Comeback Kid Sims Wins Wrestling Gold : Olympic Festival: Former State champion from Woodbridge takes 149.5-pound Greco-Roman medal.

Heath Sims, a two-time State wrestling champion while at Woodbridge High School, won his second U.S. Olympic Festival gold medal in Monday’s Greco-Roman style competition.

Sims, competing for the West team, rallied to defeat the East’s Kevin Bracken of Chicago, 5-3, and win the 149.5-pound division.

“I fell behind for the third time,” said Sims, 21, who won his third match without a loss. “I knew if I could get on top of him, I could lift him. I tried to control him on my feet, so I could get him down and turn him from there.”

Mark Manning, the national junior coach for USA Wrestling, said Sims simply refused to lose.

“He was behind (Monday), but he lifted the man for a three-point move and that gave him a cushion,” Manning said. “He won in overtime in his first two matches, mostly because he’s just a very confident wrestler. Both matches he could have lost, but he showed the mental toughness to pull it out.”

Manning said Sims, ranked second nationally in Greco-Roman wrestling, is one of the United States’ top prospects in the sport.

“He’s a very talented athlete,” Manning said. “He can throw you, he can lift you from the bottom and he’s also pretty tough in the down position.”

Sims said: “I thought the Festival was great for experience. I got to wrestle some of the top guys in the weight class. Whenever you wrestle the top guys, it helps bring up the level of your performance. It helps give you experience for the really big tournaments that mean something.”

Sims won the biggest high school tournament in California--the State title--in 1988 at 132 pounds and 1989 at 138 pounds. In 1989, Sims was The Times Orange County wrestler of the year.

After graduating from Woodbridge, he chose to join wrestling clubs instead of competing in college. He attended national wrestling power Arizona State last year and will attend Cal State Fullerton this fall, but Sims has never competed on the college level.

“He liked the Greco-Roman style and didn’t think college wrestling would help him improve that style,” Manning said.

Sims competes for the California Jet Club in San Clemente and is a three-time national age-group champion in Greco-Roman. In 1990, Sims won his first Olympic Festival gold medal.

He figures to battle two-time Olympian Andy Seras, 31, for a spot on the 1996 Olympic team.

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In tennis competition, former Canyon High standout Eric Lin has reached the finals of the men’s doubles and mixed doubles. Lin and Paul Harsanyi of Potomac, Md., defeated Quentin Huff of Winston-Salem, N.C., and Derek Pope of Lafayette, La., 6-1, 6-0, in the semifinals. Lin and Cristina Caparis of El Paso, Tex., beat Alex Roberman of New York and Katie Schlukebir of Kalamazoo, Mich., 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5) in the mixed doubles semifinals.

Lin defaulted his singles match in the consolation round.

Times staff writer Dave McKibben contributed to this story.