Kyle Dake of the USA celebrates his second straight World gold medal. Photo by Larry Slater. NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan – 2018 World champion and No. 1 seed Kyle Dake (Ithaca, N.Y. (Titan Mercury WC/Finger Lakes RTC) did it again. He is the World Champion at 79 kg/174 lbs. for the second straight year.
Also for the second straight year, Dake defeated 2016 Olympic bronze medalist and three-time World medalist Jabrail Hasanov of Azerbaijan in the finals, this time by a 4-2 decision.
A tactical bout, Dake led 2-0 at the break after creating two step out positions. One the first stepout, he drove Hasanov out. On the second one, he had a single leg and walked Hasanov off the mat. In the second period, Dake converted a single leg for a takedown and a 4-0 lead. Hasanov forced a step out, and, as time ran down, was awarded with a caution and one point for Dake fleeing. However, throughout the match, it was Dake who dictated the pace of the match and the action.
In the 2018 World finals in Budapest, Hungary in 2018, Dake beat Hasanov, 2-0.
On Saturday, Dake hammered 2019 Asian bronze medalist Oibek Nasirov of Kyrgyzstan by technical fall, 12-2 then stopped 2015 Junior World champion and 2018 U23 World silver medalist Gadzhi Nabiev of Russia, 5-1. In the semifinals, he scored a solid 6-1 win over 2013 World bronze medalist Rashid Kurbanov of Uzbekistan.
Dake, a four-time NCAA champion for Cornell, was competing in his second Senior World Championships.
It was a challenging year for Dake, who did not compete most of the year with injury. He received an extension on his Final X championship series against Alex Dieringer because of the injury, and earned his World Team spot with a two-match sweep of a Final X Special Wrestle-off in Austin, Texas.
2016 Olympic champion and two-time World champion Kyle Snyder (Columbus, Ohio/Titan Mercury WC/Ohio RTC) came through with a bronze medal at 97 kg/213 lbs. by defeating 2018 World bronze medalist Elizbar Odikadze of Georgia, 3-0.
Snyder quickly scored, getting a single leg and forcing a step out to lead 1-0. A very low double leg shot became a takedown later in the first period for a 3-0 lead at the break. There was no scoring in the final period, as Odikadze could not get untracked. A scramble at the end did not result in any points, and Snyder got the win.
In Saturday’s semifinals, Snyder was defeated by 2012 Olympic champion and 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Sharif Sharifov of Azerbaijan, 5-2. Saturday morning, Snyder secured a pair of technical fall victories, beating Mausam Khatri of India, 10-0 and 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Magomed Ibragimov of Uzbekistan, 13-3.
By reaching the semifinals, Snyder qualified the United States to compete at this weight class at the 2020 Olympic Games.
Snyder has now won a medal in every World or Olympic event he has entered, which is now five straight years. He boasts his 2016 Olympic gold, World golds in 2015 and 2017, a World silver medal in 2018 and the 2019 World bronze medal.
Snyder was a three-time NCAA champion and four-time finalist for Ohio State.
Tyler Graff (Princeton, N.J./Titan Mercury WC/NJRTC) placed fifth in his first Senior World Championships, after losing his bronze-medal match to 2009 Junior World silver medalist Rahul Aware of India, 11-4.
Graff scored the first takedown right on the opening whistle, but Aware answered with a takedown to knot it at 2-2 early on. A double leg by Aware made it 4-2 at the break. In the second, Aware took down Graff and scored two turns from par terre. The USA challenged the call, which was denied, giving Aware an 11-2 lead. Graff scored a late takedown for the final score of 11-4.
Graff had a 2-1 record on Saturday morning. He was beaten in the quarterfinals by 2016 World silver medalist Beka Lomtadze of Georgia, 3-1. When Lomtadze defeated Aware in the semifinals, 10-6, he pulled Graff into repechage. Graff scored a 13-2 technical fall over Mihai Esanu of Moldova in the repechage match on Sunday afternoon to reach the medal round.
Graff’s two wins on Saturday came with a 10-0 technical fall over Jin Cheol Kim of South Korea and a 7-0 decision over 2019 Asian Championships silver medalist Minghu Liu of China. Graff is competing in his first Senior World Championships.
2012 Junior World silver medalist Pat Downey (Cranbury, N.J./Titan Mercury WC/NJRTC), who finished 2-1 at 86 kg/189 lbs and placed ninth in the standings. The four team points that he secured with his ninth placement was key in the team race.
The United States placed third in the team standings with 94 points. It was the third straight year in this Olympic cycle in which the USA earned a team trophy, after winning the title in 2017 and taking second in 2018.
Russia in first with 190 points, with host Kazakhstan in second with 103. The USA beat fourth place Iran by one point, as Iran finished with 93 points. Snyder’s victory at 97 kg gave the USA just enough points to edge Iran.
In men’s freestyle, the USA won four medals this year. Joining Dake and Snyder with podium finishes were World champion J’den Cox (Colorado Springs, Colo./Titan Mercury WC/USOPTC) at 92 kg/202 lbs. and World bronze medalist Jordan Burroughs (Lincoln, Neb./Sunkist Kids/Nebraska WTC) at 74 kg/163 lbs.
