Adam Frey, the 2005 national junior Greco-Roman champion and the 2007 Ivy League wrestling rookie of the year, is wearing a long-sleeved sweatshirt and ski cap, standard garb for the weight-cutting jock. Indeed, for much of his young life 23-year-old Adam has spent the off-season shedding avoirdupois to one degree or another. But these days calories are the last things he wants to lose. He is bundled up because he feels cold, even though it’s summer in his hometown of Pittsburgh.

That’s no more unpleasant, though, than when he finds himself sweating profusely, which happens often during the night. “Some mornings after he gets out of bed,” says his mother, Cindy Frey, “I just wring his sheets out.” Adam, who now carries about 140 pounds on his 5′6” frame, has lost as much as eight pounds as he tosses and turns, and sometimes he just gets up and sleeps somewhere else.

Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling

Dennis Hall of Stevens Points, Wis. has been named the head coach for USA Wrestling’s Greco-Roman program at the U.S. Olympic Education Center at Northern Michigan University.

Hall was one of the greatest Greco-Roman wrestlers in U.S. history, with three career Olympic and World medals. He was a 1995 World champion, only the second American at that time to win a Greco-Roman World title. Hall captured a silver medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga., and won a World bronze medal in 1994.

“Dennis Hall brought to the mat a fierce competitive spirit,” said USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender. “We are confident he will bring that same spirit to our program at Northern Michigan University, as we strive to continue as one of the most powerful Greco-Roman programs in the world.”

Hall competed on three U.S. Olympic teams in Greco-Roman. In addition to the silver medal he won in 1996, Hall was eighth in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain and also competed in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

FARGO, N.D. – Incoming Purdue wrestling freshman Kendrick Sanders won the U.S.A. Wrestling Junior Greco-Roman National Championship at 152 pounds on Tuesday in Fargo, N.D. The national title was the second for the Florida native, who joins the Boilermakers this fall.

Sanders posted a flawless 9-0 record over the four-day tournament, surrendering only two points throughout the week. He notched a pair of falls and three technical falls en route to the title, beating out some of the nation’s top high school talent along the way. He closed out the tournament in grand fashion, blanking Kalvin York of Wisconsin by technical fall, 6-0, 6-0, and earning most outstanding wrestler of the championship honors.

He was tabbed the No. 55 recruit in the nation and the No. 7 wrestler in the country at 145 pounds in 2009 by InterMat Wrestling, helping the Boilermakers’ to the No. 12 recruiting class in the nation this year. Sanders was a three-time Florida State Champion at South Dade High School near Miami, Fla., and competed in the prestigious Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic in March and was named an Asics All-America honorable mention in 2009. Sanders won his first national championship at the U.S.A. Wrestling Cadet Greco-Roman championships in 2007.

Josh Lowe, InterMat High School Analyst

Heading into the 2009 Schoolboy Greco-Roman National Duals, one wondered whether it would again be a battle between Minnesota and Pennsylvania for the title. In each of the last two years, those squads met in the final. Minnesota won in 2008, while Pennsylvania prevailed in 2007 to win the back end of consecutive titles in this event.

However, New Jersey — not exactly a traditional Greco-Roman power — surprised the field with a 9-0 run through the championships. The Garden State squad was anchored by a pair of wrestlers that went 9-0 for the competition, Dylan Milonas (120) and Cory Damiana (190). Milnoas is raned 11th nationally in the recently released Junior High rankings by InterMat.

The run was not without challenges. In Pool A competition, defending champions Minnesota actually took 9 of the 17 matches from New Jersey. The difference in the 37-36 New Jersey victory was getting five victories by pin and technical fall, while Minnesota only mustered three. A pin by Damiana, technical fall by Jeffrey Miller (210), and pin by Gregory Webb (265) in the last three matches of that dual meet turned a 35-23 deficit into the one-point victory. Then, in the last match of championship pool competition, New Jersey needed a last match pin from Webb to knock off Wisconsin, 39-38.

Council Bluffs, Ia. — Greco-Roman wrestling got to be a drag for Mark Rial, especially after a subpar showing at the 2008 Olympic Trials.

A move back to Cedar Falls, where his college wrestling career began, helped Rial get back on friendly terms with the wrestling style that allows only upper-body moves.

Rial, a state champion at Fort Dodge and an assistant coach at Northern Iowa, made the finals of the 145.5-pound weight class in the Greco-Roman challenge tournament at Mid-America Center on Sunday. He faced reigning National Open champion Faruk Sahin in a best-of-three series for a spot on the World Championships squad Sunday night.

In freestyle, Iowa assistant coach Jared Frayer at 145.5 and Bryce Hasseman of Iowa City at 185 pounds, along with Northern Iowa assistant coach Tervel Dlagnev at 264.5, faced National Open champions to determine the rest of the squad that will compete in Denmark in September.

Frayer was to face former Iowa State NCAA champion Trent Paulson – who grew up in Council Bluffs – while Hasseman met Jake Herbert and Dlagnev faced former Iowa and Oklahoma State NCAA champion Steve Mocco.

