InterMat Staff

106: 1st: Stevo Poulin (Shenendehowa, N.Y.) dec. Drake Ayala (Fort Dodge, Iowa) 11-8 3rd: Alex Almeyda (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) dec. Braxton Brown (Allen, Texas) 3-1 5th: Kelly Dunnigan (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.) dec. Diego Sotelo (Marmion Academy, Ill.) 4-3 7th: Dylan Chappell (Seneca Valley, Pa.) over Nasir Bailey (Illinois-8th grade) by forfeit 113: 1st: Richard Figueroa (Selma, Calif.) dec. Greg Diakomihalis (Hilton, N.Y.) 5-4 3rd: Jeremiah Reno (Liberty, Mo.) dec. Tristan Lujan (Selma, Calif.) 3-1, overtime 5th: Logan Agin (Lancaster, Ohio) dec. Cullan Schriever (Mason City, Ohio) 3-1 7th: Troy Spratley (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) dec. Nicholas Nardone (Delbarton, N.J.) 1-0 120: 1st: Lucas Byrd (Cincinnati LaSalle, Ohio) dec. Sam Latona (Thompson, Ala.) 6-3 3rd: Nic Bouzakis (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.) dec. Dylan Cedeno (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) 7-4 5th: Daniel Cardenas (Pomona, Colo.) dec. Anthony Clark (Delbarton, N.J.) 1-0, (ultimate) tiebreaker 7th: Antonio Lorenzo (St. John Bosco, Calif.) dec. Brayden Littell (Center Grove, Ind.) 3-1, overtime 126: 1st: Shayne Van Ness (Blair Academy, N.J.) dec. Ryan Jack (Danbury, Ct.) 10-6 3rd: Sammy Alvarez (St. Joseph Montvale, N.J.) dec. Malyke Hines (Osceola, Fla.) 4-1 5th: Kai Orine (Seckman, Mo.) dec. Caleb Henson (Woodland, Ga.) 10-3 7th: Dominick Serrano (Windsor, Colo.) dec. Jackson DiSario (Ola, Ga.) 3-1 132: 1st: Dylan D'Emilio (Genoa, Ohio) dec. Beau Bartlett (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) 10-6 3rd: Justin Rivera (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.) dec. Bretli Reyna (South Dade, Fla.) 4-2 5th: Jordan Hamdan (Hudson, Mich.) over Sam Hillegas (North Hills, Pa.) by forfeit 7th: Kenny Herrmann (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) dec. Josh Edmond (Detroit Catholic Central, Mich.) 1-0 138: 1st: Jaden Abas (Rancho Bernardo, Calif.) dec. Jesse Vasquez (Santiago Corona, Calif.) 3-1 3rd: Jordan Crace (Elyria, Ohio) maj. dec. Gabe Tagg (Brecksville, Ohio/USOTC) 12-4 5th: Peyton Hall (Oak Glen, W.Va.) dec. Wyatt Henson (Christian Brothers College, Mo.) 6-4 7th: Luke Odom (Edwardsville, Ill.) dec. Aidan Medora (Brookfield, Wis.) 6-2 145: 1st: Keegan O'Toole (Arrowhead, Wis.) pinned James Whitaker (St. Johns, Mich.) 2:55 3rd: Ryan Vulakh (Pope John II, Pa.) dec. Johnny Lovett (Miami Southridge, Fla.) 8-3 5th: Devin Schwartzkopf (Greenway, Mo.) pinned Manzona Bryant (Hudson WRA, Ohio) 4:03 7th: Chris Donathan (Mason, Ohio) dec. Luka Wick (San Marino, Calif.) 7-2 152: 1st: Connor Brady (Olentangy Liberty, Ohio) dec. Cameron Amine (Detroit Catholic Central, Mich.) 5-2 3rd: Sonny Santiago (St. John Bosco, Calif.) dec. Brevin Balmeceda (South Dade, Fla.) 3-2 5th: Ryan Anderson (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) dec. Aaron Gandara (Poway, Calif.) 5-2 7th: Thayne Lawrence (Frazier, Pa.) pinned Kyle Mosher (South Side, N.Y.) 1:57 160: 1st: Alex Facundo (Davison, Mich.) dec. Nicholas South (Columbus East, Ind.) 7-3 3rd: Clayton Ulrey (Lower Dauphin, Pa.) dec. Jacob Lagoa (Ashtabula Lakeside, Ohio) 5-2 5th: River Shettler (Brighton, Mich.) over Donnell Washington (Portage, Ind.) by forfeit 7th: Matthew Ortiz (Montini Catholic, Ill.) dec. Christian Minto (Mariner, Fla.) 170: 1st: Dustin Plott (Tuttle, Okla.) dec. Patrick Kennedy (Kasson-Mantorville, Minn.) 16-12 3rd: Alex Cramer (Grayslake Central, Ill.) dec. Greyden Penner (Liberty, Mo.) 3-1, overtime 5th: Troy Fisher (Goddard, Kansas) maj. dec. Kolton Clark (Scottsboro, Ala.) 11-1 7th: Luke Nichter (Chambersburg, Pa.) dec. Kamal Adewumi (Mason, Ohio) 11-5 182: 1st: Abe Assad (Glenbard North, Ill.) dec. Gerrit Nijenhuis (Canon-McMillan, Pa.) 5-3 3rd: Rocky Elam (Staley, Mo.) dec. Sam Fisher (Fauquier, Va.) 6-3 5th: Jackson Turley (St. Christopher's, Va.) over Chris Foca (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) by forfeit 7th: Sammy Deprez (Hilton, N.Y.) dec. John Poznanski (Colonia, N.J.) 5-2 195: 1st: Jacob Cardenas (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) dec. Wyatt Hendrickson (Newton, Kansas) 9-7 3rd: Silas Allred (Shenandoah, Ind.) dec. Kevin Makosy (Urbana, Md.) 5-1 5th: Jacob Good (Clovis, Calif.) dec. Luke Chakonis (Delbarton, N.J.) 7-1 7th: Nathan Dugan (Lake Norman, N.C.) dec. Darius Parker (Riverdale, Fla.) 9-6 220: 1st: Braxton Amos (Parkersburg South, W.Va.) dec. Konner Doucet (Comanche, Okla.), 5-0 3rd: Andy Smith (Christiansburg, Va.) dec. Nico Colucci (St. Peter's Prep, N.J.) 5-2 5th: Carlos-Miguel Figueroa (Homewood, Ala.) dec. Kyle Cornwell (Elwood, Ind.) 7-2 7th: Joshua Heindselman (Piedmont, Okla.) maj. dec. Chase Horne (West Laurens, Ga.) 8-0 285: 1st: Aidan Conner (Highland Park, Texas) dec. Colby Whitehill (Brookville, Pa.), 11-4 3rd: Mateusz Kudra (North Attleboro, Mass.) dec. Jordan Pryor (Dunbar, Md.) 6-5 5th: Nathan Hoaglund (Mt. Lebanon, Pa.) dec. Christian Bryant (Eleanor Roosevelt, Md.) 3-1 7th: Andy Garcia (Pueblo East, Colo.) dec. Luke Fischer (Newton, N.J.) 4-1

Adam Coon on the medal stand after earning a silver medal at the World Championships (Photo/Sandy Slater) BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Adam Coon earned a silver medal to become USA's first world medalist in Greco-Roman since 2015 and first heavyweight world silver medalist since Dremiel Byers in 2009. Coon faced 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Sergey Semenov of Russia in the finals at 130 kilograms. It was all Semenov in the match as he used a body lock to throw Coon to his back for four, adding a step out Semenov would go up, 5-0. He then used another four-point throw to earn the technical fall 9-0, 1:09 into the match. "He got the best of me today," Coon said. "He got the holds he wanted to ... and I didn't get holds I wanted to. It ended up be a throw or be thrown situation and I ended up getting thrown. There's not really much to say. It was a quick match." Reflecting on the tournament Coon was able to be positive and optimistic about his overall performance. "Up until that match and even including that match it was an amazing experience all around," Coon said. "Being able to compete with every God given talent that I have the whole experience was fantastic. To be out competing in this sport I love." Coon joins a list of Greco heavyweight world finalist which includes, Byers, Rulon Gardner, Jeff Blatnick and Matt Ghaffari. "The Russian got to his position and we knew he had a good body lock," U.S. Greco-Roman coach Matt Lindland said. "I wanted to see a little more push from [Adam], get moving, get the Russian tired and then come out harder in the second period. We haven't gone a full match all tournament and it's tough." Lindland, an Olympic silver medalist as a competitor, is proud of the progress Coon made this past year. "It was an honor and privilege to work with a guy like Adam," Lindland said. "He's got nothing to hang his head about he's accomplished so much in a short period of time. He [should] be really proud of what he's accomplished." Coon said he has no idea if he's ready to go all in on Greco. But he does have his eyes on the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. It's still to be determined if he will focus on Greco or freestyle. "It's always been a dream of mine to be an Olympic champion," Coon said. "I have two more years to get that much better to achieve that dream so that I have better matches against guys like Semenov."

Quarterfinal matches started this morning at 8 a.m. ET. Winners of those matches advance to the semifinals, which are slated for a start about thirty to forty-five minutes after the quarterfinals are done. 106 pounds: Kelly Dunnigan (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.) dec. Diego Sotelo (Marmion Academy, Ill.) 5-3 Stevo Poulin (Shenendehowa, N.Y.) maj. dec. Gary Steen (Reynolds, Pa.) 13-2 Drake Ayala (Fort Dodge, Iowa) dec. Alex Almeyda (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) 6-1 Braxton Brown (Allen, Texas) dec. Jordan Williams (Collinsville, Okla.) 7-4 113 pounds: Greg Diakomihalis (Hilton, N.Y.) dec. Tristan Lujan (Selma, Calif.) 5-3 Jeremiah Reno (Liberty, Mo.) dec. Cooper Flynn (McDonogh, Md.) 3-1 Richard Figueroa (Selma, Calif.) pinned Nicholas Nardone (Delbarton, N.J.) 2:40 Logan Agin (Lancaster, Ohio) dec. Cullan Schriever (Mason City, Iowa) 1-1 (ultimate) tiebreaker rideout 120 pounds: Nic Bouzakis (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.) dec. Dylan Cedeno (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) 7-4 Sam Latona (Thompson, Ala.) dec. Eddie Ventresca (Pope John XXIII, N..) 3-3 (ultimate) tiebreaker rideout Lucas Byrd (Cincinnati LaSalle, Ohio) dec. Antonio Lorenzo (St. John Bosco, Calif.) 4-2 Daniel Cardenas (Pomona, Colo.) dec. Maximo Renteria (Buchanan, Calif.) 11-6 126 pounds: Shayne Van Ness (Blair Academy, N.J.) dec. Adam Busiello (Eastport-South Manor, N.Y.) 8-5 Kai Orine (Seckman, Mo.) dec. Nick Masters (Woodward Academy, Ga.) 10-3 Caleb Henson (Woodland, Ga.) dec. Brandon Larue (High Point, N.J.) 5-1 Ryan Jack (Danbury, Ct.) dec. Jesse Mendez (Crown Point, Ind.) 6-4 132 pounds: Beau Bartlett (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) maj. dec. Ezekiel Washington (Owasso, Okla.) 14-4 Justin Rivera (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.) dec. Asa Garcia (Avon, Ind.) 11-5 Dylan D'Emilio (Genoa, Ohio) dec. Jordan Hamdan (Hudson, Mich.) 4-3 Sam Hillegas (North Hills, Pa.) dec. Josh Edmond (Detroit Catholic Central, Mich.) 7-6 138 pounds: Jaden Abas (Rancho Bernardo, Calif.) maj. dec. Aidan Medora (Brookfield, Wis.) 16-4 Jordan Crace (Elyria, Ohio) dec. Lucas Revano (Camden Catholic, N.J.) 5-1 Wyatt Henson (Christian Brothers College, Mo.) dec. Gus Sutton (Austintown Fitch, Ohio) 8-3 Jesse Vasquez (Santiago Corona, Calif.) dec. Peyton Hall (Oak Glen, W.Va.) 8-3 145 pounds: Keegan O'Toole (Arrowhead, Wis.) pinned Manzona Bryant (Hudson WRA, Ohio) 5:25 Devin Schwartzkopf (Greenway, Mo.) dec. Chris Donathan (Mason, Ohio) 11-8 Ryan Vulakh (Pope John II, Pa.) dec. Luka Wick (San Marino, Calif.) 3-1, overtime James Whitaker (St. Johns, Mich.) dec. Johnny Lovett (Miami Southridge, Fla.) 2-1 152 pounds: Ryan Anderson (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) dec. Sonny Santiago (St. John Bosco, Calif.) 3-2 Cameron Amine (Detroit Catholic Central, Mich.) dec. Thayne Lawrence (Frazier, Pa.) 4-3 Connor Brady (Olentangy Liberty, Ohio) dec. Kyle Mosher (South Side, N.Y.) 7-3 Aaron Gandara (Poway, Calif.) dec. B.J. Bailey (Thornton Fractional North, Ill.) 7-2, overtime 160 pounds: Alex Facundo (Davison, Mich.) maj. dec. Clayton Ulrey (Lower Dauphin, Pa.) 9-1 Jacob Lagoa (Ashtabula Lakeside, Ohio) maj. dec. Gavin Kane (Cambridge, Ga.) 16-8 River Shettler (Brighton, Mich.) dec. Donnell Washington (Portage, Ind.) 7-5 Nick South (Columbus East, Ind.) dec. Matthew Ortiz (Montini Catholic, Ill.) 6-4, overtime 170 pounds: Dustin Plott (Tuttle, Okla.) maj. dec. Shane Reitsma (Howell, N.J.) 16-6 Troy Fisher (Goddard, Kansas) dec. Edmond Ruth (Susquehanna Township, Pa.) 5-4 (ultimate) tiebreaker Alex Cramer (Grayslake Central, Ill.) dec. Greyden Penner (Liberty, Mo.) 3-2 Patrick Kennedy (Kasson-Mantorville, Minn.) maj. dec. Jakeem Littles (Richmond Hill, Ga.) 11-0 182 pounds: Abe Assad (Glenbard North, Ill.) dec. Rocky Elam (Staley, Mo.) 7-3 Sam Fisher (Fauquier, Va.) dec. Trey Sizemore (Cincinnati LaSalle, Ohio) 7-2 Gerrit Nijenhuis (Canon-McMillan, Pa.) dec. Jackson Turley (St. Christopher's, Va.) 7-4 Chris Foca (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) maj. dec. Anthony Carman (John Marshall, W.Va.) 16-6 195 pounds: Jacob Cardenas (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) dec. Silas Allred (Shenendoah, Ind.) 7-3 Luke Chakonis (Delbarton, N.J.) dec. Jack Wimmer (McDonogh, Md.) 5-3 Wyatt Hendrickson (Newton, Kansas) dec. Santos Cantu (Sprague, Ore.) 3-1 Jacob Good (Clovis, Calif.) dec. Kevin Makosy (Urbana, Md.) 3-1 220 pounds: Braxton Amos (Parkersburg South, W.Va.) tech. fall Ogden Atwood (Armstrong, Pa.) 26-11, 3:55 Kyle Cornwell (Elwood, Ind.) maj. dec. Tarik Sutkovic (Ironwood, Ariz.) 8-0 Carlos-Manuel Figueroa (Homewood, Ala.) dec. Josh Heindselman (Piedmont, Okla.) 6-3 Konner Doucet (Comanche, Okla.) dec. Josh McMaster (Greenville, Pa.) 285 pounds: Matteusz Kudra (North Attleboro, Mass.) dec. Jordan Pryor (Dunbar, Md.) 11-7 Colby Whitehill (Brookville, Pa.) pinned Thomas Mukai (Robinson, Va.) 5:26 Aidan Conner (Highland Park, Texas) pinned Christian Bryant (Eleanor Roosevelt, Md.) 1:59 Nathan Hoaglund (Mt. Lebanon, Pa.) dec. Andy Garcia (Pueblo East, Colo.) 6-4

