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cards to give away, some free points to give out. I didn’t need to attack or tie up with him,” said Kasser. As he has gotten older, Kasser has developed a training system that is work- ing well for him. “I don’t hesitate in training. I start right
away. I started training for this World Championships in January. I cycle a lot. I weight lift every single day. I get on the mat twice a week. I do some other cross training so I am not constantly on the mat. As you get older, you can’t be on the mat five days a week like at the Senior level. I limit my mat training to two times a week, but go real aggressive, then I do other types of training. This year was the best I felt, the strongest I have been in a long time,” said Kasser. This year’s Veterans Worlds, held at the birthplace of the Olympics, was the largest in history, with almost 900 athletes from 47 nations, according to Kasser. In addition to meeting his competitive needs, Kasser enjoys being around his fellow Veterans wrestlers on Team USA and from around the world. “With the Veterans athletes from other nations, we get at it real hard. On the other hand, when we are not in that ring,
we have a real good sense about us, we enjoy each other’s company, we smile and laugh with each other and shake hands. It’s a real good team building thing, and makes you feel good about being involved in the sport,” said Kasser. Kasser does not have plans to retire from competition anytime soon, finding satisfaction and enjoyment from the experiences in training and in tourna- ments.
Jamey Kasser has his arm raised after clinching Veterans Worlds gold medal. Robbert Wijtman photo.
“As long as my body holds up, I am going to do what I can to keep the sport going, and to develop and grow the sport. The Veterans play a vital role, just as the Seniors, the Juniors, the Cadets and the women do. Veterans need to be recog- nized and appreciated, because they do play a vital role,” said Kasser. VETERANS WORLDS NOTES – Shirzad Ahmadi of Connecticut continued his dominance of Veterans wrestling with another strong effort in Greece. He opened with his 11th career Veterans World freestyle title, winning a four-ath- lete round robin with wins over opponents from Iran, Russia and the United States. Then, he added another gold medal in Greco-Roman, taking a three-athlete round robin stopping foes from Russia and Iran. Ahmadi became the first American to win a double World title in the history of the Veterans World event, which goes back more than 20 years. His 12 Veterans World titles are also an American record. • The USA had its best Greco-Roman performance in history with three champi- ons, Ahmadi, Michael Tuck of Missouri (58 kg, Div. C) and Steve Barkman of New Jersey (63 kg, Div. F). There have only been seven U.S. Veterans Greco champions, including Chris Brown in 2014, Gregg Stensgard in 2012, Valentin Kalika in 2009 and Ron Hughes in 2004. • This was the first Veterans Worlds with a women’s division, and the USA came home with two champions, Meghann Marchello of Nevada (53 kg, Div. A) and Marie Ziegler of Washington (48 kg, Div. B.). Ziegler was also on the first U.S. Women’s Senior World Team in Martigny, Switzerland in 1989, and later won two World silver medals for the USA. • Men’s freestyle Veterans World cham- pions included Ahmadi, Kasser and Grant Johnson of Texas (97 kg, Div. A) and Antonio Peraza of New York (85 kg, Div. F). • Over the six days of competition, the USA won 38 medals. Although there is no official overall team title, only Iran had a stronger effort at the Worlds this year.
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33 USA Wrestler
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