Veteran Pages
If you have any pictures or information about yourself or individuals you
want to contribute send to:
Webmaster Veterans Wrestling Home Page
USA Veterans Team Photos | |||
Ron Cole | Loren Rabnick | Bob Anderson | Ron Hughes |
Jim Lucas | Russ Cozart | Steve Contarino | Rodney Cooke |
Jeff Anderson | Shirzad Ahmadi | Tony Porcelli | Alex Porcelli |
Don Apodaca | Mark Levasseur | Barry Aiken | Sam Paris |
Kevin Donofrio | Mike Jozwowski | Carson Gainey | Sonny Boyd |
Paul Stull | Gershon Horowitz | Robert Redman | George Dunn |
Billy Woods | Jim Richardson | Greg Pettit | Joe Reasbeck |
Steve Horton | Juan Swan | Jim Butcher | Roye Oliver |
Ron Sigler | Brad Swartz | Bob Jackson | Steve Barkman |
Pat Ratkovich | John Short | Mark Black | James Phils |
Gerald Ponce | John Hughes | Joe Corso | Mark Mireles |
Steve Hart | Sarkis Dermenjian | Dale Porcher | Larry Colton |
Joe Seay | Larry Prosper | JD Hawkins | Ben McCrillis |
Kevin Pine | Bob Friend | Gregg Stensgard | Jeff Henry |
D.J. Rainey | Craig Johnson | Peter Haag | Clifford Ray |
Brad Lawler | Michael Tuck | Michael Cain | Kenneth Peters |
Francis Gercak | Kamran Gill | Rodney Fisher | Rob Porter |
Martin Kouyoumtjian | Warren Howard | Jamey Kasser | Sam Barber |
Mike Robinson | Garry Price |
2011 GR World Championships
Raciborz, Poland
October 7-9
Information
2011 FS World Championships
Tirana, Albania
October 14-16
2010 GR World Championships
Belgrade
SRB
Congrats to the participants and place winners at
Veterans GR World Championships
Div A 76Kg Anthony Piva 8th
Div B 97Kg Ronald Sean Ayers 10th
Div B 97Kg Jeffreye Anderson 10th
Div D 69Kg Valentin Kalika 5th
Div D 76Kg Chris Brown 2nd
Div E 85Kg Stephen Contarino
Link to full Brackets
2010 FS World Championships
Domdidier/Fribourg
SWITZERLAND
Congrats to the participants and place winners at
Veterans FS World Championships
Div A 63Kg Kevin Robinson 3rd
Div A 97Kg Octavius Bellamy 2nd
Div B 63Kg Rob Porter 1st
Div B 76Kg Mike Robinson 3rd
Div B 76Kg Martin Kouyoumtjian 2nd
Div B 76Kg Pat Ratkovich 5th
Div B 85Kg Borys Kulich 7th
Div C 58Kg Thomas Mooney 5th
Div C 63Kg Jamey Kasser 1st
Div C 76Kg Brad Swartz 1st
Div D 69Kg Craig Johnson 7th
Div D 76Kg Warren Howard 1st
Div E 63Kg Shirzad Ahmadi 1st
Div E 69Kg John Hughes 5th
Div E 69Kg John Taylor 7th
Div E 69Kg Steve Barkman 8th
Div E 76Kg Greg Archer 7th
Div E 85Kg Garry Price 2nd
Div E 85Kg Stephen Contarino 5th
Div E 85Kg Peter Haag 9th
Link to full Brackets
20 participants,11 medallists, 5 champions
Thanks Coach Sam Barber
Letter from John Hughes to Rich Bender
I would like to thank USA Wrestling for sending Sam Barber as our Veterans Freestyle Coach.
Sam brought wisdom and mat savvy that we veterans, lack many times from our prolong absence from the mat.
By keeping quality coaching associated with the Veterans Program, the numbers will increase and the results will be even higher.
Thank you again for a “Quality USA” experience.