Overall, the USA had seven medalists, with a record three U.S. women’s freestyle wrestlers claiming gold medals: Jacarra Winchester at 55 kg, Tamyra Mensah-Stock at 68 kg and Adeline Gray at 76 kg. The U.S. women’s freestyle team also is bringing home a third-place team trophy from Nur-Sultan.
WORLD WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, September 22
Group 3 Men’s freestyle finals pairings
61 kg/134 lbs.
Gold - Beka Lomtadze (Georgia)
Silver - Magomedrasul Idrisov (Russia)
Bronze - Behnam Ehsanpoor (Iran)
Bronze - Rahul Balasaheb Aware (India)
5th - Abbos Rakhmonov (Uzbekistan)
5th - Tyler Graff (USA)
7th - Rassul Kaliyev (Kazakhstan)
8th - Kerim Hojakov (Turkmenistan)
9th - Almaz Smanbekov (Kyrgyzstan)
10th - Tuvshintulga Tumenbileg (Mongolia)
Gold - Lomtadze dec. Idrisov, 6-1
Bronze - Ehsanpoor dec. Rakhhomov, 8-0
Bronze - Aware dec. Graff, 11-4
79 kg/174 lbs.
Gold - Kyle Dake (USA)
Silver - Jabrayil Hasanov (Azerbaijan)
Bronze - Gadzhi Nabiev (Russia)
Bronze - Taimuraz Salkazanov (Slovakia)
5th - Rashid Kurbanov (Uzbekistan)
5th - Galymzhan Usserbayev (Kazakhstan)
7th - Grigor Grigoryan (Armenia)
8th - Jitender (India)
9th - Gombodorj Dorjvanchig (Mongolia)
10th - Omaraskhab Nazhmudinov (Romania)
Gold – Dake dec. Hasanov, 4-2
Bronze – Salkazanov dec. Usserbayev, 3-2
Bronze – Nabiev dec. Kurbanov, 8-3
86 kg/189 lbs.
Gold - Hassan Yazdanicharati (Iran)
Silver - Deepak Punia (India)
Bronze - Stefan Reichmuth (Switzerland)
Bronze - Artur Naifonov (Russia)
5th - Carlos Izquierdo Mendez (Colombia)
5th - Myles Amine (San Marino)
7th -Ahmed Dudarov (Germany)
8th - Taimuraz Friev Naskidaeva (Spain)
9th - Patrick Downey III (USA)
10th - Sohsuke Takatani (Japan)
Gold – Yazdanicharati won by inj. dft. over Punia
Bronze – Reichmuth dec. Izquierdo, 3-0
Bronze – Naifonov dec. Amine, 6-0
97 kg/213.75 lbs.
Gold - Abdulrashid Sadulaev (Russia)
Silver - Sharif Sharifov (Azerbaijan)
Bronze - Kyle Snyder (USA)
Bronze - Magomedgadji Nurov (North Macedonia)
5th - Elizbar Odikadze (Georgia)
5th - Alisher Yergali (Kazakhstan)
7th - Magomed Ibragimov (Uzbekistan)
8th - Nicolai Ceban (Moldova)
9th - Magomed Musaev (Kyrgyzstan)
10th - Ali Khalil Shabanibengar (Iran)
Gold – Sadulaev dec. Sharifov, 4-0
Bronze – Snyder dec. Odikaze, 5-0
Bronze – Nurov dec. Yergali, 8-5
U.S. Men's freestyle Group 3 results
61 kg/134 lbs. - Tyler Graff, Princeton, N.J. (Titan Mercury WC/NJRTC), 5th place
WIN Jin Cheol Kim (South Korea), tech. fall 10-0
WIN Minghu Liu (China), 7-0
LOSS Beka Lomtadze (Georgia), 3-1
WIN Mihai Esanu (Moldova), tech fall. 13-2
LOSS Rahul Aware (India), 11-4
79 kg/174 lbs. - Kyle Dake, Ithaca, N.Y. (Titan Mercury WC/Finger Lakes RTC), gold medal
WIN Oibek Nasirov (Kyrgzstan), tech. fall 12-2
WIN Gadzhi Nabiev (Russia), 5-1
WIN Rashid Kurbanov (Uzbekistan), 6-1
WIN Jabrayil Hasanov (Azerbaijan), 4-2
86 kg/189 lbs. - Pat Downey, Cranbury, N.J. (Titan Mercury WC/NJRTC), ninth place
WIN Hovhannes Mkhitaryan (Armenia), tech. fall 11-1
WIN Zbigniew Baranowski (Poland), 8-2
LOSS Ahmed Dudarov (Germany), tech. fall 13-0
97 kg/213.75 lbs. - Kyle Snyder, Columbus, Ohio (Titan Mercury WC/Ohio RTC), bronze medal
WIN Mausam Khatri (India), tech. fall 10-0
WIN Magomed Ibragimov (Uzbekistan), tech. fall 13-3
LOSS Sharif Sharifov (Azerbaijan), 5-2
WIN Elizbar Odikadze (Georgia), 3-0
Team Standings
1. Russia, 190
2. Kazakhstan, 103
3. United States, 94
4. Iran, 93
5. Georgia, 85
6. India, 79
7. Azerbaijan, 50
8. Uzbekistan, 49
9. Turkey, 48
10. Japan, 34