| Defending Oceania champion Faafetai Iutana secured Samoa's only medal at the Oceania Wrestling Championships held in Palau last week. Iutana had to settle for a silver medal after narrowly losing to his Australian opponent, 6-3, in the final of the freestyle discipline. Iutana was undefeated during the preliminary rounds, having won four matches, but was very unlucky to lose to the Australian based Russian, Igor Praducikov. It, however, appears that Samoa's hopes of medals were dashed before the competition had started.After running into problems with funds before they left, the team missed out on their specialty event, the Greco-Roman. This was a huge blow because this was the event Samoa had dominated for a number of years, and it was the only discipline they had trained for. Coach Dr Chris Nedev said it was a big disappointment, especially for the Iutana brothers who had trained very hard for the competition. He blamed poor organization by the Oceania Weightlifting Federation. "The organization was very poor," Dr Nedev said. "We were never told the Greco-Roman style was to be held 3 days earlier. We should've been told."Dr Nedev said part of the problem was the delay in securing funds to cover the cost of the trip. "We got held up with funding over here, and as you remember, our team was reduced to only two athletes. This was also part of the problem." Dr Nedev, however, praised Iutana for his efforts in the freestyle."I was very happy with his performance. He was very unfortunate in the final because he was right up there with his opponent until the last two minutes," Dr Nedev said. "Faafetai wrestled extremely well. I'm very proud of him." President of the Samoa Wrestling Federation, Tuaopepe Jerry Wallwork shared Dr Nedev's disappointment. He said the delay in freeing up funds in Samoa contributed largely to the team missing out on the Greco-Roman competition. "I'm a bit disappointed," Tuaopepe remarked. "The team missed out on their specialty event and that was very disappointing. The delay of funds definitely didn't help." Tuaopepe said the freestyle wrestling was not practised in Samoa because there was no coach. "The freestyle discipline is not practiced here because there's no coach. We only practice Greco-Roman." Tuaopepe acknowledged deputy Prime Minister, Misa Telefoni's support with the funds to take the team to the champs. Meanwhile, Dr Nedev said the team's next challenge is the Commonwealth Games. This will be a gigantic task, especially for some wrestlers who were not able to compete in Palau. But for Iutana, Dr Nedev was optimistic. "He's got great potential and he's very keen. I hope he can continue."
Samoa Observer Iutana brothers back By Keni Ramese Lesa
19 April 2002 Former Oceania wrestling champion, Tafua Iutana Iutana and his younger brother, Faafetai Iutana are back in the Samoa wrestling team for the Oceania Wrestling Championship to be held in Palau next week. Confirmed by coach/manager, Dr Chris Nedev yesterday, the powerful Iutana brothers will lead a five-strong Samoan contingent to the champs. Samoa came second during the last Oceania Champs held in Melbourne, Australia. Against all odds, Samoa bagged 3 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze medals to finish ahead of New Zealand. It was a marvelous achievement for a relatively inexperienced Samoan team. It secured Samoa a spot in the Olympics, which was then taken up by Iutana Iutana. Next week, places for the Commonwealth Games will be up for grabs. And Dr Nedev who is looking at securing two or three spots for Samoa admits it will not be an easy task. "We know the competition is going to be very tough especially with places for the Commonwealth up for grabs," Dr Nedev said. "New Zealand and Australia will be bringing full strength teams because they know places in the Commonwealth Games will be at stake." But Dr Nedev was confident of his team's chances. He said the wrestlers have been training long enough and were in great condition for the competition. "This team is stronger than any team we have ever put out before. We've had very few injuries which has been very helpful and the wrestlers are doing very well." The team have been training since November last year and Dr Nedev said they have made vast improvement in their techniques. "We've got a fairly strong and experienced team. We are confident about our chances and we're looking at securing two or three places for the Commonwealth Games," Dr Nedev remarked. "There's a lot of potential and medal prospects are definitely strong." Samoa is expecting Australia and Guam to be their toughest competitions. They have been stumbling blocks for Samoa in previous tournaments and Dr Nedev is not anticipating change. Ten countries will take part in the competition to be held over a period of seven days. The Samoan team departs for Palau on 24 April | 
