Army Edges out Marines
Soldiers take Armed Forces Wrestling Championships

By Sgt. Daryl G. Sanford
Sports Editor

04/01/2002-Army wrestlers defeated the Marines 13-12 in Greco-Roman and 16-12 in freestyle at Larson Gym March 30-31 to win back the coveted Armed Forces Wrestling Championship title lost last year to the Marines.

All-Army's Paul Devlin, in the 120-kilogram heavyweight class, earned a 6-2-decision victory against All-Marine Frank Workman in the final match of the freestyle competition, securing the title.

Heading into the last match, the Army held a 2-point lead over the Marines in the freestyle competition, two points that could have meant a Marine victory instead of the Army winning both days. Both wrestlers fought with heart, but Devlin proved too much for Workman.

Despite the heartbreaking loss, All-Marine coach Jay Antonelli was pleased with his Marines' performance.

"I am proud of these guys," he said. "Our focus is Greco-Roman [wrestling] and to even hang with the Army in freestyle is a big accomplishment."

The Army's win in the freestyle event earned the overall Armed Forces championship that the Marines won last year. The Army has won the championship every year, except for 2001, since 1989.

"They are a great group of guys, these Soldier-athletes," said Shon Lewis, coach of the All-Army wrestling team. "They wanted to win. The bottom line is that wrestling is hard, and to win you have to look at yourself. You have to be the best."

GRECO-ROMAN

Soldiers inch past Marines in Greco-Roman finals, 13-12

By Sgt. Daryl G. Sanford
Sports Editor

03/30/2002-Army's Dremiel Byers, Ft. Carson, Colo., earned a technical superiority win and beat the Corps' Timothy Taylor, 13-0 in the heavyweight match, giving an overall Greco-Roman victory to the Army in the 2002 Greco-Roman Wrestling Championship.

The Greco-Roman championship, held March 30, was part of the 2002 Armed Forces Wrestling Championships held at Larson Gym.

Up until that point, the Marines were leading by one point, 12-11. Jay Antonelli, All-Marine Wrestling Coach, was proud of his team's overall performance.

"The Army's got a good team, and they beat us 13-12," he said. "But if you look closely at the results of the match, we have the better team."

The Marines did pretty well at the start of the Championships. After beating the Navy 23-4 and the Air Force 17-11, the Corps had to face their toughest challenger, the Army. With the exception of last year, the Army has held the Armed Forces Wrestling Championship title since 1989 and they
were ready to get it back.

"They wanted to win. The bottom line is that wrestling is hard and to win you have to be the best," said Shon Lewis, coach of the All-Army Wrestling Team.

The Army also placed well in earlier matches. They beat the Air Force 21-4 and the Navy 26-2 before facing the Marines on the mat. The Marines, however, were ready.

Although the Army's Anthony Gibbons put up a good fight, the Corps' Duaine Martin earned a 5-1 decision win in the 55-kilogram match. This was the first year Martin was wrestling at 55 kilograms.

"Wrestling at 55 [kilograms] is a new beginning for me," he said. "It was a test to see if I can produce at this weight class and keep it going."

Although he did well, Martin was critical of himself. "My body held up at that weight, and that's what I was worried about," he said. "I think I could have pushed myself a little more."

His teammate, Carson Bernard, who is a first year All-Marine wrestler, didn't do as well against the Army's Glenn Neiradka in the 60 kilogram match. Neiradka, ranked third in the nation, overpowered the 19-year-old Bernard 14-0, earning a technical superior win.

James Shillow, wrestling at 66 kilograms, earned the next win for the Corps' team against the Army's Glenn Garrison. After six grueling minutes of wrestling the score was tied at one apiece. In overtime, Shillow earned a point for breaking his opponents grasp in the clinch and won the match.

With the score tied at six apiece for the teams, All-Marine Brian VanHoven stepped up to the mat in the 74-kilogram bout, but was shut out as the Army's Keith Sieracki earned a 7-0 decision win after two rounds. Sieracki is currently rated No. 1 in the country in the 74-kilogram weight class.

