April 23, 2008

Dlagnev Heads to Vegas for U.S. Nationals

Fourth Place Last Year; Seeded Sixth This Year

     Kearney, Neb. – Nebraska-Kearney senior Tervel Dlagnev heads to Las Vegas, Nev., this weekend for the 2008 ASICS/U.S. Freestyle National Championships.

      The tournament, featuring several ages brackets and also including women, began Tuesday and runs through Saturday. Dlagnev and the men's freestyle bracket will wrestle Saturday (April 26th), starting with preliminaries at 12:00 p.m. Central time.

      Finals are slated for 7:00 p.m.

      A relative novice in freestyle wrestling, Dlagnev (Arlington, Texas) has still had impressive showings. Last April at the 2007 U.S. Freestyle National Championships, he finished fourth.

      In the fall, he won the Sunkist Kids International Open by beating several older wrestlers, including former UNO standout Les Sigman. A few weeks ago, Dlagnev won the University National Freestyle Championships in Akron, Ohio.

      This Saturday, Dlagnev is seeded sixth in the 264.5 lbs./120 kg class. Tommy Rowlands (Sunkist Kids) is ranked No. 1 with former Iowa and Oklahoma State standout Steve Mocco (New York AC) second.

      Sigman, now wrestling for Sunkist Kids, is third while Nebraska-Lincoln grad Tolly Thompson is fifth.

      Brackets have yet to be released for this weekend. For more information, go to USA Wrestling's website (www.themat.com).