Seattle
to host 1999 Freestyle World Team and Pan Am
Games Trials (from Usa Wrestling)
USA WRESTLING NAMES SEATTLE AS HOST CITY FOR 1999 FREESTYLE WORLD
TEAM AND PAN AMERICAN GAMES TRIALS
USA Wrestling, the national governing body for amateur wrestling
in the United States, has named
Seattle as the host city for the 1999 Freestyle World Team and
Pan American Games Trials.
The competition will be held on June 18-19 at the Seattle Center
in Mercer Arena, which seats
approximately 4,500 for wrestling events. The event will be organized
by the Sports and Events
Council of Seattle/King County, in partnership with USA Wrestling.
The best freestyle wrestlers in the United States will participate
in the competition, which is
considered one of the most important domestic events of the year.
The champions at each of the eight international weight classes
will qualify to represent the United
States at the 1999 World Freestyle Championships in Ankara, Turkey,
October 8-11. The winners will
also qualify for the U.S. team at the 1999 Pan American Games
in Winnipeg, Canada, July 24-Aug. 8.
In addition, the top three place finishers at each weight class
qualify for the 1999-2000 Freestyle
Team USA, the U.S. national team, and will receive training and
subsistence funding.
“USA Wrestling is pleased to be taking a premier event to Seattle
and the Pacific Northwest,” said
Jim Scherr, Executive Director of USA Wrestling. “We are confident
that Michael Campbell and the
Sports and Events Council, as well as the entire city of Seattle,
will prove to be great hosts for the
event. The level of competition at this tournament should be
spectacular.”
“There is a great following for wrestling all over the state of
Washington,” said Michael Campbell,
President of the Sports and Events Council of Seattle/King County.
“Seattle has hosted a number of
outstanding sports events in the past, and we anticipate that
this event will continue in that tradition. It
will be great to have world-class wrestlers back in Seattle;
they have not competed here since 1990
during the Goodwill Games.”
Only the best freestyle wrestlers in the nation will be eligible
to compete in Seattle. Only the top six
placewinners in each weight class from the 1999 U.S. Freestyle
National Championships in Las
Vegas, Nev. on April 23-24 will qualify for the Seattle event.
Freestyle wrestling has been very popular with fans in Washington
state. At the 1990 Goodwill
Games, the gold-medal finals of the wrestling event drew a sell-out
crowd of over 7,000 fans at the
Hec Edmonson Arena at the Univ. of Washingtion in Seattle. The
1996 Final Freestyle Olympic Team
Trials, held in Spokane, Wash., broke attendance records, with
over 24,000 fans including more than
9,000 for the championship finals.
Wrestling is a very popular sport in Washington, with over 8,000
participants in the state’s high school
programs. The Mat Classic, the state high school championships
hosted by the WIAA, draws over
30,000 fans each year at the Tacoma Dome. USA Wrestling’s state
association in Washington is
among the most active in the nation.
The United States is among the best freestyle wrestling nations
in the world. The United States placed
third in the 1998 World Freestyle Championships in Tehran, Iran,
led by World Champion Sammie
Henson at 119 pounds, and World bronze medalists Cary Kolat at
138.75 pounds and Lincoln
McIlravy at 152 pounds. In addition, Pacific Northwest star Les
Gutches, a 1997 World Champion
who is from nearby Oregon, has also been a successful member
of recent U.S. teams.
1999
Freestyle World Cup set for April 2-3 in Spokane,
Wash.
1999 WORLD CUP OF FREESTYLE WRESTLING SET FOR APRIL 2-3 AT SPOKANE
ARENA IN SPOKANE, WASH., FEATURING THE BEST WRESTLING NATIONS
IN THE
WORLD
The 1999 World Cup of Freestyle Wrestling, one of the most prestigious
international wrestling events
each year, will be held in the Spokane Arena in Spokane, Wash.,
April 2-3, announced USA
Wrestling, the national governing body for amateur wrestling
in the United States.
Six of the top freestyle wrestling nations in the world have been
invited to participate, and numerous
individual Olympic and World medalists are expected to participate.
“USA Wrestling is pleased to take one of the premier events in
the world to Spokane and the Pacific
Northwest - the home of great wrestling fans,” said Jim Scherr,
Executive Director of USA
Wrestling. “Star USA will do a tremendous job as host, as will
the entire Spokane community.”
Star USA of Spokane will serve as leaders of the local organizing
committee for the 1999 World Cup
of Freestyle Wrestling. The competition will be held at the same
venue as the 1996 Final Olympic
Team Trials in Freestyle Wrestling, which set numerous attendance
records for freestyle wrestling in
this nation.
The World Cup, which has been held annually since 1973, is the
annual international dual meet
championships. The World Cup features dual meet competitions
between each of the nations, with a
team champion determined. In addition, individual medalists will
be awarded, based upon the results in
each weight class.
The nations that have been invited to participate in 1999 are
the United States, Russia, Iran, Cuba,
Germany and Canada.
The top three nations at the 1998 World Championships are included
in the field: Iran, Russia and the
United States. These nations have won the team titles at the
last three World Championships: Iran
(1998), Russia (1997) and the United States (1995).
Cuba is a top Pan American power, and has developed numerous World
Champions and medalists.
Germany is a leading wrestling nation in Europe, with many talented
individuals. Canada has
developed a number of world-class athletes in recent years.
Spokane, Wash. becomes only the fourth U.S. city to host this
event, joining Toledo, Ohio,
Chattanooga, Tenn. and Stillwater, Okla. Other international
sites for the Freestyle World Cup have
been Las Palmas, Canary Islands; Ulan Bator, Mongolia; Moscow,
Russia; Edmonton, Canada and
Tehran, Iran.
Russia is the defending World Cup champion, after claiming the
1998 title in one of the closest
finishes in history. The United States, Iran and Russia all finished
with 4-1 records, but Russia won
the team title through tie-breaking procedures.
The host United States has recently dominated the Freestyle World
Cup, winning six of the nine team
titles during the 1990s.
The tournament also features many of the best individual stars
in the world. For example, 11 athletes
who competed in the 1998 World Cup went on to win medals at the
1998 World Championships,
including World gold medalists Sam Henson of the United States
(119), Ali Reza Dabier of Iran
(127.75), Abbas Jadidi of Iran (213.75) and Alexis Rodriguez
of Cuba (286).
All-session tickets go on sale today for groups of 15 or more.
Group tickets can be ordered by calling
1-800-325-SEAT.
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