Grades 9 and 10: 100 pounds: 1st - Mason Gehloff (Waseca, Minn.) decision Guy Clevenger (Catoosa, Okla.) 3-2 3rd - Marcel Lopez (Iowa) decision Zack Mattin (Delta, Ohio) 3-1 5th - Parker Kratochvill (Holmen, Wis.) decision Daniel Sheen (Montini Catholic, Ill.) 6-4, overtime 7th - Kobi Johnson (Colorado) major decision Jonathon Burnette (Iowa) 11-2 106 pounds: 1st - Casey Swiderski (Dundee, Mich.) decision Brady Hankin (Colorado) 9-3 3rd - Nic Willingham (Aurora, Ohio) decision Easton Hilton (Missouri) 2-0 5th - Blake West (Owatonna, Minn.) decision Charlie Farmer (Moline, Ill.) 3-0 7th - Joshua Koderhandt (Belleville West, Ill.) decision Owen Uhls (Fulton, Mo.) 4-0 113 pounds: 1st - Garrett Grice (Bellevue East, Neb.) major decision Joseph Blaze (Clinton, Mich.) 16-8 3rd - Ashton Anderson (Oxford, Mich.) pin Cody Thompson (Loveland, Colo.) 3:44 5th - James Homfeld (Lindbergh, Mo.) over Kody Ketchum (Park Hill, Mo.) by medical forfeit 7th - Logan Ferrero (Whitfield, Mo.) major decision Jake Penzato (St. Charles East, Ill.) 9-1 120 pounds: 1st - Kal Miller (Park Hill, Mo.) decision Nate Burnett (Elyria, Ohio) 1-0 3rd - Mitchell Mesenbrink (Arrowhead, Wis.) decision Joel Jesuroga (Southeast Polk, Iowa) 3-0 5th - Ayden Dolt (Missouri) decision Drew Arnold (Beatrice, Neb.) 3-0 7th - Dean Hamiti (Joliet Catholic, Ill.) decision Nick Novak (New Prague, Minn.) 2-0 126 pounds: 1st - Nathan Pulliam (Rolla, Mo.) decision Jerrdon Fisher (Goddard, Kansas) 1-0 3rd - Noah Mis (Chicago Mt. Carmel, Ill.) decision Conor Knopick (Millard South, Neb.) 5-0 5th - Jeivan Ross (Warren Central, Ind.) decision Jack Haskin (Toledo Whitmer, Ohio) 2-0 7th - Darren Diaz (North Platte, Neb.) decision Brendon Abdon (Lake Gibson, Fla.) 7-5 132 pounds: 1st - Tagen Jamison (Durant, Okla.) decision Cade Manion (Deer Creek, Okla.) 5-1 3rd - Skylar Smith (Liberty Christian, Texas) pin Johnathon Viveros (Kingsburg, Calif.) 3:45 5th - Callum Sitek (Pacific, Mo.) over Bam West (Edmond Memorial, Okla.) by medical forfeit 7th - Kolten Strait (Rocky Mountain, Colo.) over Max Brown (Whitehall, Mich.) by disqualification 138 pounds: 1st - Connor Gaynor (Chicago Mt. Carmel) decision Jack Ganos (Arrowhead, Wis.) 5-3 3rd - Jace Fisher (Goddard, Kansas) major decision Adam Thebeau (Belleville East, Ill.) 8-0 5th - Randy Myers (Castle View, Colo.) major decision Jake Matthews (Addison Trail, Ill.) 10-0 7th - Landen Johnson (Owatonna, Minn.) decision Jerry Simes (Litchfield, Minn.) 5-2 145 pounds: 1st - George Ruiz (Buchanan, Calif.) decision Jared Simma (St. Thomas Aquinas, Kansas) 7-2 3rd - Brant Whitaker (Boonville, Mo.) decision Robert Major (Downers Grove South, Ill.) 6-3 5th - Tyson Moore (Park HIll, Mo.) pin Jajuan Anderson (Warren Central, Ind.) 1:00 7th - Cael Brunson (West Linn, Ore.) decision Deven Strief (North Scott, Iowa) 7-0 152 pounds: 1st - Payne Carr (Union County, Ky.) decision Darian Estevez (Somerset Academy, Fla.) 5-2 3rd - David Brooks (Missouri) decision AIden Vandenbush (Random Lake, Wis.) 4-3 5th - Caden Ernd (Crystal Lake Central, Ill.) decision Jonathan Wertz (Cypress Lakes, Texas) 4-3 7th - Clayton Whiting (Oconto Falls, Wis.) decision Cael Meyer (West Delaware, Iowa) 5-1 160 pounds: 1st - Maxwell Wilner (Fountain Valley, Calif.) decision Gabe Nagel (Little Falls, Minn.) 4-0 3rd - Dylan Connell (Woodstock Marian, Ill.) decision Damion Schunke (Brandon Valley, S.D.) 5-2 5th - Ricardo Salinas (Evanston Township, Ill.) decision Caylan Hinton (Cincinnati Elder, Ohio) 3-2 7th - Ira Jenkins (Michigan) decision Mickey Griffith (Iowa) 7-0 170 pounds: 1st - Jake Evans (Elyria, Ohio) pin Wyatt Voelker (Iowa) 1:36 3rd - Stephen Little (Union County, Ky.) decision Tristan Mulder (Western Christian, Iowa) 8-3 5th - Chase Brock (Holt, Mo.) decision Eli Sheeren (Klein, Texas) 4-0 7th - Brock Upson (Randon Lake, Wis.) major decision Deanthony Parker (Illinois) 9-0 182 pounds: 1st - Evan Anderson (Aurora, Ohio) pin Cole Hivnor (Lake Catholic, Ohio) 2:43 3rd - Taner Harvey (Boone, Iowa) pin Owen Warren (Yankton, S.D.) 3:59 5th - Jake Viloria (Chicago St. Rita, Ill.) pin Dorian Walters (Lathrop, Mo.) 1:19 7th - Jamikael Lytle (Connectcut) over Colton Hoag () by medical forfeit 195 pounds: 1st - Brandon Hoselton (Prairie Central, Ill.) pin Xavier Doolin (North Kansas City, Mo.) 1:00 3rd - Truman Thuente (Lake Forest, Ill.) major decision Nathan Wemstrom (Illinois) 9-1 5th - Dzhabrail Khurshidov (West Aurora, Ill.) major decision Zack Burroughs (St. Paris Graham, Ohio) 10-1 7th - Jacob Peacy (Port Washington, Wis.) pin Ian Sepan (Castle View, Colo.) 1:58 220 pounds: 1st - Damon Meyer (South Winneshiek, Iowa) decision Rex Johnsen (Logan Magnolia, Iowa) 4-2 3rd - Crew Howard (Clarinda, Iowa) pin James Hustoles (Colorado) 3:00 5th - Nikolas Mishka (Illinois) pin Ty Dennison (Woodbury Central, Iowa) 0:49 7th - Blake Remillard (Alexander, Ga.) decison Jacob Johnson (Franklin, Ind.) 5-3 285 pounds: weight contested as a three person round-robin, Nicholas Juarez (Carrollton, Texas) won it

Adam Coon celebrates after winning in the semifinals of the World Championships (Photo/Larry Slater) BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Adam Coon will wrestle for a world title in Greco-Roman after securing his fourth fall in four matches at 130 kilograms on Saturday at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. In his semifinal match, competing against Min-Seok Kim of Korea, Coon earned a caution two and held a 3-0 lead going into the break. After the break, Coon went back to his over-under and forced Kim to make a mistake. He then used a body lock to throw Kim for four points. Shortly after Coon was rewarded with the pin with 2:18 remaining in the match. "I'm in the world championship finals," said Coon. "This is fun. [I'm] wrestling tough, wrestling smart, just trying to keep my pace. Just to get my stuff and capitalize on him being out of position." Coon, competing in his first World Championships on the senior level, has been a shining light for the American Greco-Roman wrestling team in Budapest. He is the lone U.S. Greco-Roman wrestler compete for a medal. Coon looks to become the first American Greco-Roman world champion since Joe Warren (2006) and first heavyweight since Dremiel Byers (2002). The last American Greco finalist was Byers in 2009. U.S. Greco-Roman head coach Matt Lindland had high praise for Coon following his match. "I couldn't be more proud of him," Lindland said. "He believes in the process. He believes in what we've been telling him [and] we're also playing to his strengths." Coon will have the Russian Sergey Semenov in his finals match tomorrow. Semenov is a 2016 Olympic bronze medalist. The Russian team is very competitive, so Coon has his work cut out for him in the gold-medal match. Coon admits they have wrestled previously, and the outcome was not great for him. "I wrestled him in juniors and he throttled me," Coon said. "So, I'm ready to go and see how much better I've gotten. [Now I] rest that's the biggest thing I can do, get some fuel, get some food. Make sure my mind and my body are ready." Coach Lindland is looking forward to the finals match and Coon's chances. "We'll go out and look at some film," Lindland said. "He said give me a couple things you want me to focus on. It was a process that got him to this point and today was a culmination of that process. What we've been doing is working, we're pinning guys, but we know Russia's tough." The finals are set for 3:30 p.m. local time (9:30 a.m. ET) on Sunday.

