USOEC - Program Information

The Greco-Roman wrestling program at the United States Olympic Education Center was established in 1999. There are typically 20-25 resident athletes on the team each year. Athletes work on perfecting their technique in the wrestling gym on the second floor of Northern Michigan University's Superior Dome. Most of the current USOEC Greco-Roman wrestlers are ranked nationally, and several have represented the United States in world championship competition at the FILA-Junior, University and Senior levels.
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Ivan Ivanov - Head Coach

Ivan Ivanov set a primary goal when he took over the U.S. Olympic Education Center program in Greco-Roman wrestling five years ago. Ivanov wanted to build a program to the point where he could sell it based on the results.
Based on the results at the U.S. World Team Trials, Ivanov has plenty to offer to prospective recruits looking at the USOEC at Northern Michigan University.
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Joe Betterman - From Small Fish To Big Finishes

In the beginning, it would have been insane to predict Joe Betterman ever would come to this. How could anyone believe that a kid who entered Lake View in 1998 without a shred of wrestling experience would be a contender for the U.S. Olympic Greco-Roman team a decade later? But, boy, were there ever clues. There were clues in the toughness and guts of someone who played frosh-soph football in '98 measuring 4 feet 5 inches and weighing all of 70 pounds.
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Harry Lester - Earns Second Bronze Medal at 2007 World Championships

Lester won a bronze medal at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. in Greco-Roman on the first day of the World Wrestling Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 17. It was the second straight year that Lester has won a World bronze medal at this weight class.
Lester defeated Hungary’s Tamas Lorincz, 3-1, 2-1 in the bronze-medal match by employing his aggressive, attacking and entertaining style to control the match from start to finish.
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Jacob Curby - 2007 Bronze Medalist in Kartosia and Balavadzc International Tournament

Jacob Curby (LaGrange, Ill./Gator WC/USOEC), a member of the USOEC Greco-Roman team at Northern Michigan University, won a bronze medal at 66 kilograms at the Kartosia Greco-Roman Tournament Saturday, July 14, in Tblisi, Georgia.
Curby had a 3-1 record in this very competitive tournament featuring a number of strong European wrestling nations.
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Harry Lester - 2007 U.S. A. World Team Member

United States Olympic Education Center Greco-Roman wrestler Harry Lester (Akron, Ohio) took first at the U.S. World Team Trials for the third consecutive year at 66 kilograms. The competition ran June 9-10 in Las Vegas. It served as a qualifier for the 2007 World Championships this September in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Lester won bronze at the 2006 World Championships, but he has his eyes set on another color. In the next couple of months, I have to train my butt off, get myself prepared and go get a gold medal, he said.
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Harry Lester - 2007 Pan Am Champion

United States Olympic Education Center Greco-Roman wrestler Harry Lester of Akron, Ohio, won gold at the Pan American Games July 24 in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. 
The Northern Michigan University post-baccalaureate student raised Anyelo Mota of the Dominican Republic in a reverse lift, planting him onto his back for a first-period fall at 1:09 in the 66-kilogram final.
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Video Interviews

Here you will find video interviews from the USOEC at Northern Michigan University wrestling program. We have coaches, current athletes, and the first graduate from the program. Who is now training at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO and is attending graduate school. You will also see our product displayed by World Champ-Dermiel Byers. Take a look and see what people are saying about the wrestling USOEC program at Northern Michigan University.
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