Sonnen wins silver medal, USA places fifth as a team at World University Greco-Roman Championships i

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
11/08/2000


Chael Sonnen (Eugene, Ore./Dave Schultz WC) won a silver medal at 187.25 pounds, leading the United States to a fifth-place finish at the World University Greco-Roman Wrestling Championships in Tokyo, Japan, November 8.    Sonnen qualified for the gold medal match by pinning Serkan Ozden of Turkey in 1:42 in the semifinals. He was defeated in the gold medal match by Toomas Proovel of Estonia, by a razor-thin 6-5 margin. It was a rematch of a first-round bout, won by Sonnen in a 1-0 referee's decision. Proovel won a repechage to qualify for the semifinals, then beat Shingo Matsumoto of Japan to make the finals.    Sonnen had an impressive 4-1 record in the tournament. He was the only U.S. wrestler to qualify for the medal rounds and compete on Wednesday.  Sonnen owns a No. 3 national ranking in the United States and is a member of 2000-2001 Greco-Roman Team USA. He is a star athlete for the Univ. of Oregon.    The United States placed fifth as a team, in a field that included 22 nations. Turkey won the team title with 62 points, followed by Russia with 61 points. Host Japan was third with 52 points, followed by Korea with 41 points and the United States with 35 points.    All eight of the U.S. wrestlers placed in the top 10 of their weight divisions and scored team points for the United States.    Darnell Lollis (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) placed fifth at 127.75 pounds and Joe Warren (Colorado Springs, Colo./Michigan WC) was sixth at 138.75 pounds. Both placed second in their pools, and participated in the repechage rounds.    Two U.S. wrestlers were seventh in their weight division: Carl Fronhofer (Pittsburgh, Pa./PWC) at 167.5 pounds and Josh Etu (Charlottesville, Va./ATWA) at 286 pounds. Placing eighth for the United States were Nathan Piasecki (Marquette, Mich./USOEC) at 119 pounds and Joshua Hall (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) at 213.75 pounds. Finishing 10th in his weight class was Cory Posey (E. Lansing, Mich./New York AC) at 152 pounds.    Lollis and Hall are ranked No. 4 nationally on the Senior level. Fronhofer and Etu were Olympic Trials qualifiers in 2000    Currently competing on the college level are Posey (Michigan State), Fronhofer (Pittsburgh) and Etu (Virginia). Warren, a former Michigan star, is a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete. Piasecki attends the U.S. Olympic Education Center Greco-Roman program at the Univ. of Northern Michigan.    The Greco-Roman athletes were coached by Greco-Roman Developmental Coach Ike Anderson and Greco-Roman Resident Coach Anatoly Petrosyan, who work full-time at USA Wrestling's national headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo.    To participate, an athlete must be 17-28 years old, must be a current college student, or be graduated from a university within a year of the competition.    The U.S. team was selected based upon performance on the national level, with National Team ranking, Olympic and Regional Trials and Resident athlete participation the top criteria. In addition, performance at USA Wrestling age-group national events was also part of the selection process.   The competition was held at the Sports Hall at the National Olympic Memorial Youth Center in Tokyo.    WORLD UNIVERSITY GRECO-ROMAN CHAMPIONSHIPS  at Tokyo, Japan, November 8  Medalists   54 kg/119 lbs.- Gold - Zahidov Jeyhun (Azerbaijan); Silver - Rerat Bikkinine (Russia); Bronze -Dariusz Jablonski  (Poland)   58 kg/127.75 lbs. - Gold - Makoto Sasamoto (Japan); Silver -Alexey  Chevtsov (Russia); Bronze - Bayram Ozdemir (Turkey)   63 kg/138.75 lbs. - Gold - Bunyamin Emik (Turkey); Silver - Kabajiehko Kovalenko (Russia); Bronze - Ali Ashkam Agbolagh (Iran)   69 kg/152 lbs. - Gold - Mikhail Ivantchenko (Russia); Silver - Ondrej Jaros (Czech Rep.); Bronze - Mehdi Nasiri (Iran)   76 kg/167.5 lbs. - Gold - Alexey Chirokikh (Russia); Silver - Yusuf Duzer (Turkey); Bronze - Jung Sung-Hwa (Korea)   85 kg/187.25 lbs. - Gold - Toomas Proovel (Estonia); Silver - Chael Sonnen (United States); Bronze - Serkan Ozden (Turkey)   97 kg/213.75 lbs. - Gold - Marek Svec (Czech Republic); Silver - Marek Sitnik (Poland); Bronze - Mehmet Ozal (Turkey)   130 kg/286 lbs. - Gold - Fatih Bakir (Turkey); Silver - Andrei Chekhauskoi (Belarus); Bronze - Iouri Patrikeev (Russia)  Team Standings   1. Turkey, 62 points; 2. Russia, 61; 3. Japan, 52; 4. Korea, 41; 5. United States, 35; 6. Iran, 32; 7. Hungary, 22; 8. Poland, 21; 9. Czech Republic, 19; 10. Azerbaijan, 17; 11. Estonia, 15; 12. Belarus, 13; 13. Austria, 10; 14. Finland, 9; 15. Italy, 6; 16. Switzerland, 4; 17. Canada, 4; 18. Netherlands, 3; 18. Ukraine, 3; 20. Yugoslavia, 1; 21. Mongolia, 0; 21. New Zealand, 0  U.S. Greco-Roman Team results - Day 3   85 kg/187.25 lbs. - Chael Sonnen, Eugene, Ore. (Dave Schultz WC) - Semifinals: pin Serkan Ozden (Turkey), 1:42; Gold medal match - lost dec. to Toomas Proovel (Estonia), 6-5  Final U.S. Greco-Roman Team placements   54 kg/119 lbs. - Nathan Piasecki, Marquette, Mich. (USOEC), 8th   58 kg/127.75 lbs. - Darnell Lollis, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC), 5th   63 kg/138.75 lbs. - Joe Warren, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Michigan WC), 6th   69 kg/152 lbs. - Cory Posey, E. Lansing, Mich. (New York AC), 10th   76 kg/167.5 lbs. - Carl Fronhofer, Pittsburgh, Pa. (PWC), 7th   85 kg/187.25 lbs. - Chael Sonnen, Eugene, Ore. (Dave Schultz WC), 2nd   97 kg/213.75 lbs. - Joshua Hall, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army), 8th   130 kg/286 lbs. - Josh Etu, Charlottesville, Va. (ATWA), 7th   Coaches - Greco-Roman Developmental Coach Ike Anderson, Colorado Springs, Colo. and Greco-Roman Resident Coach Anatoly Petrosyan, Colorado Springs, Colo.     For complete results of every match, visit TheMat.com, the Ultimate Source for Real Wrestling.