WRESTLING : BAUMGARTNER MUST PIN MEDAL HOPES ON THE BRONZE.Byline: Daily News Wire Services The dream came tumbling down Thursday for Bruce Baumgartner Bruce Robert Baumgartner (born November 2 1960, in Haledon, New Jersey) is a retired American amateur wrestler and current Director of Athletics for the Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. . At age 35, he was still wrestling because he wanted one more freestyle gold medal gold medal traditional first prize. [Western Cult: Misc.] See : Prize to go with his 1984 gold, '88 silver and '92 gold. Instead, all he got was aggravation and a chance to win a bronze medal. The most successful super heavyweight super heavyweight Noun an amateur boxer weighing over 201 pounds (91 kg) Noun 1. super heavyweight - an amateur boxer who weighs more than 201 pounds boxer, pugilist - someone who fights with his fists for sport still competing - and the U.S. flagbearer in the Opening Ceremonies - won his first Olympic match Thursday, then suffered a 6-1 loss to Andrei Shumilin of Russia. It was not an upset, because Shumilin had beaten him in three of their four previous meetings. Shumilin won the bronze medal in the 1993 world championships (Baumgartner won the gold), and the 26-year-old Russian seemed quicker here. In Baumgartner's bid to battle back for the bronze, he beat the Republic of Georgia's Zaza Turmanidze 14-2 and will wrestle again today. A medal would be a record 13th in world-level competition, one more than Alexander Medved Alexander Medved (Belarusian: Алякса́ндр Васíлевiч Мядзве́дзь of Russia, probably the best freestyle wrestler ever. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. if this is it for me or not,'' said Baumgartner, of Cambridge Springs, Pa. ``I've got to get by myself and think. But I'm very disappointed, because I know in my heart I can beat (Shumilin).'' The day began well enough for Baumgartner when he scored a 10-0 technical fall over Andy Borodow of Canada. In the afternoon, his opponent in the blind-draw pairings was Shumilin. A capacity crowd of 7,000 gave all the support it could, but it could not atone for one decisive move. With the match barely a minute old, Shumilin had an underhook on Baumgartner and Baumgartner had an overhook on him. When Shumilin drove at Baumgartner, the American tried to spin him off. For a split second, that left Baumgartner off-balance. Shumilin seized the moment and tipped Baumgartner on his back. That was worth three points, and because he kept Baumgartner down for five seconds it meant a point more. As U.S. assistant coach Greg Strobel Greg Strobel is an American wrestler and coach. He is currently the head coach at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based Lehigh University, one of the top wrestling programs in the country. said, ``When you're down four points, that's a tough position.'' CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (color) After losing earlier in the day, Bruce Baumga rtner, left, had to out-wrestle Zaza Turmanidze to reach today's bronze-medal match. Detroit Free Press The Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, USA. It is sometimes informally referred to as the "Freep". Some still refer to it locally as "The Friendly" -- a slogan from an ad campaign in the '70s. |
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