Douglas says U-S wrestlers won’t get any favors at Olympics

Iowa State University will host the 2005 World Team Trials. The event will determine the spots on the United States team at the World Championships and will include freestyle, greco roman and women’s wrestling, which is being contested in the Olympics for the first time this month. Iowa State coach Bobby Douglas is one of the coaches of the U.S. freestyle team that competes later this month in Athens. Douglas is confident the U.S. will perform well but says they may need to overcome the officiating to do so. “We don’t expect to get any favors,” Douglas says. Douglas says wrestling has the same kind of judging problems that have been seen in figure skating and boxing. “We (the U.S.) are kind of in the doghouse with the international community, so it’s going to be an uphill battle for us.” Douglas says recent incidents between U.S. and Iranian wrestlers have highlighted the problem. “A wrestler’s going to have to win it out on the mat,” Douglas says. “They can’t rely on officials.”