Wrestling started at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday morning in Greensboro, N.C. The tournament in the championship bracket was wrestled to the quarterfinal round, while the consolation bracket will also have eight wrestlers remaining in it at day's end. Below are the quarterfinal pairings. Wrestling will restart on Sunday morning at 8:00 a.m. with that round. 106 pounds: Kelly Dunnigan (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.) vs. Diego Sotelo (Marmion Academy, Ill.) Stevo Poulin (Shenendehowa, N.Y.) vs. Gary Steen (Reynolds, Pa.) Alex Almeyda (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) vs. Drake Ayala (Fort Dodge, Iowa) Braxton Brown (Allen, Texas) vs. Jordan Williams (Collinsville, Okla.) 113 pounds: Greg Diakomihalis (Hilton, N.Y.) vs. Tristan Lujan (Selma, Calif.) Cooper Flynn (McDonogh, Md.) vs. Jeremiah Reno (Liberty, Mo.) Richard Figueroa (Selma, Calif.) vs. Nicholas Nardone (Delbarton, N.J.) Logan Agin (Lancaster, Ohio) vs. Cullan Schriever (Mason City, Iowa) 120 pounds: Dylan Cedeno (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) vs. Nic Bouzakis (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.) Eddie Ventresca (Pope John XXIII, N.J.) vs. Sam Latona (Thompson, Ala.) Lucas Byrd (Cincinnati LaSalle, Ohio) vs. Antonio Lorenzo (St. John Bosco, Calif.) Maximo Renteria (Buchanan, Calif.) vs. Daniel Cardenas (Pomona, Colo.) 126 pounds: Adam Busiello (Eastport-South Manor, N.Y.) vs. Shayne Van Ness (Blair Academy, N.J.) Kai Orine (Seckman, Mo.) vs. Nick Masters (Woodward Academy, Ga.) Caleb Henson (Woodland, Ga.) vs. Brandon Larue (High Point, N.J.) Jesse Mendez (Crown Point, Ind.) vs. Ryan Jack (Danbury, Ct.) 132 pounds: Beau Bartlett (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) vs. Ezekiel Washington (Owasso, Okla.) Asa Garcia (Avon, Ind.) vs. Justin Rivera (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.) Dylan D'Emilio (Genoa, Ohio) vs. Jordan Hamdan (Hudson, Mich.) Joshua Edmond (Detroit Catholic Central, Mich.) vs. Sam Hillegas (North Hills, Pa.) 138 pounds: Jaden Abas (Rancho Bernardo, Calif.) vs. Aiden Medora (Brookfield Academy, Wis.) Lucas Revano (Camden Catholic, N.J.) vs. Jordan Crace (Elyria, Ohio) Wyatt Henson (Christian Brothers College, Mo.) vs. Gus Sutton (Austintown Fitch, Ohio) Peyton Hall (Oak Glen, W.Va.) vs. Jesse Vasquez (Santiago Corona, Calif.) 145 pounds: Keegan O'Toole (Arrowhead, Wis.) vs. Manzona Bryant (Hudson WRA, Ohio) Christopher Donathan (Mason, Ohio) vs. Devin Schwartzkopf (Greenway, Mo.) Luka Wick (San Marino, Calif.) vs. Ryan Vulakh (Pope John II, Pa.) Johnny Lovett (Miami Southridge, Fla.) vs. James Whitaker (St. Johns, Mich.) 152 pounds: Ryan Anderson (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) vs. Sonny Santiago (St. John Bosco, Calif.) Thayer Lawrence (Frazier, Pa.) vs. Cameron Amine (Detroit Catholic Central, Mich.) Connor Brady (Olentangy Liberty, Ohio) vs. Kyle Mosher (South Side, N.Y.) Aaron Gandara (Poway, Calif.) vs. B.J. Bailey (Thornton Fractional North, Ill.) 160 pounds: Alex Facundo (Davison, Mich.) vs. Clayton Ulrey (Lower Dauphin, Pa.) Jacob Lagoa (Ashtabula Lakeside, Ohio) vs. Gavin Kane (Cambridge, Ga.) Matthew Ortiz (Montini Catholic, Ill.) vs. Nicholas South (Columbus East, Ind.) Donnell Washington (Portage, Ind.) vs. River Shettler (Brighton, Mich.) 170 pounds: Dustin Plott (Tuttle, Okla.) vs. Shane Reitsma (Howell, N.J.) Troy Fisher (Goddard, Kansas) vs. Edmund Ruth (Susquehanna Township, Pa.) Alex Cramer (Grayslake Central, Ill.) vs. Greyden Penner (Liberty, Mo.) Jakeem Littles (Richmond Hill, Ga.) vs. Patrick Kennedy (Kasson-Mantorville, Minn.) 182 pounds: Abe Assad (Glenbard North, Ill.) vs. Rocky Elam (Staley, Mo.) Sam Fisher (Fauquier, Va.) vs. Trey Sizemore (Cincinnati LaSalle, Ohio) Jackson Turley (St. Christopher's, Va.) vs. Gerrit Nijenhuis (Canon-McMillan, Pa.) Anthony Carman (John Marshall, W.Va.) vs. Chris Foca (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) 195 pounds: Jacob Cardenas (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) vs. Silas Allred (Shenandoah, Ind.) Luke Chakonis (Delbarton, N.J.) vs. Jack Wimmer (McDonogh, Md.) Kevin Makosy (Urbana, Md.) vs. Jacob Good (Clovis, Calif.) Santos Cantu (Sprague, Ore.) vs. Wyatt Hendrickson (Newton, Kansas) 220 pounds: Braxton Amos (Parkersburg South, W.Va.) vs. Ogden Atwood (Armstrong, Pa.) Tarik Sutkovic (Ironwood, Ariz.) vs. Kyle Cornwell (Elwood, Ind.) Josh Heindselman (Piedmont, Okla.) vs. Carlos Miguel Figueroa (Homewood, Ala.) Josh McMaster (Greenville, Pa.) vs. Konner Doucet (Comanche, Okla.) 285 pounds: Jordan Pryor (Dunbar, Md.) vs. Matteusz Kudra (North Attleboro, Mass.) Colby Whitehill (Brookville, Pa.) vs. Thomas Mukai (Robinson, Va.) Aidan Conner (Highland Park, Texas) vs. Christian Bryant (Eleanor Roosevelt, Md.) Nathan Hoaglund (Mt. Lebanon, Pa.) vs. Andy Garcia (Pueblo East, Colo.)

Adam Coon advanced to the semifinals at the World Championships with three straight falls (Photo/Larry Slater) BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Seven months after finishing his college wrestling career, Adam Coon (130 kilograms) stands one win away from wrestling for a world title in Greco-Roman. Coon advanced to the semifinals at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, with three falls. Coon, a past junior world medalist in Greco-Roman, showed no signs of being new to the Greco scene after competing at the University of Michigan. He started with a bang. Wrestling against Rafal Krajewski of Poland, Coon went up 2-0 and then added to his lead with an enormous four-point throw to up the score to 6-0. Coon then planted Krajewski and earned the fall, just under two minutes into the match. Coon continued his winning ways in his second match. His opponent, Lingshe Meng of China, held a slight margin on criteria (1-1) before Coon hip tossed him for four points and secured a fall with 1:47 remaining in the match. In the quarterfinals, Coon was trailing Eduard Popp of Germany 3-1, when he adjusted his grip and perfectly timed a lateral drop, pinning Popp 2:22 into the match. "I'm wrestling real well right now and looking to carry it through in the semis," Coon said. "I'm just taking it one step at a time. It's been a fun ride. I'm definitely happy with how things are going, just going to try and keep on going." Coon will face Min-Seok Kim of Korea in the semifinals at 130 kilograms. Also competing for the U.S. Greco-Roman team on Saturday were Kamal Bey and G'Angelo Hancock. Both failed to reach the semifinals. Bey, a 2017 Junior world champion, was making his debut at the Senior World Championships. Hused a breathtaking five-point throw 15 seconds into his first match against Ridong Zhang of China to go up early. Bey then scored a takedown to go up 7-0 and when Zhang when for a throw Bey landed on top of him for the final score and 9-0 technical victory in just under two minutes. Kamal Bey throws Reiner Jimenez of Guatemala (Photo/Larry Slater) In his second match, this time facing Reiner Jimenez of Guatemala, Bey continued to be aggressive building a lead he would not relinquish. Bey used a reverse lift from the par terre position to go up 3-0 heading into the break. Jimenez would score one point on passivity, but the rest of the scoring was Bey. He used a lateral drop and another throw for a final score of 8-1, advancing him to the next round. Bey had his hands full in his third match with two-time world bronze medalist (2014 and 2017), Elvin Mursaliyev of Azerbaijan. Bey fell behind 1-0 but used a smooth duck under to score a takedown and take a 2-1 lead into the break. Mursaliyev continued to score and eventually would go on to win 6-2. "At this point [I] got to go back to the lab so this doesn't happen," said Bey. G' Angelo Hancock dropped his first match at 97 kilograms. Wrestling against Peter Oehler of Germany, Hancock found himself facing a 5-0 deficit at the break. He cut the deficit to 5-3 using a gut wrench to get him back into the match, but Oehler would score again and prevent Hancock's offensive attacks for a final score of 6-3. Hancock did not receive a repechage match as Oehler lost his ensuing match. Ellis Coleman competed in his repechage match on Saturday morning and started strong, taking a 3-0 lead into the break against Mamadassa Sylla of France. But Sylla stormed back scoring on a few gut wrenches and taking a 5-3 lead which would be the final scoring. "I [have] to finish these matches in par terre," Coleman said. "It comes down to par terre, the Europeans and these other countries have it down pretty well. We're still developing that and if we can get those extra points in par terre we'll definitely come out on top in most of those matches."

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. -- Saint John's University head wrestling coach Kevin Schiltz has announced the addition of Jake Clark as an assistant coach for The Johnnies. Jake ClarkClark has an impressive Greco-Roman resume at the senior level. He is a two-time U.S. World Team member (2006, 2010), seven-time member of the U.S. National Team, three-time U.S. World Team Trials runner-up, 2007 World Cup Champion, 2000 World Military Bronze Medalist, and 11-time Armed Forces Gold Medalist. He competed in the last five U.S. Olympic Trials (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016) and was an Olympic Team alternate in 2004 and 2016. He is a 2020 Olympic hopeful. Clark also served nine years of active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps. A native of Mound, Minn., Clark was a two-time Minnesota State High School champion for South St. Paul (undefeated junior and senior seasons). Clark is the owner and head instructor at Wrestle-Jitsu Training Center in Waite Park, Minn. He resides in Sartell with his wife Jocelyn and their five children Kade, Abby, Alex, Jack and Nora. "Jake Clark is a committed member of the Minnesota wrestling community. I have always said that wrestling needs committed people in the sport, starting with wrestlers. Then you have officials, parents, table workers, and coaches at every level, who can adjust their life, to make time to be involved in the wrestling world. Jake is one of those guys." said coach Schiltz. "His life revolves around wrestling, as does mine. We will be working together to recruit great wrestlers, developing practices, designing successful camps and bringing the Central Minnesota FS/GR Club back to the Saint John's campus with Jake as the club coach. With his addition to the staff, it just helps solidify Saint John's University as one to watch in the near future. 'Steel sharpens steel.'" Clark is an addition to last year's staff of Chad Henle and Scott Fernholz. The Johnnies have also added Malik Stewart (from Dakota-Wesleyan) and Shawn Hatlestad (from Augustana) to the coaching staff. Kevin Schiltz is in his second season as head coach of the Johnnie wrestling team.

Ellis Coleman earned a fall in his first match against Edgaras Venckaitis of Lithuania (Photo/Larry Slater) BUDAPEST, Hungary -- The second day Greco-Roman competition at the World Championships didn't get any easier for the Americans. After a winless opening day, Dalton Roberts, Patrick Martinez and Ellis Coleman took the mat for Team USA on Friday. Coleman's performance was the highlight of the day as he picked up the lone victory of the day for USA. In his opening match Coleman found himself down 5-0 against Edgaras Venckaitis of Lithuania. With both wrestlers looking to throw, Venckaitis went for the reverse throw and Coleman used the momentum and planted Venckaitis on his back for the fall. In his next match, Coleman faced two-time world bronze medalist Artem Surkov of Russia. Coleman kept the match close and even led 1-0 at the break. After the break, Coleman gave up a point for passivity, which gave Surkov the lead on criteria. Coleman would go down in the par terre position where Surkov used a gut wrench to turn him and secure a 3-1 victory. Coleman is waiting to find out if he receives a repechage match. Dalton Roberts lost his first match to Etienne Kinsinger of Germany (Photo/Larry Slater) Roberts opened the tournament against Etienne Kinsinger of Germany and found himself in an early 6-0 going into the break. After the break, Roberts was unable to find his offense and Kinsinger used a big four-point throw to get a technical fall with an 11-0 score. "I don't have any regrets in the training or my preparation I felt great," Roberts said. "I push myself every day in my training, so I don't have to worry did I do everything I could. I know I did everything I could. Before the end of my career, I'll get us a medal it just wasn't in the cards today." Roberts did not receive a repechage match as Kinsinger lost his next match. Martinez had the tough task of wrestling world bronze medalist Viktor Lorincz of Hungary, a hometown favorite. Martinez gave up a couple gut wrenches and fell behind 5-0 at the break. He was able to get on the scoreboard with one point, but that was all he could muster and fell 5-1. "I felt prepared I don't have any excuses in my preparation," Martinez said. "[I need to] get better defending par terre. Most of my time is going to be spent defending par terre. It's hard to get things rolling when you have one match and you're done." Martinez was eliminated from repechage contention when Lorincz lost his next match.

