2001 FILA Junior Greco-Roman World Championships to be held Aug. 9-13

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Jason Owens (USA Wrestling)
08/08/2001


 The FILA Junior World Championships of Greco-Roman Wrestling take place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan August 9-13 and will feature nine of America's best young wrestlers as they take on the world in search of gold.     The tournament will pit the world's best wrestlers ages 17-20 against each other. The nine American representatives earned spots on the team at the World team trials at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln, Neb. and will be coached by Bob Anderson and Ivan Ivanov.      Anderson said the work ethic and energy of the team members was key to their success in Uzbekistan.     "I like their intensity- their willingness to go in and put their all on the mat," Anderson said. "We have some pretty good athletes. They're all eager to learn."     The American team is highlighted by the top wrestlers from both the college and high school ranks, with some of them fresh off of top performances at the Junior Nationals in Fargo, N.D. July 21-28.      Daryl Spackman (58 kg) of the Treehouse AC is coming off of an All-American performance in Greco-Roman at the Junior Nationals, while Cam Jones (58 kg) of the Treehouse WC just won his third consecutive Junior National title.      Other team members include Nathan Piasecki (54 kg) of the U.S. Olympic Education Center, Brad Metzler (63 kg) of the Dave Schultz WC, Jason Woodall (69 kg) of the Penn State WC, Kenneth Cook (76 kg) of Cyc Cal, Justin Millard (85 kg) of the New York AC, Michael Christian (97) of the Cowboy WC, and Leroy Gardner of the Knights (130 kg).     Woodall chose to wrestle Greco-Roman after placing in the finals of the team trials against his brother James in both freestyle and Greco-Roman. The two didn't wrestle in either of the finals and decided to each take a spot on the team at one style, with James wrestling in the freestyle championships.     The Woodall brothers, along with the rest of the team members, have been training hard every chance they get in preparation for the tournament. Anderson emphasized that the American wrestlers would have to take full advantage of their limited training time to balance out with the rest of the world.     "With their commitments with school, it's hard to give them another session," Anderson said. "Europeans do it year round. They're going against kids that are logging 60 to 70 percent more mat time on Greco."      First round pool pairings are as follows:  (# of entries)  (19) 50 kg.  - Daryl Spackman: Turkey / Iran  (26) 54 kg.  - Nathan Piasecki: Germany / Hungary  (28) 58 kg.  - Cam Jones: Germany / Lativa  (31) 63 kg.  - Brad Metzler: Turkey / Spain  (35) 69 kg.  - Jason Woodall: Bulgaria / Armenia / AZE  (37) 76 kg.  - Kenneth Cook: Israel / Korea  (28) 85 kg.  - Justin Millard: Ukraine / Hungary  (25) 97 kg.  - Michael Christian: Korea / Belarus  (20) 130 kg.  - Leroy Gardner: Kergustan / India    Each wrestler will wrestle each man in his 3/4-man pool. The winner of the pool will advance to the next round of competition.