United States In First Place, Cox And Taylor Continue Drama

United States In First Place, Cox And Taylor Continue Drama

The United States is in first place following the first day of freestyle wrestling at the 2017 World Championships in Paris on Friday. The U.S. team came out of the gate strong and put three of its four athletes in medal matches.

Aug 25, 2017 by Michael Malinconico
United States In First Place, Cox And Taylor Continue Drama
The United States is in first place following the first day of freestyle wrestling at the 2017 World Championships in Paris on Friday. The U.S. team came out of the gate strong and put three of its four athletes in medal matches, highlighted by first-time world team member Thomas Gilman earning the silver medal at 57kg. 

Meanwhile, both J'den Cox (86kg) and Nick Giazdowski (125kg) lost after making the semifinals but responded by capturing bronze.

In the semifinals, Gilman held on to win a 5-4 match against Hakjin Jong from the North Korea, locking up the U.S.'s first lightweight medal in men's freestyle since Henry Cejudo in 2008. 

Elsewhere, Gwiz ran into the buzzsaw that is Olympic champion Taha Akgul (TUR) and lost 10-0 in his semifinal. After falling behind six points, Cox made it a match in the semifinal against Boris Makoev (SVK) before ultimately falling 6-3. Cox's loss sparked a heated response by David Taylor. 

As America's entry at 61kg, 2016 world champion Logan Stieber lost his opening match to Gadzhimura Rashidov (RUS), who wound up making the finals by beating 2016 Olympic gold medalist Vladimir Khinchegashvili (GEO). Stieber would lose to Kinchegashvili in the repechage. 

While Gilman would ultimately lose 6-0 to Yuki Takahashi (JPN) in the gold medal match, the rest of the American contingent won their medal matches convincingly. Cox hung an 8-0 shutout on Ganev (BUL) in the 86kg bronze medal match. Gwiazdowski went on to score a 5-1 victory against Natsagsuren (MGL) and win his first senior-level medal. 

On Saturday, the U.S. squad looks to keep the ball rolling on the last day of world competition with returning Olympic gold medalist Kyle Snyder at 97kg, four-time world/Olympic champion Jordan Burroughs at 74kg, 2015 world bronze medalist James Green at 70kg, and first-time world team member Zain Retherford going at 65kg. Check out their paths here.


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