Pat Downey (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Pat Downey is among a handful of amateur wrestlers who will be among the first contestants at the debut of Cowboy Fight Series amateur MMA promotion, with the premiere event taking place Jan. 19 at Hylton Performing Arts Center at George Mason University in Manassas, Va. Other wrestlers which have been announced for the new venture launched by UFC fighter Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone include Richie Lewis, Garrett Lineberger, and Greg Velasco. Pat Downey was a two-time Maryland high school state champion who had earned a silver medal at the 2012 Junior Worlds ... with a collegiate wrestling career spanning a number of programs. He started at University of Nebraska then transferred to Iowa Central Community College, where he won the 197-pound title at the 2015 NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) wrestling championships. The following year, after enrolling at Iowa State, Downey earned All-American honors by placing fifth at 197 pounds at the 2016 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. For the 2016-17 season, Downey dropped down to 184 pounds, but suffered a rib injury which limited his time in the wrestling room and in competition. After being booted by then Cyclones head coach Kevin Jackson for breaking team rules in February 2016, Downey transferred to the University of Iowa, but the NCAA declared him ineligible for further collegiate mat competition in January 2018. https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/19511 Richie Lewis celebrates after beating Alex Marinelli at the Big Ten Championships (Photo/Richard Immel) Richie Lewis was a U23 World champion who competed collegiately at Rutgers University in his native New Jersey, where he was a two-time NCAA championships qualifier in 2016 and 2018 at 157 pounds, twice a Big Ten conference championships placer, and placed fourth at the prestigious Midlands tournament in 2015. Prior to wrestling for the Scarlet Knights, Lewis was twice a NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) championships All-American for Iowa Central Community College. Garrett Lineberger was a teammate of emerging MMA star Joey Davis at Notre Dame College in Cleveland. Lineberger was a two-time NCAA Division II champ -- and four-time All-American -- for the Falcons at 184 pounds. Prior to wrestling at Notre Dame College, Lineberger was twice a Maryland high school state champ and nationally ranked by InterMat in high school. Greg Velasco wrestled heavyweight for Rider University. Before that, he was a two-time All American at the New Jersey high school state wrestling championships. Velasco has competed in muay thai, compiling a 4-0 record. Cowboy Fight Series is the product of Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone, 35, an MMA veteran who launched his pro career a dozen years ago, and has competed in UFC since 2011, compiling an overall record of 33-11 as a welterweight (170-pounds). Here's how BJPenn.com described Cerrone's new venture: "These events, Cowboy explains, will give amateur fighters a platform on which to grow their skills and their reputations, and in some cases, earn professional contracts with top regional promotions. Cowboy will also invite some of these amateurs to live with him on the BMF ranch, where they'll have the opportunity to train and develop amongst some of the sport's very best fighters." Cowboy Fight Series has been slowly introducing its fighters one-by-one at its official Facebook page and official website.

Youssif Hemida reached the NCAA quarterfinals last season before place eighth (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) William Faulkner once wrote, "Memory believes before knowing remembers. Believes longer than recollects, longer than knowing even wonders." The line from Light in August seeks to encapsulate how people struggle with the legacy and burden of the past. While the novel deals with much heavier issues, wrestlers often find themselves in a similar struggle. Seasons or individual matches are collections of split-second decisions, movements and challenges. For some, a simple six-minute college match can be transmogrified into a lifetime of nostalgia or regret. At the 2017 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, Maryland heavyweight Youssif Hemida found himself one match away from becoming an All-American for the first time. In the aptly named blood round, he faced off against Arizona State's Tanner Hall. While the match was close, as they often are in the heavyweight division, Hemida ended up on the losing end via a 2-1 score. "It is just something that I thought about almost every day," Hemida said. "It was just that one match, that one point. What if I did something more? I kept looking back. I don't think I cut corners necessarily. It was more like, 'What could I have done more?' or 'What could I have done differently?'" Despite the negative memory, Hemida was able to use the experience to move forward. This past season, he found himself in the blood round once again. This time, he became an All-American for the first time with a win over Lehigh's Jordan Wood. "It was a huge motivator," he said. "I was like, I cannot walk away from the national tournament without becoming an All-American. It was just something that I needed to accomplish for me, and it was something that felt really good. [The loss] definitely lit a fire underneath me and let me know how close I was and that if I don't do the right things it could happen again, or I could push myself a little harder and try to achieve it." Progression from season to season has become a theme in Hemida's career. In his true freshman season, he finished with a sub-.500 record. The following season, he became an NCAA qualifier. This past season, he was an All-American. Hemida enters his senior season ranked No. 3 at heavyweight. "Something similar happened to me in high school where freshman year, I had a winning record, but I did not qualify for my sectional," Hemida said. "Sophomore year I was hurt. Then, junior year I did well, but I didn't quite do as well at states. Then, my senior year, I won a state title. I kind of feel like I want to be on that same path with [college] freshman year getting adjusted, sophomore year qualifying, this past year placing, and now all I am looking forward to trying to win it all." Youssif Hemida battling Wisconsin's Ben Stone at the Big Ten Championships (Photo/Richard Immel) In order to meet his goals, Hemida will need to navigate the always arduous Big Ten heavyweight division. Multiple time champion Kyle Snyder and perennial contender Adam Coon have moved on, but there is still plenty of competition in the division. "I am very grateful that we are in the Big Ten. I picked a school that wrestles in the Big Ten. It really tests you." Hemida continued, "There is no returning national champ in our weight class, so I think it is anyone's to grab. I am really excited for it. Yeah, there are some people coming in, and it is reloading. There are some returning All-Americans, but I am less trying to worry about them and more trying to focus on what I can do to improve myself. I mean, I am going to scout them and everything like that, but I am not like 'Who is coming in?' or 'Is Gable redshirting or not?' or 'What is Conan doing?' I am not too concerned about that. I am more concerned with what I can do to make myself the best that I can be." As the team's only returning All-American, Hemida sees himself taking on more of a leadership role in the wrestling room. "For me, I was never in the room with an All-American," Hemida said. "For the guys, they can say, 'I am doing the same things he is doing' so a lot of it is leading by example. They see me doing extra work, and they might be encouraged to do that, or they see me pushing it when we go live they might be able to dig deep. It is definitely no pressure. If anything, I hope that I am encouraging the guys." While Faulkner describes memories as a burden from the past, memories themselves are not inherently negative. The pain of remembering a loss can be depressive or serve as motivation, but at the same time, a recollection of a victory can evoke a certain sentimental longing for the past. This type of nostalgia played an interesting role in how Hemida ended up at Maryland. "My club coach John Degl from the Empire Wrestling Academy always talks about how he beat this guy in the state finals who ended up becoming a national champion and a two-time Olympian," Hemida said. "I never really thought anything about it." In the 1991 177-pound state final, Degl, representing Mahopac High School knocked off Longwood High School wrestler Kerry McCoy. The very same McCoy who is currently coaching Hemida at Maryland. The same McCoy who Hemida calls, "One of the best heavyweights to ever do it." For Degl the match serves as a positive memory and a story he can tell to the wrestlers he trains. For McCoy the loss likely motivated him to continue to progress and eventually represent the U.S. in the Olympics. With one more season left as a college wrestler, Hemida has the opportunity to determine what kind of memories he will be able to look back on when his career is over.

CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Jason Lara returns to Oregon State wrestling as a volunteer assistant coach as announced by head coach Jim Zalesky on Thursday. Jason Lara“With Joey [Palmer] leaving we needed a new lightweight coach,” said head coach Jim Zalesky. “Jason has done a great job the last few years working with the club, but I feel he will step into this role really well, he was a great student-athlete for the Beavers.” Jason Lara begins his first season on coaching staff, following a four-year career with the Beavers as a student-athlete and two years as Director of Operations. In his coaching career, Lara has coached three youth wrestling to national championships. He has coached one individual to a United World Wrestling Championships fifth place finish, and has coached multiple individuals to state championships. During his wrestling career (2009-12), Lara competed at 125/133 lbs., compiling a 59-21 overall record with a 28-6 dual mark. The California native was a two-time NCAA participant in 2010 and 2011 at 125 lbs., and tallied a 15 career falls, never once himself getting pinned. Lara was also a two-time Pac-12 championship finalist, Midlands Championships, Southern Scuffle and Las Vegas Invitational place winner. Lara is a native of Midway City, California who currently resides in Philomath and runs The Movement Center in town. Lara graduated from Oregon State during the spring of 2012 with an undergraduate degree in sociology and an emphasis in criminal justice.

Matthew Kolodzik placed third at the NCAAs last season (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) MANHEIM, Pa. -- Mitch Finesilver, born and raised in Greenwood Village, is the only competitor to wrestle in this year's NWCA All-Star Classic that hails from Colorado. Mitch is one of four Finesilver brothers that will be wrestling for the Duke Blue Devils in the upcoming 2018-19 season. Coming into his redshirt senior season he has compiled a 62-25 career record while making three trips to the NCAA National Championships and was the 2018 Southern Scuffle runner-up. Mitch is looking forward to returning to his hometown to wrestle in front of his friends and family and against Princeton University's Matthew Kolodzik. Returning two-time All-American and No. 1-ranked wrestler at 149 pounds Matthew Kolodzik is ready to bring the fire in his second consecutive NWCA All-Star Classic. Following a great 2018 season which included an EIWA championship and a third-place finish at the 2018 NCAA Championships, Kolodzik is looking for redemption following his tough 4-3 loss in last year's NWCA All-Star Classic. He holds a career 59-10 record and was an All-American in 2017. Kolodzik was the first freshman Princeton wrestler to accomplish All-American status since 2002. This will be the first collegiate match between Kolodzik and Finesilver. Kolodzik is here to prove that he is the best 149 pounder in the nation, while Finesilver is looking to kick off the season at the 149 pound weight class with a bang. Men 141: No. 1 (133) Seth Gross (South Dakota State) vs. No. 3 (133) Tariq Wilson (North Carolina State) 141: No. 2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) vs. No. 5 Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State) 149: No. 1 Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) vs. No. 8 Mitch Finesilver (Duke) 174: No. 3 Myles Amine (Michigan) vs. No. 10 (184) Jacobe Smith (Oklahoma State) 184: No. 3 Taylor Venz (Nebraska) vs. No. 8 Max Dean (Cornell) vs. 285: No. 4 Derek White (Oklahoma St.) Women 109: Charlotte Fowler (Campbellsville) vs. Maria Vidales (Emmanuel) 123: Gabriela Ramos-Diaz (Wayland Baptist) vs. Dominique Parrish (Simon Fraser) 130: Erika Mihalca (Missouri Baptist) 143: Nicole Joseph (King) 170: Brittany Marshall (Wayland Baptist) vs. Mariah Harris (Campbellsville)

Sarah Hildebrandt on the medal stand after finishing with a silver medal (Photo/Larry Slater) BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Sarah Hildebrandt's gold-medal effort fell short on the final day of the women's wrestling competition at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Hildebrandt, competing at 53 kilograms, had the tough task of defeating the returning world champion, 19-year-old Haruna Okuno of Japan. On Thursday, it was all Okuno as she attacked first, scoring a takedown to take a 2-0 lead into the break. She would increase her lead and eventually earn a technical fall at 11-0 with a variety of takedowns. The Japanese women were dominant at the World Championships, crowning four gold medalists and running away with the team title. "I had a game plan and she shut it down pretty well," Hildebrandt said. "You just train so hard. To come up short it stings. I really did believe I was going to win. I'm going to have a good 2019 and set myself up for 2020. Mallory Velte celebrates after winning her bronze-medal match (Photo/Larry Slater) Mallory Velte scrapped for a bronze medal at 62 kilograms and earned it. Facing Brazil's Lais Nunes de Oliveira in the bronze-medal match, Velte struggled to score early in the match, but remained calm and persistent. It worked for Velte as Nunes was put on the activity clock in both periods and by virtue of her not scoring, Velte was awarded two inactivity points giving her a 2-1 victory. "I feel like a million bucks," Velte said. "I knew it was going to be a grinder she's hard to score on. I just had to [stay] on my offense the whole time. U.S. women's coach Troy Steiner had a positive outlook after the way the women's team wrestled. "I think everyone stepped up," Steiner said. "You look at the overall performance of a team when one of their leaders goes down, we had some great things happen and it's going in the right direction." The women's team finished third in the overall standings and had four medalists. Adeline Gray won a gold medal, Hildebrandt won silver and Velte and Tamyra Mensah-Stock finished with bronze. Olympic champion Helen Maroulis, who was just coming back from a brain injury, dropped her first match on Wednesday. The Americans were without the services of 2017 world silver medalist Alli Ragan, who suffered an injury and was unable to compete. The U.S. women finished third in the team competition (Photo/Larry Slater) In Greco-Roman, veteran Sam Hazewinkel was not awarded a repechage match, so his tournament has come to an end. Hazewinkel said this is most likely his last world championship, but he might take one more shot at the Olympics in 2020. "Not being able to come back for third hurts," Hazewinkel said. "I would have liked to [wrestle back] for third, but it's a part of the deal and you know that coming in. You can't lose expecting to get pulled in."

RaVaughn Perkins talks to U.S. coaches Matt Lindland and Momir Petkovic (Photo/Larry Slater) BUDAPEST, Hungary -- It was a tough day for the U.S. Greco-Roman team on the opening day of the Greco-Roman competition at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. The team struggled in many aspects and are searching for answers. All four wrestlers who competed lost their opening bouts. Three of the four scored points and had competitive matches that they were in until the very end. The lone wrestler waiting to see if he receives a repechage match is Sam Hazewinkel. The first American wrestler was RaVaughn Perkins who started his day against Murat Dag of Turkey. Perkins started strong and held a 3-0 lead after scoring with a gut wrench. His lead was short lived as he found himself trailing 6-3 at the break. But Perkins continued to battle, fighting until time expired. Perkins climbed back into the match and closed the gap to 8-7, but was unable to score again and that was the score when the final whistle blew. Perkins, a replacement for Team USA, was critical of himself and his performance. "It was an embarrassment for me and for my country to go out there like that," Perkins said. "Having this opportunity, I shouldn't have [gone] out there like that. I'm a veteran in this sport and should have done better." Perkins was eliminated from competition when Dag lost his next match. Jesse Thielke dropped his opening match at the World Championships (Photo/Larry Slater) Jesse Thielke also suffered a close defeat. Wrestling against Donior Islamov of Moldova, Thielke began the match strong, sprinting out to an early 5-0 lead by virtue of two firm gut wrenches. Thielke would relinquish his lead as Islamov stormed back with some gut wrenches of his own to build a 6-5 lead heading into the break. Islamov built his lead to 8-5 with a gut wrench and held on for the victory. "It's disappointing but you [have] to find a way to move forward," Thielke said. "I have to find a way to score, champions find a way to win and I didn't do that. It's a learning lesson, you have no choice but to move forward." Thielke was not eligible for a repechage match after Islamov dropped his quarterfinal match. Geordan Speiller scores with a gut wrench (Photo/Larry Slater) Geordan Speiller found himself in an early hole against Luis Avendano Rojas of Venezuela. Losing 4-0 at the break, Speiller wrestled his way back into the match, getting ahead 5-4 by the use of two gut wrenches. Rojas would not be behind for long as he scored to go up 8-5, that would be the final scoring as Speiller suffered and arm injury and was forced to default out. Speiller was eliminated when Rojas lost. Veteran Sam Hazewinkel, a 2012 Olympian in freestyle, made a miniscule mistake and allowed his opponent, Ekrem Ozturk of Turkey, to get behind him and make a four-point throw and then Ozturk used a gut wrench for the final scoring, completing the technical fall 8-0. Hazewinkel is waiting to see if he will receive a repechage match as Ozturk has moved on to the semifinals, this afternoon. If Ozturk wins, then Hazewinkel will wrestle his repechage match on Friday.

