USA: SPORTS: WRESTLING : The U.S. beats Russia when the two countries' freestyle wrestling teams put on an exhibition match in the middle of New York's Times Square

Record ID: 517153

  • Title: USA: SPORTS: WRESTLING : The U.S. beats Russia when the two countries' freestyle wrestling teams put on an exhibition match in the middle of New York's Times Square
  • Date: 7th May 2011
  • Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (MAY 5, 2011) (REUTERS) ( * BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **) U.S. VS. RUSSIA EXHIBITION MATCH IN TIMES SQUARE AUDIENCE VARIOUS OF MATCH BETWEEN U.S. WRESTLER BRENT METCALF AND RUSSIAN WRESTLER MAGOMEDMURAD GADZHIEV (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) (ROUGH TRANSLATION) CHRISTAKIS ALEXANDRIDIS, RUSSIAN COACH, SAYING: "It was very important for us
  • Embargoed: 22nd May 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa, Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVABFV7MJX263B88DQIW7G35YO7W
  • Story Text: The cold war may be over but the rivalry between Russian and U.S. athletes was in full swing on Thursday (May 5), when the countries' freestyle wrestling teams faced off against each other for an exhibition match in Times Square.
    "It was very important for us to beat the Americans, especially here in Times Square in the heart of the United States. That was the top priority for us," said Russia's wrestling coach Christakis Alexandridis.
    The U.S. team beat Russia 5 -2, despite Russia's standing as the reigning World Team Champion in freestyle wrestling.
    Alexandridis blamed the Big Apple atmosphere for his team's loss and cited the lights and advertisements as powerful distractions for the wrestlers.
    "What happened was that our guys were completely lost with the amount of advertising and lights. Especially, the team was located opposite the underwear commercial, so everybody including the coach was staring right at the half naked girls, so it was hard to concentrate," he told Reuters.
    Two time NCAA champion and Hodge Trophy winner Brent Metcalf faced off against Russia's Magomedmurad Gadzhiev. Metcalf, who scored the winning point of the match in the third round, said he was proud of his team's performance.
    "That was no slouch of a team," said Metcalf. "They got some pretty tough guys so I think we feel pretty good about that and keep moving forward."
    2008 Olympic champion Henry Cejudo won his first match since his dramatic victory at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. He beat Junior World bronze medalist Rasul Mashezov, with a three-point move.
    Russia's Andrey Valiev took the fifth match at 84 kg/185 lbs. The 2010 Junior World champion said that despite his team's overall loss, he feels good about their prospects as they train for the 2012 Olympics.
    "Our team is working very hard to get ready for the Olympic games and we are sure that we'll do very well. People who participated in the fight today are not the top players on the team so everything is up for grabs."
    In the final match, 2009 World bronze medalist Tervel Dlagnev beat Russian heavyweight Barsag Kesaev. Bulgarian-born Dlagnev lost to Kesaev earlier this season in a match in Russia. The wrestler said he anticipates facing off again in the future as the U.S. team trains ahead of the Olympics.
    Thousands of people watched the match in Times Square, which was held as part of the "Beat the Streets Gala," a fundraiser for local wrestling programs. The event was also streamed live on flowstream.com and TheMat.com, the official website of U.S. wrestling.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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