On May 7, 2010 USA Wrestling hosted the Veteran National Tournament in Heber City, Utah. The Veteran Nationals is comprised of five divisions and the breakdown is as follows: Veterans A: Born 1978-1985, Veterans B: Born 1970-1977, Veterans C: Born 1962-1969, Veterans D: Born 1955-1961, Veterans E: Born 1954 or before. Competing in the Veteran division takes a lot of time and effort. Being a Veteran, you can’t devote all your time to training. Many have work, family, kids and other responsibilities, so finding time to train is always the biggest challenge. Finding training partners is also as difficult.
Three Veteran athletes representing the NYC ventured to Heber City, Utah to compete: Hooman “Mo” Tavakolian (Division B, 85kg), freestyle, Zelik Zigelbaum (Division E, 75kg), freestyle, and in Greco Ralph Koblence (Division E, 74kg). Getting to the venue was half the battle. After a flight into Salt Lake City, the wrestlers drove an hour to Heber City, whilst maintaining their weight. Weigh-ins were at 9pm the night before.
You have seen Hooman Mo Tavakolian on the 6th floor. He is the guy you see with tons of clothing on, working out on either on the aerodyne bike or running, trying to sweat the pounds off. Mo was the 2009 returning Veteran National Champion. In freestyle, Mo defended his title by pinning his opponent in the first round, and winning by decision in the next round to claim his second consecutive title. Zelik entered the tournament as a returning 2009 Veteran World Silver Medalist. Zelik dominated his opponents by his infamous arm throws and leg sweeps. He was defeated in the finals by being pushed out of bounds. It was a close match, one he should have won. In Greco, Ralph did not perform to the best of his abilities and lost both matches.
Congrats to all three, but particularly to Mo and Zelik for outstanding performances. What’s next? The Veterans World Tournament, which is scheduled for July 30th in Domdidier, Switzerland.
