WRESTLING More tears than cheers for U.S. teams

XATHENS, Greece -- Maybe Sara McMann was being prescient when she broke down sobbing after settling for a silver medal in Olympic wrestling.
Before the games were over, there would be more tears than cheers for the American wrestlers.
Certainly, there were pleasant surprises in a sport that has long been a big medal producer for the Americans, with freestylers Stephen Abas and Jamill Kelly taking silvers. Kelly wasn't expected to make the U.S. team, yet placed in a world-level tournament for the first time.
Take away Cael Sanderson -- and, certainly, USA Wrestling is hoping that doesn't happen until after Beijing in 2008 -- and Rulon Gardner's adversity-filled drive to a second medal, and the Americans felt like Kerry McCoy after his final match.
Namely, like they had been poked repeatedly in the eye.
McCoy was one of the freestyle team's prime medal hopes, yet didn't make it to the medal round at super heavyweight after claiming Marid Mutalimov of Kazakhstan kept jabbing him in the eyes.
The first American women's Olympic team was certain it would get three medals and possibly four, yet settled for McMann's silver and Patricia Miranda's bronze. Gold medal hopeful Toccara Montgomery drew the defending world champion in her first match and was almost out of the tournament before starting it.
It was even worse for a six-man Greco-Roman team that unexpectedly brought home three medals from Sydney in 2000. With two medals in two Olympics, Gardner also left behind two very big shoes that may take American wrestling years to fill. So did Sanderson, the only U.S. wrestler to leave Athens with a gold.
Russia had a big Olympics on the mat, making up for a series of upset losses in Sydney by winning five golds, including Bouvaissa Saitiev's second gold. He is only the third wrestler to win back a gold he lost in the previous Olympics.
Associated Press