The MMA world is abuzz over reports Wednesday that UFC and ONE are working on a deal that appears to be the first major trade in mixed martial arts history. Ben AskrenIn the deal, UFC would release former flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson from his contract so that he could sign with ONE ... while ONE would free its former welterweight (170 pound) champ Ben Askren from his contract so he could realize his long-held dream of fighting in the UFC. While what is being referred as a trade -- considered to be the first of its kind in professional MMA -- is not yet a done deal, the general consensus is that it is close to being finalized. Askren, a two-time NCAA wrestling champ for the University of Missouri before becoming an MMA superstar, weighed in on Twitter with what he thought the odds of the deal going through, ranking it at 98 percent. The 34-year-old Askren has an 18-0 (with one no-contest) record since launching his pro MMA career in Feb. 2009. The Wisconsin native became welterweight champ for the Bellator organization from 2010 until he was released from his contract in 2013. Askren then moved to ONE, where he won the welterweight title in 2014. His last fight -- a first-round victory over Shinya Aoki in November 2017 -- had been announced as the capstone of his unbeaten career ... but the member of the U.S. men's freestyle team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics has long made know that his dream was to compete in UFC. Johnson, 32, had held the UFC flyweight (125-pound) crown until August, losing it to Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler Henry Cejudo in August, breaking a 13-bout win streak. Johnson sports an impressive overall record of 27-3-1 in a pro career stretching back to April 2007.

Myles Amine placed third at the NCAAs last season (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) MANHEIM, Pa -- Hailing from Brighton, Michigan, Myles Amine talked about his excitement of the 2018 NWCA All-Star Classic, "I'm most excited to be able to compete on a big stage early in the season. I want to wrestle the best guys in the country, and this event gives me an opportunity to start my season off doing that." Amine is a well decorated NCAA student-athlete with a 71-16 career record and two All-American finishes under his belt, a fourth and third place finish in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Amine will be looking for All-American honors for his third consecutive season but will look to get started on the right foot by taking on Oklahoma State's Jacobe Smith, in their first-ever matchup at the 2018 NWCA All-Star Classic. From a two-time NJCAA national champion to an NCAA Division I All-American, Jacobe Smith is ready to start his Redshirt Senior season off with a bang. Entering the season with a career record of 22-8, the Oklahoma native wants to prove that he can compete with the best of the best. During the 2018 National Championships, Smith lost a tough 4-2 decision in the second round. He then made his way through the wrestle backs where he beat number seven ranked Lujan, from Northern Iowa, in a close 10-8 decision to secure his first All-America honor. Smith would go on to finish in eighth place. This will be the first time that Myles Amine and Jacobe Smith face off as they were one match away, twice, at the 2018 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. ANNOUNCED MATCHUPS Men 141: No. 1 (133) Seth Gross (South Dakota State) vs. No. 3 (133) Tariq Wilson (North Carolina State) 141: No. 2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) vs. No. 5 Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State) 149: No. 8 Mitch Finesilver (Duke) 174: No. 3 Myles Amine (Michigan) vs. No. 10 (184) Jacobe Smith (Oklahoma State) 184: No. 3 Taylor Venz (Nebraska) vs. No. 8 Max Dean (Cornell) vs. 285: No. 4 Derek White (Oklahoma St.) Women 109: Charlotte Fowler (Campbellsville) vs. Maria Vidales (Emmanuel) 123: Gabriela Ramos-Diaz (Wayland Baptist) vs. Dominique Parrish (Simon Fraser) 130: Erika Mihalca (Missouri Baptist) 143: Nicole Joseph (King) 170: Brittany Marshall (Wayland Baptist) vs. Mariah Harris (Campbellsville)

Adeline Gray with the gold medal after winning her fourth world title (Photo/Larry Slater) BUDAPEST, Hungary -- After falling short at the 2016 Olympics and not competing in the 2017 World Championships, Adeline Gray is standing on the top of the podium again. On Wednesday, Gray defeated 2017 world champion Yasemin Adar of Turkey in dominant fashion to become a four-time world champion. Gray now joins John Smith, Tricia Saunders and Jordan Burroughs as the only four-time world champions in U.S. wrestling history. Gray won her last world title in 2015 and was a two-time returning champion heading into the Rio Olympics where she fell short of a medal. Gray was facing a 1-0 deficit early in the gold-medal match but wasted little time before securing a takedown and locking up her iconic leg lace for a 13-1 victory, seconds before the first period ended. "I took care of business I only needed one takedown to get my tech on top," Gray said. "The talent in this bracket is insane and I came out on top. You have world champions that didn't even get the chance to be on the medal stand." Sarah Hildebrandt celebrates after reaching the finals (Photo/Sandy Slater) Sarah Hildebrandt continued her strong year by reaching the gold-medal match at 53 kilograms. In an overpowering fashion, Hildebrandt cruised to the world championship finals. Wrestling against Mary Weicker of Canada, Hildebrandt used a takedown and her leg lace to build an 8-0 lead heading into the break. Hildebrandt did not waste much time once the second period began, securing the technical fall 38 seconds into the period. "It feels good," Hildebrandt said with an exuberant scream. "It's been my goal to really learn par terre so you can put matches away. There was a match this year where I was up 8-0 and all I had to do was put it away, I went out and got pinned. That was in the back of my mind. My mantra is 'Be demanding. Be solid. Be Sarah ' ... and I think doing all those things will lead me to a world title." She will meet Haruna Okuno of Japan in the gold-medal match on Thursday. In the other American semifinal match on Wednesday, Mallory Velte, competing at 62 kilograms, was pinned in the opening minute by Turkey's Taybe Yusein. Velte made a simple mistake allowing her to lock up the cradle and once Yusein had it tight she rolled Velte over for the fall. Velte will wrestle tomorrow for the bronze medal. Tamyra Mensah-Stock gets her hand raised after winning her bronze-medal match (Photo/Larry Slater) Tamyra Mensah-Stock claimed the bronze medal at 68 kilograms, her first world medal. In the bronze-medal match against Olivia Di Bacco of Canada, Mensah-Stock held a slim 1-0 lead at the break, but used a takedown and a turn to build a 6-0 lead that she wouldn't relinquish. Di Bacco would get on the scoreboard, but Mensah-Stock stayed aggressive through the final whistle for a 7-4 victory. An overjoyed Mensah-Stock was unable to contain herself as she paced back and force, tears streaming down her face with excitement while trying to speak. "It's a heck of a step up from last year," Mensah-Stock said. "I don't know what it does for my confidence, but I know I'm praising God for whatever happens." Forrest Molinari lost her bronze-medal match in heart breaking fashion at 65 kilograms. Molinari was never able to get any offense going in her bronze-medal match against Irina Netreba of Azerbaijan. In a match that only saw scoring on inactivity points, Molinari lost 1-1 on criteria. She scored first and was up 1-0 at the break, but Netreba was the victor by virtue of having scored the last point. "I'm disappointed right now that I wasn't able to come out with a medal," Molinari said. "It's just refocusing and not letting this drag me down. Where I'm best is where I'm shooting and getting on people's legs." U.S. women's coach Terry Steiner was proud of the results, but understands there is room for improvement. "I thought we performed well," Steiner said. "We got some holes in our wrestling that we need to get better at. We need to clean some things up and keep moving forward."

Sarah Hildebrandt gets her hand raised after a victory over Anzhela Dorogan of Azerbaijan (Photo/Larry Slater) BUDAPEST, Hungary -- In a day that world and Olympic gold medalist Helen Maroulis faltered, there was a ray of hope for the U.S. women's wrestling team at the World Championships. Both Sarah Hildebrandt and Mallory Velte wrestled their way to the semifinals in their respective weight classes. Maroulis suffered a defeat in her opening match to Alonya Kolesnik of Azerbaijan. The match was tied at 2-2, shortly after the break with Kolesnik winning on criteria, before she used a takedown and put Maroulis to her back and pinned her early in the second period. Maroulis was stymied by an apparent shoulder injury that she suffered during the match. An emotional Maroulis who did her post-match interview with her arm in a sling, also just recently resumed wrestling after having been out with a brain injury. "I hate losing everyone here hates losing," Maroulis in tears said. "This time when I lost [I said] let me sit down and think about everything. I want to be the best support for the girls today. I feel really responsible to do the right thing to set an example I really believe that I can come back, if not I, then I believe that I will walk away with my head held high." Hildebrandt, competing at 53 kilograms, began her day against Zhuldyz Eshimova, a multiple-time world medalist from Kazakhstan. Hildebrandt got on the board first with a step out, which turned out to be the only point scored in the first period. Coming back from the break Hildebrandt used a takedown and a turn to build a 5-0 lead. She eventually surrendered one point for a 5-1 victory. To earn a semifinal match, Hildebrandt had to defeat Anzhela Dorogan of Azerbaijan. Dorogan got on the board first with a takedown, but Hildebrant stormed back, quickly taking the lead at 3-2. She then used a magnificent leg lace to build an insurmountable lead at 9-2. There were a few different exchanges in the scoring, before the final whistle, but it was Hildebrant who advanced with a 15-9 victory. She will wrestle Diana Weicker of Canada in this afternoon's semifinals. Mallory Velte advanced to the semifinals at 62 kilograms (Photo/Larry Slater) Velte was powerful in both of her matches at 62 kilograms. Against two-time Olympic bronze medalist (2012, 2016) Jackeline Renteria Castillo of Colombia, Velte started quickly getting out a 6-2, with some exciting takedowns. She used a few more takedowns to cruise to a 14-6 victory. In her quarterfinals match, Velte fell behind 2-0, before getting a takedown and turn to build a 4-2 lead at the break. She then used a series of takedowns and turns extend her lead and eventually get the 14-4 technical fall. She will wrestle Taybe Yusein of Bulgaria in the semifinals this evening. Whitney Conder suffered a tough loss to 2017 world bronze medalist Sonhyang Kim of North Korea at 50 kilograms. Kim got on the scoreboard with a takedown and led 2-0 at the break. Conder would get a takedown and even led on criteria with the score tied at 2, but Kim earned a few takedowns to come away victorious 7-2. Conder is waiting to see if she receives a repechage match as Kim is currently in the semifinals. Forrest Molinari won her repechage match in Wednesday's first session and will wrestle for bronze. Facing Maria Kutnetsova of Russia, Molinari found herself in a 4-0 hole early. She cut the deficit to two on to occasions before Kutnetsova increased it to four. But it was a well-timed headlock by Molinari to make the match score 8-8 before she heard a whistle signifying the fall with 34 seconds remaining, advancing her to the bronze-medal match.

