Cormier and Mocco receive draws for 2003 Ivan Yarygin Cup in Moscow, Russia

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John Fuller (USA Wrestling)
11/06/2003


Moscow, Russia - The draws for the 2003 Ivan Yarygin Cup in Moscow, Russia have been determined. Competition will take place at the Sport Palace in Moscow on Nov. 7.    Instead of the normal pool system, this tournament will use a line bracket. Competition is single-elimination.    Representing the United States will be 2003 U.S. World Team member Daniel Cormier (Stillwater, Okla./Gator WC) at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. and Steve Mocco (N. Bergen, N.J./NYAC) at 120 kg/264.5 lbs.    Cormier will wrestle Enkhtuya Tuvinshintur of Mongolia in the first round. Tuvinshintur placed fourth at the 2003 World Championships, losing only to the eventual World Champion and World bronze medalist.    The winner of the Cormier-Tuvinshintur match will face either 2001 World Champion Georgi Gogchelidze of Russia or two-time World bronze medalist Vadim Tasoev of Ukraine.    In the bottom half of the 96 kg bracket, two-time World Champion and two-time Olympic bronze medalist Eldar Kurtanidze of Georgia will face Fatih Cakiroglu of Turkey. Kurtanidze captured a gold medal at the 2003 World Championships, his fourth World medal overall.    Two-time World medalist Krassimir Kotchev of Bulgaria will receive a bye into the semifinals where he will face the winner of the Kurtanidze-Cakiroglu match. Kotchev won the bronze medal at the 2003 World Championships and a silver medal at the 2001 World Championships.    Mocco will face off with Aleksi Modebadze of Georgia in the first round. Modebadze placed 10th in the 2000 Olympic Games and has competed in the last two World Championships.    The winner of the Mocco-Modebadze match will face the winner of the match between 1997 World Champion Kuramagomed Kuramagomedov of Russia and Mazid Mutalimov of Kazakhstan, who placed sixth in the 2003 World Championships. Kuramagomedov also won a bronze medal at the 1998 World Championships.    On the bottom half of the 120 kg bracket, 1998 World Champion and five-time World and Olympic medalist Alexis Rodriguez of Cuba will face 2000 Olympian Efstathios Topalidis of Greece. Topalidis placed fifth at the 2003 World Championships.    The winner of the Rodriguez-Topalidis match will advance to the semifinals where he will face either two-time World Champion and 2000 Olympic gold medalist David Musulbes of Russia or Sergey Pryadun of Ukraine, who has competed in three World Championships, placing fourth in 2003.    Wrestlers from two weight classes, 96 kg/211.5 lbs. and 120 kg/264.5 lbs., will compete for the title of FILA Absolute Champion. Only eight wrestlers per weight class have been invited to compete, most of whom have placed in the top 10 at the 2003 World Championships.    The total prize money for the tournament is $55,000. Champions from each weight class will win $10,000, silver medal winners will earn $3,000, bronze medal winners will win $2,000. All other competitors will receive $1,000.    The champions at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. and 120 kg/264.5 lbs. will then compete against each other for the title of FILA Absolute Champion. The winner of that match will win an additional $15,000, bringing the total purse for the FILA Absolute Champion to $25,000.    Since Mocco is still an NCAA athlete, he will be unable to accept any prize money. Mocco is taking an Olympic redshirt year from the Univ. of Iowa, where he was the 2003 NCAA champion at 285 lbs.    FILA, the international governing body for the sport of amateur wrestling, the Wrestling Federation of Russia and the International Ivan Yarygin Charitable Organization have cooperated in hosting this tournament. The event is held in honor of the late Ivan Yarygin, an Olympic and World Champion and former President of the Russian Wrestling Federation.    2003 Ivan Yarygin Cup  at Moscow, Russia  Nov. 7, 2003  96 KG/211.5 LBS.  First Round:  Georgi Gogchelidze (RUS) vs. Vadim Tasoev (UKR)  Enkhtuya Tuvinshintur (MGL) vs. Daniel Cormier (USA)  Eldar Kurtanidze (GEO) vs. Fatih Cakiroglu (TUR)  Krassimir Kotchev (BUL) BYE    120 KG/264.5 LBS.  First Round:  Kuramagomed Kuramagomedov (RUS) vs. Mazid Mutalimov (KAZ)  Aleksi Modebadze (GEO) vs. Steve Mocco (USA)  Alexis Rodriguez (CUB) vs. Efstathios Topalidis (GRE)  David Musulbes (RUS) vs. Sergey Pryadun (UKR)