After 40 plus hours of travel time from the time we left the town of Berdsk, we made it back to the US.  The final part of the trip saw the wrestlers get to take part in a little more of some Russian traditions on Friday evening.  Our Russian hosts took the team to a lake to have a small party for them.  The party included swimming in the lake, jumping in the sauna, and having kabobs.  Many “social” activates centered around going into the sauna.  The sauna was extremely hot and wrestlers would go into the sauna and then cool off at the lake.  It was a cycle that got repeated several times.

 

Saturday morning started off with packing up and going to Novosibirsk for some sightseeing before our afternoon flight.  The guys all did a little sightseeing packed by doing some last minute souvenir shopping.  Novosibirsk is the third largest city in Russia and is the capital of Siberia.  It is a very modern city and very nice.  The highlight was going to Kentucky Fried Chicken and getting some American food.

 

After hanging out at the Novosibirsk Airport for a short period of time, we took a 4.5 hour flight to Moscow which included a three hour time zone changed.

 

Once in Moscow we took a shuttle bus to the Red Square.  We had about five hours of sightseeing time in the Red Square.  The Red Square was a beautiful place and really great to see.  Everyone also went to McDonalds when we arrived there.

 

After finishing up in the Red Square we headed to the other Moscow airport for a nine hour layover before flying to JFK.  This included trying to sleep a little bit.

 

The Moscow Airport had some of the toughest security we have ever seen.  We were screened about a total of five times before being able to board the plane.  After a short 9.5 hour flight we were back in the US.  Once everyone cleared final security, we all went on our way.

 

The tour was a pretty amazing experience that we will never forget.  We were able to go to a part of the world that many people will never get the opportunity to visit.  We were in a village where we were the first Americans anyone had ever seen.  While some of the wrestling training was not what we had hoped, the trip still brought about a great cultural experience.

 

This will be the final blog from our trip to Siberia.

Today was our last full day in Berdsk.  I think everyone is ready to get home.

With no more training sessions, everyone was able to relax this morning.

The afternoon was a game of rec ball in a gym.  It’s probably best described as a cross between wrestling, rugby, and basketball.  It’s a physical game played on a basketball court and you wear a singlet and wrestling shoes.  The game featured a pretty good size crowd.  We lost the game but played well despite lack of experience.

Tonight was spent with a dip in the lake and sitting in the sauna. Sitting in the sauna is a Russian tradition.

Tomorrow we start our journey home.  We fly from Novisibirsk to Moscow.  We will spend the night in Moscow before flying home on Sunday.

We hope to able to visit Red Square and the Kremlin tomorrow night.  See you soon!

Today was one of the tougher days we have had in

Here are the match results from today's dual.  Tough match as we not only had to beat our opponents but the officials as well.

Sean Walton:
L 2-3 0-5
L 1-7 5-6
L 1-8 0-5

Alex Medved:
L 0-2 1-7
W 1-1 2-0

Ryan Medved:
L 2-3 0-2
L 0-6 :20

Taylor Doan:
L 0-7 0-1
L 0-6 0-8
Note: both matched were in Greco. Final match was against national place winner.

Jake Bachman:
W 0-6 3-1 4-2
L 0-2 0-1

James Hamel:
W 2-0 0-1 1-0
W 1-0 1-0

Ryan Malo:
W 4-6 1:46
L 1:15
Notes: won first match after having some bad calls in first period. Ryan was dominating second match when he got called for a phantom fall.

Walter Peppleman:
W :07
W :10

Sean Bilodeau
W 3-0 1-3 1:44
L injury default
Note: got hurt at beginning of match. He is ok.

Travis Stem
L 3-0 :30
Note: this was another match where there was a bad fall call

Conor McNamara
W 3-2 6-0
L 4-0 :45
Note: another match with questionable fall

Zach Rey
W 1-0 6-0

The team took about an eight hour bus drive from Osinski to Berdsk.  The bus drive was a bit hairy at times.  I think we will all be glad when we get back to the states and can deal with safe drivers again.  The bus stopped about three hours in at a place that had road side stands for food, and we ate our favorite food of kabobs.  They seem to eat and sell them like we do hamburgers in the US.

 

The team is staying at a sanatorium in Berdsk.  It’s by far the nicest place we have stayed so far.  It’s also a short walk to a body of water they call the sea but it’s actually a reservoir on the Ob River.  It is a pretty area and about a ten minute drive to the city center.

