After a stellar performance by the women on Team USA yesterday, the men took to the mats on Friday led by Daniel Dennis and Jordan Burroughs. Burroughs came into the day the number-one ranked wrestler in the world, but fell to some tough times and the even tougher Anuir Gedeuv. Dennis also suffered defeat in his outing for an Olympic medal.
Dennis fell early to Vladimir Dubov with a score of 11-0. The American couldn’t get anything going as he was taken down early and quickly turned as Dubov racked up points. The match was over at 10-0 but a challenge was upheld to bring the final score to 11-0. Dennis had a chance to get pulled through to the repechage but Dubov was knocked out which officially eliminated Dennis as well.
Burroughs had a tough outing himself after getting off to a fast start.
He defeated Midana in the first round with a score of 8-3, but from that point forward he would lose the dominant presence that he’s been known for throughout much of his career.
The match with Gedeuv was rough right from the start; as both men slapped each other in the face multiple times; opening up a cut on Burroughs’s head. Gedeuv scored first and got up to a 3-0 lead before Jordan hit a late takedown to make it 3-2 with less than a minute. However, Gedeuv found a way to fight off every attack the 2016 Pan Ams champion threw his way to move forward to the next round and knock Burroughs into the repechage.
The 2012 Olympic champion would look completely flat in his next match against Bekzod Abdurakhmanov, even though Burroughs defeated him earlier this year. Bekzod hit takedown after takedown, as Burroughs started to bleed again; opening up a large lead. By the end of the match Burroughs would lose 11-1 and bring his bid to win a second Olympic gold medal to a screeching halt. Very few expected Burroughs to lose in the tournament, let alone in this fashion.
Even though team USA walked away from Day three of freestyle action without any medals, they aren’t done as J’den Cox, Tervel Dlagnev, Frank Molinaro and Kyle Snyder are all set to compete over the weekend.