia), 14-1, 2:35; lost by tech. fall to Juha Matti Korsman (Finland), 12-0, 2:33
187.5 - Ethan Bosch, Colorado Springs, Colo., 4th - lost dec. to Alexej Sardarian (Ukraine), 7-2; pin Matti Sormunen (Finland), 2:15; dec. Michael Lyyski (Finland), 5-4; pin Konstantin Denisov (Finland), 2:14; dec. Marian Bradea (Romania), 4-0; lost dec. to Alexej Sardarian (Ukraine), 8-0
213.75 - Dan Hicks, Quantico, Va., dnp - lost dec. to Zaza Silagadze (Georgia), 3-1; pin Jorma Niemi (Finland), 2:47; lost dec. to Vello Parnpuu (Estonia), 4-0, ot, 6:25
286 - Brian Keck, Colorado Springs, Colo., 2nd - dec. Juri Uustalu (Estonia), 5-0; dec. Laurentiu Amariei (Romania), 3-1; lost dec. to Georgi Soldadze (Ukraine), 5-0