USA Earns Three Medals in Greco-Roman Wrestling at 2008 Military World Wrestling Championships

In 66 Kg., SPC Faruk Sahin, of the Army's World World Class Athlete Program at Fort Carson, Colorado, took the silver medal after losing the championship bout to Afshin Biabanger, of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 0-5, 0-5.  Both periods were scoreless after the first minute.  Sahin was in the down position first in each period, and Biabanger took full advantage of Sahin with a lift and throw in each period for the margin of victory.

Sahin gained the championship bout by beating Mykola Savchenko, Ukraine, 1-1, 2-1 in the qualification round.  Later, Sahin needed all three periods to defeat Hyouk Eom, Korea, 3-4, 5-2, 3-0.

At 55Kg., SPC Jermaine Hodge won the bronze medal by defeating Song Buer, China, 0-2, 4-2, 3-0.  Hodge lost his opening bout to Gyu-Jin Choi, Korea, 1-3, 0-3.  Choi, the gold medalist in the competition, pulled Hodge into the Repechage bout for the bronze against Buer, who lost to Choi in the semi-final bout.  

Against Buer, the first minute of each period was scoreless.  Hodge lost the draw in each of the three periods but seemed undaunted in the down position.  Buer gained an exposure with a gut wrench and went on to win the first period.  In the second period, Hodge lost two points when he was unable to execute the start, but quickly gained them back by turning Buer for two, and then hitting a high gut wrench for the margin. 

The final period belonged to Hodge who was placed down first, and then kept Choi from scoring.  Hodge picked up two more points when Buer was penalized for the start. 

The other bronze medal was earned at 74 Kg. by SGT James Shillow, USMC, who beat Ju Bo of China, 7-0 in the first period.  Bo was knocked out of the bout by a separated shoulde after Shillow stuck two gut wrenches and a tilt in the first period.    

SPC Aaron Sieracki, Army, lost his bronze medal match at 84 Kg. to Jan Fischer, Germany, 1-1, 0-4, 1-2.  Sieracki beat Antti Hakala, Finland, 1-1, 2-1, to gain the medal match

At 96 Kg., SSG Deon Hicks of the Army was eliminated from medal contention in his first match, when he lost to Yasin Deliktas, Turkey, 2-2, 1-3.

At 60 Kg. SGT Donovan Depatto, USMC, defeated Alijaksandr Ruchko, Belarus, 3-0, 0-3, 1-1, before losing his quarterfinal bout to Artem Kudyk of Ukraine, 0-4, 0-6.  Depatto was tossed in each period, and finished the competition out of medal contention.

At 120 Kg., SGT David Arendt, USMC, lost his opening bout to Hay Devender of India, 6-0, 1-2, 2-3, who subsequently lost in the semi-finals to the eventual gold medalist, Oleksandr Chernetskyi of Ukraine. 

 SSG Shon Lewis, of the Army, and the Head Coach of the Armed Forces Team, had high praise for the quality of the competition.  "As I watched the guys warm up, I am looking at four or five European or World Medalists," said Lewis.  "This is an international first class tournament.  I can't stress enough how tough it is."

When looking at the USA wrestlers, Lewis noted, "This is big for them because this is at such a high level.  They need these international matches."  Lewis said, "This is huge."

Click on “Wrestling” Section for Freestyle Re-Cap

Greco-Roman results

55 kg/121 lbs.
Gold – Mohsen Hajipoor (Iran)
Silver – Gyu-Jin Choi (Korea)
Bronze - SPC Jermaine Hodge (USA)
Bronze – Vugar Ragymov (Ukraine)
5th – Song Buer (China)
5th – Maksim Zaharski (Belarus)

60 kg/132 lbs.
Gold – Mohammad Mohseni (Iran)
Silver – Suresh Kumar (India)
Bronze – Seung-Jae Wo (Korea)
Bronze – Ismail Goze (Turkey)
5th – Svajunas Asomaitis (Lithuania)
7th - SGT Donovan Depatto (USA)

66 kg/145.5. lbs.
Gold – Afshin Biabangard (Iran)
Silver - SPC Faruk Sahin (USA)
Bronze – Heinz Marnette (Germany)
Bronze – Viasheslav Silivonchyk (Belarus)
5th – Bhauso Patil (India)
5th – Mykola Savchenko (Ukraine)

74 kg/163 lbs.
Gold – Neven Zugaj (Croatia)
Silver – Yauheni Silivonchyk (Belarus)
Bronze – Dmytro Pyshkov (Ukraine)
Bronze - SGT James Shillow (USA)
5th – Kim-Jussi Nurmela (Finland)
5th – Bo Ju (China)

84 kg/185 lbs.
Gold – Artur Michalkiewicz (Poland)
Silver – Andrei Baranovski (Belarus)
Bronze – Nenad Zugaj (Croatia)
Bronze – Jan Fischer (Germany)
5th – Bolat Abdulayev (Ukraine)
5th - SPC Aaron Sieracki (USA)

