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Mocco, Marano will not compete at 2005 World University Games

8/11/2005
John Fuller/USA Wrestling

Izmir, Turkey - Two-time NCAA champion Steve Mocco (N. Bergen, N.J./Oklahoma State/New York AC) has elected not to compete in the 2005 World University Games. He suffered an injury to his rotator cuff during routine workouts last week and will sit out for precautionary reasons.

Mocco, who in late August will enter his senior year at Oklahoma State Univ., did not travel by plane with the rest of the U.S. men’s freestyle team to Izmir, Turkey. He was set to compete at 120 kg/264.5 lbs.

Also, two-time World champion Kristie Marano (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) did not clear medically for this event. She was initially listed on the U.S. roster, but due to a hamstring injury she suffered at the 2005 U.S. World Team Trials, she will be unable to compete.

“USA Wrestling supports the decision by Steve Mocco and the medical staff for the U.S. Olympic Committee” USA Wrestling Director of National Teams Mitch Hull stated. “We wish them well as they prepare for their next competitions and we are looking forward to a strong performance by our U.S. wrestlers at the World University Games.”

Mocco won NCAA titles in 2003 while at the Univ. of Iowa and in 2005 at Oklahoma State. In 2004, he took an Olympic Redshirt from Iowa and placed third at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials and second at the U.S. Freestyle National Championships.

This year he placed second at the U.S. Freestyle National Championships and the U.S. World Team Trials. He won the University World Team Trials to earn the spot on the U.S. team.

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Greco-Roman team arrives in Izmir, women’s freestylers attend the Opening Ceremonies

8/11/2005
John Fuller/USA Wrestling

Izmir, Turkey - The women’s freestyle team worked out for the first time on Monday and the Greco-Roman team arrived in Izmir on Monday, minus Justin Ruiz, wrestling at 96 kg/211.5 lbs.

The women’s freestylers recovered well from a late arrival into Izmir last night, including coach Bobby Douglas and Alaina Berube, the team member at 63 kg/138.75 lbs. Douglas and Berube are still missing one bag each, but the U.S. Olympic Committee support staff is working diligently to track them down.

The team traveled to the Ahmet Taner Kislali Sports Hall at 10:30 a.m. for its first workout. Coach Tadaaki Hatta was pleased with how the women wrestled and is confident that this squad will bring home a lot of medals.

Greco-Roman coach Speelman, Davis, Mango, Lester, Davie, Millard, Haight and coach Struck at the Athletes Village
Also on Thursday, the Greco-Roman team arrived to the Athlete Village.

The team was given its own room, a relief from the original message that they would stay with the men’s freestyle team – surely a disaster waiting to happen.

Ruiz did not arrive with the team, however, as he is currently training with the U.S. World Team in Poland. Ruiz, along with Harry Lester, will compete in the World University Games before traveling to Poland to compete in the Pytlasinski Tournament, August 19-22. Lester will compete at 66 kg/145.5 lbs., but luckily, they will both receive a two kilogram allowance at the Pytlasinski Tournament.

Lester is just one of the four wrestlers from the U.S. Olympic Education Center at Northern Michigan University representing the United States here in Izmir. The others are Spenser Mango (55 kg/121 lbs.), Jeremiah Davis (60 kg/132 lbs.) and Cheney Haight (74 kg/163 lbs.).

The Opening Ceremonies were held on Thursday night as well. The women’s freestyle team was the only U.S. wrestling squad to endure the nine-hour event. The teams were required to board buses at 3:30 p.m. and returned home around 12:30 a.m.

The Greco-Roman team arrived at the Athlete Village around 3:45 p.m., and after hours of flight time, it would have been a difficult task for the athletes as they begin preparation for competition August 16-17.

Justin Millard, wrestling at 84 kg/185 lbs., added that his wife would be very upset if she found out he could have made the Opening Ceremonies. The others pointed out that she should understand given the time that the team had.

The men’s freestyle team elected not to attend the Opening Ceremonies due to the weigh-in for Nick Simmons (55 kg/121 lbs.), Jesse Jantzen (66 kg/145.5 lbs.) and Chris Pendleton (84 kg/185 lbs.), which will take place at 6:00 p.m. at the Ozel Yamanlar High School Sports Hall, where the athletes will also compete.

All three wrestlers have managed their weight very well and are ready to win medals for the U.S.

Jantzen also noted that he has received the least amount of pub of any of the men’s freestylers. It is tough to please a man that many feel is the greatest wrestler in New York high school history and has an NCAA title to go along with that, but he is correct.

If you want to know more about Jesse Jantzen, please visit www.jessejantzen.com, where you can get bio info, photos and even contact Jantzen himself!

Tomorrow, the women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman teams will practice at 9:00 a.m. at Ahmet Taner Kislali Sports Hall.

The men’s freestyle team will prepare for competition. Simmons, Jantzen and Pendleton will do their weight cuts at the Athlete Village before taking the one-hour journey to the weigh-in area.

TheMat.com will provide complete first-round pairings as soon as possible. The trip from the arena to the Media Center is 25-30 minutes. If there are internet connections available at the arena, they will be posted from there.

Other Games Notes:

Thanks to wrestlers, Northern Michigan University has the sixth highest number of athletes at the World University Games with five (four Greco-Roman wrestlers and one women’s freestyle wrestler). The top 10 are University of Georgia (9 athletes), Auburn University (8), Stanford University (7), University of Texas (7), Indiana University (6), Northern Michigan (5), Texas A&M University (5), University of California-Berkeley (5), University of California – Los Angeles (5), The Ohio State University (4).

More athletes, coaches and team leaders on the 2005 World University Games team hail from California than any other state. There are 32 members from the U.S. delegation that currently reside in California and 35 individuals that list it as their home state. In wrestling, men’s men’s freestyler Chris Pendleton (Lemoore), women’s freestylers Sara Fulp-Allen (El Granada) and Marcie Van Dusen (Lake Arrowhead) and Greco-Roman wrestler Jeremiah Davis (Chula Vista) hail from California.

The U.S. women’s basketball team competed again on Thursday, downing South Africa 92-22. 11 of 12 players scored for the U.S., including four in double figures.

The U.S. men’s volleyball team dominated Lebanon 25-12, 25-14, 25-13 in their opening game. Andy Hein posted five blocks in the match and led all scorers with 11 points.

Turkish word of the day: Tesekkurler (pronounced Teh-sheh-kewr-LEHR), meaning “Thank you.”