Fresno State Athletics
'Dogs Stephen Abas Begins Olympic Quest in Athens
8/25/2004 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Aug. 25, 2004
FRESNO, Calif. - Three-time NCAA national wrestling champion Stephen Abas (Hayward, Calif.) begins his quest for freestyle Olympic gold this weekend when the 55-kilogram/121-pound matches get underway at the Ano Liossa Olympic Hall in Athens, Greece.
The competition begins Aug. 27 and lasts the final three days of the Games. The seven-member USA men's freestyle team has one Olympic veteran and only three of the seven have earned world medals.
With a blind draw and the pool system of advancement, Abas wrestles in his first Olympics this Friday.
While there is no team medal, Team USA is looking to capture a number of individual medals as the U.S. placed second as a team at the 2003 World Freestyle Championships. There are only four nations that qualified all seven wrestlers for Athens: Bulgaria, Iran, Russia and the United States. Greece received a full team as host.
Abas' wrestling resume features some great contests against champions and medalists in his weight class. He has defeated gold medalists such as Roberto Montero of Cuba, Namig Abdullayev of Azerbaijan and Herman Kontoyev of Belarus. Although Abas has no medal, his fifth place finish at Worlds a year ago has him primed to make an impression.
His road to the United States Olympic Freestyle Wrestling Team started in 1999-2000 when he redshirted to train for the 2000 Olympics; he finished fourth at the Olympic Trials. Now, four years later, his dream was realized when he defeated 2000 Olympic silver medalist Sammie Henson (5-3, 3-1) at the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team Trials at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis on May 23.
On the international level prior to the 2004 Summer Olympic Games, Abas has wrestled in World Championships, Pan American, World Cups, World University and Junior World Games. Having won a number of international wrestling events, including the Dave Schultz Memorial, the Colansman International in Canada and two titles at the Sunkist Kids International, Abas was the 1998 Junior World Champion and a bronze medalist at the 1994 Cadet World Championships.
As the No. 1 freestyle wrestler in his division the last three years (won last three World Team Trials), Abas is looking for his first world-level medal. His fifth place finish at the 2003 World Championships is his best finish to date. In 2002 the U.S. did not go to the World meet in Iran while in 2001 he lost early in the tournament to the eventual World champion.
Abas, who is only the second four-time All-America wrestler at Fresno State, posted a 144-4 career record, including a string of 106 consecutive matches won in the 125-lb division from 1998-99, 2001-02. Owning the school's career mark in victories and win percentage (.973), Abas also notched back-to-back perfect seasons (34-0 in 2001 and 35-0 in 2002).
Ending his Bulldog career by being the 40th wrestler in NCAA history to capture three national titles in addition to never losing a match in the 125 division as a collegiate wrestler, this 26-year old will hope the Olympic mat will be the next site of greatness.
For a preview of the USA men's freestyle team by Jon Ackerman (NBCOlympics.com), visit http://www.nbcolympics.com/wrestling/5040068/detail.html.
Did You Know:
This 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials champion, who last competed internationally at the 2004 Ivan Yarygin Memorial Internal in Russia and placed sixth, warms up for meets by practicing Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art which combines dancing and fighting tactics.
Arriving in Athens on Aug. 12, Abas will have plenty of individual support as family members and Fresno State head wrestling coach Dennis DeLiddo are present to cheer on their favorite Bulldog.
Wrestling was one of the first ancient sports at the Olympic Games in Greece in 776 B.C. It also was part of the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, as freestyle wrestling was incorporated to the Olympic Games in 1904. In Freestyle wrestling holds are allowed on the whole body, which is different from Greco-Roman in which holds are allowed from the waist up. Matches in both styles consist of two, three-minute parts, with a 30 second interval.
Greco vs. Free: Rules for the two are basically identical as the chief difference is that a Greco-Roman wrestler can not attack his opponent's legs or use his own legs to trip, lift or execute other maneuvers. In freestyle both the arms and legs are used to perform holds.
The official weigh-in, done in kilograms, occurs the night before the first competition for each respective weight class. During each weigh-in, athletes have 30 minutes to make weight. Also during weigh-in, a drawing of lots takes place to determine the pool-by-pool breakdown for each division's initial round of competition.
The Weight Class for men's wrestling for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games will seven in freestyle and seven in Greco-Roman. The breakdown:
55 kg (121 lbs)
60 kg (132 lbs)
66 kg (145 lbs)
74 kg (163 lbs)
84 kg (185 lbs)
97 kg (211.5 lbs)
120 kg (264.5 lbs)
Format: In Olympic wrestling all athletes in a given weight class first will be divided randomly into six pools of three or four wrestlers per pool, depending on number of entrants. Each wrestler will then compete against one another in his or her pool, with pool winners -- determined by classification points -- advancing to an elimination round. The eventual finalists wrestle for the gold and silver medals while the losing semifinalist is the bronze medalist.
The Mat is a circular wrestling area that measures 9 meters (29 1/2 feet) in diameter. The mat has a foam core, about 1 1/2 inches to 2 1/2 inches thick.
