Joe Williams might one day look back on his Olympic wrestling experience and see it as one of the biggest achievements of his life.
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Don’t expect it anytime soon.
The 1993 Mt. Carmel High graduate was on the verge of contending for an Olympic medal but lost his 163-pound quarterfinal match to Gennadiy Laliyev of Kazakhstan 3-2 in overtime Sunday at Ano Liossia Olympic Hall.
Williams trailed 2-0 before rallying to tie. In overtime, he and Laliyev were locked in a front bear hug but quickly went out of bounds. Officials immediately reviewed videotape and awarded a point to Laliyev, ruling Williams released first from their hold.
“It was the right call,” U.S. coach Tom Brands said.
And Williams knew it. His Olympic dream had vanished in two seconds, the time it took for the overtime period to end.
“I think I’m going to wake up and the match didn’t occur,” Williams said wistfully. “When I settle down, it will hit me hard. That’s when it will really hurt.”
Officially, Williams, 29, finished fifth. His early loss set up a fifth-place match with Murad Gaidarov of Belarus, but officials disqualified Gaidarov for a skirmish with Bouvaissa Saitiev of Russia after his quarterfinal loss.
Williams didn’t want to step on the mat to acknowledge fifth place. Many wrestlers don’t bother with consolation competition in a tournament at this level.
“He made the best decision by going up on the stage,” Brands said.
First Williams had to swallow his pride.
“It’s kind of [difficult] when you don’t reach your goals to get up for that next match,” he said. “It’s definitely the case here.”
Teammate Daniel Cormier also left the mat dazed and confused over his 3-2 bronze-medal loss to Iran’s Alireza Heidari at 211.5 pounds. Cormier had controlled most of the match before Heidari stunned him with a sudden surge of aggressiveness.
“If I would have kept wrestling the way I was, I was going to win the match,” Cormier said. “I stopped, and that’s just not the way I wrestle.”
A day after Cael Sanderson won Olympic gold for the U.S. and teammates Stephen Abas and Jamill Kelly won silver medals, the Americans searched for solace and found none.
“When you look at an event like this, this is one of the most important tournaments,” Williams said. “Your life is based on this tournament. I think [the loss] will overshadow everything. I didn’t reach my goal.”
Williams, who didn’t make the 2000 Olympic team, will be nearly 34 by the time the U.S. sends a team to Beijing in 2008. He can’t imagine trying to get there.
“It’s too early to even talk about or think about wrestling,” he said.