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LeCuyer Brings Home Bronze

Plano Grad Impressive At Submission Grappling World Games

 

By Bill Lidinsky

For the Valley Free Press

 

  Back in October of 2008, The Valley Free Press brought you the story of Tom LeCuyer, a 30-year-old current Plano resident and 1996 graduate of Plano High School .

  At the time, LeCuyer, who was a three time Illinois High School Association state wrestling champion during his years as a Reaper, was preparing for the biggest athletic challenge of his very storied grappling career.

  In December, LeCuyer set off on an incredible journey that brought he and his teammates from the United States to Lucerne , Switzerland to compete in the Submission Grappling World Championships.

  Not only did LeCuyer bring home a bronze medal with a 3-1 record during the 70 kilogram No-Gi classification, but he helped the U.S. contingent to a first place overall world team title as the red, white, and blue easily outdistanced runner up France 135 points to 53 to capture gold.

  The following is a look at a special journey that brought a former state championship wrestler from Plano to the brink of a world championship in Europe .

Arriving in Lucerne

  The tournament was scheduled to start on Saturday December 20 and run through Sunday December 21, so LeCuyer wanted to arrive early enough in Switzerland and get established in the foreign country. He made sure he took enough time to soak in all that Lucerne had to offer.

  “It was my first time ever in Europe and it was really neat to experience all the different cultures. It was an amazing experience,” LeCuyer said. “We arrived in Lucerne on Tuesday December 16 and weigh ins were Friday, so we kind of walked around the city a few days while squeezing some workouts in. Lucerne is a very old and beautiful Swiss city. There’s so much old architecture there because Switzerland was neutral during World War II so nothing was destroyed unlike the rest of Europe . So you have thousand year old buildings next to some that are 10 or 20 years old. It’s a really neat contrast in architecture, let alone seeing some of the oldest buildings on earth. It was a phenomenal way to start off the trip.”

A Good Start / Some Bad Luck

  After seeing all the sites that Lucerne had to offer it was time to get down to business as LeCuyer started his tournament on a high note with a submission victory over Patrick Berisha of Kosovo.

  “I won by submission and I think it was under two minutes,” LeCuyer said. “I took him down and after a little scramble on the ground, I ended up reversing him, got on top and arm barred him. It was the way an opening match should go. Unfortunately, I got a bad draw for round two.”

  LeCuyer drew fellow countryman and top rated grappler Ricky Lundell as his round two opponent from the 28-person field. Lundell also won his first round match and now faced the prospect of wrestling LeCuyer with the loser having to count on the other making it to the finals and bringing them back into the repechage (wrestle backs) to fight for third place.

  Despite a hotly contested matchup in which both grapplers pushed each other to the limit, Lundell bested LeCuyer 6-1. The Plano native now had to root for Lundell to win out in order for him to be able to collect some hardware.

  “It was probably the worst draw any two Americans had in any of the weight classes running into one another so early in the tournament,” LeCuyer said. “Lundell is a tough guy and he beat me. But he made it to the finals, got a gold medal, and that’s what gave me the opportunity to fight back and get a bronze medal. Had we not had that bad draw, I think we probably could have made it to the final match to face another.”

Going For Bronze

  LeCuyer had to wait a few hours to learn of Lundell’s success. He then took on Canada ’s Angelo Panoussis and fought to a 10-4 victory advancing yet another round toward third place.

  Once again he was successful defeating Aleksander Milicevic of Serbia by the score of 7-3.

  LeCuyer then won the bronze match by default when his opponent from Brazil could not compete due to a foot injury. All in all, a great performance by a great grappler, who has now seen phenomenal success not just at the state or even national level, but on the biggest stage in the world.

  “It was very gratifying to win a medal at the world level. I think it’s now my greatest accomplishment,” LeCuyer said. “I’ve had different levels of success in high school and college, but this I so different because it’s at such a high level of competition. It’s just been an amazing experience.”

What’s Next?

  The next world championships will be in November 2009 once again in Lucerne . Will LeCuyer be going for gold next fall?

  “I suppose that’s as good a goal as any to set my sights on. Trying to win a gold medal this time surely would be a lofty goal,” LeCuyer said. “I don’t think it would be unachievable, but there’s still some other things I’m thinking of. There’s always the fight game and there’s other big submission wrestling tournaments I’m looking at as well. I’m still trying to decide what to do next.”

  Whatever he decides, LeCuyer who trains at Atlas Xtreme Team in Yorkville, will always know that his legacy is firmly in tact as now a “world” class grappler. LeCuyer built the foundation for his success at the grass roots level that brought him from Plano , IL . to Lucerne Switzerland for the scene of his greatest triumph.