Chicks Heart Fights

• Members of the US wrestling team, Ben Askren, Clarissa Chun, Marcie Van Dusen, Randi Miller and Ali Bernard, were treated to a day of pampering at Tranquility Spa in New Jersey . You may notice that Ben’s hair was straightened. Let me tell you - as the owner of some seriously curly hair, like Ben, I can assure you, it is not easy to straighten hair like that.
• Two different athletes are selling shirts to help send their families to Beijing. Buy Ben’s “Put the Chin in China” shirt at Wrestling Central, and from the Hawkeye newsletter: For $20, you can get the new “Schwab. Bring on the World” t-shirt. Sizes range from Youth Medium to Adult XX Large. If you are interested in purchasing a shirt, please contact Doug’s fiancee, Allyson by e-mail at allyson-campbell@uiowa.edu.
• Kim Couture fought her first fight this past weekend, and got her jaw broken. BFD. Fighters get their jaws broken all the time. It’s not especially pretty, but it’s what she chose to do. Ben Fowlkes at Cage Potato examines why so many people were up in arms about the bloody pictures of Kim after the fight.
• Greco Roman Olympian Brad Vering has a Q&A on NBC Olympics. Apparently, Brad likes to go fishing. Funny enough, so do I! Call me, Brad!

Last year’s Greco-Roman team won the World Championship on the backs of Dremiel Byers, Brad Vering and Harry Lester. Though the team has gone through some setbacks, they have the talent and the opportunity to come home from Beijing with some serious hardware. Of course, they have to make the team first. (more…)

So how about dem USA Greco-Roman wrestlers? Rich Bender, the executive director of USA Wrestling, called today the most important day in US Greco-Roman wrestling history, and I have to agree with him.

Rulon’s win, though important, created a well-known figure in the sport and helped with the popularity, but did not necessarily say that the US truly had a great Greco program. This team win was the combined effort of USA Wrestling, the Army’s WCAP, the Olympic Training Center, and the USOEC, not to mention the many college programs where many of the wrestlers got their start. Of course, this was also due to the hard work and sacrifice of the wrestlers themselves - guys like Lindsey Durlacher, Brad Vering and Dremiel Byers, veterans with a never say die attitude, a young star like Harry Lester, and hard working role players like Joe Betterman, TC Dantzler, and Justin Ruiz. Well done, gentlemen. Supremely well done.

In other USAW news, the two freestyle members who wrestled today did not do as well. Henry Cejudo and my crush Mike Zadick were both eliminated early in the tournament. Tomorrow, Doug Schwab, Joe Heskett and Joe Williams will take to the mat.

(Photo credit: Larry Slater)

Greco-Roman wrestling is almost finished - just the heavyweight class remains - and the US has garnered a silver, a bronze, and a fifth place finish. Meh.

Harry Lester’s bronze medal came after a controversial loss against 2004 Olympic champion Farid Mansurv, an Azerbaijani wrestler. It appears that the referee was not well versed in the rules, or when to stop a match. From coach Steve Fraser:

“It was a great match with two great wrestlers. It’s just a shame that we had three very questionable calls go against us. But we’re in Azerbaijan, I guess you have to expect that here.”

Maybe I’m being a little to much of a flag-waver here, but I don’t remember any questionable calls going in our favor when the world championships were in the US. Why should we expect or accept calls going for the host country, or incompetent refs? This tourney is supposed to be the best in the world; shouldn’t the refs be the best, too? Anyway, Harry Lester came back and won the bronze. But here’s something to think about: with the Olympics in Beijing next year, will the US wrestling teams have to deal with calls going towards the Chinese delegation?

Brad Vering, at 84 kg, wrestled an amazing tournament to win his silver medal. His loss in the finals to Aleksey Mishin of Russia came after pinning Jung Sub-Kim of Korea. Vering, a corn-fed boy from a small town in Nebraska, has made his presence known on the international stage after failing to make last year’s world team.

Lindsey Durlacher placed 5th, but the rest of the team did not fare so well. Joe Betterman, stepping up to take the spot of suspended world champion Joe Warren, lost his first match and was eliminated. TC Dantzler beat defending world champ Volodimir Shatskykh of Ukraine 3-1, 2-1, but then was eliminated in a loss to Geunot of France. Justin Ruiz went 1-2. According to the theMat.com, the team is in fourth. I hope that we can continue to bump up the points standings as the freestyle men’s and women’s teams take to the mat.

According to the Mat and the Wrestling Talk forums, Brad Vering won silver at worlds today, and T.C. Dantzler and Justin Ruiz were both eliminated without placing.

More on this later. I know I promised that yesterday, but I spent last night chugging Nyquil, trying to get rid of a nasty cold. I should be coherent enough to type tonight.