Rulon Gardner (Mesa, Ariz./Sunkist Kids) turned in the top individual performance by a U.S. wrestler at the 1997 Greco-Roman World Championships in Wroclaw, Poland, Sept. 13.Gardner, the 1996 Greco-Roman World Cup champion, placed fifth at 130 kg/286 lbs. with a 0-0 referees decision over Petro Kotok of the Ukraine in his final match of the tournament. Gardner claimed the decision over Kotok based on passivity calls. Kotok was assessed three passivity calls while Gardner had one.
Gardner, who posted a 3-2 record in the tournament, was competing in his first World Championships. He is a two-time U.S. Nationals champion, and competed for the Univ. of Nebraska.
1995 World Champion Dennis Hall (Stevens Point, Wis./Sunkist Kids) finished the tournament with a 3-3 record and placed sixth at 58 kg/127.75 lbs.
Hall, who entered the final day of competition in contention for a bronze medal, lost his first match of the day, a 10-7 decision to 1996 Olympic champion Armen Nazarian of Bulgaria. Nazarian defeated Brandon Paulson of the United States in the 114.5 pound gold medal finals in Atlanta, Ga.
Hall did not wrestle his final match of the tournament, losing by injury default to Aroytik Roybinian of Greece at 0:00.
Hall won a silver medal at the 1996 Olympics and a bronze medal at the 1994 World Championships.
Dan Henderson (Huntington Beach, Calif./Dave Schultz WC) placed seventh at 85 kg/187.25 lbs. Henderson, who posted a 3-2 record in the tournament, was defeated in his final match by Rustem Adchi of the Ukraine in a 1-0 overtime referees decision.
Henderson is a two-time U.S. Olympic team member, and was competing in his second World Championships. He wrestled for Arizona State and Cal-Fullerton.
Randy Couture (Corvallis, Ore./Sunkist Kids) placed ninth at 97 kg/213.75 lbs. in his fourth World Championships.
Russia claimed the overall team title with 60 points including three champions. The U.S. placed 12th with a total of 17 points.
The U.S. team was led by head coach Dan Chandler of Minneapolis, Minn., assistant coach Rob Hermann of Pensacola, Fla., and National Greco-Roman Coach Steve Fraser of Colorado Springs, Colo.
1997 Greco-Roman World Championships
at Wroclaw, Poland, Sept. 13
Final results
54 kg/119 lbs.
1st - Ercan Yildiz, Turkey, won by ref. dec. over Vahan Juharyan, Armenia, 1-0, ot, 8:00
3rd - Alfred Ter Mkrchyan, Germany, won by ref. dec. over Marian Sandu, Romania, 1-0, ot, 8:00
5th - Simeon Milev, Bulgaria, dec. Ha Tae-Yeon, Korea, 6-4, ot
58 kg/127.75 lbs.
1st - Yuriy Melnichenko, Kazakhstan dec. Rafik Simonian, Russia, 6-0
3rd - Armen Nazarian, Bulgaria dec. Vilajat, Azerbaijan, 3-0
5th - Aroytik Roybinian, Greece won by inj. def. over Dennis Hall, USA
63 kg/138.75 lbs.
1st - Seref Eroglu, Turkey, dec. Nikolai Monov, Russia, 3-0
3rd - Wlodzimierz Zawadzki, Poland, pin Michael Beilin, Israel, 1:40
5th - Mkkhitar Manukyan, Kazakhstan, dec. Juan Maren, Cuba, 4-0, ot
69 kg/152 lbs.
1st - Son Sang-Pil, Korea dec. Alexander Tretiakov, Russia, 6-1
3rd - Ender Memet, Romania dec. Bisser Guerguiev, Bulgaria, 8-0
5th - Adam Juretzko, Germany dec. Christian Eyer, France, 4-0
76 kg/167.5 lbs.
1st - Marko Yli-Hannuksela, Finland, dec. Tamas Berzicza, Hungary, 3-1, ot
3rd - Filiberto Azcuy, Cuba, dec. Yvon Riemer, France, 5-3
5th - Bakhtiyar Baiseitov, Kazakhstan, dec. Nazmi Avluca, Turkey, 5-0
85kg/187.25 lbs.