 

The team had two workouts again today. Everyone was tired from the bus ride so it was fairly light workouts.  The training situation in Berdsk was the most disappointing we have had.  The facility has one mat and had only about ten wrestlers training.

 

Following the evening workout, our hosts took us out on a huge boat on the Ob.  After driving around, the boat docked on an island where we had a cookout with kabobs.  It was a real nice event and the hosts did a great job.  They also celebrated the United States World Cup win in soccer today with us.

 

One of the more unique things is that it stays very light out until about 11 PM and the sun comes up before 4 AM.  Everyone here believes that the Medved brothers have taken in the culture the most.  They also eat all the unique foods we are served.

 

We will have a training session in the morning and then a competition tomorrow night.  They are supposed to have a team here from Kazakhstan for our match. We are hopeful that will happen.

 

Thank you for reading and remember to check out the new photos.

Tonight we had our match against Osinski.  The match started with 12 feature matches. The teams split 6-6 in duals. The Osinski team featured only one wrestler who we had been training with.  Walter Peppleman and Sean Bilodeau had real good wins over guys who have placed in international events.

 

After the main dual we wrestled another round of matches which our hosts titled friendly matches. Peppleman again had a great match scoring five points in the final minute of the third period to win 6-5 after trailing 5-1.

 

Additional Notes:

Jacob Bachman picked up his first win.

Ryan Malo and Zach Rey have remained undefeated.

Rey, Bilodeau and Peppleman all did interviews with local TV.

 

Prior to the start of the match, the mayor presented each wrestler with a small gift.  It was a good size crowd that was loud but always kept great sportsmanship.  Following the match, the wrestlers took photos with many of the local residents.

 

The team is now (1:00 PM EST 6/22/2010) on a charter bus with Russian residents for an eight hour bus ride to the city of Berdsk.  Berdsk is on a body of water and is supposed to be a beautiful town.

 

Our guys faced some tough challenges on and off the wrestling mat in Osinski. They handled it well and it’s been a good experience for them.

 

Now time to enjoy the final seven hours on bus.  At least we have Zach to entertain us.  Check out the updated photos and the previous post for competition scores!

Feature match results

Team score 6-6

Sean Walton - Michel Gtochev 0-1 2-5

Ryan Medved L Alexandr Myasoedov 0-1 1-1

Walter Peppleman W Aslan Aziev 4-3 1-0

Note: Aziev has placed in several international events

Alex Medved L Sergey Suchorukov 0-6 0-2

Sean Bilodeau w Artur hucistov 8-4 1:10

Note: hucistov has placed in several international events. Bilodeau trailed 4-1 in first period with :15 to go and scored seven points.

Taylor Doan L Michael Korgov 0-7 :50

Jacob Bachman L Vladimir Jolobov 0-6 0-6

Jimmy Hamel W Ivan Kosterin 0-7 1-0 1-0

Travis Stem L Leonid Nasonov 1-2 0-5

Ryan Malo W Alexej Manin 5-5 1;50

Note: Ryan lost first period but then dominated 2nd period

Connor McNamara W Semen Kuzenzov 3-0 1:00

Zach Rey W Kirill Bondarez 5-0 :50

 

Friendly matches: (names not available)

Sean Walton

0-7 0-1

4-4 1:12

 

Walter Peppleman:

1-5 3-2 6-5

Trailed 5-1 in third with minute to go before rallying to win.

 

Ryan Medved

1-6 2-7

 

Taylor Doan

0-5 1:35

0-3 1:10

1-0 defaulted in 2nd period. Greco match

 

Jacob Bachman

3-0 1-0

 

Jimmy Hamel

0-6 :50

 

Travis Stem

0-2 :48

 

Ryan Malo

1-0 6-0

 

Connor McNamara

:35

 

Zach Rey

4-0 :10

In Osinski, we switched our housing situation and we moved to a very small hotel.  While it is clean, it is much different than anything anyone has stayed in before.  We are in a poor part of the world so it is what one might expect.  They all handled it well and it’s also a great learning experience.

After breakfast on Sunday the team went to see the Russian Orthodox Church and hear part of the service. The church is extremely beautiful which makes it sticks out from what the rest of the city is like.

