Wrestling Event Coming to Chicago

By Todd McClamroch in News on Jan 31, 2007 6:03PM

Real wrestling, not the fake kind with funny costumes, is coming to the Chicago area next week. World Sport Chicago and USA Wrestling are putting together the first annual Chicago Cup at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston. The event will feature a cold-war rematch of Russia vs. USA; the Russians are considered to have the best wrestling team in the world. In addition to the feature matches, there will be competitions featuring wrestlers from China and Canada as well. The Tribune writes that this event is meant to show Chicago's ability to host amateur athletic events: "As part of an effort to show Olympic officials that Chicago can successfully host amateur athletes in its bid to win the 2016 Games, dozens of top wrestlers will battle in Evanston next week."

The competition is Olympic-style Greco-Roman wrestling. The event will feature both Men's and Women's competitions. Two natives of Illinois, Lindsey Durlacher and Mary Kelly, will be representing the United States. Lindsey Durlacher is a Greco-Roman wrestler who competed at the University of Illinois collegiately. This past year, he won a bronze medal at 121 lbs. during the World Championships.

Mary Kelley is a freestyle wrestler. She will be competing against Canadian Carol Huyhn on Tuesday. At the World Championships last year, Mary finished ninth while her competitor finished fifth. Earlier this year at a tournament in Canada, Kelley finished second behind Huyhn. Kelley commented, "I haven't beaten her yet. I'm a little bit nervous wrestling her in front of the home crowd."

The event is free but has limited availability. There are still 6,000 tickets available. To reserve a ticket for the event visit the World Sport Chicago website.