Adam Busiello seeks to become the first four-time Super 32 Challenge champion (Photo/Josh Conklin) Whenever the Super 32 Challenge comes around, one knows that the high school wrestling regular season is right around corner. Over the last ten-plus years, this tournament has seen many of the nation's stars and future stars compete on its mats. Furthermore, every year one can count on this tournament producing a match/event -- or more -- that people will talk about for years to come. Year-to-year this field is absolutely loaded. The October 2017 edition of the tournament had over 115 wrestlers that would be nationally ranked by InterMat in their respective weight classes at the end of the 2017-18 season. In addition, over 300 participants in the even won a state-level tournament title (i.e. state tournament, New England regional, or National Preps). From a past participant standpoint, approximate one-half of the qualifiers for the 2018 NCAA Division I wrestling tournament competed in the high school division of the Super 32 at least once; the same applies in terms of All-Americans. Looking back at the Super 32 Challenge high school division from five years ago, the list of champions is illustrious. It includes Yianni Diakomihalis and Spencer Lee, who each won national titles as true freshmen in 2018; two-time NCAA champion Jason Nolf; plus additional NCAA All-Americans including Luke Pletcher, Ryan Millhof, Logan Massa, Chance Marsteller, Zack Zavatsky, and Chip Ness. Highlighting the 2013 finals program was a match at 113 between Lee and Nick Suriano, the NCAA final this past spring at 125 pounds; while there also was a showdown at 145 between eventual NCAA All-Americans in Massa and Grant Leeth. The lead story for this year's tournament is Penn State commit Adam Busiello (Eastport-South Manor, N.Y.), who seeks to become the event's first four-time champion in the high school division. He will be competing in the 126-pound weight class. Those to win three titles in the "Greensboro Era" include Joey Silva, Yianni Diakomihalis, Sam Krivus, and Sam Brownlee; while Jordan Frishkorn, Ashtin Primus, Chris Brown, and Patrick Bond won three tournament titles prior to the event moving to Greensboro. Six additional wrestlers return to the tournament after winning titles last year: Cullan Schriever (Mason City, Iowa) at 113, Ryan Crookham (Notre Dame, Pa.) at 120, Ryan Anderson (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) at 145, Brevin Balmeceda (South Dade, Fla.) at 152, Patrick Kennedy (Kasson-Mantorville, Minn.) at 170, and Braxton Amos (Parkersburg South, W.Va.) at 220. Antonio Lorenzo (St. John Bosco, Calif.) is in this year's tournament at 120 having won the Super 32 in 2016. To show the depth of talent in this year's field, the field also features approximately 110 wrestlers that are ranked in their respective grade levels by InterMat, and over 50 that ended the 2017-18 season in the national weight class rankings. Below is a weight-by-weight preview for this year's tournament, which takes place on Saturday and Sunday in Greensboro, N.C. Note: This preview is based on entries (and weight classes) as of Sunday evening. 106: Leading the way in this field is returning Super 32 runner-up Richard Figueroa (Selma, Calif.), who is ranked No. 3 overall in the Class of 2021 and was a Cadet World silver medalist this summer at 48 kilos. Other primary contenders in this field include 2017 Cadet World freestyle participant Cole Skinner (Cincinnati LaSalle, Ohio) along with Cadet folkstyle and freestyle champion Jordan Williams (Collinsville, Okla.); Skinner is ranked No. 28 in the Class of 2021, while Williams is No. 5 in the Class of 2022. Additional ranked incoming freshmen are No. 15 Alex Almeyda (Bergen Catholic, N.J.), twice fourth at the UWW Cadet freestyle nationals, and No. 23 Nick Fea (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.). Two wrestlers ranked top five among Junior High wrestlers nationally feature in this weight class, No. 3 Maxximus Martinez (California) and No. 4 Nasir Bailey (Illinois); Martinez was champion in Cadet folkstyle and freestyle this past off-season. Others to note in this weight class include state champions Stevo Poulin (Shenendehowa, N.Y.), Braxton Brown (Allen, Texas), and Gary Steen (Reynolds, Pa.); as well as state runners-up Drake Ayala (Fort Dodge, Iowa), Diego Sotelo (Marmion Academy, Ill.), and Alexzander Cottey (Perry Meridian, Ind.). 1113: Cullan Schriever (Mason City, Iowa) was champion last year in this tournament at 106 pounds, and is ranked No. 25 overall in the Class of 2020 after winning a Junior National freestyle title this summer. Two others in this weight class have placed top three at the Super 32 previously. Greg Diakomihalis (Hilton, N.Y.), ranked No. 17 in the Class of 2020, was runner-up at 106 pounds in 2016; while Jeremiah Reno (Liberty, Mo.) was third at 106 last year. Six additional wrestlers in this weight class enter the tournament with a national grade-level ranking. Daniel Cardenas (Pomona, Colo.) and Troy Spratley (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) are both ranked top 15 among Class of 2022 wrestlers; Cardenas was a Cadet freestyle runner-up this summer in Fargo, while Spratley was one match from placing in last year's high school 106 weight class at this event. Those ranked among the Class of 2021 top 50 include No. 20 Cooper Flynn (McDonogh, Md.), No. 35 Nicholas Nardone (Delbarton, N.J.), No. 37 Dean Peterson (St. John Vianney, N.J.), and No. 47 Jacob Moon (Oregon Clay, Ohio). Another subset of four wrestlers ended the 2017-18 season ranked nationally at 106 pounds: Logan Agin (Lancaster, Ohio), Nick Kayal (Bergen Catholic, N.J.), Dustin Norris (Cincinnati LaSalle, Ohio), and Nick Babin (Emerson-Park Ridge, N.J.); Norris was also a Junior National freestyle All-American this summe, while Babin placed at the Super 32 last year. Others to watch include NHSCA Sophomore Nationals champion Tristan Lujan (Selma, Calif.), NHSCA Junior Nationals champion Jacob Moran (Portage, Ind.), Junior National freestyle All-American Joey Thompson (Totino Grace, Minn.), along with Cadet National freestyle All-Americans Zeke Seltzer (Indianapolis Cathedral, Ind.) and Garrett Lautzenheiser (Louisville, Ohio). 120: The nation's top overall Class of 2022 wrestler Ryan Crookham (Notre Dame, Pa.) is listed as competing in this weight class; last year he was champion of the high school division 113-pound weight class as an eighth grader. This is a weight class robust with talent, as 13 additional wrestlers enter the tournament with a grade-level national ranking, led by 2017 Cadet World freestyle participant Julian Tagg (Brecksville, Ohio/USOTC), who is ranked No. 8 in the Class of 2020. Also ranked in the Class of 2020 are No. 15 Anthony Clark (Delbarton) and No. 44 Eddie Ventresca (Pope John XXIII), both from New Jersey; Clark placed last year at the Super 32, and is a two-time state champion, while Ventresca is a two-time state placer. Five ranked members of the Class of 2019 are present: No. 56 Lucas Byrd (Cincinnati LaSalle, Ohio), No. 73 Sam Latona (Thompson, Ala.), No. 83 Antonio Lorenzo (St. John Bosco, Calif.), No. 89 Kyle Gollhofer (Woodland, Ga.), and No. 100 Noah Surtin (Edwrdsville, Ill.). Byrd placed fourth at this tournament in 2016, Latona placed seventh at 113 last year, Lorenzo won this event at 106 in 2016 before placing fourth at 113 last year, Gollhofer was sixth in this weight last year, while Surtin was third at 113 last year. Three ranked Class of 2021 are present in this field: No. 9 Maximo Renteria (Buchanan, Calif.), No. 27 Brock McMillen (Glendale, Pa.), and No. 45 Ramon Ramos (Valiant College Prep, Ariz.); Renteria was a state champion last year and a UWW Cadet freestyle All-American in the spring, while state runner-up McMillen won a FloNationals title this past spring. A pair of wrestlers join Crookham in this field from the top 25 of the Class of 2022: No. 2 Nick Bouzakis (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.) and No. 6 Jesse Mendez (Crown Point, Ind.). Bouzakis was a Cadet National folkstyle champion this spring, along with placing fifth at 106 in the high school division of this tournament last year; while Mendez was runner-up to Bouzakis in Cadet folkstyle and third at the FloNationals in the high school division. Others to watch in this field include Junior National freestyle All-American Corey Gamet (Parma Western, Mich./TBD), two-time state champions Nick Masters (Woodward Academy, Ga.) and Adam Allard (West Sioux, Iowa), state champion Nick Oldham (West Des Moines Valley, Iowa), along with NHSCA Junior Nationals runner-up Destin Summers (Snake River, Idaho). 126: Though it would be a significant surprise if Busiello -- ranked No. 8 overall in the Class of 2019 -- did not clear this weight to win his fourth Super 32 high school division title, there are fourteen other grade-level ranked wrestlers in the field. The group includes three others from the Class of 2019: No. 54 Sammy Alvarez (St. Joseph Montvale, N.J.), No. 75 Kai Orine (Seckman, Mo.), and No. 96 Jake Svihel (Totino Grace, Minn.); Alvarez is a two-time state runner-up to Anthony Clark, Orine was fifth in Junior freestyle this summer after finishing as a FloNationals runner-up in the spring, while three-time state runner-up Svihel was a Junior folkstyle champion in the spring. The most direct threat to Busiello would be Dominick Serrano (Windsor, Colo.), who won FloNationals and Cadet freestyle titles since picking up a second scholastic state title; Serrano is ranked No. 14 overall in the Class of 2020. Six other contenders in this field are among the top 50 overall nationally in the Class of 2021: No. 13 Shayne Van Ness (Blair Academy, N.J.), No. 15 Reid Ballantyne (Stillwater, Minn.), No. 21 Teague Travis (Father Tolton Catholic, Mo.), No. 22 Joey Olivieri (Hanover Park, N.J.), No. 29 Vinny Zerban (Christian Brothers College, Mo.), and No. 40 Zack Witmer (St. Joseph's Academy, Pa.). Out of this group, Van Ness was a NHSCA Freshman Nationals champion; Ballantyne, Travis, and Zerban were Cadet freestyle All-Americans; and Olivieri won a state title as a freshman. Three others are ranked among the top 25 of rising freshmen in the Class of 2022: No. 18 Caleb Henson (Woodland, Ga.), No. 21 Gavin Brown (Legacy Christian Academy, Ohio), and No. 25 Michael Kilic (Woodward Academy, Ga.). Additional wrestlers to watch include returning Super 32 placer Tyler Hunt (Dalton, Ga.); FloNationals runner-up Sean Pierson (Nazareth, Pa.); Junior National freestyle All-American Earl Blake (Liganore, Md.); state runner-up and FloNationals placer Colton Camacho (Franklin Regional, Pa.); state champions Hunter Watts (Jimtown, Ind.), Brayden Palmer (Beech, Tenn.), and Zach Redding (Eastport-South Manor, N.Y.); two-time state champions Brayden Curtis (Yorktown, Ind.) and Vincent Mannella (Woodward Academy, Ga.); Cadet freestyle All-American Noah Horst (Baylor School, Tenn.); New England regional champion Ryan Jack (Danbury, Ct.); and Junior Greco-Roman champion Austin Almaguer (Kamaikin, Wash.). 132: Another absurdly deep weight class, and this one is headlined -- at least per the registration list -- by a pair of top five overall wrestlers in the Class of 2020. Joshua Saunders (Christian Brothers College, Mo.) was a participant in both the UWW Cadet and UWW Junior world freestyle championships this year, while Beau Bartlett (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) is a two-time National Prep champion. In this event, Bartlett was runner-up last year at 126 pounds while Saunders is a two-time placer (last year sixth in this weight class). Four others in this field join Saunders and Bartlett inside the top 50 overall for the Class of 2020 nationally: No. 12 Sam Hillegas (North Hills, Pa.), No. 31 Joshua Edmond (Detroit Catholic Central, Mich.), No. 35 Frankie Tal-Shahar (American Heritage, Fla.), and No. 50 Bretli Reyna (South Dade, Fla.). Two-time state champ Hillegas placed fourth at 126 in this event last year, Edmond was a Cadet National freestyle champion this summer, Tal-Shahar finished runner-up to Saunders at the UWW Cadet Nationals in freestyle, while two-time state champion Reyna was runner-up at the NHSCA Sophomore Nationals. Bolstering the depth and breadth of this weight class is five top 100 seniors from the Class of 2019: No. 21 Dylan D'Emilio (Genoa, Ohio), No. 27 Julian Chlebove (Northampton, Pa.), No. 66 Malyke Hines (Osceola, Fla.), No. 91 Asa Garcia (Avon, Ind.), and No. 94 Jordan Hamdan (Hudson, Mich.). D'Emilio is a two-time placer at both the Super 32 and Junior freestyle, two-time state champion Chlebove has placed twice at this tournament, Hines placed fifth at 120 in this tournament last year and was a NHSCA Junior Nationals champion in the spring, two-time state champion Garcia placed at this tournament and FloNationals during the last scholastic season, while three-time state champ Hamdan was a FloNationals placer. Rounding out the group of 15 grade level ranked wrestlers are No. 10 in the Class of 2022 Nick Vafiadis (New Kent, Va.) and a trio from the Class of 2021 in No. 8 Ryan Sokol (Simley, Minn.), No. 11 Wyatt Henson (Christian Brothers College, Mo.), and No. 49 Nick Moore (St. Paris Graham, Ohio). Sokol was a Cadet National freestyle champion in 2017 before missing the 2017-18 scholastic season due to injury, while Henson was an All-American at both the UWW Cadet Nationals and Cadet Nationals in freestyle. Additional wrestlers to watch include Junior National freestyle All-Americans Kellyn March (Canton, S.D.) Aand Ryder Ramsey (Tuttle, Okla.), NHSCA Junior Nationals chamion Gabe Hixenbaugh (Thompson, Ala.), Cadet freestyle runner-up Mick Burnett (Elyria, Ohio), returning Super 32 placer Julian Sanchez (Genoa, Ohio), NHSCA Sophomore Nationals champion Patrick Noonan (Stroudsburg, Pa.), FloNationals placer Justin Rivera (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.), and NHSCA Junior Nationals runner-up Shannon Hanna (Lake Gibson, Fla.). 138: A pair of California state champions that were runners-up at the Super 32 last year anchor the field, Jaden Abas (Rancho Bernardo, Calif.) and Jesse Vasquez (Santiago Corona, Calif.); Abas is ranked No. 11 in the Class of 2019, while Vasquez is No. 7 in the Class of 2020. Five other rising seniors join Abas as top 100 Class of 2019 wrestlers in this field. No. 34 Gabriel Tagg (Brecksville, Ohio/USOTC) was a Junior National freestyle runner-up this summer; No. 35 Jordan Crace (Elyria, Ohio) placed at both the Super 32 and in Junior freestyle during 2017-18; No. 41 Lucas Revano (Camden Catholic, N.J.) was a state champion and Junior freestyle All-American; No. 55 Devin Schwartzkopf (Greenway, Mo.) was third at the FloNationals and a NHSCA Junior Nationals runner-up; while No. 74 Luke Baughman (Wadsworth, Ohio) finished as a state runner-up. Three additional rising juniors join Vasquez as top 50 Class of 2020 wrestlers in the field. No. 40 Peyton Hall (Oak Glen, W.Va.) placed at the Flo Natonals and is a two-time state champion, No. 46 Ed Scott (DuBois, Pa.) placed both at the UWW Cadet Nationals and the Junior Nationals in freestyle, while No. 47 Aidan Medora (Brookfield Academy, Wis.) placed at the FloNationals and was a 2017 Cadet freestyle runner-up. Two other wrestlers in this field are grade-level ranked, Alek Martin (St. Paris Graham, Ohio) and Jagger Condomitti (Northampton, Pa.), they are ranked No. 30 and No. 44 respectively in the Class of 2021. Additional contenders in this field include FloNationals champion Mosha Schwartz (Ponderosa, Colo.), NHSCA Junior Nationals runner-up Bryce Nickel (Valiant College Prep, Ariz.), 2017 state champions Cayden Rooks (Columbus East, Ind.) and Noah Castillo (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.), two-time state third placer Luke Odom (Edwardsville, Ind.), and state champion Dylan Gilcher (Detroit Catholic Central, Mich.). 145: Returning Super 32 champion Ryan Anderson (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) is ranked No. 9 in the Class of 2019. He enters as the favorite to repeat, though it's a very deep field, most notably featuring five additional top 100 seniors: No. 23 Kevon Davenport (Detroit Catholic Central, Mich.), No. 36 James Whitaker (St. Johns, Mich.), No. 53 Michael North (Wadsworth, Ohio), No. 82 Chris Donathan (Mason, Ohio), and No. 92 Ryan Vulakh (Pope John II, Pa.). Whitaker and North were both FloNationals champions this spring, while Whitaker also placed fifth last year at 138 in this tournament; Davenport is a three-time state champion; Donathan finished as state runner-up this past season; while Vulakh is a two-time placer in this tournament. Junior National freestyle champion Keegan O'Toole (Arrowhead, Wis.) is among four top 50 overall Class of 2020 wrestlers in the field, O'Toole is ranked No. 18 among junior nationally. The other three are No. 16 Fidel Mayora (Montini Catholic, Ill.), No. 27 Sonny Santiago (St. John Bosco, Calif.), and No. 45 Manzona Bryant (Hudson WRA, Ohio); Mayora was runner-up in freestyle at the UWW Cadet Nationals, Santiago was a UWW Cadet freestyle All-American, while Bryant was runner-up at the FloNationals. Two other wrestlers in this weight class are grade-level ranked, both from California. Luka Wick (San Marino) is No. 23 in the Class of 2021, while Joseph Martin (Buchanan) is No. 7 in the Class of 2022. Others to watch in this field include Junior National freestyle All-American Johnny Lovett (Miami Southridge, Fla.), multi-time state champions Ezekiel Williamson (Jerome, Idaho) and Chance McLane (Bozeman, Mont), state runners-up Caleb Dowling (St. Joseph's Academy, Pa.) and Alex Mosconi (Indianapolis Cathedral, Ind.), NHSCA Sophomore Nationals champion Andrew Cerniglia (Notre Dame, Pa.), FloNationals placer Avry Mutschler (Lowell, Mich.), 2017 Junior freestyle All-American Gabe Miller (Pequea Valley, Pa.), and Cadet freestyle All-American Cael Valencia (St. John Bosco, Calif.). 152: Returning Super 32 champion Brevin Balmeceda (South Dade, Fla.) is one of three high end Class of 2019 wrestlers in the field, as he is ranked No. 16; also in the field are No. 10 Connor Brady (Olentangy Liberty, Ohio) and No. 32 Cameron Amine (Detroit Catholic Central, Mich.). Balmeceda was also a NHSCA Junior Nationals champion this past year; Brady and Amine have both placed fifth previously at the Super 32, and each was a Junior freestyle All-American this summer. Three others in the field are ranked nationally in the Class of 2020: No. 22 Thayer Lawrence (Frazier, Pa.), No. 28 Drew Eller (Evans, Ga.), and No. 30 Aaron Gandara (Poway, Calif.); Lawrence placed third at the FloNationals this spring, Eller is a two-time state champion, while Gandara placed at both the UWW Cadet Nationals in freestyle and the Junior Nationals in Greco. Also grade-ranked in the field is Bennett Berge (Kasson-Mantorville, Minn.), No. 20 in the Class of 2022 and already a high school state champion. Additional contenders in this field include two-time state champions Jacob Mariakis (Ridgeland, Ga.) and Nathan Moore (White River, Wash.), 2017 state placer Baylor Fernandes (Lockport, Ill.), state champion Nathan Haubert (Palisades, Pa.), Cadet National freestyle runner-up John Martin Best (Parkersburg, W.Va.), and state runner-up Elliot Rodgers (Indianapolis Cathedral, Ind.). 160: Cadet World bronze medalist Alex Facundo (Davison, Mich.), who is ranked No. 2 overall in the Class of 2021, is the clear anchor figure in this weight class. Only three other grade-ranked wrestlers reside in this weight class: Joshua Otto (Arrowhead, Wis.), Jacob Lagoa (Ashtabula Lakeside, Ohio), and Cole Rees (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.). Returning Super 32 placer Otto is ranked No. 72 in the Class of 2019, and was runner-up to Facundo at the UWW Cadet Nationals in freestyle; two-time state champion Lagoa is ranked No. 39 in the Class of 2020; while NHSCA Freshman Nationals champion Rees is ranked No. 33 in the Class of 2021. Other contenders in this weight class include state champions Matthew Ortiz (Montini Catholic, Ill.), Todd Perry (South Dade, Fla.), and Nick South (Columbus East, Ind.); two-time state champions Christian Minto (Mariner, Fla.) and Gavin Kane (Cambridge, Ga.); multi-time state placers Noah Blake (Del Oro, Calif.), Donnell Washington (Portage, Ind.), Farouq Muhammed (Elyria, Ohio), Corey Peterson (Desmet, Mo.), Ben Pasiuk (Carrollton, Ohio), and Aurelius Dunbar (Mercersburg Academy, Pa.); along with NHSCA Sophomore Nationals champions Clayton Ulrey (Lower Dauphin, Pa.) and Graham Calhoun (Plymouth, Ind.). 170: A pair of returning Super 32 finalists anchor this weight class, both of whom are elite Class of 2020 wrestlers. No. 6 Dustin Plott (Tuttle, Okla.) has verbally committed to Oklahoma State, while No. 11 Patrick Kennedy (Kasson-Mantorville, Minn.) has verbally committed to Iowa; Plott was runner-up at 160 last year in this tournament, while Kennedy was champion of this weight class. Two other ranked juniors are in this field, No. 19 Kai Bele (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.) and No. 37 Greyden Penner (Liberty, Mo.). So are three top 100 overall seniors: No. 43 Alex Cramer (Grayslake Central, Ill.), No. 67 Edmund Ruth (Susquehanna Township, Pa.), and No. 84 Troy Fisher (Goddard, Kansas). State champion Cramer was runner-up at the NHSCA Junior Nationals and champion in Junior Greco-Roman; two-time state champion Ruth placed fifth in that same weight at the NHSCA Junior Nationals; while state champion Fisher, a three-time state finalist, was fourth in that weight at the NHSCA Junior Nationals. Other contenders in this weight class include state runner-up Luke Nichter (Chambersburg, Pa.), NHSCA Sophomore Nationals runner-up Ashton Habeil (Lake Gibson, Fla.), state placer Shane Reitsma (Howell, N.J.), and two-time state champion Kolton Clark (Scottsboro, Ala.). 182: Cadet World bronze medalist Abe Assad (Glenbard North, Ill.) is ranked No. 24 overall in the Class of 2019 and one of five top 50 seniors in this weight class. Those joining him are No. 15 Carter Starocci (Erie Cathedral Prep, Pa.), No. 25 Chris Foca (Bergen Catholic, N.J.), No. 42 Jackson Turley (St. Christopher's, Va.), and No. 50 Zach Glazier (Albert Lea, Minn.). State champion Starocci was fourth in Junior freestyle this summer, NHSCA Junior Nationals champion Foca was a Super 32 runner-up last year at 170, returning Super 32 placer Turley is a two-time National Prep runner-up and was also champion at the NHSCA Junior Nationals, while state champion Glazier placed at the UWW Cadet Nationals in freestyle. Two other grade-level ranked wrestlers reside in this field, both from the Class of 2020, No. 26 Gerrit Nijenhuis (Canon-McMillan, Pa.) and No. 41 Rocky Elam (Staley, Mo.); FloNationals runner-up Nijenhuius is twice third at state, while state medalist Elam was a Cadet National freestyle champion this summer. Others to watch in the weight class include two-time state placers Christian Rodriguez (California) and Jaden Glauser (Richmond-Burton, Ill.), state runner-up Julian Gorring (Fort LeBoeuf, Pa.), state placers Ryan Cosio (Temecula Valley, Pa.) and Sammy Deprez (Hilton, N.Y.), NHSCA Sophomore Nationals runners-up Chase Stegall (Northwest Cedar Hill, Mo.) and John Poznanski (Colonia, N.J.), two-time state champions Sam Fisher (Fauquier, Va.) and Zane Lanham (Huntington, W.Va.), Cadet National freestyle runner-up Nathan Haas (St. John Bosco, Calif.), along with FloNationals placer Carson Brewer (Avon, Ind.). 195: State champion Jacob Cardenas (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) followed up that feat with titles at the NHSCA Junior Nationals and FloNationals, and is now ranked No. 12 overall in the Class of 2019. Two other top 100 overall seniors reside in the field, No. 76 Wyatt Hendrickson (Newton, Kansas) and No. 97 Christian Knop (Alexandria, Ala.); Hendrickson was a Junior National double All-American this summer, while Knop earned that distinction last summer. Other contenders in the field include state champions Stephen Buchanan (Neillsville, Wis.), Kevin Makosy (Urbana, Md.), Easton Turner (Detroit Catholic Central, Mich.), Logan Andrew (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.), Santos Cantu (Sprague, Ore.), and Nathan Dugan (Lake Norman, N.C.); Junior National freestyle All-American Matthew Cover (Bay Village, Ohio); two-time National Prep placer Jack Wimmer (McDonogh, Md.); California state placers Jacob Good (Clovis) and Guillermo Escobedo (Bishop Amat); along with Cadet National freestyle runner-up Kolby Franklin (St. Joseph's Acdemy, Pa.), who is ranked No. 22 overall in the Class of 2022. 220: Returning champion from this weight class Braxton Amos (Parkersburg South, W.Va.) is ranked No. 3 overall in the Class of 2020. His primary threats are going to be returning Super 32 placers from the 195-pound weight class, Yaruslav Slavikouski (Northfield Mt. Hermon, Mass.) and Konner Doucet (Comanche, Okla.); Slavikouski was runner-up at National Preps last year, while Doucet is ranked No. 43 in the Class of 2020 after finishing runner-up in freestyle at the UWW Cadet Nationals. Additional contenders in this weight class include Junior National double All-Americans Josh Heindselman (Piedmont, Okla.) and Garrett Kappes (McDonogh, Md.), two-time state champion Tarik Sutkovic (Ironwood, Ariz.), state medalists Kyle Cornwell (Elwood, Ind.) and Jacob McMaster (Greenville, Pa.), along with Cadet National freestyle champion Nathaniel Deasey (Chandler, Ariz.). 285: As is the case in many years, football leaves upper-weights in these fall preseason tournaments relatively bare when compared to the rest of the weight classes. The lone returning Super 32 placers in this weight class are Michael Kramer (Wilson Central, Tenn.) and Jordan Pryor (Dunbar, Md.); along with NHSCA Junior Nationals runner-up Louden Haga (Parkersburg South, W.Va.), they would be your favorites at the head of this field. Others to watch include two-time state champions Andy Garcia (Pueblo East, Colo.), Aidan Conner (Highland Park, Texas), and Thomas Mukai (Robinson, Va.); Cadet National double runner-up Colby Whitehill (Brookville, Pa.); along with state medalist Tyler Deloof (Lowell, Mich.).

