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Olympic Wrestling - Freestyle Recaps: 1 August (Day 13)

Freestyle Wrestling / Classification Round 2

ABDULLAYEV Rounds Out Semifinals at 52kg

Namik ABDULLAYEV of Azerbaijan scored a 11-0 technical superiority win over Adkhamjon ACHILOV of Uzbekistan at 2 minutes, 58 seconds to earn the fourth and final spot in the semifinals Thursday evening at the Georgia World Congress Center.

ABDULLAYEV, the 1994 world silver medalist, will face Gholam Reza MOHAMMADI of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the world silver medalist in 1993 and 1995.

Lou ROSSELLI of the United States broke two bones in his right elbow in a 4-2 Pool B victory over Constantin CORDUNEANU of Romania and was forced to withdraw from the competition.

Semifinals: Namik ABDULLAYEV (AZE) vs. Gholam Reza MOHAMMADI (IRI); Maulen MAMYROV (KAZ) vs. Valentin DIMITROV JORDANOV (BUL).

BRANDS, AZIZOV World Champions Advance to 62kg Semifinals

Tom BRANDS of the United States the 1993 World Champion, avenged early round losses in the previous two world championships by dominating Sergey SMAL of Belarus 5-0 Thursday evening to advance to the semifinals at 62kg.

BRANDS was relentless on his feet, scoring the first of his five takedowns 27 seconds into the match on an outside single-leg shot. He scored the rest of his takedowns by countering ineffective shots by SMAL, the 1992 Olympic silver medalist.

BRANDS will face Magomed AZIZOV of Russia, the 1994 world champion, in the semifinals Friday morning. AZIZOV eased past Jurgen SCHIEBE of Germany 8-2 in his quarterfinal match.

Two upset winners reached the semifinals in the other bracket as both finalists from the 1995 World Championships were eliminated from the gold-medal chase. Giovanni SCHILLACI of Italy, the 1991 world silver medalist, scored a two-point exposure 1:02 into overtime to erase a 2-0 deficit and win by a 2-2 referee's decision over returning silver medalist Takahiro WADA of Japan. JANG Jae-Sung of Korea followed with a 3-1 victory over reigning World Champion Elbrus TEDEYEV of Ukraine.

Semifinals: Giovanni SCHILLACI (ITA) vs. JANG Jae-Sung (KOR); Tom BRANDS (USA) vs. Magomed AZIZOV (RUS).

"I had to keep his hand down and keep my feet moving," BRANDS said. "This is peanuts compared to what's coming up. This was just one match in the big picture."

PARK, PASKALEV Reach Semifinals at 74kg

PARK Jang-Soon of Korea remained alive for a third consecutive trip to the gold-medal match with a 5-0 victory over Takuya OTA of Japan in a quarterfinal match Thursday night. He will face Plamen PASKALEV of Bulgaria, who needed only 1:15 to pile up a 12-0 technical superiority win over Valerij VERHUSIN of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in his quarterfinal match.

Semifinals: Plamen PASKALEV (BUL) vs. PARK Jang-Soon (KOR); Kenny MONDAY (USA) vs. Buvaysa SAYTYEV (RUS).

KHADARTSEV, KHADEM Advance at 90kg

Seven-time world champion Makharbek KHADARTSEV of Russia kept his bid for a third consecutive Olympic gold medal alive Thursday evening, eliminating Melvin DOUGLAS of the United States from the gold-medal chase with a 4-1 victory.

KHADARTSEV, who hasn't won a world-level title since the 1992 Olympic Games, opened up a 4-0 lead with a takedown and two gut wrenches before DOUGLAS, the 1993 world champion and the world bronze medalist the past two years, dented the scoreboard on a takedown with 15 seconds remaining.

Advancing to meet KHADARTSEV in the semifinals was Jozef LOHYNA of Slovakia. The 1990 World Champion advanced with a 3-3 referee's decision over KIM Ik-Hee of Korea.

Two-time defending world champion Rasull KHADEM AGZHADI of the Islamic Republic of Iran advanced to the semifinals with a 4-3 decision over Islam BAYRAMUKOV of Kazakhstan. He will meet Dzambolat TYEDYEYEV of Ukraine, a 4-0 upset winner over 1994 world silver medalist Heiko BALZ of Germany.

