Mar 03

WRESTLING: Hazewinkel, Byers place second at the Hungary Grand Prix

SZOMBATHELY, Hungary-U.S. wrestlers Dremiel Byers (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) and Sam Hazewinkel (Norman, Okla./Gator WC) claimed silver medals at the Hungary Grand Prix, March 1-2. Hazewinkel went 4-0 at 55 kg/121 lbs. with wins over opponents from Romania, Kazakhstan, and two wrestlers from Belarus. He lost in the gold medal finals to Bekkhan Mankiev of Russia in the finals (0-6, 2-3). Byers dropped a close match to Riza Kayaalp of Turkey (1-1, 0-3, 1-1) in the gold medal match at 120 kg/264.5 lbs. He had previously beaten wrestlers from Belarus, Iran, and two different opponents from Poland to reach the finals. Byers was a 2002 World champion and a 2007 World bronze medalist. Two other U.S. Greco-Roman wrestlers finished in top 10s, R.C. Johnson (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) was seventh at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. and Spenser Mango (Flourissant, Mo./Gator WC) was 10th at 55 kg/121 lbs. A total of 16 U.S. athletes took part in the two-day competition. Match results are not yet available for the 96 kg/211.5 lbs. weight class. Hungary Grand Prix Szombathely, Hungary March 1-2, 2008 U.S. performances 55 kg/121 lbs.-Sam Hazewinkel, Norman, Okla. (Gator WC) , silver medal WIN Jan Hocko (Czech Republic), 3-0, 3-0 WIN Pavel Kramarz (Poland), 3-3, 5-1 WIN Marat Garipov (Kazakhstan), 6-0, 0-3, 8-5 WIN Virgil Munteanu (Romania), 5-2, 5-0 LOSS Bekkhan Mankiev (Russia), 0-6, 2-3 55 kg/121 lbs.-Spenser Mango, Flourissant, Mo. (Gator WC) , 10th WIN Mechman Alaev (Israel), 2-1, 2-4, 7-0 LOSS Marat Garipov (Kazakhstan), 5-4, 0-3, 1-1 55 kg/121 lbs.-Nate Engel, DNP/27th LOSS Virgil Munteanu (Romania), 0-7, 0-5 60 kg/132 lbs.-Jim Gruenwald, DNP/20th LOSS Yury Dubinin (Belarus), 0-4, 3-0, 0-3 60 kg/132 lbs.-Kerry Regner, DNP/23rd LOSS Edward Barsegjan (Poland), 1-1, 0-5 60 kg/132 lbs.-Glenn Garrison, DNP/24th LOSS Eric Buisson (France), 1-1, 0-4, 0-4 66 kg/145.5 lbs.-Faruk Sahin, DNP/27th LOSS Tsutomu Fujimura (Japan), 1-2, 0-6 74 kg/163 lbs.-Ken Cook, DNP/11th WIN Hee-Bok Kang (Korea) LOSS Aliaksandr Kikiniou (Belarus), 4-4, 1-2 74 kg/163 lbs.-Harry Lester, DNP/18th LOSS Mark Madsen (Denmark), 0-6, 5-1, 3-6 74 kg/163 lbs.-Cheney Haight, DNP/30th LOSS Mohammad Resa Babulfath (Sweden), 0-3, 1-1, 0-4 84 kg/185 lbs.-Keith Sieracki, DNP/15th WIN Amer Hrustanovic (Austria), 1-1, 0-3, 1-1 LOSS Attila Batky (Slovakia), 0-2, 1-1, 1-1 84 kg/185 lbs.-Jason Plamann, DNP/21st LOSS Melonin Noumonvi (France), 1-1, 0-4, 3-4 96 kg/211.5 lbs.-R.C. Johnson, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids) , 7th 96 kg/211.5 lbs.-John Wechter, DNP/21st 120 kg/264.5 lbs.-Dremiel Byers, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army), silver medal WIN Marek Ryszard Mikulski (Poland), 3-0, 3-0 WIN Bashir Babjanzadeh (Iran), 2-0, 0-3, 3-0 WIN Lukasz Bahak (Poland), 4-0, 3-0 WIN Loseb Chugoshvili (Belarus), 1-1, 2-1 LOSS Riza Kayaalp (Turkey), 1-1, 0-3, 1-1 120 kg/264.5 lbs.-Cole Konrad, DNP/18th LOSS Siarhei Artziukhin (Belarus), 0-3, 1-1, 1-2