What a difference a year makes for Team USA at Worlds

On the one hand, it's difficult not to be happy with the performance of Team USA at this year's Freestyle World Wrestling Championships in Guangzhou, China. Last year, we returned from Hungary with only two bronze medals and 20 team points. This year, four of our seven athletes medaled:

Bill Zadick: Gold at 66 kg
Mike Zadick: Silver at 60 kg
Sammie Henson: Bronze at 55 kg
Donny Pritzlaff: Bronze at 74 kg

Moreover, we scored 35 points, which was good enough for third place in the team race. But despite this obvious and significant improvement, it's also difficult not to utter the common phrase: What if …

USA held a 35-32 lead over Russia going into the last day of competition. Our final two athletes were Daniel Cormier at 96 kg (fifth in 2003, fourth in 2004) and Tolly Thompson, who won a bronze medal at 120 kg last year. Both had tough draws while their Russian counterparts had relatively easy ones. But still, our destiny was in our hands. We had the chance to upset one of the toughest teams Russia has fielded in a long time. Russia won six of the seven weights at this year's European Championships (which was identical to their World lineup, with the exception of 84 kg, where Adam Satiev won gold at the Euros) and came into the 2006 Worlds with an astounding 17 senior-level world or Olympic medals, 14 of which were gold.

Daniel Cormier (Photo/John Sachs)

When the 96 kg bracket came out, it was clear that Daniel Cormier had an uphill battle. He faced longtime nemesis Ali Reza Heydari of Iran in his opening match and had 2001 world champ Georgi Gogchelidze (formerly of Russia, now competing for Georgia) looming in the second round. Fans desperate for team points for USA noticed that two scenarios kept us alive even if Cormier didn't make the finals. If Cormier won against Heydari, he could still lose to Gogchelidze since he would be a likely finalist. If Cormier lost to Heydari and then Heydari beat Gogchelidze, Cormier still had a shot for the bronze. The matches played out in the worst possible way. Heydari beat Cormier and then lost to Gogchelidze.

Tolly Thompson did his part in the second round, beating two-time world champ Eldar Kurtanidze but then losing to Farin Masoumi in the quarters. This ended USA's chances for an upset. It was a series of tough breaks, but team USA still had a lot to be proud of.

In looking at the results this year, one tends to wonder if the new rules FAVOR American wrestling. The M.O. of many of our international losses in years past was that we'd give up a few points early and then not be able to catch up. The new system of needing to win two periods neutralizes the take-an-early-lead-then-hold-on strategy that was employed against us under older rules.

USA won seven bouts in which we lost the first period (and one more in which we lost the second period, Bill Zadick vs. Geandry Garzon). This suggests that we're still getting scored on early, but that conditioning and constant-but-strategic pressure is a winning formula.

Despite the number of first period losses, USA did not seem uncomfortable with the rules and made far fewer mistakes than last year. Indeed, because of the incredibly high skill level of this event, the main key to success is simply not making any errors.

Mike Zadick (Photo/John Sachs)

Mike Zadick had a nearly perfect tournament, not giving up any periods and only giving up one point (on a pushout) in his run to the finals. However, for the gold, Zadick won the coin toss for a first-period leg clinch then allowed Seyed Mohammadi to slip his leg out during the initial scramble. This turned out to be a big factor in the match. Interestingly, in older brother Bill's gold medal match, the third period also went to the leg clinch. Otari Tushishvili tried a similar maneuver to slip his leg out, but Bill Zadick responded correctly and got the winning takedown.

While one can look at USA's improved results as a stepping stone to winning the team championship down the line, our final day lead is not something we can bank on again. Russia suffered two stunning upsets in the quarterfinals. Standing world champ and 2004 bronze medalist Mikach Murtazaliev lost to Ukrainian Andriy Stadnik 3-0, 1-1, 3-2 and the great Buvaisar Satiev, eight-time world champ, lost to upstart Mihail Ganev of Bulgaria 0-3, 1-1, 2-2. Both Stadnick and Ganev lost in the semis, which eliminated Murtaliev and Satiev from being eligible for repechage. Those series of matches were huge in allowing a team to upset Russia, but the solidity of their lineup up and down still saw them run away with the title.

This year, the Russian squad added five medals to their already impressive tally. They should be considered just as strong a favorite to win the title next year. I believe two things are necessary for USA to beat them either sooner or later:

1. Have more young guys like 2006 Jr. World silver medalist Henry Cejudo focusing on freestyle year-round. Just out of high school, Cejudo lives at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. He almost made the world team this year and that is clearly the reason.

2. Have more guys like Bill Zadick stick around and still chase the dream even when they're no longer at the top of the ladder in the US. Bill Zadick finished seventh at the Olympic Trials in 2004. It would have been easy for him to call it quits. But instead, he too moved to Colorado and re-focused his efforts. There can be no doubt that that made the difference. The results from this year prove that our freestyle coaching staff knows what we need to do in order to be world champs. To take the title away from Russia, we need as many athletes as possible to be as committed as they are.

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