Semifinals: Makharbek KHADARTSEV (RUS) vs. Jozef LOHYNA (SVK); Rasull KHADEM AGZHADI (IRI) vs. Dzambolat TYEDYEYEV (UKR).

See story.

SHUMILIN Overpowers BAUMGARTNER to Advance at 130kg

Andrey SHUMILIN of the Russian Federation scored the biggest upset so far in Group B, scoring four points on an early flurry to beat 1992 Olympic gold medalist Bruce BAUMGARTNER of the United States in the quarterfinals Tuesday night.

SHUMILIN ended a scramble by powering BAUMGARTNER to his back for three points and a fourth point for a five-second exposure count, opening a 4-0 lead just over one minute into the match. He added two more takedowns for a 6-0 lead before BAUMGARTNER broke the shutout on a takedown with 30 seconds remaining.

The loss ended BAUMGARTNER's bid for a third Olympic gold medal and gave SHUMILIN his fourth victory in five career matches against BAUMGARTNER.

BAUMGARTNER scored a takedown and three tilts and has either pinned or won by technical superiority over BORODOW each of their last six meetings. In the second round, however, he will face an opponent who has given him much more trouble, Andrey SHUMILIN of Russia. SHUMILIN beat BAUMGARTNER in three consecutive meetings before BAUMGARTNER turned the tables by beating SHUMILIN in an exhibition dual meet at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., in April.

SHUMILIN will face Aleksey MEDVEDEV of Belarus, a 3-1 winner over Zaza TURMANIDZE of Georgia. MEDVEDEV is the son of Alexei MEDVED, the only three-time Olympic gold medalist ever in freestyle wrestling. MEDVED won gold medals in 1964, 1968 and 1972.

Mahmut DEMIR of Turkey, the 1994 World Champion, blanked Petros BOURDOULIS of Greece 3-0 to advance against 1995 World Champion Sven THIELE of Germany, who won a 1-1 referee's decision over FENG Aigang of China.

Semifinals: Mahmut DEMIR (TUR) vs. Andrey SHUMILIN (RUS); Aleksey MEDVEDEV (BLR) vs. Sven THIELE (GER).

See story.


Freestyle Wrestling/Preliminary Round 1

JORDANOV Aadvances Easily to Semifinals at 52kg

Seven-time World Champion Valentin JORDANOV of Bulgaria advanced to the semifinals in his bid for his first Olympic gold medal, pinning Victor RODRIGUEZ of Mexico at 1 minute, 59 seconds and beat Chechenol MONGUSH of Russia to advance to the semifinals as Group B freestyle wrestling competition began Thursday morning at the Georgia World Congress Center. JORDANOV will face Maulen MAMYROV of Kazakhstan in the semifinals.

Three-time World medalist Gholam Reza MOHAMMADI of the Islamic Republic of Iran also advanced to the semifinals with two shutouts. MOHAMMADI beat two-time World placewinner Carlos VARELA GONZALEZ of Cuba 4-0 at 1 minute, 47 seconds of overtime and also beat David LEGRAND of France 5-0.

BRANDS, SMAL Advance to Rematch at 62kg

Tom BRANDS of Iowa City, Iowa, the 1993 World Champion, will meet Sergey SMAL of Belarus early again as both won their first-round matches Thursday morning.

BRANDS scored three takedowns, the last 33 seconds into overtime in a 3-0 victory over Abbas HAJI KENARI of the Islamic Republic of Iran. SMAL, the 1991 World Champion and 1992 Olympic silver medalist, also recorded a shutout, beating Martin MULLER of Switzerland 6-0.

It will be the third straight year BRANDS and SMAL have met in the first two rounds of a World-level tournament. SMAL beat BRANDS 3-2 in the second round of the 1994 World Championships and again by a 5-3 score in the 1995 World Championships.

The world champions at this weight the past two years, Elbrus TEDEYEV of Ukraine (1995) and Magomed AZIZOV (1994) of Russia, also advanced. TEDEYEV beat Tjaart DU PLESSIS of South Africa 5-1 and AZIZOV won by a 10-0 technical superiority decision over Chamroeun VATH of Cameroon at 1 minute, 32 seconds. Takahiro WADA of Japan and Giovanni SCHILLACI of Italy, a pair of former World silver medalists, also advanced by technical superiority.

