Burroughs wins another World title, Green gets bronze

LAS VEGAS -- Jordan Burroughs delivered the grand finale of the World Wrestling Championships on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

The 27-year-old Burroughs crushed Mongolia's Unurbat Purevjav 10-0 in the gold-medal match at 74 kilos in front of a sold-out crowd at the Orleans Arena. It was the final match on the final day of the six-day event held in Sin City.

"You really can't put this moment into perspective because this is what we dream of," said Burroughs, who outscored his opposition 45-5.

Jordan Burroughs jumps into the arms of his coach Mark Manning following his gold-medal victory on Saturday night (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)

Burroughs used his trademark double leg for a takedown midway through the first period to gain a 2-0 advantage. In the second period Burroughs fired off a shot and the Mongolian attempted to counter by exposing the American. Purevjav was initially awarded four points for the move, while Burroughs was given two points, resulting in a score of 4-4. USA challenged the call, and it was overturned, resulting in four points for Burroughs and none for the Mongolian to bring the score to 6-0. Burroughs continued the offensive assault, picking up two more takedowns and ending the match by technical superiority with just a few seconds left on the clock.

"I really wanted that tech fall," said Burroughs. "I think I got the last takedown with two or three seconds left. It was the sprinkles on the sundae. It was nice."

It's Burroughs' third World title to go along with his Olympic gold medal in 2012, and fifth World or Olympic medal in five years. He is now one of four American men's freestyle wrestlers to win three World titles, joining John Smith, Bruce Baumgartner and Lee Kemp.

"It never gets easier," said Burroughs. "I'll tell you that much. It's always tough. We're always finding new ways to evolve."

Jordan Burroughs finishes for a takedown on Mongolia's Unurbat Purevjav in the gold-medal match at 74 kilos on Saturday (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)

With the victory, Burroughs finishes the year with a perfect 22-0 record. He has compiled an international career record of 114-2.

"He doesn't want to just keep winning," said Burroughs' coach Mark Manning. "He wants to win and keep getting better. That's what sets him apart."

Burroughs, who won two NCAA titles at Nebraska, had a message for the NCAA.

"If anyone from the NCAA is watching this, change college wrestling to freestyle wrestling," said Burroughs. "That would be ideal. I love freestyle."

Burroughs wasn't the only American to win a medal on Saturday night.

James Green, competing in his first World Championships, captured a bronze medal at 70 kilos with a first-period fall over world No. 9 Muroslav Kirov of Bulgaria. It was his first match after losing in the semifinals to Iran's Hassan Yazdani in Saturday's first session.

The 22-year-old Green was dominant from the start in the bronze-medal match, getting a takedown off a double leg 26 seconds into the match to go up 2-0. He built his lead to 4-0 after countering a Kirov attack for a takedown. Midway through the opening period Green hit a clean single let attack, and the Bulgarian tried to counter it, but ended up getting put to his back and pinned.

"I knew I got that guy as soon as I stepped on the mat," said Green. "My head was in the match. My head was in the moment. Coming off that loss it kind of put fuel in the flames. I was ready to go."

The two U.S. medalists on Saturday, Burroughs and Green, are both former Nebraska wrestlers who are still training in Lincoln under Manning. Both are from New Jersey.

"We're young African Americans from South Jersey," said Burroughs. "We didn't really have much growing up. James' dad passed away when he was kid. Now he's gone from never winning an NCAA championship and being third at the NCAAs to being third in the world, and really creating a lot of opportunities for himself financially and just figuratively. I think he's got a bright future ahead."

James Green celebrates after winning a World bronze medal at 70 kilos (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)

Green had high praise for his coach after his bronze-medal victory.

"He's seen all types of different wrestlers, different styles," Green said of Mark Manning. "He knows how to make us better in the positions that we need a little help with, keeping our hands in front, not just trying to use our speed but use our hands and speed together, moving guys and getting them out of position. He's just a great coach. He gives you inspiration. He keeps your head up and keeps you wanting to work hard."

Green's weight class, 70 kilos, is not one of the six men's freestyle weight class contested in the Olympic Games. He has already made the decision that we will drop to 65 kilos for his Olympic run.

"It's a cut, but it's doable," Green said of making 65 kilos. "We've got a great plan, a great system. I'll be down quicker, still the same strength and looking to dominate guys."

Green has a win this year over Italy's Frank Chamizo, who became a World champion at 65 kilos this week in Las Vegas.

"With Chamizo winning, that just gives me confidence looking forward to 2016," said Green.

Russia won the men's freestyle team title with 61 points, followed by Iran with 48 points and Georgia with 44. Team USA finished seventh in the team standings.

"We've really got to get better as a country both technically and mentally, understanding that, listen, if you really want to be the bet you have to dedicate yourself. It's not about what you want, or what your family needs. If you want to wrestle, wrestle and listen to Bruce."

Also winning World titles on Saturday night were Georgia's Vladimer Khinchegashvili (57 kilos), Russia's Magomedras Gazimagomedov (70 kilos) and Turkey's Taha Akgul (125 kilos).

Vladimer Khinchegashvili came back to defeat Iran's Hassan Rahimi in the gold-medal match at 57 kilos (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)

Khinchegashvili won his first World title in dramatic fashion, beating Iran's Hassan Rahimi 5-4 in the gold-medal match at 57 kilos. Rahimi seemed to be in control of the match leading 4-1 in the second period. But the Georgian, a World silver medalist last year, kept attacking and picked up two late takedowns -- the final one coming off a duckunder in the last 15 seconds -- to pull out the victory.

World No. 1 Gazimagomedov of Russia handled Iran's Hassan Yazdani 10-3 in the gold-medal match at 70 kilos.

Akgul repeated as World champion at 125 kilos with a 10-0 technical superiority victory over Jamaladdin Magomedov of Azerbaijan in just over 60 seconds. He picked up a takedown and went to his lace and turned Magomedov four times to put the match away.

Russia's Bilyal Makhov became the first wrestler in 42 years to win a medal in both freestyle and Greco-Roman at the same Worlds. He took home a bronze medal in both styles.

Day 6 (Saturday) Medalists

Men's freestyle:

57 kilos:
Gold: Vladimer Khinchegashvili (Georgia)
Silver: Hassan Rahimi (Iran)
Bronze: Bekhbayar Erdenebat (Mongolia)
Bronze: Viktor Lebedev (Russia)

70 kilos:
Gold: Magomedras Gazimagomedov (Russia)
Silver: Hassan Yazdani (Iran)
Bronze: James Green (USA)
Bronze: Yakup Gor (Turkey)

125 kilos:
Gold: Taha Akgul (Turkey)
Silver: Jamaladdin Magomedov (Azerbaijan)
Bronze: Geno Petriashvili (Georgia)
Bronze: Bilyal Makhov (Russia)

74 kilos:
Gold: Jordan Burroughs (USA)
Silver: Unurbat Purevjav (Mongolia)
Bronze: Narsingh Yadav (India)
Bronze: Aniuar Geduev (Russia)

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Burroughs wins another World title, Green gets bronze

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