The Marines needed some help on the mat. It came from Kenneth Owens and Dan Hicks. Owens defeated Isaac Wood in a 9-0 decision after two rounds in the 84-kilogram match, 1 point away from a technical superior score. Hicks also won his match against the Army's Jason Loukides in a 4-0 decision in the 96-kilogram match.

Although they were up by two, the Corps' Taylor was to face the Army's Byers, who is ranked second in the nation behind Rulon Gardner, 2000 gold medal Olympic wrestler. Although he lost, Taylor remained optimistic.

"It was difficult jumping up and wrestling at this level," said the first-year All-Marine wrestler. Taylor's experience is limited to high school and regional tournaments, and this was his first international-level tournament.

"It is tough wrestling against the top wrestlers in the nation," he added. "You are hanging with them, then all of a sudden you get caught up. It lets you know what you need to work on."

The Army's win brought their score one point above the Marines, earning them the 2002 Greco-Roman title, which was held by the Marines last year.

"After we won it last year, we were very optimistic about winning it again this year," said Martin. "It was hard to lose at home, but I am proud to be a part of this team.

FREESTYLE

Army takes down Devil Dogs.

Soldiers take Marines to wire in freestyle.

By Sgt. Daryl G. Sanford
Sports Editor

03/31/2002-Army's freestyle heavyweight Paul Devlin defeated Marine wrestler Frank Workman in a 6-2 decision, giving an overall freestyle victory to the Army in the 2002 Freestyle wrestling championships.

The Freestyle championship was held at Larson Gym March 31 as part of the 2002 Armed Forces Wrestling Championships, following the Greco-Roman finals.

The freestyle victory, along with the Greco-Roman victory the day before, earned the Army the top spot in the 2002 Armed Forces Championship. The Marines won the championship last year after a narrow victory by Workman. Although it was hard for the Marines to lose at home, they are going to put the loss behind them and focus on the upcoming National Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas at the end of the month.

"We were very optimistic about winning it this year, but we didn't," said Duaine Martin, All-Marine wrestler. "We can't worry about that. We can't have that in the back of our minds when we compete at Nationals."

The Marines' performed beyond expectations in the first two rounds of the competition, beating the Navy 26-4 and the Air Force 24-3. But they knew the Army would be tough to beat.

The Army also placed well in earlier matches, beating the Air Force 27-3 and the Navy 23-3. They were also 8 points ahead in the team scoring when they stepped up to the mat against the Marines.

In the 55-kilogram match, Duaine Martin earned his second gold medal, beating the Army's Eric Albarricin. This is the first year Martin wrestled at the lower weight. Usually, he wrestles in the 60 kilogram weight class. Martin said wrestling at the new weight class was a new beginning for him in the sport of wrestling. Although he was a little nervous before the competition, now is a different story.

"My confidence is way up after that last match," said Martin, who is shooting for a national title later this month.

The Army's Jeffrey Bedard earned a technical superiority win against Marine wrestler Carson Bernard, who finished in the 60-kilogram competition with a silver medal. His teammate, James Shillow finished second in the 66-kilogram match in freestyle, behind the Army's Max Shingara, in a 5-2 decision.

Behind by 6, Kenneth Owens and Dan Hicks won their 84 kilogram and 96 kilogram weight classes, respectively, shortening the distance by 4 points. Owens defeated the Army's Charles Daniels, 3-2, and Hicks earned his second gold medal in the tournament in a 6-5 decision against the
Army's Franklin Lashley.

This was Hicks' first big match in more than a year, after taking time off after the 2000 wrestling season.

"I had a bad year and I needed to take some time off to get hungry ... and I got hungry," he said. "It was the best thing I could have done."

But, the Army's win in the final match dashed the hopes of the Marines.

"It was hard to lose at home, but we have to retain our mental focus on the upcoming nationals," said Martin. "Were not going to forget it and when the time comes around again, we will get hungry to win the championship again."