Wrestling rocky during freestyle portion

by Joshua Weinstock on September 10, 2009

As the 2009 Taipei Deaflympics' freestyle wrestling portion began Thursday, the U.S. Wrestling Team got off to a rocky start. Grapplers Nathan Garrels and James Hanson both lost their opening matches, 7-0, 7-0 and 5-0, 6-0, respectively. Garrels faced Russian Aleksandr Tsoktoev in the 60 to 66 kilogram weight group, and Hanson grappled against Turkey's Niyazi Basaran in the under-55 kg group. Both American wrestlers were overwhelmed by their opponents' quickness and technique. Garrells lost the first set, 7-0, after he slipped against the Russian. The Russian wasted no time putting Garrels through an array of flipping that rolled up the score and ended the set in 30 seconds. The second set appeared similar as Tsoktoev made the opening tackle and controlled Garrells on to another 7-0 victory. Hanson didn't have better luck as the Turkish wrestler used a selection of feints and disguised attacks to take down the American. The foreigner appeared the more experienced wrestler against the 19-year-old. "I'm still learning about the freestyle, and it's my first time," Hanson said. "I want to get better and work on my technique so I can pay back in 2013." Both wrestlers had a second chance to compete and didn't capitalize. Since Garrels lost to the Russian, and the Russian lost to Portuguese wrestler Hugo Passos, Garrels had another opportunity to wrestle, this time against the Portuguese wrestler. During Garrels' matchup against Passos, who won gold in the 60 to 66 kg Greco-Roman wrestling portion Monday, it was déjà vu all over again as the Portugal wrestler took control of Garrels and flipped him around for seven straight points. The match ended within 25 seconds. During the second set, Passos got a quick tackle on the opening whistle, made a flip and got on Garrels' back for a dominating 6-0 victory. Passos also is the favorite to win the 60 to 66kg freestyle gold. Hanson faced Belarus wrestler Piatro Maistrenka and showed improvement, as he made the first American points of the day after making a tackle. However, Hanson couldn't capitalize as Maistrenka got away and made another tackle to win, 5-1, as time ran out. On the second set, Maistrenka got a tackle, and Hanson escaped out of bounds. The bout resumed with 45 seconds, and Maistrenka played it easy and avoided Hanson's advances for a 3-1 decision. Coach Thad Ferguson said he knew his players needed to train harder to have a "better chance to advance against the world." However, he said he is hopeful the players will learn from this experience, and added that he wished he had more wrestlers than the four he currently has. "More wrestlers will bring more competition out of each other," he said, and cited lack of money as one of the reasons for the small team. Ferguson said he knows this will be a learning experience for the players, and he has higher expectations for his other two wrestlers in the freestyle Friday. Mark Cross and Kyle Hoffer wrestle tomorrow, and Ferguson said he thinks they will fare well since they have more wrestling experience. "They tried their best, but hopefully they will learn and do better in four years" in 2013 at Athens, American supporter Yes Serious said

Wrestling rocky during freestyle portion

Latest News

Donate