96 kg/211.5 lbs.
Gold – Andrzej Deberny (Poland)
Silver – Sergiy Yeroshkin (Ukraine)
Bronze – Reza Farzizadeh (Iran)
Bronze – Mindaugas Ezerskis (Lithuania)
5th – Han Zengfeng (China)
5th – Yasin Deliktas (Turkey)
10th - SSG Deon Hicks (USA)

120 kg/264.5 lbs.
Gold – Oleksandr Chernetskyi (Ukraine)
Silver – Bashir Babajanzadeh (Iran)
Bronze – Mindaugas Mizgaitis (Lithuania)
Bronze – Ioseb Chugoshvili (Belarus)
5th – Marek Mikulski (Poland)
5th – Hay Devender (India)
8th - SGT David Arendt (USA)

U.S. performances

55 kg/121 lbs. - SPC Jermaine Hodge (U.S. Army), 3rd
LOSS Gyu-Jin Choi (Korea), 1-3, 0-3.
WIN Song Buer (China), 0-2, 4-2, 3-0

60 kg/132 lbs. - SGT Donovan Depatto (U.S. Marine Corps), 7th
WIN Alijaksandr Ruchko (Belarus), 3-0, 0-3, 1-1
LOSS Artem Kudyk (Ukraine), 0-4, 0-6.

66 kg/145.5. lbs. - SPC Faruk Sahin (U.S. Army), 2nd
WIN Mykola Savchenko (Ukraine), 1-1, 2-1
WIN Hyouk Eom (Korea), 3-4, 5-2, 3-0
WIN Viacheslav Silivonchyk (Belarus), 4-0, 3-3
LOSS Afshin Biabangard (Iran), 0-5, 0-5

74 kg/163 lbs. - SGT James Shillow (U.S. Marine Corps), 3rd
WIN Kumare Suranga (Sri Lanka), 7-0, 4-0
LOSS Yauheni Silivonchyk (Belarus), 1-2, 1-2
WIN Bakhit Sharif Badr (Qatar), 6-0, 4-0
WIN Ju Bo (China), 7-0, inj.

84 kg/185 lbs. - SPC Aaron Sieracki (U.S. Army), 5th
LOSS Andrei Baranovski (Belarus), 0-3, 0-2
WIN Antti Hakala (Finland), 1-1, 2-1
LOSS Jan Fischer, Germany, 1-1, 0-4, 1-2.

96 kg/211.5 lbs. - SSG Deon Hicks (U.S. Army), 10th
LOSS Yasin Deliktas (Turkey), 2-2, 1-3.

120 kg/264.5 lbs. - SGT David Arendt (U.S. Marine Corps), 8th
LOSS Hay Devender (India), 6-0, 1-2, 2-3

Greco-Roman Team Standings
1. Ukraine, 53 pts.
2. Iran, 50 pts.
3. Belarus, 45 pts.
4. United States, 39 pts.
5. Poland, 33 pts.
6. Korea, 25 pts.
7. India, 24 pts.
8. Lithuania, 23 pts.
9. Turkey, 23 pts.
10. China, 20 pts.
of 20 nations

The Army won the Greco-Roman and Freestyle competitions at Armed Forces Wrestling Championships conducted March 15-16 in New Orleans.  Following the two days of Olympic style wrestling, Army wrestlers won ten of the fourteen gold medals handed out at the competition.  The Marines placed second in the Greco-Roman competition, while the Navy took silver in the Freestyle.

In the 120 Kg. weight class of the Greco-Roman competition, Dremiel Byers, Army, was stunned by David Arendt, Marines, who pinned Byers in 1:32 of the first period.  Byers, who was caught in a reverse and thrown to his back fully extended, was unable to escape the grip of Arendt.  As the match continued in the pinning situation, Arendt was able to gain the fall over the Army’s two-time world medalist.

Shon Lewis, Army Coach, was axiomatic with the bout.  “”We are going to try to make this a blessing in disguise.  This lets us know we have some work to do,” said Lewis.  “To make good out of it, it has to happen here. It could have happened at the Olympic Trials.  It lets us know we need to put the medals in the drawer and go and get another one.”

Arendt, along with the other gold medalists, has qualified to represent the United States Armed Forces at the World Military Wrestling Championships, September 1-8, in Split, Croatia.  Arendt also won placed second in Freestyle behind Mark Simmonds of the Navy.

The only double gold winner was Jermaine Hodge, Army, in 55 Kg.  Lewis was high on his young wrestler.  “I am pleased with Hodge, especially for him to fight through an eye injury in his first match.  You have to be impressed with anybody going out there and winning in both styles,” said Lewis.  Hodge defeated Anthony Brooker, Air Force, for the gold in Greco-Roman, and beat Miquel Pena, Marines, for first place in Freestyle. 

The winners of the Greco-Roman competition qualified for the Olympic Trials, June 13-15 in Las Vegas.  While the Freestyle competition was not used as a qualifier for the Olympic Trials, many of the military wrestlers are now headed for USA Wrestling’s National Championship, April 24-26 in the Las Vegas Convention Center.