Sports briefs for June 20, 2005

Monday, June 20, 2005 | 9:15 a.m.

Germany beats Russia; U.S. team wins bronze

Anja Mueller recorded a team-high 15 touches Sunday, helping Germany beat Russia 33-28 for the foil team title at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Svetlana Boiko, a three-time Olympian, cut her team's deficit to four touches with 18 seconds to play, but Katja Waechter tallied the final touch to close out the win.

Germany went 3-0 in the one-day event, topping Poland 45-26 in the quarterfinals and Italy 36-27 in the semifinals. The United States lost in the first round.

Russia beat China 45-35 behind a match-high 20 touches from Elena Netchaeva in winning the sabre team title. The United States beat France 45-36 in the bronze match.

Bono makes team in return to Hilton

Iowa State assistant coach Chris Bono earned a spot on the U.S. freestyle team, beating Jared Lawrence in the 145.5-pound final in Ames, Iowa.

Bono competed at Hilton Coliseum for the first time since he wrestled for Iowa State nearly a decade ago.

Bono, the U.S. champion at 145.5 pounds, beat Lawrence two matches to none to make the national team for the first time since 2002 and for the third time overall.

As the national champ, Bono received a bye to the final round. Lawrence, who was an NCAA champion at Minnesota, had to win a challenge tournament on Saturday to advance. Bono beat Lawrence 2-0, 0-2, 2-0 in the first match of the best-of-three set, then secured his berth on the team with a 3-0, 3-2 victory.

Under new freestyle rules, each period is scored separately and a wrestler must win two of the three periods to get the victory.

Clijsters wins title

Kim Clijsters defeated Russian qualifier Vera Douchevina 7-5, 6-0 at Eastbourne, England for her third title of the year.

Klara Koukalova defeated fellow Czech Lucie Safarova 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 on Saturday to win her first WTA championship.

-- Sun wire services