Eight U.S. wrestlers win titles on the first day of the Dave Schultz Memorial International
2/5/2005
John Fuller/USA Wrestling
Colorado Springs, Colo. – U.S. wrestlers won eight of 11 weight classes on the first day of the Dave Schultz Memorial International on Saturday evening.
Due to new FILA rules which state that an entire weight class must be competed in one day, this year’s Dave Schultz Memorial International has split weight class competitions amongst the two days.
Weight classes wrestled on the first day were 60 kg/132 lbs., 74 kg/163 lbs. and 96 kg/211.5 lbs. in men’s freestyle, 55 kg/121 lbs., 66 kg/145.5 lbs., 84 kg/185 lbs. and 120 kg/264.5 lbs. in Greco-Roman and 48 kg/105.5 lbs., 55 kg/121 lbs., 63 kg/138.75 lbs. and 72 kg/158.5 lbs. in women’s freestyle.
Winning titles in men’s freestyle competition were Donny Pritzlaff (Oyster Bay, N.Y./New York AC) at 74 kg and Dawid Rechul (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 96 kg.
Pritzlaff lost the first period to Tyrone Lewis (Stillwater, Okla./Gator WC), 2-5. However, he scored the final two points of the period to gain momentum. Pritzlaff then controlled Lewis and the center of the mat, winning the final two periods, 3-0 and 2-0.
Rechul defeated Mo Lawal (Stillwater, Okla./Gator WC), who moved up one weight class for this tournament.
Like Lewis, Lawal also won the first period, outscoring Rechul 3-0. In the second period, Rechul began to wear Lawal down, winning the second period 3-2 and the third period 1-0. The only point of the third period was awarded when Lawal went out of bounds first.
At 60 kg, Sait Prizreni of Albania defeated Michael Lightner (Norman, Okla./Dave Schultz WC), 2-0, 3-1.
In Greco-Roman competition, 2002 World champion Dremiel Byers (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) downed Russ Davie (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 120 kg, 1-0, 1-0. Both periods ended with the wrestlers going to the clinch. Davie lost the coin toss in both periods, giving the advantage to Byers.
Also winning titles for the U.S. in Greco-Roman were Joseph Betterman (Chicago, Ill./USOEC/New York AC) at 55 kg and Harry Lester (Akron, Ohio/USOEC/Gator WC) at 66 kg.
Betterman lost his first period 1-0 to Alexei Shaipak of Belarus. In the second-period, he battled back, scoring on a front-headlock throw to win the period 3-3. In the third period, Betterman sealed a victory with another throw to win 4-1.
Lester earned a big win for him, defeating veteran Mike Ellsworth (Colorado Springs, Colo./Michigan WC), 1-0, 3-0.
Tano Prochenski of Bulgaria defeated 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials runner-up Jacob Clark (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Marine Corps), 0-3, 3-1, 3-0, in the finals at 84 kg.
Two-time World silver medalist Tina George (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) captured a title in women’s freestyle wrestling at 55 kg with a win over Brittanee Laverdure of Canada, 2-0, 1-5, 4-0.
George was able to score numerous times throughout the bout on single-leg takedowns. Her only lapse was in the second period, when Laverdure was able to score multiple times off an ankle-pick.
At 63 kg, 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials runner-up Alaina Berube (Escanaba, Mich./New York AC) easily won the title with a 5-0, 6-0 win over Helen Hennick of Canada.
Canada also crowned two champions in women’s freestyle wrestling: Carol Huynh at 48 kg and Ohenewa Akuffo at 72 kg.
Competition at the Dave Schultz Memorial International will resume on Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. (Mountain Time) with the remainder of the weight classes in all three styles.
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