USA Wrestling competed in Hungary Grand Prix and Trofe Milone international tournaments
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Jaimie McNab (USA Wrestling)
03/14/2002
USA Wrestling sent representatives overseas for the Hungary Grand Prix and Italy's Trofe Milone international Greco-Roman wrestling tournaments. These tournaments hosted a number of nations and provided valuable international experience for those representing the United States. The Hungary Grand Prix in Nyireghuaza, Hungary featured five U.S. wrestlers and was host to 22 nations for its March 2-3 showdown of international talent. The U.S. competitor who finished highest was Matt Lamb (East Lansing, Mich./Unattached) placing 10th at 120 kg. Lamb was not able to make it out of his pool, being beaten by Aleksei Tarabarin of Russia 4-1, who went on to take fourth place and Unsal Yucel of Turkey 6-0, who went on to place sixth. At the Trofe Milone in Faenza, Italy on March 9-10 there were six U.S. competitors and 21 countries represented. Jake Clark (Woodbridge, Va./U.S. Marine Corps) captured the highest U.S. finish with seventh place at 84 kg. Clark was second in his pool beating Daniel Lischinsky of Israel and Leonida Laureti of Italy. He was tied with these two opponents at the end of each match sending the decision to criteria. In the 66 kg weight class, James Shillow (Quantico, Va./U.S. Marine Corps) and Oscar Wood (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) both placed in the top 10. Shillow was beaten in his pool by Vassil Teodossiev of Bulgaria 3-1, who went on to place fifth in the tournament. Shillow then went on to defeat teammate Glenn Nieradka (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) on a criteria decision. Wood defeated Jrame Thibaut of France 7-0 to begin his pool action. Wood was then defeated by Kim In-Sub of Korea 6-1, who went on to be crowned tournament champion at 66 kg. Shillow ended up placing ninth followed immediately by Wood at 10th. The top team placings at the Trophy Milone went as follows: Korea with 61 points, Hungary with 45, Turkey close behind with 41, Germany with 29 and rounding out the top five was Japan with 22 points. These tournaments offered excellent international experience for the U.S. athletes and an opportunity to face top international opponents.