|
|
Tuesday, September 26
Lowney stuns five-time world champion
Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia -- Garrett Lowney, a 20-year-old wrestler
competing in his first major international tournament, scored one
of America's biggest upsets ever in Greco-Roman by defeating
Russia's five-time world champion 8-3 on Sunday.
Lowney, in danger of losing in overtime on two passivity
warnings after squandering a 3-0 lead, stunned Gogui Koguachvili
with a five-point throw at 7:50 of the match to advance to the
quarterfinals at the Olympics.
Lowney, cheered on by a vocal, 50-member group of friends and
family, earlier had beaten Marek Svec of
the Czech Republic 2-0 at 213¾ pounds.
By defeating both wrestlers in his three-man pool, Lowney
advances and eliminates Koguachvili, who cannot get a medal.
Koguachvili and three-time Olympic super heavyweight champion
Alexander Karelin of Russia were the biggest favorites in the eight
weight classes.
Lowney, who will be 21 next week, is eight years younger than
any other U.S. Greco-Roman Olympic wrestler.
The United States hasn't won a gold medal in Greco-Roman since
the boycotted Los Angeles Games in 1984 and came away from the
Atlanta Games in 1996 with only three silver medals.
Matt Lindland, the former Nebraska wrestler whose legal appeal
to make the team went all the way to the Supreme Court, also won
his first two matches.
Koguachvili was the world champion in 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998 and
1999. Losing to Lowney is wrestling's equivalent of a major-league
team losing to a Single-A farm club in the World Series.
Lowney, who already had surprised Koguachvili by taking the
match into overtime, was looking to score a decisive one-point
takedown. Instead, he saw an opening and surprised the Russian by
ducking behind him and throwing him in the air and to the mat. A
five-point high-amplitude throw is the biggest scoring move in a
sport where matches often are decided by low scores.
"This doesn't mean the gold medal, but he's the best wrestler
in this weight class," said Lowney, who had the Olympic rings and
a Minnesota "M" tattooed onto his right shoulder a few weeks ago.
Lowney was angry since he lost the 3-0 lead partly because he
was penalized two points for using his legs. Holds below the waist
are barred in Greco-Roman, and a wrestler cannot use his legs or
attack an opponent's legs.
"I knew they would make it tough for me and I wouldn't get any
breaks," Lowney said. "He got one point and that's all he earned.
The other two points were a gift."
Only a month ago, Lowney worked out with Koguachvili in Moscow,
and Lowney got the feeling the Russian had no idea he might lose to
him.
"He was not real happy," Lowney said.
Lindland, saying he wasn't fatigued from his summer-long legal
battle, won 3-0 over Tarieli Melelashvili of Georgia and by injury
default over Algeria's Kader Slila, who trailed 6-0 late in the
match when he apparently sprained an ankle.
Lindland has one of the toughest draws of the eight American
Greco-Roman wrestlers in Sydney. He is in a pool of four that he
must win to advance to the semifinals.
The pairings were done by blind draw, meaning some of the
toughest bouts -- such as Lowney's against Koguachvili -- may come in
the earliest matches.
"I didn't get tired at all," Lindland said.
Lindland reversed his U.S. trials loss to Sieracki by arguing
successfully through two rounds of arbitration and a variety of
courts that Sieracki used a hold below the waist, a move not
permitted in Greco-Roman.
Lindland was glad to finally be on the mat again after spending
most of the summer fighting for the opportunity to get there.
"This is the fun part," said Lindland, who took an early 3-0
lead and held it throughout the match as Melelashvili showed little
aggressiveness. "This is what all the work was for.
"I never stopped working out, so my preparation was the same as
it would have been if (if he had won at the trials). I never
stopped training," he said.
Kevin Bracken of Colorado Springs, Colo., split his first two
matches in a three-man pool at 138¾ pounds. That pool winner will
advance to the quarterfinals.
Bracken was an easy 12-5 winner over Choi Sang Sun of South
Korea, but couldn't hold a 2-0 lead over Riccardo Magni of Italy in
overtime and lost on a referee's decision after the two tied 2-2
after eight minutes.
Steven Mays of Pensacola, Fla., lost his three matches at 119
pounds and is out of the Olympics. He lost 10-0 to Uran Kalilov of
Kyrgyzstan, 11-0 to Andriy Kalashikov of Ukraine and 5-3 to Mohamed
Abou Elela of Egypt.
|  | |
|
