By Gary Abbott USA Wrestling 08/08/2010

SPALA, Poland – Two U.S. men’s freestyle wrestlers won medals on the last day of the Ziolkowski International on Sunday.

Trent Paulson (Ames, Iowa/Sunkist Kids) claimed a silver medal at 74 kg/163 lbs., while Tommy Rowlands (Columbus, Ohio/Sunkist Kids) won a bronze medal at 120 kg/264.5 lbs.

Paulson was defeated in the gold-medal finals by Gabor Hatos of Hungary, 1-0, 0-3, 0-2. Hatos was a 2006 European bronze medalist.

Paulson won four straight matches to qualify for the finals, defeating Dan Palinkas of Slovakia, Luca Lampis of France, Aliaksandr Matyl of Belarus and Kakhaber Khubezhty of Slovakia in consecutive rounds.

It was the second week in a row in which Paulson had won an international medal, after claiming a bronze medal at the Emamali Habibi and Abdollah Movahed’s Cup in Iran last weekend.

Rowlands won his bronze-medal bout over 2009 World bronze medalist Ioannis Arzoumanidis of Greece. He was defeated in his opening match by three-time World bronze medalist Vadym Tasoev of Ukraine on two leg clinches.

Three athletes from the United States entered this tournament, and all three won medals. On Saturday, Angel Escobedo (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) claimed a gold medal at 55 kg/121 lbs

(CNN) -- When it comes to the sport of wrestling, longtime adversaries Iran and the United States are friendly enemies.

A U.S. freestyle men's wrestling team will go to the Islamic republic -- where the sport is widely popular -- for a prestigious tournament in March.

Nine American wrestlers will take part in the Takhti Cup competition, scheduled for March 12-13, according to state Iranian media and USA Wrestling -- the national governing body for Olympics wrestling in the United States.

"In Iran, wrestling and soccer are the two major sports," said Gary Abbott, director of communications for USA Wrestling in Colorado Springs, Colorado. "They know their wrestling as well as anyone in the world. They treat our athletes like kings."

Relations between the United States and Iran ended after Iranian militants seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and held Americans hostage there for 444 days.

More recently, the two countries have been at odds over Iran's nuclear ambitions and have been sharply critical of each other's policies and actions in the Middle East.

But Abbott said there has been a history of U.S. and Iranian wrestling exchanges despite the politics. Both sides are always looking for opportunities to compete.

Abbott said Iran is one of the top wrestling powers in the world, along with countries such as the United States, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. Competing in a wrestling-crazy society like Iran is special to Americans, who look forward to getting on the mats before large crowds in sold-out arenas.

"For the common citizen, an American wrestler in Iran is like Michael Jordan going over there," Abbott said, referring to the world-famous American basketball legend.

USA Wrestling said the trip is one of several overseas events this winter for American wrestlers.

U.S. teams also will also be competing in Russia, Ukraine, Sweden, Cuba, Bulgaria, Belarus, Turkey, Serbia, Hungary and Slovenia. The team going to Iran includes four men who have represented the United States in the Olympics

JD Bergman defeated Jake Varner in 2 straight matches to make his first world team. JD won the first match with an amazing 3 pt double leg after a short scramble. In the 2nd match, JD came back from in the 1st period with his signature inside trip to win the period. In the 2nd period, he had a push out and another takedown to garner his victory.

Tomorrow, Tommy Rowlands and Tervel Dlagnev will battle to earn their spot on the World Team.

The Ohio Regional Training Center athletes had a very successful weekend at the US Open this past weekend in Cleveland, OH. This tournament further set the ORTC as the premier training center in the United States.

Shawn Bunch took gold after defeating Mike Zadick in the finals in straight periods. JD topped 2x NCAA champion Jake Varner in 3 periods. Besides the 2 champions, the ORTC had much other success. Reece Humphrey took 4th, Tervel Dlagnev took 2nd and Tommy Rowlands took 3rd. Also placing, Nikko Triggas took 6th in the Greco-Roman competition.

Tervel Dlagnev and JD Bergman continued their impressive international winter tour by medaling at the Medved International in Belarus. Known as one of the toughest tournaments in the world, these Ohio RTC athletes are making their mark. Tervel went 5-0, including a 3 period win in the finals against Alan Tsarikaev of Russia in the finals. JD went 3-1, falling to Valerii Andriitsev of Ukraine in the finals. National Team Coach Brandon Slay had this to say about the two:

“Tervel has a priceless attitude which encompasses being coachable, humble yet very confident, extremely hard working, a student of the sport, and grateful, which equals success! JD Bergman had his best day of wrestling yet by beating three Russians on the way to the final. In the final, J.D. attempted a lateral drop 10 seconds into the match. Unfortunately, the Ukrainian defended strong, and JD ended up on his back for the pin. JD deeply knows it wasn’t the best idea on the planet, but he learned his lesson had an outstanding day overall."

Both have completed their nearly 2 months straight trips of being out of the country and will wrestle on US soil next at the US Open in Cleveland, OH.

Jd Bergman won a gold medal in dominant fashion at the Cerro Pelado International in Cuba. He finished with a 3-0 record, including a 2-0, 0-1, 3-0 win over Oldrik Wagner of Germany in the finals. Bergman was also able to defeat Eduardo Mesa of Cuba and Johannes Kessel of Germany. 

