Olympic wrestling: Zadick makes weight in Beijing
BRYCE MILLER •
bmiller@dmreg.com • August 18, 2008
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/app...YWJu6svXuoc%3D
BEIJING, China —
Mike Zadick is one step closer to his improbable Olympic dream.
Zadick, the former University of Iowa freestyle wrestler from Great Falls, Mont., made weight for the 132-pound weight class, one day after finding out he had become the 597th member of the 2008 U.S team.
A spot in the Olympics opened up when Bulgarian wrestler Anatoly Guidia ruptured an Achilles tendon playing basketball in the Olympic Village and backup Ismail Redzhep broke a rib in a car accident on the way to the airport to come to Beijing.
Zadick, the 2006 world silver medalist who now lives in Solon, Iowa, opens up against Ukraine's Vasyl Fedoryshyn on Tuesday morning in China — or Monday night in the United States. Fedoryshyn, who beat Zadick at an event in Russia in December, finished fourth in the 2004 Olympics.
If Zadick advances, he'll meet either Albania's Sahit Prizreni or Kyrgyzstan's Bazar Bazarguruev — each winners of bronze medals at the 2007 world championships.
Olympic champions
Mavlet Batirov of Russia and Yandro Quintana of Cuba, along with world champion Seyed Mohammadi of Iran, compete on the other side of the bracket.
Zadick would need to win four matches to capture an amazing, unlikely gold medal.
"Without a doubt, Mike's getting a great opportunity to wrestle in the Olympics," said U.S. coach Kevin Jackson, who competed as a senior at Iowa State. "He's in it now and we need to be ready to go. Mike lost to the guy from Ukraine last year and it wasn't one of his best matches. We know Mike is definitely capable of beating him."
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