U.S. wrestlers try to gain success, respect at Dave Schultz Memorial International

On the road to international respect, U.S. wrestlers recently have avoided detours, determined they can maintain an improbable trail of success.

The U.S. upset Russia last year to win its first Greco-Roman world title. In women’s freestyle, the U.S. finished second last month at the World Cup, narrowly losing to China.

The U.S. men’s freestyle team has qualified five of seven weight classes for the Beijing Olympics in August.

“We’ve gained a lot of respect,” Greco-Roman wrestler Joe Betterman said Saturday during the Dave Schultz Memorial International at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. “We need to show it wasn’t a fluke. We have to do it at the Olympics.”

The Schultz offers a sampling of Olympic-caliber competition, with more than 300 wrestlers from about 30 countries. The tournament concludes today with sessions at 9a.m. and 4 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at Sports Center I at the OTC.

Weight class champions Saturday were Italian Andrea Minguzzi (185 pounds), Colorado Springs resident Justin Ruiz (211.5) and Cuban Mijail Lopez (264.5) in Greco-Roman; Mongolian Naranbaatar Bayaraa (121), Colorado Springs’ Angel Cejudo (132) and Iowan Trent Paulson (145.5) in men’s freestyle; and German Alexander Engelhardt (112), Colorado Springs’ Erin Tomeo (130) and Poland’s Monika Rogien (147.5) in women’s freestyle.

The U.S. must qualify six weight classes — 132, 163 and 212 in Greco-Roman; 121 and 132 in men’s freestyle; and 121 in women’s freestyle — to send an 18-person team to Beijing. Only Russia (13) has qualified more weight classes.

For each discipline, three Olympic qualifiers remain. The Pan American Championships are Feb. 29 to March 2 at the OTC. The other two qualifiers are this spring outside the U.S.

“I don’t feel the pressure,” said Mike Zadick, whose 132-pound freestyle division isn’t qualified. “The big picture is the Olympics. We’re wrestling in the Olympics, and that’s the bottom line.”

Said Greco-Roman 163-pounder T.C. Dantzler of Colorado Springs: “I’m more talented than anybody else in that weight class. I’ll definitely get it done.”

The U.S. competed in every weight class but Dantzler’s at the 2004 Athens Games. It won six medals, including a gold by 185-pound freestyle wrestler Cael Sanderson.

The prospects of a repeat performance look encouraging, despite the retirement of Sanderson and Olympic medalists Rulon Gardner and Jamill Kelly.

At the Greco-Roman world championships, Colorado Springs resident Brad Vering won a silver medal and Fort Carson soldier Dremiel Byers and Harry Lester won bronzes. Colorado Springs freestyle wrestler Marcie Van Dusen went 3-0 at the World Cup, with a victory over Olympic gold medalist Saori Yoshida of Japan.

“When a foreigner steps on the mat against us, they like to downplay American wrestling,” Zadick said. “But they don’t really care to wrestle us either. It’s usually a battle for them.”

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