Shawn Bunch earned a broze medal by going 3-1. He beat Garcia from Colombia and Jamali from Germany before falling to Valdes of Cuba in the semifinals. For 3rd, he then defeated Roberty from Cuba.

60 kg/132 lbs. - Shawn Bunch, Columbus, Ohio (Gator WC), 3rd
WIN Nelson Garcia (Colombia), 1-0, 2-0
WIN Yashar Jamali (Germany), 3-0, 1-0
LOSS Alejandro Valdes (Cuba), 1-3, 3-0, 1-4
WIN Cesar Roberty (Cuba), 4-0, 5-0

96 kg/211.5 lbs. – J.D. Bergman, Columbus, Ohio (New York AC), 1st
WIN Eduardo Mesa (Cuba), 3-2, 7-2
WIN Johannes Kessel (Germany), 4-0, 4-0
WIN Oldrik Wagner (Germany), 2-0, 0-1, 3-0

One thing that the highest level of wrestling provides is the opportunity to travel worldwide. Since the World Team training camp in Germany and the World Championships in Denmark, Bunch, Bergman, and Dlagnev haven't had the opportunity to go overseas. But, the international circuit is just now starting to ramp up.

Tervel Dlagnev and Shawn Bunch left for Krasnoyarsk, Russia on January 24 to compete in the Ivan Yarygin International Memorial tournament. The Yarygin tournament is considered one of the toughest international events in the world each year. Shawn and Tervel will compete this weekend and will come back to the states February 2.

J Jaggers will be heading out to Colorado Springs to the Olympic Training Center to compete in the Dave Schultz International Memorial tournament on February 4 and will compete this weekend.

JD Bergman was scheduled to compete in Turkey and Ukraine from February 9-22. After making the World Cup Team, he will now be competing in Cuba only prior to the World Cup. Bunch and Dlagnev will join him for the remainder of the international competitions.

Shawn, JD, and Tervel will be competing in Cuba February 17-21. They will then fly back out to the Olympic Training Center for a 3 day World Cup Team training camp before leaving for the World Cup in Mahachkala, Russia and the Medved tournament in Belarus. Their schedule will be as follows:

Three Ohio RTC athletes earned a spot on the United States World Cup Team Friday. While Tervel Dlagnev earned a spot automatically by winng a bronze medal at the last World Championships, Shawn Bunch and JD Bergman had to each win 2 matches to earn their spot. Held at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, the winners in each weight class will earn a spot on the U.S. team which will compete in the Freestyle World Cup in Mahachkala, Russia, March 6-7. The World Cup is the annual international dual meet championships, and features the top eight nations in the world.

Bunch defeated Derek Moore 1-0, 1-0 before knocking off Coleman Scott in a grueling 3 period match 1-0, 0-3, 2-0.  Video

Bergman looks fully recovered from earlier injuries as the pulled off upsets in the wrestling world, but just full-filled his own expectations. In the first match, he defeated Bryce Hasseman (New York AC), 1-0, 1-0. Next, he faced 2008 Olympian Andy Hrovat 1-0, 2-1. The first period he used a knee pick to eventually force Hrovat to step-out and earn 1 point. The second period, he earned another 2 push-out  points with a bodylock and an underhook. Video
 

 The Ohio Regional Traiing Center can now claim 3 of the 7 atheletes that earned World Cup berths. The support that these athletes get from the community and donors allows them to have a singular focus on reaching their gold medal potential. As evident by the World Cup results, it is a very effective set-up.

The Olympic Hopefuls that call Columbus, Ohio their home have taken pride...and a little joy, in helping their community. This Fall brought forward many opportunities to impact the community, including reading to multiple elementary schools and various speaking engagements.

All 4 of the Ohio RTC's Olympic Hopefuls visited Trinity Elementary School
in Grandview. JD Bergman, J Jaggers, Tervel Dlagnev, and Shawn Bunch
all met with the 4th and 5th graders. They read to the kids, spoke with
them about there personal Olympic aspirations, held a humorous Q&A, and even
managed to do a little arm wrestling with some of the students.

The next week, Tervel and Shawn had already left town for Thanksgiving, but JD and J headed to Dublin Elementary School. They shared the duty of reading a story about Thanksgiving to a cafeteria filled with first graders. To no surprise, they asked some pretty interesting questions.

JD was asked by a few different organizations to speak. He spoke at the OAC tournament in Marion, OH last month and just this week spoke at a junior high dual meet tournament in Toledo, OH at Toledo Central Catholic High School. A few weeks ago, JD spoke to the Centerburg wrestling team in Centerburg which is about an hour outside of Columbus. He also volunteered as a clinician at Columbus Desales High School wrestling camp.

In all, the Hopefuls have been enjoying mentoring the young lives when they are in town. Our athletes are supremely focused on their goals of being the best in the world, but they
find time to improve the community that they live in.

Ohio RTC athlete JD Bergman, Director Tommy Rowlands, and President Blake Kaplan went to New York City to teach a clinic at Beat The Streets. Beat The Streets is an organization that creates wrestling programs in traditionally lower income areas of New York City, where high school wrestling is not funded by the school systems. This year, over 4000 athletes have participated in the program and help give them an after school option besides the streets of NYC.

The Ohio RTC was proud and honored to be able to meet with such dedicated young men. Huge progress has been made the last five years and they will develop many fine wrestlers and people. Please view some of the videos of the clinic and go to www.beat-the-streets.org for more information.