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U.S. team putting its best foot forward
Posted: Friday July 24, 1998 04:44 PM
By Dan Gable, Special for CNN/SI NEW YORK (CNN/SI) -- This year, the Goodwill Games come at an almost perfect time for wrestling. With the world championships only about six weeks away, the teams are as close to peaking as you can get. That's especially true for the American team at the Goodwill Games, which is the same team scheduled to compete in the worlds. Some of the other teams don't have the same wrestlers here that they will have at the worlds in Tehran, Iran on September 8-11. Still, there are countries here with great wrestling traditions -- Iran, Russia, Turkey -- and they all have deep, quality athletes in their programs. If the Americans think they will have an easy time of this -- if they think this will simply be a nice warmup for the worlds -- they better think again. The other teams all have the capability of sending up a wrestler that can beat you if you're not at your best. That will bring up the level of skill, the level of excellence, the level of competition here at the Goodwill Games. The Americans, because they have their best team here, don't want to get beat. And every other team has young, hungry wrestlers looking to make a name for themselves. The Iranians, especially, will be ready for the Games. Iran has a rich wrestling tradition. The Iranians may not be as dominant as the Russians have been, but they're fanatical about the sport. And, since they're hosting the worlds in a few weeks, they want to do well here. The Russians are an unknown at this point. About six weeks ago, they had to stop their national championships when a balcony collapsed, killing 23 people, including one of the wrestlers. As far as the Americans, watch for Les Gutches. He's the reigning world champion at 187 pounds (85 kilograms) and, because he's still relatively young, he's still hungry. Cary Kolat is the defending silver medallist at worlds (at 138 pounds, 63 kg), and 1993 world champion Melvin Douglas (213 pounds, 97 kg) also is here. This will be an interesting Games for Melvin, who won his world championship only after an Iranian was stripped of the title. Melvin told me he feels like he never won the event, like he's missed something. So he's really looking forward to this. Lincoln McIlravy, who wrestled for me when I coached at Iowa, is one of the hottest prospects out there. He has a very aggressive and entertaining style. He's a guy that makes this happen. It ought to be a great couple of days. Dan Gable, a gold medallist at the 1972 Olympics and the most successful college coach in NCAA history, is a commentator for TBS at this year's Goodwill Games.
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