YOKOHAMA – Greco-Roman wrestling champion Joe Warren upset local favorite Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto Tuesday at the Dream 9 Featherweight Grand Prix 2009 Second Round.

“Kid Yamamoto is a champion, and I respect him,” said the 32-year-old American from the winner’s circle, “but a lot of these champions have been on top for a long time, and it’s my job to crush them!”

Yamamoto, who had not fought since New Year’s Eve 2007, got a bye in the Featherweight GP’s first round. His return to action from knee surgery was the big story on tonight’s card – but Warren had his own ideas regarding the ending.

The tone for this one was set during the referee’s pre-fight instructions, when Yamamoto appeared ready to hug his opponent. Warren accepted a handshake, but swatted away Yamamoto’s second hand. This was a hard-fought bout that went the distance.

Warren started light on his feet, and Yamamoto sent him reeling with an early front kick. The American reset, and closed with uppercuts before getting the first of his throwdowns from the clinch. Repeatedly, Warren the wrestler closed for takedowns. Yamamoto, who has a pretty good ground game himself, elected to stand and strike here, and made a strategy of meeting his opponent’s advances with kicks, knees and the clinch. Warren accepted, going into the over-and-under clinch and trading knees with the Kid.

By ALAN ROBINSON, AP Sports Writer

BEIJING (AP)—The Olympic wrestling mat is red, yellow and blue, dynamic colors designed to give the athletes a vivid backdrop for their talents. It’s that gray area outside the wrestling circle that discolors what its governing body proudly calls the world’s oldest sport.

Some in the sport say it’s one of the shadiest, too.

Backroom politicking, bribery, corruption, outlandish officiating, even threats of violence are routinely alleged in a sport that is little followed in most countries but, when noticed, seems to have as many bizarre story lines as WWE-style entertainment wrestling.

And when it happens at the Olympics, many unfamiliar with the sport are left wondering what in the world goes on in wrestling.

The most recent allegations came last month, when livid Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian walked off the medals podium and dropped his unwanted bronze medal for Greco-Roman 84 kilograms on the mat. Abrahamian blew up when a disputed penalty call wound up deciding his semifinal match against Italian Andrea Minguzzi, who went on to win the gold medal.

“I think the semifinals shows that FILA does not play fair,” Abrahamian said, referring to wrestling’s international governing body. “I don’t deserve to lose. The system is corrupt.”

By Jeff Beshey

A few weeks after the Sydney Games were over I sat down with Olympic Bronze Medalist and University of Minnesota heavyweight Garrett Lowney. Although the 21 year old Lowney has been a student/athlete at the U of MN for two years, he still has four years of college eligibility left and has yet to step on the mat as a Gopher. I asked him about his Olympic experience and what he expects as a college wrestler.

What are some of the ways your life has changed since winning the Olympic bronze medal?
Overall my life really hasn’t changed. I’m a student again going through all the same things everyone else goes through. I’ll soon be back with the team just like always. There are a few different things like signing autographs, going to speak with people and getting noticed every once in a while, which is a little different for me, but overall my life really hasn’t changed that much.

When did being an Olympian become your goal?
My mom says that I told her when I first started wresting, at five or six years old, that I wanted to be in the Olympics. I don’t really remember that, but she swears by it. I do remember watching wrestling as a very young kid and dreaming about being there.

The Associated Press

BEIJING: It turns out that the Greco-Roman wrestler who was stripped of his bronze medal for dropping it in disgust on the mat had reason for being angry, according to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Ara Abrahamian of Sweden complained to CAS that a penalty in the second round of his 84-kilogram bout on Aug. 14 against Italian Andrea Minguzzi wasn’t assessed until after the round ended. Once factored in, Abrahamian automatically lost the match. Minguzzi went on to win the gold medal.

Abrahamian’s coach was then denied a request for a video review, then the wrestling federation — the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles, or FILA — refused to consider a protest.

The 28-year-old Abrahamian had to be restrained from going after matside officials following his loss to Minguzzi. He stormed away from the area where interviews are conducted and slammed a door to the dressing rooms.

Wrestling coach Jackson calls for program ‘overhaul’

After winning wrestling gold for the USA in his first Olympics in 2000, Brandon Slay left the sport and now is in real estate in Dallas. Cael Sanderson won the Olympics in his first try in 2004, retired from the mat and now coaches at Iowa State.This week, Russia’s Bouvaisa Saitiev won his third Olympic wrestling gold and Mavlet Batirov won his second.

“Our Olympic champions, Brandon Slay, Cael Sanderson, one (Olympic) cycle in them. … That’s not conducive to beating guys who are on this circuit continuously,” U.S. national freestyle coach Kevin Jackson said after a disappointing finish by his squad.

Seven U.S. freestyle wrestlers combined for one medal, albeit a gold by Henry Cejudo.

Daniel Cormier, the only team member who had been to the Olympics before, didn’t wrestle Thursday after being hospitalized because of dehydration from weight cutting.
U.S. Greco-Roman wrestlers won a bronze, as did the women’s freestyle team.

“We’ve got to make an overhaul of our whole system. We have to allow our guys to be able to compete in two or three cycles,” Jackson said.