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    Ruiz picks up bronze medal, Bulgarian gold

    BUDAPEST -- Olympic champion Armen Nazarian of Bulgaria won the gold medal Sunday in the 132-pound Greco-Roman division on the last day of the World Wrestling Championships.

    Justin Ruiz of the United States won a bronze medal in the 212-pound category after Margulan Assembekov of Kazakhstan was disqualified for three cautions by the referee.

    "This is the biggest accomplishment I have had in wrestling," said Ruiz, a two-time U.S. national champion. "I feel great winning a world medal. It is one of my goals. I had a setback last year not making the Olympic team."

    Ruiz said the new scoring rules, which seemed to confuse some wrestlers and coaches as much as referees and the public, contributed to his victory.

    "I think (Assembekov) didn't know what was going on," he said.

    Hungary took the Greco-Roman team title with 41 points, ahead of Russia (27) and Turkey (26).

    Turkey's Hamza Yerlikaya defeated Hungary's Lajos Virag to win the 212-pound category, while the title at 265 pounds went to Cuba's Mijail Lopez, who beat Hungary's Mihaly Deak-Bardos.

    Nazarian defeated Iran's Ali Ashkani Agboloag in winning his third world title. He was elected to wrestling's Hall of Fame on Sunday.

    "I want to continue because you can never have too much success," he said.

    Yerlikaya, a two-time Olympic champion, also took home his third world crown, although the previous two were at 181 pounds, in 1993 and 1995.

    "Losing didn't even cross my mind," Yerlikaya said. "I feel I've managed to get settled in this weight category, where I'd like to remain."

    Lopez, a five-time winner at the Pan American Games, easily beat Bardos. Bardos was competing in his fourth consecutive worlds final and fifth overall, but has had to settle for silver each time.

    "It's been a long time since I felt so much pressure," Lopez said. "The home venue, the large crowd, everything favored the Hungarian."

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