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Discussion Topic: Outlook for 2007 World Freestyle Team
Ken Ramsey Sr. added to this discussion on July 30, 2007

The outlook for the 2007 USA World Freestyle does not look good. What can they do to improve? Can they improve quickly enough to be more competitive at the Worlds than they were at the Pan Am Games? Looks like the physical ability is down somewhat. Do we have anyone capable of medaling this year? Who?



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Discussion Topic: Outlook for 2007 World Freestyle Team
Hank Kornblut added to this discussion on July 31, 2007

KR, jr.--I agree that it's hard to get excited about a squad's chances when Cuba took them to the woodshed. Then, again, Cuba has a terrific squad.

You asked about Freestyle but I think the most exciting aspect of American wrestling at the moment is the Two H's--Henry Cejudo (freestyle) and Harry Lester (Greco). Both are young yet outstanding. Each has a shot at a World Championship. I like these two not only for their ability but their "MARKETABILITY." Each is a great story. Cejudo has already attracted national media interest. With a strong performance, Harry could easily garner the same attention.



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Discussion Topic: Outlook for 2007 World Freestyle Team
Brendan Moody added to this discussion on July 31, 2007

Great point Hank! I hope Lester can garner the spot light and be a marketing tool for the sport of wrestling in the U.S. I know other sport athletes have agents and people like that who take care of any promotion work; do you think Lester has anyone like that for him? Should he?



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Discussion Topic: Outlook for 2007 World Freestyle Team
Dan Cosimi added to this discussion on July 31, 2007

The World Freestyle Team will be ready when the time comes. Last year we took 2nd or 3rd as a team and I don't see much of a drop from the team we had. At Pan-Ams we were in the finals in every weight class except 211 where Cormier took bronze.

121: Henry Cejudo is very young (19 or 20) and he may take a couple years to get to his prime but his "now" just won Pan-Am gold, so yes, he is a definite contender.
132: Mike Zadick is the defending World silver medalist. Enough said. He still may not win his spot though, as he will have to defeat Gallick in the mini-tournament. I think Gallick beat him at U.S. Nationals. His loss at Pan-Ams was to Olympic champ Yandro Quintana, so it's not like he lost to anyone subpar.
145: Doug Schwab beat defending World champ Bill Zadick to win this spot. Any time you defeat a defending World champ, you're a contender.
163: Joe Heskett defeated Casey Cunningham in the finals of the WTT and U.S. Nationals, but Cunningham defeated World bronze medalist Donny Pritzlaff to get to the finals of both of those tournaments. Heskett has been knocking on the door for a while now (he was a #2 to Joe Williams for a while).
185: Joe Williams might be unable to compete due to an injury. If he does, we all know he has great credentials at 163 and hopefully he can parlay them into success at this weight. If Williams does not compete, Andy Hrovat will take his place. He was on the World Team last year as well and took home silver at Pan-Ams, losing only to a Canadian he previously beat.
211: Daniel Cormier pretty much owns U.S. competition, but hasn't found the same success in the big international tournaments yet. We know he can though.
264: Tommy Rowlands' only loss at Pan-Ams was to Alexis Rodriguez, a former World Champion. He outplaced World medalist Tolly Thompson at U.S. Nationals and the WTT to make the team and defeated Cole Konrad and Steve Mocco head-to-head. All of them have done well internationally.



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Discussion Topic: Outlook for 2007 World Freestyle Team
Hank Kornblut added to this discussion on July 31, 2007

DC--Cejudo is probably the best freestyler in the USA right now. Like Lester, he's been training full time at it (as opposed to collegiate competition which hinders our development). While he may not win World's, he's been steadily gaining experience and will likely be peaking for the Olympics.

As for the rest of the USA team, it's a mixed bag. Generally speaking, we're the 4th best team behind the Russians, Iranians and Cubans which means we have to beat some of them to place. I'm personally excited to see what Tom Rowlands can do but the USA squad poses a lot of question marks. Cormier may be the greatest talent besides Cejudo but he has yet to get it done in a major event. All our guys can wrestle but there's no one you could argue is a certainty to medal. KRamsey asked what could be done to enhance their chances for next month but I don't have an answer. You prepare as well as possible and then hope the squad can get some momentum going.

One comment about Pan Am's--essentially it's the USA v Cuba. There are a few good wrestlers outside those countries but not enough to give the top competitors a sharp edge prior to the finals. This won't be the case at the World's where every match can be very tough. This should help us IMO.



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Discussion Topic: Outlook for 2007 World Freestyle Team
Dan Cosimi added to this discussion on August 1, 2007

Hank,
I see where you're coming from and I too am excited about the awesome potential of Cejudo, but let's look at this...

121: Pan-Am Champ.
132: Defending World Silver Medalist, Pan-Am Silver.
145: Pan-Am Silver. Beat defending World Champ at WTT.
163: Pan-Am Silver. Beat defending World Bronze Medalist at WTT.
185: World Medalist.
211: Pan-Am Bronze.
264: Pan-Am Silver, Yarygin Medalist. Beat World Medalist at WTT.

Yes, I'm optimistic about how we'll do at the World Championships.



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