To Our Friends in Wrestling Around the world
                    

By William May
(Japan Amateur Wrestling Federation, Public Information Committee
wmay52@hotmail.com


OSAWA ADDS GOLD TO MEDAL HAUL AT WORLD UNI C’SHIPS






THESSALONIKI, Greece (July 10) - Yamanashi Gakuin star Shigeki Osawa won the 60 kg title in men’s freestyle and secured the freestyle team title for Japan at the world university wrestling championships. It was the third gold medal for a Japanese wrestler, only two days into the championships. Japan’s total of three gold and two bronze gave Japan its first team title at the championships after being held to single bronze medals in 2004 and 2006.

At 74 kg, Waseda’s Aoi Otsuki narrowly missed a medal, falling to Russia’s Roman Samsonik in the bronze medal match.

Competition in the women’s freestyle events also got under way with Maki Fujimoto of Daito Bunka University taking a bronze at 51 kg.

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Men’s freestyle
60 kg - OSAWA, Shigeki (1st, 9 entries)
R1 - bye
R2 - df. Hakki Gurel (TUR), 2-0 (1-0, 2-0)
SF - df. Khizry Duduyev (BLR) by fall, 1P=1:10 (F5-4)
F1 - df. Reece Humphrey (USA), 2-1 (1-0, 0-4, 1-0)

74 kg - OTSUKI, Aoi (5th, 16 entries)
R1 - df. Steven Gottschling (GER), 2-1 (3-0, 6-6x=big, 8-0)
R2 - lost to Oleg Bilotserkivski (UKR), 0-2, (0-3, 1-3)
r1 - df. Shr Wasantha (SRI) by fall, 2P=0:49 (6-0, F6-0)
F3 - lost to Roman Samsonik (RUS), 0-2 (0-2, 0-2)

96 kg - FUJIMOTO, Kenji (8th, 11 entries)
R1 - lost to Radoslaw Dublinowski (POL), 1-2 (0-1, 1-0, 0-1)

Team
1. Japan, 55 points (3-0-2); 2. Russia 53 (1-1-2); 3. Turkey 50 (0-3-2); 4. United States, 49 (1-1-2); 5. Ukraine 42 (2-1-1); 6. Belarus 23 (0-1-1)

Women’s freestyle
51 kg - FUJIMOTO, Maki (3rd, 11 entries)
R1 - bye
R2 - df. Elena Anastasiadi (GRE) by fall, 1P=0:49 (F3-0)
SF - lost to Katherine Fulp-Allen (USA) by fall, 1P=1:40 (F4-5)
F3 - df. Brigita Bergmmane (LAT) by fall, 2P=0:40 (6-0, F3-0)

67 kg - KAJIMOTO, Chiaki (8th, 8 entries)
R1 - lost to Agapi Christodoulaki (GRE) by fall, 2P (0-2, 0-3)