John Hughes
Div E
69 kg
2008 / 2010 team member
Return Letter from Rich Bender to John Hughes
John,
Thanks for your kind e-mail and congrats to you and the rest of the team. 11 medalists with 5 champions was a great performance and we plan to continue to support this age group. It is a great group of guys that are obviously passionate about the sport and still enjoy competing on a high level. I will be certain that this information is passed on to Sam, he is definitely a “Quality” coach and we are very fortunate to have him involved with USA Wrestling
In the Olympic Spirit,
Rich
Rich Bender
Executive Director |
Link to FILA Facebook Website with Vets Worlds Pictures
Link to French Site with Vets Worlds Pictures and Video Clips
USA Team Members
Martin Kouyoumtjian, John Hughes Flag Bearer, Warren Howard
Div C 63Kg Jamey Kasser World Champion
Div C 63Kg Jamey Kasser World Champion
Awards Ceremony
Team USA
2010 Bronze Medal Team
Coach Sam Barber
Mike Robinson (left) Div B 76Kg – Bronze/Garry Price (Right) Div E 85Kg Silver
Mike and Gary train together at the Juniata Wrestling Club in Mifflintown, PA.
Div B 63Kg Rob Porter World Champion
Garry Price scoring back points in semis against Anatolly Veklich Kazakhstan
USA Team participated in Parade through Domdidier before final Banquet
Silver Medallist Martin Kouyoumtjian vs. Alesultan Kachalaev (RUS)
L-R Martin Kouyoumtjian (USA), Alesultan Kachalaev (RUS),
Michael Robinson (USA), and Evgeny Sidirov (RUS)
Paul Stull from Archives
Paul Stull in 98 Worlds Division C
CONGRATS TO
STEVE HORTON
GERMAN MASTERS NATIONALS
CHAMPION
Steve Horton won five Greco matches, including a 2-0, and
1-0 victory in the finals of the German Greco-Roman Wrestling
Masters National Championship.
Congrats to Steve. He’s now a National Champion in two countries.
VETERANS US NATIONALS
COVERAGE
Just finished packing for Vegas. Vets Nationals start Wednesday. Driving out tomorrow morning at 9:00 am. Taking my laptop and cameras. I expect to upload Veterans pictures/videos a couple of times a day. If I can, I’ll see if I can’t get a few interviews with some “old timers” and get them online. The last time I tried to upload video from the hotel, it kept dumping me out, but I’ll give it another shot this week.
2009 ASICS
Veterans
U.S. National
Folkstyle Championships
April 3-5, 2009
Cedar Falls, Iowa
Contact: Steve Knipp
319.415.0892
2009 Las Vegas/ASICS
Veterans
U.S. National Greco-Roman
and Freestyle Championships
April 7-11, 2009
Las Vegas, Nevada
Contact: Larry Barnson
702.361.5017
2008 Archives
As a time and space saving exercise, I’ve archived most of the pictures that
were on the Home Page and the results of past Nationals and Worlds to:
This should allow the Home page to load much faster.
I’ll be cleaning the site up getting ready for the 2008-2009 season.
Caron Gainey
Carson’s been busy coaching high school wrestling and fighting in MMA. He said he’s still representing Silverbacks Wrestling but those younger guys are tough.
He’s apparently the elder statesman in his circuit, His amateur MMA career
is now officially over. He makes his pro debut October 18th in Ohio.
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
2009 Veterans Worlds
Freestyle and Greco-Roman
Freestyle Scheduled for ANKARA, TURKEY
August 14-16, 2009
Greco-Roman Scheduled for KOUVOLA, FINLAND
September 4-6, 2009
USAW Athlete of the Week
Gerald Ponce, Gold and Silver Medallist at this year’s Veterans
Worlds was named “Athlete of the Week” by USAW. Congrats Gerald.