MONDAY Survives First-round Scare, Advances to Semifinals at 74kg; World Champion CEYLAN Upset

Wrestling at the World level for the first time since winning the 1992 Olympic silver medal, Kenny MONDAY of Tulsa, Oklahoma came back from the brink of defeat by scoring a takedown with 4 seconds left in overtime to salvage a 1-1 referee's decision over two-time World bronze medalist Alberto RODRIGUEZ HERNANDEZ of Cuba in his first-round match.

RODRIGUEZ HERNANDEZ had taken a 1-0 lead with a takedown on the edge following a scramble 1 minute, 34 seconds into overtime. Going on the offensive, MONDAY finally caught RODRIGUEZ HERNANDEZ on his heels, pushed him out of bounds, and was awarded a one-point takedown, with a caution also assessed against RODRIGUEZ HERNANDEZ for fleeing the mat. The caution gave MONDAY the decision on criteria.

MONDAY had an easier time in his second-round match, scoring a 3-point fireman's carry takedown in the first 10 seconds and cruising past Radion KERTANTI of Slovakia 5-1. In his first-round match, KERTANTI had become the first wrestler of the tournament to eliminate a world champion, edging 1994 titlist Turan CEYLAN of Turkey 4-3. The 74kg weightclass includes five returning world champions, more than any other weightclass in Group B.

PARK Jang-Soon of Korea, who defeated MONDAY for the 1992 Olympic final and lost to him in the 1988 gold-medal match, also won a pair of decisions. PARK beat Mahomed Salam GADZHIYEV of Azerbaijan 4-1 and shut out Victor PEICOV of Moldova 3-0 in overtime.

The two defending world champions also met in the second round, with 1995 World Champion Buvaysa SAYTYEV of Russia, who will face MONDAY in the semifinals Friday morning, beating 1994 titlist Alexander LEIPOLD of Germany 3-1.

"I'm feeling better as we go," MONDAY said. "I'm getting into the flow of the tournament. The fireman's carry (used in the second match) is definitely my bread and butter move. I've got to have better matches. In (the Olympic Games) you don't get all the calls that you should."

KHADARTSEV, KHADEM Advance at 90kg

Seven-time World Champion Makharbek KHADARTSEV of Russia began his quest for a third consecutive Olympic gold medal with a 10-0 technical superiority decision over Bashir MUHAMMAD of Pakistan at 2 minutes, 37 seconds.

Two-time defending World Champion Rasull KHADEM AGZHADI of the Islamic Republic of Iran also won his first-round match, 6-1 over Victor KODEI of Nigeria. KHADEM AGZHADI also was the 1992 Olympic bronze medalist.

Melvin DOUGLAS of Mesa, Arizona, the 1993 World Champion and World bronze medalist the past two years, will open face Ricardas PAULIUKONIS of Lithuania Thursday evening after a first-round bye. DOUGLAS could meet 1993 World silver medalist Eldari KURTANIDZE of Georgia in the quarterfinals en route to a possible semifinal matchup against KHADARTSEV.

"I feel in the same condition as in the past two Olympics," said KHADARTSEV, 31. "I feel normal. I feel no pressure."

BAUMGARTNER Advances, Will Meet Nemesis SHUMILIN at 130kg

Bruce BAUMGARTNER of Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania began his quest for a third Olympic gold medal with a 10-0 technical superiority decision over Andrew BORODOW of Canada.

BAUMGARTNER scored a takedown and three tilts and has either pinned or won by technical superiority over BORODOW each of their last six meetings. In the second round, however, he will face an opponent who has given him much more trouble, Andrey SHUMILIN of Russia. SHUMILIN beat BAUMGARTNER in three consecutive meetings before BAUMGARTNER turned the tables by beating SHUMILIN in an exhibition dual meet at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in April.

The other favorites also advanced, but needed all of overtime to do it. Mahmut DEMIR of Turkey, the 1994 World Champion, beat Merabi VALIYEV of Ukraine on a 1-1 referee's decision. Sven THIELE of Germany, runnerup to BAUMGARTNER in the 1995 World Championships, nipped Aleksandr KOVALEVSKIY of Kyrgyzstan 1-0.


This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department.


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