Maroulis Earns Third Olympic Medal; Lee and Brooks Medal On Tough Friday for USAW

There’s a saying in wrestling circles that the emotional roller coaster you ride as a coach or a fan at a wrestling tournament is akin to “weddings and funerals.” One minute you’re shedding tears of joy for an incredible accomplishment you hoped would come together for years, while the next you’re fighting the other sort of tears after watching someone’s dreams shattered in real-time. 

That saying has been used for wrestling tournaments since as far as I can remember. District tournaments, state tournaments, and national tournaments, alike. Now take those feeling and multiple them by ten as you watch a tournament that only comes around ever four years and features the best wrestlers in the world. 

Those emotions were in full effect Friday for American wrestling fans. And to be honest, probably more of the bad than good. Or maybe those negative feelings carry more baggage than the good. 

While there were a couple stomach punches in the morning session (Kayla Miracle and Mason Parris), we saw Kyle Dake cruise to a pair of dominant techs, the second coming over a two-time world medalist. The 33-year-old Dake was finally going to get his Olympic gold medal. Some of his biggest perceived threats were on the opposite half of the bracket and he had an opponent, Daichi Takatani (Japan), who he had beaten at the World Championships in 2023. All is good, right? 

As the saying goes, “That’s why they don’t wrestle matches on paper.” 

The heavily favored Dake started off his semifinal bout as most American fans expected with a takedown off of a low single. Takatani fought back with a misdirection low-single that we’d become familiar with throughout the bout. In a sequence we’ve grown accustomed to, Dake locked up a chest wrap and took Takatani across his back for a two-and-two exchange of exposure points. Takatani ended up on top and only trailed 4-3 from his reversal point. 

Later in the first, Takatani reeled off a similar attack and secured a takedown along with two sets of exposure points to blow the match open at 9-4. 

After the break, Dake came out fired up and scored with a sweep single, into a trapped-arm gut, which put him down by only a point. 

From there on out it was Takatani’s show. He continued to get to Dake’s legs and gave up points from the chest wrap while adding them himself. After that sequence, the bout was 15-10 in favor of the Japanese wrestler.

Late in the final stanza, the two got into another lengthy scramble, one that seemed difficult to interpret for scoring purposes. After a challenge, the final score was deemed to be 20-12 in favor of Takatani. 

While there could be some questions regarding how that score came about, you have to give Takatani credit for repeatedly getting to Dake’s legs and putting him in disadvantageous positions. 

Dake will wrestle for a second Olympic bronze medal tomorrow against the winner of Khetag Tsabolov (Serbia) and Genadry Garzon Caballero (Cuba). 

Fair or not, the Dake loss seemed to set the tone for the rest of the session. 

The next American to take the mat was Spencer Lee in his 57 kg gold medal match with Japan’s Rei Higuchi, a 2016 Olympic silver medalist. The first period featured both wrestlers handfighting and avoiding any serious risks. Lee was able to post two points, both of which were a result of shot clock violations. 

The big flurry of the match saw both wrestlers scrambling and Lee ended up on his back which gave Higuchi two points and the lead since his one score was worth more. From that point forward, Lee pushed hard for another score, driving Higuchi out-of-bounds on two occasions; however, both were deemed to be grounded and no points were awarded. During the final seconds, Lee attempted a last-ditch-throw attempt which ended up with Higuchi on top for a 4-2 final score. 

Lee would settle for the silver medal in his first Senior World or Olympic event. 

Also, in his first Senior-level event of this magnitude was Aaron Brooks, who was wrestling for a bronze medal at 86 kg in men’s freestyle. Brooks was looking to bounce back after a heartbreaking loss in the final seconds of Thursday’s semifinals. 

Like most of his bouts in the tournament, Brooks used the first period to wear his opponent, Javrail Shapiev (Uzbekistan) down. He entered the break with a 1-0 lead on a shot clock violation. In the second, after a step-out point, Brooks firmly seized ahold of the match with a double leg that saw him finish high for a 4-0 lead. Brooks returned to the double leg out of bounds for a 5-0 lead. 

Shapiev was never able to get any offense going and 5-0 was the final score for Brooks. While he was surely disappointed by a semifinal loss, Brooks finished the tournament in style with a bronze medal less than five months after he wrapped up his storied career at Penn State.

It was fitting that the last American to take the mat on Friday was 2016 Olympic Champion Helen Maroulis. Maroulis is already a legend in the United States for her lengthy accomplishments and was looking to add another against Hannah Taylor (Canada) in a bronze medal matchup at 57 kg. 

On an anxiety-filled day, Maroulis took care of business in a swift, decisive manner. Maroulis took a shot and found Taylor off-balance, which led the American star to trip her neighbor to the north straight to her back, where she never left, for a 24-second fall. 

The bronze medal makes Maroulis the only American woman with three Olympic medals. Only Bruce Baumgartner has more, with four. 

The joy on Maroulis’ face, someone who has done it all in the sport, for winning a bronze medal hopefully brought some joy and a tiny bit of perspective to American wrestling fans who ran the gamut of emotions on Friday.