Abdulrashid Sadulaev defeated Kyle Snyder for the gold medal on Tuesday (Photo/Max Rose-Fyne, United World Wrestling) BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Entering the 2018 World Championships, Kyle Snyder had not suffered a defeat at a world-level event on the senior level. On Tuesday, it happened. Russia's Abdulrashid Sadulaev earned first-period fall over Snyder in the gold-medal match at the World Championships to claim the gold medal at 97 kilograms in a highly-anticipated rematch being promoted as Snyderlaev II. Snyder won the first meeting 6-5 at last year's World Championships in Paris. Sadulaev, now a three-time world champion and 2016 Olympic champion, took a shot early in the match, hooked Snyder's arm and put the American on his back where he would eventually get the fall. "Everybody knows Sadulaev is a very talented wrestler," Snyder said. "He hit me in a good move and it worked out well for him tonight." The men's freestyle team finished in second place behind Russia. The Americans won seven medals in freestyle, including three golds. Kyle Dake (79 kilograms), David Taylor (86 kilograms) and J'den Cox (92 kilograms) won gold. Kyle Snyder (97 kilograms) won silver. Joe Colon (61 kilograms), Jordan Burroughs (74 kilograms) and and Nick Gwiazdowski (125 kilograms) finished with bronze medals. U.S. head freestyle coach Bill Zadick was upbeat about how competitive his team was. "We had a great team performance," Zadick said. "One thing we do really well is we compete really hard and when we're aggressive and go after it we're hard to beat. We have a lot of room to improve. I know these guys will do the work we'll make the adjustments and come back stronger." Adeline Gray celebrates her semifinal victory (Photo/Larry Slater) Three-time world champion Adeline Gray made a triumphant return to the world stage at 76 kilograms, reaching the gold-medal match with a victory over Olympic champion Erica Wiebe of Canada in a match that had the American's and the Canadians on the edge of their seats Wiebe scored the first point of the match off the shot clock. But Gray was not to be deterred, scoring a takedown on the edge to take a 2-1 lead into the break. Gray would widen the gap to 3-1, but Wiebe was relentless until the final buzzer, nearly scoring a takedown as time expired. "Erica's obviously a gamer," Gray said. "It's fun to wrestle her." Gray will wrestle 2017 world champion Yasmin Adar of Turkey for gold on Wednesday. "I'm looking forward to competing against Turkey," she said. "It's been a fun time wrestling with her in the past. I'm looking to an exciting match tomorrow." Jacarra Winchester fell short in her bronze-medal at 55 kilograms match against Lianna Montero Herrera of Cuba. Winchester stayed on the attack, but found herself facing a 5-1 deficit midway through the second period. She would cut the deficit to 5-4 with a double leg takedown on the edge, but there were only 10 seconds left. "I think I wrestled my hardest there are [things] I could have done better," Winchester said. "I got to keep getting better, even if I won this tournament. My plan is to be the greatest in the world every day of the day." Tamrya Mensah-Stock lost a tight semifinal match to Koumba Larroque of France at 68 kilograms. All the points scored in the match came from the shot clock, with Larroque getting the final one for a 2-1 victory. Mensah-Stock will wrestle Wednesday for a bronze medal. Forrest Molinari received a repechage match at 65 kilograms by virtue of Danielle Lappage of Canada reaching the gold-medal match. She will wrestle on Wednesday.

