More than a match
Area wrestlers hold their own against Bulgarians
The future of United States wrestling appears it can hold its own against international competition - at least at the local level.
Team Overtime School of Wrestling in Naperville hosted an international exhibition with the Beroe Wrestling Club, located in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, on Friday night at Neuqua Valley High School, and Team Overtime collected victories in 11 of the 17 matches.
John Patsch / Sun-Times News Group
Team Overtime won 11 of 17 matches against Beroe Wrestling Club on Friday at Neuqua Valley High School.
Greco-Roman - Stoyan Shterev (B) defeated Jake Schramm (TO)
Greco-Roman - Dimcho Dimchev (B) defeated Ryan Garringer (TO)
Freestyle - Max Nowry (TO) defeated Leon Suhov (B)
Freestyle - Mitko Asenov (B) defeated Edwin Cooper (TO)
Freestyle - Matt Cavallaris (TO) defeated Milko Giev (B)
Freestyle - Konstantin Stoyanov (B) defeated Cameron Halsted (TO)
Freestyle - Jon Morrison (TO) defeated Petyo Petkov (B)
Freestyle - Andrew Howe (TO) defeated Nikolay Stanchev (B)
Greco-Roman - Blagovest Georgiev (B) defeated Alex Cizek (TO)
Greco-Roman - Dimcho Dimchev (B) defeated Ben Brooks (TO)
Freestyle - Pat Greco (TO) defeated Ivan Stoyanov (B)
Freestyle - Chris Dardanes (TO) defeated Nikolay Chochorov (B)
Freestyle - Bob Barnhisel (TO) defeated Petar Karatliev (B)
Freestyle - Joe Kielbasa (TO) defeated Daniel Ivanov (B)
Freestyle - Lee Munster (TO) defeated Kaloyan Stoyanov (B)
Freestyle - Danny Watson (TO) defeated Ivaylo Mitev (B)
Freestyle - Conrad Polz (TO) defeated Nikolay Stanchev (B)
Note: Stanchev and Dimchev each wrestled twice
"It is everything I thought it would be," said event organizer and Team Overtime coach Sean Bormet. "It was great to watch this event unfold for our kids because everything is new for them."
Bormet organized the exchange with the Bulgarians, who arrived earlier in the week. The dual meet came in the middle of a 10-day training camp between the two wrestling schools. The Bulgarians return home Thursday.
The dual meet format included four Greco-Roman matches and 13 freestyle matches, which are more commonly found internationally and will be two of the featured styles during the Beijing Olympics. In a Greco-Roman match, wrestlers can use only their arms and upper bodies to attack. In freestyle, the athletes may use their legs and can hold opponents above or below the waist, and they can score points without having control.
The Beroe Wrestling Club won all four Greco-Roman matches.
Alex Cizek, who will be a junior at Neuqua this fall, lost his Greco-Roman match against Blagovest Georgiev. Despite the defeat, Cizek said he had a great appreciation for the experience.
"If nothing else, I've got new friends now," he said. "It's nice that we've been able to form a bond with the international athletes. We've gotten to know each other better the more time we spend together. I've also learned how competitive they are in wrestling and how mentally focused they get when the time comes to actually compete."
Cizek's teammate at Neuqua Matt Cavallaris won his freestyle match when he pinned Milko Giev.
Cavallaris had not faced Giev during the practices the two teams had conducted during the week, but the Neuqua athlete said he remained focus on wrestling his type of match.
Cavallaris said he has learned a lot of new moves from the Bulgarians during practice.
"This entire experience is definitely going to make me a better wrestler," he said. "Going up against the Bulgarians is some of the better competition I've seen."
Bormet said it is likely that Team Overtime will make a return trip to Bulgaria next summer. Bormet also did not rule out the possibility of Team Overtime bringing in wrestlers from another country next summer.
