Seven wrestlers repeat as Veterans Greco-Roman national champions

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John Fuller (USA Wrestling)
04/07/2004


Las Vegas, Nev. - Seven wrestlers won their second consecutive titles at the Veterans Greco-Roman National Championships at the Las Vegas Convention Center on Wednesday evening.    This was the second Veterans Greco-Roman National Championships in USA Wrestling's history.    Wrestlers compete in five different age divisions in Veterans competition: Division A (35-40 years old), Division B (41-45), Division C (46-50), Division D (51-55) and Division E (56 years old and over).    Repeat champions in Division A were Pat Higa (Centurion WC) at 63 kg, Murray Crews (OGW) at 76 kg and Jim Richardson at 130 kg.    Also winning titles in Division A were Darren Petty (Greensburg WC) at 58 kg, J.T. Petty (Emrby-Riddle WC) at 69 kg, Rodney Fisher (West Virginia) at 85 kg and 2003 runner-up Mark Mireles (Centurion WC) at 97 kg.    In Division B, Mark LeVasseur (Minnesota Storm) captured the gold medal at 58 kg and Kevin Donofrio (Brandon WC) won the title at 130 kg for their second straight titles.    Other champions in Division B included Jamey Kasser (Ohio WC) at 63 kg, 2003 bronze medalist Greg Robbins (Lehi) at 69 kg, Nick Dougherty (Missouri Valley) at 76 kg, Anthony Porcelli (Team Porcelli) at 85 kg and Steve Goss (Michigan WC) at 97 kg.    LaVasseur, Kasser and Porcelli won titles at the Veterans Folkstyle National Championships last weekend in Cedar Falls, Iowa, putting them on pace to become three of the first Veterans Triple Crown winners.    Division C's only repeat champion was Paul Herder (Montrose), who won the gold medal at 63 kg.    Also winning Division C crowns were J.D. Hawkins (Team Jesus) at 69 kg, 2003 silver runner-up Sarkis Dermenjian (SK Golden Boys) at 76 kg, Tony Peraza (North Shore WC) at 85 kg and Michael Puckett (Sozo WC) at 97 kg.    Repeating as champions in Division D were Russ Cozart (Florida) at 69 kg and Bruce Quinn (Fall Guys) at 130 kg.    Cozart also won a Veterans folkstyle national title last weekend.    Also winning titles in Division D were Ed Knecht (Arizona) at 58 kg, Shirzad Ahmadi (Connecticut) at 63 kg, 2003 runner-up Mark Black (California) at 85 kg and Jack Nutter (Ohio) at 97 kg.    Winning Division E titles were Melvin Cooper (New York AC) at 58 kg, Jack Hornbuckle (Unattached) at 63 kg, Kevin Martin (Unattached) at 69 kg, Barry Joe Aiken (Washington) at 76 kg, 2003 silver medalist Donald Apodaca (Jets WC) at 85 kg, Joe Reasbeck (Unattached) at 97 kg and Bob Anderson (Jets WC) at 130 kg.    Many of these athletes may choose to compete in the Veterans World Championships. Date and time of the 2004 Veterans World Championships will be announced later.    The Veterans Freestyle National Championships will begin on Thursday, April 8 at 11 a.m. (Pacific Time).