U.S. wrestlers win four medals at Veterans Greco-Roman World Championships in Odessa, Ukraine

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
08/28/2003


With only five athletes entered in the tournament, U.S. wrestlers won four medals at the 2003 Veterans Greco-Roman World Championships in Odessa, Ukraine, August 15-17.    This event featured the top wrestlers in the world 35 years-old and above. There are five age divisions at the Veterans World Championships, A-E. Division A is for competitors 35-40 years of age, Division B is for wrestlers 41-45 years-old, Division C is open to all wrestlers between 46 and 50, Division D is for wrestlers 51-55 years-old and Division E is for all wrestlers 56 years-old and older.    Claiming silver medals for the United States were Michael Mann of Virginia in Div. B at 152 pounds and Mark Allen Jordine of Idaho in Div. C at 127.75 pounds.    Mann won his first three matches to qualify for the championship finals, where he was defeated by Nandor Sabo of Hungary. His victories were over Osman Ashabov of Ukraine, 9-0, Hossein Niknejad of Iran, 7-1 and Fedor Yavorskiy of Ukraine.    Jordine won his first two matches, stopping Berik Berdaline of Kazakhstan, 5-4 and Abdolrahman Moarefianpour of Iran, 8-5. In the gold-medal match, he lost to Alexander Sivkov of Russia, 5-2.    Winning bronze medals for the United States were Ronald Hughes of California in Div. A at 152 pounds and Sarkis Dermejian of California in Div. C at 167.5 pounds.    The other American in the tournament, Steve Contarino of Florida, placed fifth at 187.25 pounds in Div. C.    In the final medal count, the United States was fifth with four medals. Russia won the medal count with 29 medals, followed by Iran with 27 medals, Ukraine with 16 medals and Finland with four medals.      2003 VETERANS GRECO-ROMAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS  at Odessa, Ukraine, August 15-17  U.S. athlete performances    Div. A  69 kg/152 lbs -  Ronald Hughes, 3rd - lost dec. to Saied Jamei (Iran), 3-1; lost by tech. fall to Roland Buhler (Germany), 10-0, 1:58    Div. B  69 kg/152 lbs. - Michael Mann, 2nd - dec. Osman Ashabov, 9-0; dec. Hossein Niknejad (Iran), 7-1; dec. Fedor Yavorskiy (Ukraine); lost dec. to Nandor Sabo (Hungary)    Div. C  58 kg/127.75 lbs. - Mark Allan Jordine, 2nd  - dec. Berik Berdaline (Kazakhstan), 5-4; dec.  Abdolrahman Moarefianpour (Iran), 8-5; lost dec. to Alexander Sivkov (Russia), 5-2    76 kg/167.5 lbs. - Sarkis Dermejian, 3rd - lost dec. to Vladimir Galkin (Russia), 4-0; pin Zvonko Erak (Croatia), 1:18; no match for third against Teimuraz Ninikuri (Georgia)    85 kg/187.25 lbs. - Stephen Contarino, 5th - lost pin to Afsar Namazaliev (Azerbaijan), 1:06; dec. Khazbi Dreev (Russia), 6-4; won by forfeit over Ivan Moudrov (Russia); lost by tech. fall to Pavel Li-Yu (Russia), 10-0, 1:46