Kevin Darkus

Kevin Darkus (born 1962 ) is a former American wrestler . He was runner- up in the 1985 free style bantamweight world champion .

Career

Kevin Darkus is from Erie , Pennsylvania . He attended the Erie Cathedral Prep. High School and started wrestling there , specializing in free style. He also started for the Cyclone Wrestling Club and became the American junior bantamweight champion in 1980. After transferring to Pennsylvania State University, he also started several times at the NCAA Division I Collegiate Championships (= US student championship) and won this championship in 1980 in the juniors (up to the age of 18). In 1982 he finished 2nd behind Barry Davis in the senior bantamweight division and won this bantamweight championship in 1984 in front of Joe McFarland and John Loomis.

In 1983 Kevin Darkus had two notable victories. First he won the "Northern Open" and defeated his feared opponent Barry Davis and then he also took 1st place at the Midwest Championships, defeating the young John Smith (wrestler) , who later became two-time Olympic champion and multiple world champion .

In the US trials (Trials) for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles , he finished second behind Barry Davis and thus missed the jump to the Olympic Games. In 1985 Kevin Darkus won the trials for the World Championships in Budapest and started there in the bantamweight division. With excellent fights he reached the final there in which he was defeated by the then almost invincible Sergei Beloglasow from the USSR . But he could look forward to the vice-world title.

In 1986 Kevin Darkus won the American Championship of the AAU (Amateur Athletes Union) in Las Vegas . In the final, he defeated it Barry Davis. In the same year he reached the 2nd place at the Goodwill Games in Moscow, defeated only by Sergei Beloglasow.

After winning the Sunkist Open in Phoenix in 1987, he became USA bantamweight champion for the second time in 1988. Kevin Darkus then ended his international wrestling career, but started a few more years for the Minnesota Grizzlies in the US Wrestling League (US team championship).

Kevin Darkus now works as a fitness instructor and wrestling trainer.

International success

(WM = world championship, F = free style, Ba = bantam weight, back then up to 57 kg body weight)

• 1980, 1st place , Junior World Championships in Colorado Springs , F, Ba, ahead of Martin Herbster , FRG , Takao Kashiwase, Japan , Claes Andersson, Sweden and Ahmed Kassem, Egypt ;
• 1985, 2nd place , World Championships in Budapest , F, Ba, behind Sergej Beloglasow , USSR and in front of Georgi Kaltschew , Bulgaria , Toshio Asakura , Japan, Kong Wee-Young, South Korea and Alejandro Puerto Diaz , Cuba ;
• 1986, 2nd place , Goodwill Games in Moscow , F, Ba, behind Sergej Beloglasow and in front of Stefan Iwanow , Bulgaria, Njamdawaagiin Ganbaatar , Mongolia , Toshikiyo Morishita, Japan and Ahmet Ak , Turkey ;
• 1986, 2nd place , World Super Championships (unofficial) in Tokyo , F, Ba, behind Sergej Beloglasow and in front of Yutaka Kakuchiyama and Naohira Saito, bde. Japan

swell

• Trade journal Der Ringer , number 1171985, page 6
• Database of the Institute for Applied Training Sciences at the University of Leipzig
• Website topic of the US Wrestling Association

Web links

• Profile of Kevin Darkus at the Institute for Applied Exercise Science