2008 Veterans Worlds
Freestyle and Greco-Roman
PERM, RUSSIA September 22-29, 2008
Perm Website
Pictures from Bronze Medallist
John Hughes
![]() |
John Hughes Shows off “Battle Scars” from Worlds |
![]() |
John Hughes after the Medal Ceremony “Obviously Recovered” |
To Family & Friends,
What a blast and the end result made the sacrifice worth it. Flirting with disaster, chasing victory, experiencing defeat and coming away with a Bronze Medal. Along the way, team mates kept saying, “Boy do you have a shiner.” and I never even felt when it happened. To wear the USA colors, watch the flag go up (not with the anthem) and stand on the podium was a dream come true. And for those who know Russia and wrestling, it was visiting the “motherland” of the sport. Again, as meaningful as it is to me, to be able to share with you who clapped along the way… thank you. It makes it so much more special. John |
Below – Action Shots from John’s Matches
A Nice Duck Under
John in an Overtime Match with Russian Wrestler
Nice Takedown for 2
Pictures from Bronze Medallist
Steve Horton
Turk
Steve with the Reverse Lift
Bronze Medal Match
Steve received his Bronze medal in Greco
from Russian Grand Master of Greco, Alexander Karelin
Congrats to all the USA and World participants!
SILVERBACKS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Gerald Ponce from Antioch, California
wins GOLD Medal at E-130kg in Freestyle.
Gerald won the Silver Medal in Greco-Roman
earlier in the week.
Honored Guest
Several of the Veterans received their medals from Alexander Karelin.
He was one of the honored guests at the Championships.
Without “translating” the words used on the Perm website,
here’s the Russian view about Alexander Karelin:
“Alexander Karelin
Hero of Russia, Member of State Duma of Russsian Federation
Honored Master of sports in Greco-Roman wrestling, nine times world champion, three times Olympic champion, four times holder of the Gold Belt of the strongest Planet Wrestler”
Division B, weight category 85 kg
|
FREESTYLE Division B, weight category 63 kg
|
Division C, weight category 76 kg |
Division E, weight category 63 kg |
Division E, weight category 63 kg |
Division E, weight category 69 kg
|
Division E, weight category 97 kg
|
Division E, weight category 130 kg
|
|
Freestyle |
||
DIVISION A Division A, weight category 63 kg Division A, weight category 69 kg Division A, weight category 76 kg Division A, weight category 85 kg Division A, weight category 97 kg Division A, weight category 130 kg |
DIVISION B Division B, weight category 63 kg Division B, weight category 69 kg Division B, weight category 76 kg Division B, weight category 85 kg Division B, weight category 97 kg Division B, weight category 130 kg |
DIVISION C Division C, weight category 63 kg Division C, weight category 69 kg Division C, weight category 76 kg Division C, weight category 85 kg Division C, weight category 97 kg Division C, weight category 130 kg |
DIVISION D Division D, Weight category – 63 kg Division D, Weight category – 69 kg Division D, Weight category – 76 kg Division D, Weight category – 85 kg Division D, Weight category – 97 kg Division D, Weight category – 130 kg |
DIVISION E Division E, Weight Category 63 kg Division E, Weight Category 76 kg Division E, Weight Category 85 kg Division E, Weight Category 97 kg Division E, Weight Category 130 kg |
Division B, weight category 69 kg
|
GRECO-ROMAN Division C, weight category 85 kg |
Division E, weight category 130 kg
|
Greco-Roman |
||
DIVISION A Division A, weight category 63 kg Division A, weight category 69 kg Division A, weight category 76 kg Division A, weight category 85 kg Division A, weight category 97 kg Division A, weight category 130 kg |
DIVISION B Division B, weight category 63 kg Division B, weight category 69 kg Division B, weight category 76 kg Division B, weight category 85 kg Division B, weight category 97 kg Division B, weight category 130 kg |
DIVISION C Division C, weight category 63 kg Division C, weight category 69 kg Division C, weight category 76 kg Division C, weight category 85 kg Division C, weight category 130 kg |
DIVISION D Division D, Weight Category 63 kg Division D, Weight Category 69 kg Division D, Weight Category 76 kg Division D, Weight Category 85 kg Division D, Weight Category 97 kg Division D, Weight Category 130 kg |
DIVISION E Division Е, weight category 63 kg Division Е, weight category 69 kg Division Е, weight category 76 kg Division Е, weight category 85 kg Division Е, weight category 97 kg Division E, weight category 130 kg
|