1st - Sergei Tsuir, Russia dec. Hamza Yerlikaya, Turkey, 3-0, ot
3rd - Thomas Zander, Germany won by ref. dec. Martin Lidberg, Sweden, 1-0, ot
5th - Valeri Tsilent, Belarus dec. Igor Bugei, Ukraine, 7-1
97 kg/213.75 lbs.
1st - Gogui Kogouachvili, Russia, dec. Anatoli Federenko, Belarus, 6-0
3rd - Andrzej Wronski, Poland, won by ref. dec. over Maik Bullman, Germany, 2-0, ot, 8:00
5th - Mikael Ljungberg, Sweden, dec. Vyacheslav Olieynik, Ukraine, 4-0
130 kg/286 lbs.
1st - Alexander Karelin, Russia dec. Mihaly Deak, Hungary, 11-0
3rd - Hector Milan, Cuba dec. Sergei Moureiko, Bulgaria, 3-0,ot
5th - Rulon Gardner, USA won by ref. dec. over Petro Kotok, Ukraine, 0-0,ot, 8:00
Team Standings
1st - Russia, 60; 2nd - Turkey, 38; 3rd - Germany, 31; 4th - Bulgaria, 28; 5th - Cuba, 25; 6th - Ukraine, 25, 7th - Hungary, 24; 8th - Kazakhstan, 22; 9th - Poland, 21, 10th - Korea, 18; 11th - Romania, 18; 12th - USA, 17
U.S. Results - Group One
54 kg/119 lbs. - Broderick Lee, Portland, Ore. (dnp) - lost referees dec. to Joachim Soederman, Sweden, 1-0, ot, 8:00; dec. Francesco Costantino, Italy, 5-0; lost dec. to Salah Belguidoum, France, 4-1
63 kg/138.75 lbs. - David Zuniga, New Brighton, Minn. - won referees dec. over Matyas Megyes, Hungary, 1-1, ot, 8:00; lost dec. to Juan Maren, Cuba, 5-2; lost dec. to Mkkhitar Manujyan, Kazakhstan, 4-1
76 kg/167.5 lbs. - Matt Lindland, Lincoln, Neb. (dnp) - lost by disq. to Marko Yli-Hannuksela, Finland; won referees dec. over Fujiang Hu, China, 2-1, ot, 8:00; dec. Nadyr Gadijev, Azerbaijan, 6-1; lost dec. to Jozef Tracz, Poland, 5-0
97 kg/213.75 lbs. - Randy Couture, Corvallis, Ore. (9th) - lost dec. to Ali Mollov, Bulgaria, 4-1; won by forfeit over Bakur Gogitize, Georgia; pin Giuseppe Giunta, Italy, 2:00; lost by ref. dec. to Petre Sudureac, Romania, 2-1, ot, 8:00
U.S. Results - Group Two
58 kg/127.75 lbs. - Dennis Hall, Stevens Point, Wis. (6th) - won by ref. dec. over Ruslan Hakimov, Ukraine, 2-0, ot, 8:00; dec. Sinan Hanli, Germany , 5-0; dec. Djamel Ainaoui, France, 3-2, ot; lost dec. to Rafik Simonian, Russia, 3-2; lost dec. to Armen Nazarian, Bulgaria, 10-7; lost by inj. def. to Aroytik Roybinian, Greece,0:00
69 kg/152 lbs. - Chris Saba, Colorado Springs, Colo. (dnp) - lost dec. to Petr Bielesz, Czech Republic, 3-2, ot; lost by pin to Mecnum Guller, Turkey, 2:14
85 kg/187.25 lbs. - Dan Henderson, Huntington Beach, Calif. (7th) - won by ref. dec. over Martin Lidberg, Sweden, 2-0, ot, 8:00; lost dec. to Ferenc Takacs, Hungary, 3-1; dec. Hidekazu Yokoyama, Japan, 7-1; dec. Gotcha Tsitsiashvily, Israel, 7-0; lost by ref. dec. to Rustem Adchi, Ukraine, 1-0, ot, 8:00
130 kg/286 lbs. - Rulon Gardner, Mesa, Ariz. (5th) - won by disq. over David Vola, Czech Republic; won by ref. dec. over Saban Donat, Turkey, 0-0, ot, 8:00; lost dec. to Alexander Karelin, Russia, 5-0, ot; lost dec. to Hector Milan, Cuba, 2-0, ot, 8:00; won ref. dec. over Petro Kotok, Ukraine, 0-0, 8:00