U.S. WORLD TEAM TRIALS - GRECO-ROMAN U.S. team looks strong
By Craig Sesker ITHACA, N.Y. – Justin “Harry” Lester
knows what it takes to be on a champi- onship team. He was a member of the only U.S. Greco-Roman squad to win a World team title in 2007. Lester was one of eight wrestlers to
earn titles at the U.S. Greco-Roman World Team Trials before a boisterous sellout crowd of 1,000 fans on June 4 at the Friedman Wrestling Center at Cornell University. And Lester likes the makeup of the
2015 World Team that will represent the U.S. at September’s World Championships in Las Vegas. Seven of the eight Greco World Team members are repeat members from 2014. “I think we can do real well as a team,”
Lester said. “We can feed off the medal that Andy Bisek won last year. We’ve all been there and we all know we can get the job done. I’m real excited to see what this team can do.” This year’s Greco-Roman World Team
Trials featured a unique competition process with only the 16 U.S. Open final- ists qualifying for the event. The U.S. Open finalists completed a best-of-3 wrestle-off in Ithaca to deter- mine the World Team member in each weight category, with the U.S. Open finals constituting the first match. The U.S. Open champion in each weight had a 1-0 series lead entering competition in Ithaca. Lester, a two-time World medalist, downed Pat Smith 8-2 to make the team at 71 kg/156 lbs. Lester made his eighth U.S. World
Team. “It’s OK making World Teams, but you
got to back it up wth a medal,” Lester said. “It’s great being back on this team again. 71 is a great weight for me. I went out firing at Worlds last year, but I gave up one big move to a really good guy. “This year, it’s got to be mistake-free
and I need to wrestle each match perfect- ly.
“I honestly felt like I was right there last
year. I need to tune-up these next two months. I need to put in the work and I will be ready.” Veteran Andy Bisek, a 2014 World
bronze medalist, scored a quick 8-0 tech- nical fall over Dillon Cowan to sweep the
26 USA Wrestler
series at 75 kg/165 lbs. Bisek made his fourth World Team. “I’m not going to take anybody lightly,”
Bisek said. “I’m very confident going out there and I believe I’m going to win. It was a fun night. We had a great crowd with a lot of people and that got us pumped up.” Two-time Olympian Spenser Mango
earned his sixth straight trip to the World Championships by edging 2013 World Team member Jesse Thielke 4-3 at 59 kg/130 lbs. Mango was fifth in the World in 2013
and 2014. “I would love to come home with a gold
medal and I would love to be a World champion in my home country,” Mango said. “It hurts every time I think about fin- ishing fifth at Worlds – it just kills me. I never want it to happen again. “We have a real good team. I think we
have a real good mix and I think this team can do real well at Worlds.” Robby Smith earned his third consecu-
tive trip to the World Championships after downing Toby Erickson 5-0 at 130 kg/286 lbs. Smith placed fifth at the 2013 Worlds.
Caylor Williams, shown at the U.S. Open, made his 3rd World Team. File photo. Jordan Holm made his third straight
U.S. World Team after holding off Jon Anderson at 85 kg/187 lbs. Holm won 2-2 on criteria after scoring on a caution early in the match. “It was a good challenge for me,” Holm
said. “Jon’s a real tough competitor and he pushed me. I have had a good year. I haven’t run into anybody that has beaten me and I need to carry it into Worlds.” Caylor Williams hit a pair of big throws
to earn his third straight trip to Worlds after earning an 8-0 technical fall over Kevin Beazley at 98 kg/216 lbs. Returning World Team member Bryce Saddoris outlasted a determined Alejandro Sancho in a series that went the full three matches at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. Patrick Martinez earned a hard-fought
2-0 win over C.J. Myers to complete a sweep of their series at 80 kg/176 lbs. Martinez made his first U.S. World
Team.
Mango, Saddoris, Bisek, Anderson, Williams and Smith were scheduled to represent the U.S. in the six Olympic weight classes at July’s Pan American Games in Toronto.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44