USOEC Wrestlers begin 2013 season

Courtesy of the USOEC

Marquette, Mich.—United States Olympic Education Center Greco-Roman wrestlers Kendrick Sanders and Tanner Andrews went undefeated today (Jan. 26) at the Jack Pinto Cup in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The tournament featured a dual meet format, where four U.S. teams faced teams from Japan, Kazakhstan, Sweden and Lithuania. The U.S. teams did not face each other. Due to the format, no winning team was named.

Competing at 66 kilograms, Sanders of Homestead, Fla., defeated Hideyuki Otoizumi of Japan, 1-0, 5-0, and won by pin against Askhat Zhanbirov of Kazakhstan, 0-1, 3-0, 1:42. In his third match, Sanders wrestled Edgaras Venckatis of Lithuania, winning, 2-0, 4-0. Due to an injury, Sanders was not able to participate in his final match.

At 74 kg, Andrews of North Aurora, Ill., faced Eivydas Sekus of Lithuania, winning 1-0, 3-0. Andrews pinned Bogdan Kourinnor of Sweden, 0:59, and won by injury default over Maxat Yerezhepov of Kazakhstan. In his fourth and final match, Andrews won by pin over Hitoyuki Shimizu of Japan, 0:30.

The Jack Pinto Cup, formerly the Kiki Cup, is the annual kick-off event for the U.S. Greco-Roman program’s new calendar year. The event was recently re-named in memory of the six-year-old wrestler who was killed in the shooting last month at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.