HOME | BIO | TOP STORIES | TAXI STORIES | SPORTS STORIES

September 17, 2003

LEISURE & ARTS

The Other Wrestling

By Dan Ackman

New York -- For years, he was invincible. In college at Iowa State, he won and won again, trashing records in his wake. On his way to four NCAA wrestling championships, he won 101 straight matches, breaking the record for consecutive wins set by the sport's icon Dan Gable. Then he kept going, winning another 58. His final record -- 159 victories, zero defeats -- made Cael Sanderson arguably the most successful college athlete in any sport ever.

But when Mr. Sanderson competed internationally after his 2002 graduation, something new happened: He lost, not often, but often enough to notice. Mr. Sanderson lost twice to Cuban world champion Yoel Romero and twice more to Russians. Each loss was by a single point, but still, there were pockmarks on the Mona Lisa. Prior to the World Freestyle Championships, the most important wrestling competition other than the Olympics, Mr. Sanderson was in an unusual position: underdog.

Cael Sanderson at Iowa State

But the annual Worlds were held in the U.S. this past weekend -- at New York's Madison Square Garden. And Mr. Sanderson was still the main event. Whenever he stepped on the mat at the Garden, fans turned from other matches, and observers -- even Alexander Medved -- crowded around. Mr. Medved, who won three Olympic Gold Medals for the old Soviet Union, is considered the greatest wrestler of the modern era. His assessment: "He's a very talented boy. He's very powerful and has internal guts."

If Mr. Sanderson, 24, who wrestles at 85 kilograms (185 pounds) is the latest thing, Kerry McCoy is U.S. wrestling's touchstone. Mr. McCoy, a heavyweight, is the longest-serving member of the U.S. team and its unofficial spokesman. In eight years, Mr. McCoy, 29, had never won a world medal, though he had come close, placing fourth at the world championships in 1998 and in 2001. Indeed, the U.S. team had only one world medalist going into the championships, 163-pounder Joe Williams. Still, having missed last year's tournament, which was held in Iran, due to a security threat, and wrestling one day after the anniversary of 9/11, the team was confident of great things.

The first day promised just that. The U.S. men won 13 matches. The one loss was Mr. Williams's; he fell to Hadi Habibi of Iran 3-1 in overtime. Mr. Habibi, also 24, was a reminder that other countries have their Cael Sandersons, too. He had never wrestled in international competition, but he beat a reigning world champion just to make his national team.

The Iranian team itself won the team title on its home turf in 2002 and in New York was backed by passionate Iranian-American fans who occupied a small corner of the Garden, but who often accounted for half the noise. As one fan, Kayhan Sarab, a restaurateur fom Great Neck, Long Island, explained, the entire Caspian Sea region is wrestling mad. In Iran it's not just the national sport; it is also deeply "spiritual." Before a match, Iranians show their devotion by kissing the mat or looking skyward. They figured to be tough competition for the U.S., as would the always-formidable Russian squad.

After the promise of the first day for the Americans, the wheels started to come off on day two. Jamil Williams lost by a technical fall to Serguei Pedroso of Cuba. Three more defeats were punctuated by displays of poor sportsmanship. First, at 60 kilograms (132 pounds), Eric Guerrero, wrestling in a tie match against Damir Zakhartdinov of Uzbekistan, twisted his opponent's knee, injuring him. While the hold was not illegal, the Uzbek was in obvious agony.

John Smith, Mr. Guerrero's coach and himself a former Olympic gold medalist, screamed at the referee, "He ain't hurt! Make him wrestle!" When the Uzbek did just that, he gained two points on a disputed call to win 5-3. Mr. Guerrero refused to stop his protest, and U.S. national coach Kevin Jackson had to push him from the mat.

Soon after, Daniel Cormier, coming off a spectacular pin a round earlier, faced Ali Reza Heidari, a world champion from Iran at 96 kilograms (211.5 pounds). Though Mr. Cormier was behind the whole way, he blamed Mr. Heidari, a former world champion, for stalling and violently shoved him after the match. "I made a big mistake," Mr. Cormier said later.

The U.S. still had Mr. McCoy and Mr. Sanderson wrestling for gold in the finals. Mr. Sanderson faced a Russian, Sajid Sajidov, age 23, who had beaten Mr. Romero en route. With the match tied at one, Mr. Sanderson attacked. Though he had a firm hold on the leg, Mr. Sajidov countered and threw him. The referees paused, apparently to consider whether to award the Russian one point or two.

This time the American got the benefit of the doubt: The referee awarded each wrestler two points, stunning the crowd into silence, and keeping the match tied. With 15 seconds remaining, the American tried another trademark ankle pick. Mr. Sajidov countered with an ankle pick of his own, to win 4-3. It was Russia's third gold medal of the night, out of a total of seven. (Little Uzbekistan, population 26 million, won two golds, part of a clean sweep by Russia and the former Soviet Republics; Georgia won the men's team title, followed by the U.S. and Iran. Japan won the women's tournament with five gold medals.)

In the heavyweight final, the sculpted Mr. McCoy was tied 1-1 with the equally chiseled Artur Taymazov of Uzbekistan. But just 12 seconds into overtime, Mr. McCoy lost his footing and found himself on his back and on the wrong side of a 4-1 score. He would have to settle for the silver medal and a chance to wrestle again next year at the Olympics in Athens.

Mr. Sanderson will in all likelihood be in Athens, too. A takedown short this weekend, for U.S. wrestling he remains the future. Mr. Sajidov and the Russian middleweights, though, are the worldbeaters right now.

---

Mr. Ackman, a senior columnist for Forbes.com, last wrote for the Journal about the decline of shooting in the NBA.