Wrestling Coaches Head to World Champs
September 07, 2014 07:13 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University wrestling head coach Sammie Henson and assistant coach Nick Marable are in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where Marable will represent Sunkist Kids and Team USA at the 2014 FILA World Wrestling Championships on Monday.
Currently the top-ranked grappler in the country in his weight class, Marable will wrestle for a world title at 70 kilograms (154 pounds). He won the 2014 Las Vegas/Asics U.S. Open before defeating James Green in the Phase II Senior World Team Trials to earn his spot on Team USA.
The 70 kg competition will start with the preliminaries at 12 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Monday (9 a.m. local time). The final round will take place at 10 a.m. EST. Marable will take on Akzhurek Tanatarov of Kazakhstan in his first bout.
Marable and Henson, the head coach of Sunkist Kids, spent the past week at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Ostia, Italy, before heading to Uzbekistan.
“Nick’s preparation has been on track,” said Henson. “He is moving his feet and attacking. When we create action, we win. We landed in Uzbekistan a few days ago and the mood has changed – it’s time to go to work. I’m expecting great things from Nick. He’s ready to represent Team USA, Sunkist and Mountaineer Nation on Monday.”
Henson himself is no stranger to international competition, having made the World Team on three separate occasions and claiming gold at the 1998 World Championships. He is also an Olympic silver medalist and won the bronze medal at the 2006 World Championships.
Including Marable and Henson, every member of the WVU wrestling staff has competed at the World championships at some level. Fifth-year assistant coach Danny Felix competed at the 2009 World Championships, while assistant athletic director Joe Heskett was a member of the 2007 World Team. Operations assistant Clarissa Chun won a gold medal at the 2008 World Championships and volunteer assistant Dom Bradley wrestled at the Junior World Championships.
Despite entering the competition unranked, Marable will be a top contender at the event. Iran’s Moustafa Hosseinkhani is currently the top-ranked freestyle wrestler at 70 kg. Marable previously dropped a 1-0 decision to Hosseinkhani at the World Cup this past March. European Champion Ruslan Dibirgadzhiyev is ranked No. 2 at 70 kg.
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