Lancaster’s Wheeler wins Olympic bronze in Beijing
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
Adam Wheeler of Lancaster won an Olympic bronze medal on Thursday in the 96-kilogram Greco-Roman weight class at the Beijing Games’ wrestling venue.
Wheeler defeated Han Taeyoung of Korea in the bronze medal match, 3-1, 4-1, to earn the U.S. wrestling squad’s first medal at the Beijing Games.
Wheeler won his first two matches during Thursday’s morning session at the China Agricultural University Gymnasium, but was defeated in the semifinals by Germany’s Mirko Englich.
Wheeler hails from Lancaster and had competed for the U.S. Navy, then at the U.S. Olympic Education Center in Michigan before becoming a resident athlete at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
Dremiel Byers, who was eliminated from competition on Thursday morning, finished seventh in the the 120-kilogram weight class. Two-time Olympian Brad Vering placed 12th in the 84-kilogram weight class.
As for Wheeler, here’s what the athlete had to say at a post-match news conference: “My wife and my mother are here. We have 19 people who came here for me, and it can’t get any better than that.”
“I am very happy for Adam,” U.S. Greco-Roman Coach Steve Fraser said. “He has worked hard for many years, especially the last few months. He has a great attitude. He is a wonderful, coachable kid.”
Thursday marked the final day of Greco-Roman competition at the Beijing Games. Wrestling will resume on Saturday with the women’s freestyle tournament.’
-- Greg Johnson