29. 01. 2015
Košice, Colorado Springs - USA (29-31.1.2015) The annual UWW senior tournament in honor of Dave Schultz, the "Dave Schultz Memorial International," was held in the American state of Colorado. Countries such as Japan, Bulgaria, Moldova, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Ecuador, India, Israel, Argentina, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Mongolia, Mexico, Canada, and several American states were present. Our Košice representative, Michael Bodnár, in the 86 kg weight category, had the honor of competing at this prestigious tournament. The opening match ended in a 3:1 victory for the Slovak over the American R. Newman. In the second round, M.Bodnár was no match for R.Hamlin (USA). After the loss, he could have fought for bronze, but Canadian representative J. Phulka stood in his way, to whom he lost 5:11, thus ending his participation on the American mats.
He flew to the United States on 22.1. with the club's sports director and coach, Jozef Lohyňa, to attend a camp before this tournament directly at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs (USOTC). The training sessions were led by the renowned wrestler, Olympic gold medalist, Brandon Slay. After the tournament, more training sessions are planned so that Mišo can gain as much experience and knowledge as possible, especially regarding the American style and way of wrestling, and together with coach J.Lohyňa, they can apply it in home training. We believe that this experience will also contribute to his growth on the path to becoming better. Thank you for representing us across the pond! (ah)