This past Saturday, Greco-Roman was to be contested at the Bulgarian nationals in Vrasta. But instead of a day filled with consequential matches, there was a boycott.
Below is the full report from BF Borba (the Bulgarian Wrestling Federation, translated to English):
“The state individual wrestling championship in Vratsa was canceled.
“The tension began yesterday (Saturday) at the technical conference, when the new national team coach Soslan Farniev announced that in some categories he wanted the draw to be conducted. However, the club representatives did not agree, as double criteria were applied.
“Thus, the draw was made, as per the rules, and the fights were supposed to begin this morning at 10am. But competitors, coaches, and club leaders decided to boycott the championship and demonstratively sat on the mat as a sign of disagreement.”
The statement went on to add that an “official decision” was impending from the board of directors but no further information has yet been released.
Two Winter Tours for USA
Two items of competitive interest are coming up for the United States and it starts later this month.
First, a substantial contingent of age-group Americans will travel to Sweden in advance of the annual Sundsvall Open, which is scheduled for January 25-26. Wrestlers from Northern Michigan University and Combat WC (WI) will be making the trip. And, as is custom, following the tournament all involved are expected to participate in a multi-national training camp.
Then from Friday, February 7 through Sunday, February 9 is the Grand Prix Zagreb Open in Croatia, the first United World Wrestling “Ranking Series” tournament of the year. 12 top USA Seniors are scheduled to compete in the event — such as Dalton Roberts (60 kg, Army/WCAP), Ildar Hafizov (63 kg, Army/WCAP), Alex Sancho (72 kg, Army/WCAP), and Benji Peak (72 kg, Combat WC). There are also two added twists to the roster: 1) multi-time World Team member/Olympian Ellis Coleman (Army/WCAP) will be, potentially, be making his 63 kg debut after having spent the vast majority of his career at 66/67 kg; 2) brothers Max Black (60 kg, NMU/NTS) and ’24 U20 World silver Otto Black (63 kg, CTT/Hawkeye WC) will be sharing the stage for the first time at a major Senior international event. In related news, Max and Otto Black together with Austin DeSanto (60 kg, TMWC/Hawkeye WC) visited the Dubuque RTC earlier this week for two days of training under the guidance of Dennis Hall.
Additional information on both USA Greco-Roman winter tours is forthcoming.
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