SYDNEY Young stars dominated the first day of the Olympic wrestling competition on Sunday as an illustrious array of world and Olympic champions was defeated.
Eleven world and three Olympic champions competed in the Greco-Roman wrestling but by the end of the day just four of them remained in the tournament.
As the top names fell by the wayside, several young stars of the future scored impressive victories.
The 21-year-old European champion, Russian Varteres Samourgachev, was the first to strike in the under 63kg category, eliminating reigning Olympic champion, Wlodzimierz Zawadzki of Poland.
Samourgachev also beat former world champion, Seref Eroglu of Turkey.
But the most dramatic upset was in the under 97kg category where 20-year-old American Garrett Lowney upset five-time world champion and overwhelming favorite, Gogui Koguouachvili of Russia.
Lowney, who wrestles for Minnesota storm in the United States, caused a shock by moving into a 3-0 lead.
Koguouachvili seemed a little out of sorts and struggled to get any score on the board.
He stumbled back into contention when Lowney was penalized two points and then the Russian leveled the scores to take the bout into overtime.
Lowney was visibly upset at the penalties but he pulled out a great victory with a brilliant maneuver, using great strength and agility to launch Koguouachvili over his head and score a maximum five points for a stunning suplex.
In the same category Davyd Saldadze of Ukraine topped one of the two pools of four fighters to progress directly into the semifinals.
In the Olympic wrestling tournament there are four pools of three fighters and two pools of four fighters per weight category.
The two winners from four-strong pools move directly into the semifinals while the four three-strong pool winners fight off in the quarterfinals.
In the under 54kg category the 1999 world champion from Cuba, Lazaro Rivas, looked impressive, winning two out of three fights by technical superiority, a term used to describe a lead by ten or more points that brings an automatic end to the six minute contest.
In the under 76kg category, David Manukyan of Ukraine, one of the favorites, went one better than Rivas. He won one contest by technical superiority and another by a fall.
A fall is the quickest way to score an instant knockout.
The victim was Faafetai Iutana, who made history by becoming the first Samoan ever to compete in an Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling competition.
He lost all three fights but received a rousing reception.
(Reuter)