USA Wrestler Photo Contest
Top left: Novice wrestler Paxton Creese of Apple Valley, Minnesota throwing an opponent in a 60-pound match at the Minnesota USA State Championships in May. Eric Crease photo. Top right: Seventh-grader Isaac Allen of the Goldencross club in Cincinnati, Ohio, tossing an opponent at the Bearcat Brawl in Walton, Kentucky. Angel Desloge Walton photo. Bottom left: Ryan Randall of the Lion’s Den Wrestling Club in Alaska hits a headlock in an 103 pound match during the Greco- Roman State Championships. Gail Randall photo. USA Wrestler is seeking your best wrestling photography for publication in a future issue of the magazine. Other photos may be posted on
TheMat.com or on USA
Wrestling Weekly. USA Wrestling reserves the right to publish all materials submitted for the Photo Contest with no restrictions! Mail photos to: Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling, 6155 Lehman Dr., Colorado Springs, CO 80918. E-mail photos to:
gabbott@usawrestling.org.
VETERANS, Continued from page 15
Florida native Mike Schyck wrestled for Ohio State and was a Senior-level freestyle wrestler for a number of years. A fitness fanatic, he competed in triathlons for many years, but did not reach a championship level.
His college teammate Mike DiSabato, who runs a wrestling
company, offered to sponsor him last year to go to Budapest, Hungary, and Schyck won his first World title. This year, Schyck returned to win his second World title, tak- ing the freestyle gold in Div. B (age 41-45) at 185 pounds at age 44.
“I’m in shape, and am smart enough to know what I need to do to prepare. I trained pretty hard last year and didn’t know what to expect. I got a tech. fall in all my bouts. Last year, I did- n’t find the wrestling as hard as it was this year. The guy I beat in the finals this time was very accomplished. He was fifth in the 1992 Olympics, and lost to the champion Arsen Fadzaev 2-0 there. I didn’t know who he was until a friend told me after the tournament,” said Schyck.
He found a strong team bond among the Veterans wrestlers from the United States both years. “That was surprising to me. These guys just want to keep wrestling and doing what they love. They are so supportive of each other. The guys who have done it for a long time make it a great atmosphere for those who are there for the first time. When I am there, I want to support everybody on our team,” said Schyck. The oldest American champion at this year’s Veterans Worlds was Terry Harris of Illinois, who won the freestyle title at 167
pounds in Div. G (66-70 years). At 71 years old, he had to get special permission from FILA to enter this year. He enjoys wrestling at the event that much. “I think if more wrestlers knew about the Veterans tourna- ment and how much fun we have, there would be even more competitors. There is nothing more fulfilling than winning a wrestling match. I loved hearing my national anthem being played as I stood on top of the podium. It was such a thrill,” Harris told T.R. Foley in an interview for FILA. Winning a Veterans World title on his first try this year was Jason Goldman of New York, who captured the title at 127 pounds in Div. A (35-40 years). Goldman has never stopped wrestling, entering many Senior-level tournaments, the Beach Nationals and other events.
Goldman, 38, won three freestyle matches, including wins over two Russians, to claim the title. Later in the week, Goldman claimed a silver medal in Greco-Roman. “The Worlds were such a cool event. I had a tough draw, and those guys were very good, but every match I wrestled meant a lot to me. This is something I’m going to start training for every year,” said Goldman in his interview with FILA. Winning a second straight Veterans World title was Steve
Turgeon of Connecticut at 127 pounds in Div. D in freestyle. At 57, Turgeon is a wrestling coach who works out with his athletes and also finds time to train with other Veterans. In Greco-Roman, the USA added one gold medal in Sarajevo. Mohammad Taheri of Pennsylvania won a gold medal at 167 pounds in Div. G. He scored a first-period pin over an opponent from Turkey in his finals match.
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