The guys had two good workouts on Sunday.  In between the sessions they went swimming at the river.

Today (Monday) the team had a morning training session. After practice the team was invited by a local businessman/politician to have lunch at his factory in Kaltane.

We had a second workout tonight. Some of the middleweight guys got a great workout with a few wrestlers who have placed in the past at the Russian national championships. The Russian club coach taught a little bit of technique and it was solid workout.

Tonight was spent relaxing and walking to the city center to go the market.  The weather here has been very hot and humid which has made the guys lose some weight.

The hosts in Osinski have been awesome; they have treated us great.  The clubs feature athlete was the Olympic bronze medalist in the women’s division at the Beijing Olympics. 

Since we are in a much bigger city, the people are not as friendly as they were in Bachatski.  There have been no requests for pictures.

On Tuesday there will be a morning training session and then a dual competition at night.  Following the match, we will jump on a bus for an eight hour bus ride to the city of Berdsk.

Sean Walton..record 3-3

Scores:

0-3. 0-6

6-0 7-1

0-1 0-6

1:55

:57

0-1 2-3

Ricky Deubel..record 2-2

Scores;

5-2. 0-4. 0-6

2-0. 1-0

0-1 4-0 1-2

2-1 1-6 5-2

Ryan Medved. Record 2-2

Scores:

1-3. 2-3

5-0. 5-2

7-0 6-0

2-0 1-3 2-4

Sean Bilodeau. Record 5-1

Scores:

:44

1:04

1:49

:33

0-3. 0-3

1:05

Walter Peppleman record 5-1

2-0 2-0

:10

0-3 0-4

:07

:48

6-0. 3-2

Alex Medved 3-2

0-4 0-3

5-0 5-2

6-0 2-0

1;48

6-0 6-0

Taylor Doan record: 1-5

Scores

0-1 0-3

2-5 1:03

6-0 1-5 6-1

0-6 6-1 1-1

2-0 1-4 1-5

0-7 0-8

Jimmy Hamel record 2-2

Scores

0-1 0-7

1-0 2-0

:45

5-2 1-0

Jake Bachman record 0-4

Scores

3-3. 1:15

0-1 1-1

0-6 2-3

0-6 8-5 1-4

Connor McNamara record 2-2

4-2 0-2 1;59

0-2 0-3

0-3 0-2

6-0 1:30

Ryan Malo record 4-0

0-1 2-0 1-0 (former world university champ and world cup runner up) 7-0 8-1

0-2 3-0 4-2

6-0 7-0

Travis stem record 1-2

Scores:

1:00

3-10 1-6

0-6 6-1 0-1

Zach Rey record 2-0

Scores:

1-0. 4-0

6-0 6-0

The guys wrestled well outside in 90 degree heat. The event was a big deal and had all town leaders there. Zach was interviewed on TV. The wrestlers spent hours after the event taking pictures and giving autographs to local youth.  The wrestlers received several nice gifts from the hosts.

Team will leave tommorrow for komerovo.  A few guys might compete in a 'traditional' wrestling event. Others will give demo at the festival.

After breakfast the team went to visit some local attractions.  Went to a church to see the holy water.  They feel water gives a special power.  Then went to local coal mine which was a big deal to the hosts.  They got to learn about the process and explore equipment.  Finally went to local museum on a group much like our native Americans.

Team had approximate two hour workout with the local club.  The guys trained hard and wrestled well.

Our match will start at 10am tomorrow.  There will be a 45 minute opening ceremony followed by dual.  Guys will wrestle 3-4 times.  They expect about 3500 people tomorrow. 

Zach Rey and coach beasley did an interview with local press. 

Things are going well in Bachatski. Team had a workout with the club team yesterday followed by a cook out at lake.  They had lamb which they were proud they just butchered.

Team is very popular in town as people stop there cars to get out and say hello.  At the place we are staying there is young kids here and they go crazy every time these any of our goals.  Some of people have wanted pictures of their babies with our guys.  Pretty neat experience.

Today we will be visiting the local mine which is a big deal to our hosts followed by another workout.

We will competition on Friday at an outdoor stadium.  We will be wrestling on a stage.  They expect much of the town to come out and watch.

On Saturday we will be a wrestling demonstration at a nearby town Islamic festival. They have invited our guys to show some technique.