Adeline Gray celebrates after getting a fall in the quarterfinals (Photo/Sandy Slater) BUDAPEST, Hungary -- The second day of the women's wrestling competition at the World Championships began with a lot of positivity for the U.S women's team. Tamrya Mensah-Stock and Adeline Gray both reached the semifinals and the four women competing combined for a 6-2 record in the opening session. Tamrya Mensah-Stock talks with her coaches (Photo/Sandy Slater) Mensah-Stock, competing at 68 kilograms, started her day beating Yudaris Sanchez Rodriguez of Cuba. She used her quickness and strength to direct a series of takedowns and turns to obtain the technical decision with 1:40 left in the match. In her second match against two-time world champion Battsetseg Soronzonbold of Mongolia, Mensah-Stock showed absolute confidence getting on the scoreboard early and building a quick lead before using a takedown to secure the technical shortly into the second period. "My mental game, it's working," Mensah-Stock said. "[Thank] God in heaven." In the semifinals, Mensah-Stock will wrestle Koumba Larroque of France. Three-time world champion, Adeline Gray found herself having to overcome a three-point deficit to make the semifinals at 76 kilograms. Facing Elmira Syzdykova of Kazakhstan, Gray was losing 4-3 at the break after a challenge reversed her 3-2 lead. Beginning the second period Syzdykova scored to bring her lead to 6-3. With time not on her side, Gray was resilient and scored a takedown to cut the gap to one. She then used an arm bar to turn and pin Syzdykova with a 1:10 left in the match. In her first match of the day against Epp Mae of Estonia, Gray got on the board quickly and orchestrated a well-planned attack to dominate with takedowns and finished with back exposure to earn the 10-0 technical. She will face 2016 Olympic champion Erica Wiebe of Canada in the semifinals. Forrest Molinari fell just short of qualifying for the semifinals at 65 kilograms. In her match against Danielle Lappage of Canada, Molinari found herself behind 2-0 at the break. The deficit increased to 4-0, but she seemed to rally as she scored a takedown bringing the score to 4-2. However, Lappage had the final score, countering Molinari's attacks to win 6-2. Molinari was aggressive in her first match, beating Leidy Izquerdo Mendez of Colombia earlier in the day. She will wait to see if Lappage makes the finals, which would put her in repechage. Also, competing on the day was Erin Clodgo at 72 kilograms. She defeated Anastasia Zimiankova of Belarus in her opening match. Clodgo started sluggish, only leading 1-0 at the break, but two beautiful take downs allowed her to build a 5-0 final victory. Clodgo would suffer a tough loss to Tatiana Kolesnikova of Russia in her second match. She found herself down 4-0 at the break which would turn into 6-0 shortly after. But Clodgo was determined to score. She climbed back into the match with a takedown and turn, making the score 6-4. However, time ran out before she could mount a comeback. "It was a bummer losing in the last few seconds," Clodgo said. "I got the takedown and turned her and I [said] I'm only two behind, I still got to make it happen. There are endless things to work on." Clodgo was eliminated from competition when Kolesnikova lost in the quarterfinals.

Kyle Dake runs with the American flag after winning gold at 79 kilograms (Photo/Larry Slater) BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Kyle Dake and J'den Cox captured gold medals on Monday at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, giving the United States three freestyle gold medals overall with one day of freestyle competition remaining. Dake won his gold medal at 79 kilograms without surrendering a point, outscoring his opposition 37-0. "It feels pretty great," Dake said. "I need to keep getting better. That's the biggest thing. I think a lot of guys are respecting my leg defense. If they want to shoot and test their luck, I welcome it." Dake defeated 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Jabrayil Hasanov of Azerbaijain 2-0 in the gold-medal match. J'den Cox defeated Ivan Yankouski of Belarus to win the gold at 92 kilograms (Photo/Larry Slater) Cox battled Ivan Yankouski of Belarus in the gold-medal match at 92 kilograms. The American stayed in great position and pushed the pace, forcing his opponent into two shot clock points and when Cox was hit with a caution and one -- making the score 2-1 -- he timed a perfect single leg takedown for a 4-1 triumph. "I was expecting to be a world champion this year," Cox said. "It was a goal I set in place and I did the sacrifices and did everything I had to do to get here today." Kyle Snyder talks to his coach Tervel Dlagnev (Photo/Sany Slater) Olympic champion Kyle Snyder advanced to the gold-medal match at 97 kilograms. He will be looking for his fourth straight world-level gold when he competes on Tuesday. Snyder was methodical and concise in his semifinal match against two-time world medalist Pavlo Oliinyk of Hungary. He led 1-0 at the break and then scored a single-leg takedown in the second period to secure a 3-0 victory. In a highly anticipated rematch from last year's World Championships, Snyder will face 2016 Olympic champion and multiple-time world champion Abdulrashid Sadulaev of Russia. "I feel like I'm better than I was last time," Snyder said. "I got better on a couple hand fighting things. No more added motivation (to help USA beat Russia in the team race). My motivation to wrestle is because I love wrestling." U.S. coach Joe Russell was ecstatic about the men's team and their accomplishments following Dake and Cox's gold-medal matches. "It's pretty amazing to see guys accomplish a dream they've had their whole life," Russell said. "They worked super hard for so many years, [now] to come up with that gold medal, I'm just so happy for them." In the other American semifinal match on Monday, Jacarra Winchester suffered a tough defeat to Zalina Sidakova of Belarus. In a 2-1 match, Winchester took a double-leg shot that landed Sidakova on her hip with seconds left in the match, giving Winchester a 3-2 victory. A video review determined that Sidakova got her hip up and there was no takedown. U.S. coach Coleman Scott was optimistic that Winchester can rebound in the bronze-medal match. "She's going to have to regroup," Scott said. "Winning a medal is way more important than walking away with a fifth. She'll be fine, she's got more in the tank and I'm looking forward to tomorrow for her." Winchester will wrestle for bronze on Tuesday. Thomas Gilman, a returning world silver medalist, fell short in the bronze-medal match. He found himself in a 5-1 deficit which he was able to work down to 5-4, but it was not enough as time ran out. "When you take [things] away from the losses you learn a lot," Gilman. "I need to get to my leg attacks and figure out the hand fight more." Jenna Burkert did not receive a repechage match.

Kyle Snyder opened with three wins to reach the semifinals (Photo/Larry Slater) BUDAPEST, Hungary -- As the U.S men's team attempts to keep its small margin of a lead over Russia, the team needs each wrestler to perform well. The ever-reliable Kyle Snyder, two-time world champion and Olympic gold medalist, did his part. Snyder started slowly in his first match versus Baasanjargal Ulziisaikhan of Mongolia, falling behind 3-1, but that was when Snyder inflamed his fire rattling off seven unanswered points to an 8-3 victory. Snyder used a series of powerful takedowns to secure his victory. In his second match against Nathaniel Tuamoheloa of American Samoa, Snyder did not waste much time using an early takedown to secure gut wrench turn for a 10-0 technical victory in just 29 seconds. In his third match, Snyder again faced a small deficit with his opponent, Abraham Conyedo Ruan, an advantage on criteria, with the score tied at 2. Conyedo Ruan would not score again, Snyder roared to an 11-2 victory, using a series of takedowns to push him into the semifinals. In the semifinals, Snyder will wrestle Pavlo Oliinyk of Ukraine. The much-anticipated rematch of last year's finals between Snyder and Abdulrashid Sadulaev of Russia is still possible as Sadulaev remains alive in the other semifinals. Jacarra Winchester advanced to the semifinals at 55 kilograms (Photo/Larry Slater) On the women's side, qualifying for the semifinals was Jacarra Winchester at 55 kilograms. She quickly defeated Ramona Galambos of the hometown Hungary with some unstoppable takedowns to secure a 12-1 technical victory. Winchester needed a gutsy 4-2 win to defeat Tetyana Kit of Ukraine, in her second match to advance to the semifinals. Winchester led 4-0 at the break but gave up a takedown midway through the second period to decrease her lead to 4-2 and had to defend shot attempts by Kit for the closing 30 seconds to escape with the victory. Winchester will wrestle Zalina Sidakova of Belarus in the semifinals. James Green talks with his coaches Bryan Snyder and Mark Manning (Photo/Larry Slater) The freestyle team took a setback when returning world silver medalist James Green lost to Byambadorj Bat Erdene of Mongolia in the closing seconds. Green was winning on criteria with the scored tied 2-2, before Bat Erdene got in on a leg for the takedown on the edge. Green did win his first match of the afternoon, defeating Khadzhimurad Gadzhiyev of Azerbaijan 6-5. Green's explosiveness was evident as he used his strength and quickness to takedown Gadzhiyev with swift double-leg attacks. Green's chances at a repechage match were lost when Bat Erdene suffered defeat in the quarterfinals. Jenna Burkert had a tough draw at 59 kilograms as she faced Shoovdor Baatarjav of Mongolia in her first match. Burkert fought hard and was persistent with her shot attempts but was unable to get her leg attacks. She would lose the match 1-1 on criteria. Burkert is waiting to find out if she will receive a repechage match as Baatarjav defeated her last opponent and will wrestle this afternoon in the semifinals. Kyle Dake and J'den Cox will wrestle for gold tonight, while Thomas Gilman will compete for bronze.

Joe Keeton, long-time wrestling coach at a number of schools -- including the University of Missouri-Rolla (now Missouri University of Science and Technology), passed away a month shy of his 78th birthday. Joe KeetonAlthough he passed away two weeks ago at KU Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., word of Keeton's death was made public only this week, with an obituary in the Kansas City Star on Oct. 17. Keeton coached the NCAA Division II wrestling program at Missouri-Rolla, an engineering school southwest of St. Louis (renamed Missouri S&T a decade ago), from 1968-1985. He produced over a dozen Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association conference champions and 12 national qualifiers during his tenure. Keeton was also voted MIAA Wrestling Coach of the Year in 1982 by his fellow coaches. "He coached a non-scholarship-based program and still managed to produce a dozen national qualifiers," according to long-time friend Greg Schoenberg. "As I understand it, the program was to be cut in 1984 due to Title 9, but Joe fought hard with the Athletic Department to keep the program alive until 1985, when he had 3 wrestlers qualify for D2 nationals." Although his stint at Missouri-Rolla was his longest, Keeton's coaching career spanned nearly 40 years, most recently at William Chrisman, his high school alma mater. Larry Joe Keeton was born November 2, 1940, in Adrian, Mo. to Kenneth and Eulah Mae Keeton. Keeton is survived by wife, Vicky, daughter Amy (David) Lundquist, daughter Kelly (Eva Brodzic) Keeton , and infant grandson, David Kaden Lundquist. He is also survived by three brothers. A Ceremony of Life will be held, October 28 at 2:00 p.m. at the Gladstone Community Center, 6901 N. Holmes, Gladstone, Mo., 2:00 PM, Casual dress. Please no flowers. Memorials may be made to Missouri S&T University, Athletic Dept., 705 W. Tenth, Rolla, Mo. 65409, OR Independence Public School Foundation, 201 N. Forest, Independence, Mo. 64050, OR KC Pet Project, c/o Donations, 4400 Raytown Road, Kansas City, Mo. 64129. Please designate memorials are for Joe Keeton. Plans were to honor Keeton at this past Sunday's induction ceremony for the Missouri chapter of the National Wrestling Hal of Fame in Columbia, Mo.