First session of World Team Trials Championship Series completed; Fullhart beats Sanderson; Dantzler

<< Back to Articles
Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
06/23/2002


The first match of the best-of-three Championships Series at the World Team Trials in Saint Paul, Minn. has been completed, with a number of upset wins to start the day. Twenty-one athletes hold a 1-0 series lead after winning their opening bout. The 2002 U.S. Nationals champion is facing the Challenge Tournament Champion from Saturday, with the series winner claiming a spot on the 2002 U.S. World Team.     The most dramatic first-session win came at 84 kg/185 pounds in men's freestyle, where Challenge Tournament winner Lee Fullhart (Iowa City, Iowa/Gator WC) edged U.S. Nationals champion Cael Sanderson (Ames, Iowa/Sunkist Kids), 3-2 in the opening bout. Fullhart scored a two-point tilt during a scramble late in the match for the victory. Sanderson has not lost a match to an American since June 2000, when he was defeated in the Olympic Trials.    Sanderson beat Fullhart 4-0 in the 2002 U.S. Nationals finals. Fullhart has a previous win over Sanderson at the 2000 U.S. Nationals. Sanderson became a national sports hero when he became the first undefeated four-time NCAA wrestling champion this year, competing for Iowa State.    Two other freestyle Challenge Tournament winners claimed the first match of their best-of-three series: Stephen Abas (Fresno, Calif./Sunkist Kids) at 55 kg/121 lbs. and Chris Bono (Gilbert, Iowa/Sunkist Kids) at 66 kg/145.5 lbs.    Abas defeated 2002 U.S. Nationals champion Teague Moore (Norman, Okla./Gator WC), 4-2 in the first bout. Abas, the 2001 U.S. World Team member, did not compete at the U.S. Nationals in April, and came through the Challenge Tournament to make the finals series.    Bono stopped 2002 U.S. Nationals runner-up Jamill Kelly (Stillwater, Okla./Gator WC), 3-1, avenging a loss to Kelly in the U.S. Nationals semifinals. The winner of this series will not have qualified for the U.S. team yet. The winner qualifies for a Special Wrestle-off at a date and location to be determined against 2002 U.S. Nationals champion Bill Zadick (Iowa City, Iowa (Hawkeye WC), who extended his finals series due to injury.    In men's Greco-Roman, a pair of Challenge Tournament winners turned the tables on the reigning U.S. Nationals champion to take a 1-0 lead in their series: T.C. Dantzler, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC) at 74 kg/163 lbs. and Brad Vering, Waterloo, Iowa (Sunkist Kids) at 84 kg/185 lbs.    Dantzler defeated his long-time nemesis Keith Sieracki (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army), 3-1 in the first bout. Sieracki has been able to beat Dantzler in many major events in recent seasons, including the finals of last year's World Team Trials and this year's U.S. Nationals finals.    Vering beat 2002 U.S. Nationals champion Ethan Bosch (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC), 6-0, including a spectacular five-point throw. Vering lost to Bosch in the U.S. Nationals finals, 6-2.    In the women's freestyle division, the only Challenge Tournament winner to defeat the U.S. Nationals champion in the weight class was Toccara Montgomery, Cleveland, Ohio (Sunkist Kids) who stopped Iris Smith (Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army), 4-1. It was a battle of national champions, as Montgomery moved up in weight from 67 kg/147.5 pounds, where she was also the national champion this year.     As expected, U.S. Nationals champion and 2000 Olympic bronze medalist Garrett Lowney (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm) won his bout at 96 kg/211.5 pounds in Greco-Roman by forfeit. After winning the Challenge Tournament yesterday, Justin Ruiz (Taylorsville, Utah/Dave Schultz WC) announced that he would not compete today. A Mormon, Ruiz does not compete on Sunday's for religious reasons.    Other first session winners in men's freestyle were U.S. Nationals champions Eric Guerrero (Stillwater, Okla./Gator WC) at 60 kg/132 lbs., Joe Williams (Iowa City, Iowa (Sunkist Kids) at 74 kg/163 lbs., Tim Hartung, (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm) and Kerry McCoy (State College, Pa./New York AC) at 120 kg/264.5 pounds.    U.S. Nationals champions in the women's freestyle division that took 1-0 series leads were Patricia Miranda, Stanford, Calif. (Dave Schultz WC) at 48 kg/105.5 lbs., Jenny Wong, Stillwater, Minn. (Sunkist Kids) at 51 kg/112 lbs., Stephanie Murata, Minden, Nev. (Sunkist Kids) at 55 kg/121 lbs., Lauren Lamb, Farmington, N.Y. (Michigan WC) at 59 kg/130 lbs. and Sara McMann, Lock Haven, Pa. (Sunkist Kids) at 63 kg/138.5 lbs.    In Greco-Roman, four other U.S. Nationals champions jumped to 1-0 series leads:  Brandon Paulson, Anoka, Minn. (Minnesota Storm)  at 55 kg/121 lbs., Glenn Nieradka, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army) at 60 kg/132 lbs., Kevin Bracken, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC) at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. Dremiel Byers (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) at 120 kg/264.5 lbs.    Session two begins at 3:30 p.m. CDT