By Dan Lobdell
This weekend, America had its first big overseas tour since Olympic qualifying ended, and more than half the competitors won medals.
Fresh off the news he would be heading to the Pennsylvania RTC, BJ Futrell led the US contingent with a silver medal at 61kg.
Showing how dangerous he is at full strength, Futrell knocked off 2012 Olympic gold medalist Otarsultanov, as well as senior level and U23 European bronze medalists.
Other day two medalists were Nick Gwiazdowski and James Green. A week after an undefeated World Cup run, Green went 3-1 to get bronze.
Green’s only loss was to 2015 world silver medalist Ikihtor Navruzov (UZB), a 10-8 quarterfinal loss in which Navruzov hit two four-point arm spins.
Gwiazdowski lost on a last second pushout to the Russian Nationals champ in round one, but bounced back to get bronze. His medal match was a victory over World University Games silver medalist Aleksander Khotsianivski (UKR).
Only three wrestlers competed on the first day in Spala, but it was still a solid showing for the Americans. Patrick Martinez and Joey McKenna are both taking bronze medals home.
University world team member Martinez (U.S. Army WCAP) went 3-1 on the day at 80kg. Despite a first period that went nearly 20 minutes due to challenges, Martinez closed out a 5-4 win on a late highdive to a bearhug finish for four. He controlled the pace in his bronze medal match and perfectly handled a late counter to defeat Belarus 3-0.
Stanford All American McKenna (Lehigh Valley WC) was 2-1 at 65kg for his bronze. The former junior world silver medalist pinned his first round opponent from Poland in just 1:49. After falling to the extremely high pace of China in the semis, he came back for a 5-4 win over Japan. The difference was a four-point dump in the first 10 seconds of the match.
Of note, there is a good chance a number of results will affect the composition of other nations’ Olympic squads. Biylal Makhov seemed to lock up his spot in Brazil with wins over Gatsalov and Magomedov.
Makhov's win over 6-time World/Olympic Champion Gatsalov
Other such nations would include Bulgaria, which saw Vladimir Dubov beat Georgi Vangelov at 57kg and Miroslav Kirov over Georgi Ivanov at 74kg.
In the 65kg bracket, Mustafa Kaya beat Yakup Gor to seemingly lock up the Turkish spot for Rio. After that match, Kaya forfeited his way through the rest of the tourney. That paved the way for Alejandro Valdes Tobier (CUB) to dominate Katai Yeerlanbieke (CHN) 10-0 in the finals.
Final Results:
This weekend, America had its first big overseas tour since Olympic qualifying ended, and more than half the competitors won medals.
Fresh off the news he would be heading to the Pennsylvania RTC, BJ Futrell led the US contingent with a silver medal at 61kg.
Showing how dangerous he is at full strength, Futrell knocked off 2012 Olympic gold medalist Otarsultanov, as well as senior level and U23 European bronze medalists.
Other day two medalists were Nick Gwiazdowski and James Green. A week after an undefeated World Cup run, Green went 3-1 to get bronze.
Green’s only loss was to 2015 world silver medalist Ikihtor Navruzov (UZB), a 10-8 quarterfinal loss in which Navruzov hit two four-point arm spins.
Gwiazdowski lost on a last second pushout to the Russian Nationals champ in round one, but bounced back to get bronze. His medal match was a victory over World University Games silver medalist Aleksander Khotsianivski (UKR).
Only three wrestlers competed on the first day in Spala, but it was still a solid showing for the Americans. Patrick Martinez and Joey McKenna are both taking bronze medals home.
University world team member Martinez (U.S. Army WCAP) went 3-1 on the day at 80kg. Despite a first period that went nearly 20 minutes due to challenges, Martinez closed out a 5-4 win on a late highdive to a bearhug finish for four. He controlled the pace in his bronze medal match and perfectly handled a late counter to defeat Belarus 3-0.
Stanford All American McKenna (Lehigh Valley WC) was 2-1 at 65kg for his bronze. The former junior world silver medalist pinned his first round opponent from Poland in just 1:49. After falling to the extremely high pace of China in the semis, he came back for a 5-4 win over Japan. The difference was a four-point dump in the first 10 seconds of the match.
Of note, there is a good chance a number of results will affect the composition of other nations’ Olympic squads. Biylal Makhov seemed to lock up his spot in Brazil with wins over Gatsalov and Magomedov.
Makhov's win over 6-time World/Olympic Champion Gatsalov
Other such nations would include Bulgaria, which saw Vladimir Dubov beat Georgi Vangelov at 57kg and Miroslav Kirov over Georgi Ivanov at 74kg.
In the 65kg bracket, Mustafa Kaya beat Yakup Gor to seemingly lock up the Turkish spot for Rio. After that match, Kaya forfeited his way through the rest of the tourney. That paved the way for Alejandro Valdes Tobier (CUB) to dominate Katai Yeerlanbieke (CHN) 10-0 in the finals.
Final Results: