Neal vs. Polatci is the new “Bout of the Week” on USA Wrestling Members-Only website
2/1/2005
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling
USA Wrestling has updated its new “Bout of the Week” on USA Wrestling’s Members-Only website
The featured match this week is the Stephen Neal vs. Aydin Polatci men’s freestyle match at 130 kg/286 lbs. from the 1999 World Freestyle Championships in Ankara, Turkey.
This bout is posted in honor of Neal’s participation in the Super Bowl XXXIX, which will be held this Sunday in Jacksonville, Fla. Neal is the starting right guard for the defending World Champion New England Patriots. He became a professional football player in 2001, after completing a very successful career in international wrestling.
Neal played football at San Diego High School in California, but it was in wrestling where he truly excelled. He won a Junior National freestyle title, and went to Div. I Cal-State Bakersfield, coached by T.J. Kerr. He did not play a single down of football in college. As a college sophomore, Neal placed third in the 1996 Olympic Trials in freestyle wrestling, a sign of things to come in his career.
After winning two NCAA titles for the Roadrunners, and winning the Dan Hodge Trophy as the nation’s top college wrestler, Neal turned his effort towards international freestyle wrestling.
The 1999 year proved to be amazing for him. He won the U.S. Nationals championships, then earned a spot on the U.S. World Team with a win at the World Team Trials. He followed up with a gold medal at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada, scoring an amazing comeback win over Cuba’s Alexis Rodriguez in the finals.
At he 1999 World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling, held in Ankara, Turkey, Neal had a memorable performance. He opened the tournament with a pin and a technical fall, then drew talented Aydin Polatci of Turkey in the third round.
By 1999, Polatci had already established himself as a world-class super heavyweight wrestler. He was a 1997 Junior World champion, and competed in the Senior World Championships for the first time in 1998, placing fifth in the World meet. He was a 1998 European champion. U.S. fans may remember Polatci when he won a bronze medal at the 1998 Goodwill Games in New York City.
Neal had to wrestle very well to get by Polatci in this match to advance into medal contention. Neal followed with a semifinal win was over Recep Ashabaliyev of Azerbaijan, 7-2. In the gold-medal finals, Neal defeated World silver medalist Andrei Shumilin of Russia. Neal fell behind 2-0 early, but came back to stop the three-time World medalist, 4-3. The Neal vs. Shumilin match is posted in the archives on the USA Wrestling Members-only web page.
Ultimately, Polatci placed fifth at the 1999 World Championships.
Neal was internationally feared for his “freight-train double leg” takedown, a wrestling move similar to a football tackle. His speed and explosion on that move was impressive.
At the 2000 Olympic Trials and 2001 World Team Trials, he lost in the finals to a talented Kerry McCoy and was No. 2 in the USA. After the 2001 Trials, through a contact set up by fellow Olympic medalist wrestler Matt Ghaffari, Neal got a football tryout. He did so well, that he ended up in training camp of the New England Patriots. After the Patriots cut him, he made the practice squad of the Philadelphia Eagles. Late that season, the Patriots picked up Neal again, placing him on their practice squad.
Neal has already won two Super Bowl rings with the Patriots, but this Sunday will be the first time he gets a chance to play in the game. The two teams that Neal has played for in professional football, the Patriots and the Eagles, will battle each other for football’s most important title this weekend.
Polatci continues to compete on the international level. He placed 11th in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. At the 2000 World Military Championships, he won a gold medal in both Greco-Roman and freestyle.
He represented Turkey in the 2001 World Championships, placing fifth, then followed up with a bronze medal at the 2002 World Championships. Polatci also competed at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, and came home with a bronze medal. He has been Turkey’s most consistent and successful performer in recent years.
Wrestling fans are encouraged to watch Stephen Neal in action during the Super Bowl, wearing No. 61 for the Patriots, protecting Tom Brady from the pass rush, and opening running lanes for Corey Dillon.
This popular feature will be changed on a regular basis, allowing members to enjoy many of the greatest matches in wrestling history.
Posted in the archive section of the Members Only web page was a 1992 highlight video of U.S. team at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. Many other entertaining and historic matches are in the archive section for the Bout of the Week.
USA Wrestling has done a complete redesign and expansion of its Members-Only website, providing all USA Wrestling members with an impressive new resource stocked with interactive learning tools and entertaining features.
The web page is still available for all to view and sample for a short time. This will allow those not familiar with the site to enjoy the contents and become familiar with the features.
Once the sampling period ends, this on-line resource is available free of charge only to current members of USA Wrestling, one of the most exciting benefits of joining the organization. At that time, USA Wrestling members will need to enter the number from their 2004-05 membership card into an entry form, and the exciting new Members-Only page will become available to them.
RECENT BOUTS OF THE WEEK PLACED IN ARCHIVE
1992 highlight video of U.S. Olympic Wrestling team in Barcelona, Spain
1988 Andy Seras vs. Mike Mann men’s Greco-Roman match
1992 Kevin Jackson vs. Rasul Khadem men’s freestyle match
1992 Chris Campbell vs. Puntsag Sukhbat men’s freestyle match
2000 Garrett Lowney vs. Gogi Koguachvili men’s Greco-Roman match
1988 Randy Lewis vs. Stepan Sarkissian men’s freestyle match
1996 Kurt Angle vs. Abbas Jadidi men’s freestyle match
1990 Chris Wilson vs. Arsen Fadzeav men’s freestyle match
1990 John Smith vs. Stepan Sarkissian men’s freestyle match
2004 Sunkist Kids International Open men’s Greco-Roman gold-medal matches
2004 Sunkist Kids International Open men’s freestyle gold-medal matches
1990 Bill Scherr vs. Alexei Golovko men’s freestyle match
2004 Cael Sanderson vs. Moon Eui Jae men’s freestyle match
2004 Rulon Gardner Olympic semifinals and finals men’s Greco-Roman feature
2004 Sara McMann vs. Stavroula Zygouri women’s freestyle match
2004 Toccara Montgomery vs. Kristie Marano women’s freestyle match
2004 Joe Williams vs. Joe Heskett men’s freestyle match
2004 Eric Guerrero vs. Mike Zadick men’s freestyle match
2004 Cael Sanderson vs. Lee Fullhart men’s freestyle match
2004 Dennis Hall vs. Brandon Paulson men’s Greco-Roman match
1996 Townsend Saunders vs. Pat Santoro men’s freestyle match
1988 Mark Fuller vs. T.J. Jones men’s Greco-Roman match
1988 Nate Carr vs. Andre Metzger men’s freestyle match
2004 Jared Frayer vs. Eric Larkin men’s freestyle match
1987 Bill Scherr vs. Greg Gibson men’s freestyle match
1992 Dennis Koslowski vs. Andrzej Wronski men’s Greco-Roman match
1989 Jim Scherr vs. Makharbek Khadartsev men’s freestyle match
2003 Sally Roberts vs. Marianna Sastin women’s freestyle match
1996 Melvin Douglas vs. Mike Van Arsdale men’s freestyle match
1988 Ike Anderson vs. Buddy Lee men’s Greco-Roman match
1996 Tom Brands vs. Jang Jae-Sung men’s freestyle match
2004 Eric Larkin vs. T.J. Williams men’s freestyle match
1992 Rodney Smith vs. Cecilio Rodriguez men’s Greco-Roman match
1988 Rico Chiapparelli vs. Lukman Jabrailov men’s freestyle match
2003 Kristie Marano vs. Ewelina Pruszko women’s freestyle match
1999 Stephen Neal vs. Andrei Shumilin men’s freestyle match
2003 Cael Sanderson vs. Sajid Sajidov men’s freestyle match
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