Best Freestyle Field Ever Expected for the 2002 Dave Schultz Memorial International Tournament; Russ
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Heather Van Peursem (USA Wrestling)
01/24/2002
The field is set for the best showing ever expected in freestyle competition for the 2002 Dave Schultz Memorial International Wrestling Tournament, February 9-10 in Colorado Springs, Colo. The competition will be hosted in Sports Center 1 at the U.S. Olympic Complex. Russia has notified USA Wrestling that it will participate in the tournament. This could possibly add four more World or Olympic champions and medalists to the loaded freestyle competition, with up to 12 World or Olympic champions or medalists expected to compete. "I'm extremely excited about the level of competition expected to compete at the Dave Schultz Tournament," said Kevin Jackson, U.S. National Freestyle Coach. "It just proves that we can host a world class international event on American soil. I'm looking forward to having all of the U.S. guys come out and compete. Having a lot of World and Olympic champions and medalists projected to come really says a lot about Dave Schultz and how much the wrestling community around the world wants to come out support this tournament." Among the teams expected to enter in men's freestyle are: the United States, Belarus, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Great Britain, Japan, Russia and Uzbekistan. Russia placed first in the 2001 World Championships as a team, while Bulgaria finished second and the United States placed fifth. Belarus and Uzbekistan also have strong international teams. Star athletes from the preliminary freestyle rosters include: Men's freestyle preliminary field 2001 World silver medalist Brandon Eggum of the United States at 85 kg 1998 World Champion and 2000 Olympic silver medalist Sammie Henson of the United States at 54 kg 2001 World bronze medalist Joe Williams of the United States at 76 kg 2001 World Champion and 2001 International Wrestler of the Year Nikolai Paslar of Bulgaria at 69 kg 2001 World Champion and 2000 Olympic silver medalist Serafim Barzakov of Bulgaria at 63 kg 1999 World bronze medalist Damir Zakhratdinov of Uzbekistan at 58 kg 2001 World silver medalist and 2000 Olympic silver medalist Arthur Taymazov of Uzbekistan at 130 kg 2001 World Champion Herman Kontoev of Belarus at 54 kg 2001 World bronze medalist Alexander Kontoev of Russia at 54 kg 1996 Olympic Champion, 2001 World Champion and 1999 World silver medalist Khadshimurad Magomedov of Russia at 85 kg 2000 Olympic Champion, 2001 World Champion and 1994 and 1997 World bronze medalist David Moussoulbes of Russia at 130 kg 1997 World silver medalist and 1999 World bronze medalist Ramil Islamov of Russia (formerly of Uzbekistan) There are also numerous international stars expected in the Greco-Roman and women's divisions. Men's freestyle and Greco-Roman preliminaries and consolations competition will begin Saturday, Feb. 9 at 9:00 a.m. Women's freestyle preliminaries and consolations will begin Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and the men will continue at 7:00 p.m. All three styles will continue Sunday, February 10 at 9:00 a.m. with preliminaries and consolations. Third place matches for all styles will be at 2:00 p.m. with the finals starting at 6:30 (The schedule is subject to change based upon entries). Tickets are available at the door. There is an all-session ticket for $15 which includes both Saturday and Sunday. An adult ticket for Saturday and Sunday is $8 each or $4 per day. Adult tickets for medal and final matches only are $6. High School students with an I.D. are $5 per day and below high-school youth are $2 per day. Coaches are free with five paid wrestlers. For more information, contact USA Wrestling at 719-598-8181.