Bo Bassett wins 65kg World gold, beats Tevanyan 9-1
The Virginia Tech freshman is a Senior World champion in his first trip to the tournament.
Bo Bassett is a Senior World champion. The Virginia Tech freshman beat Armenia's Vazgen Tevanyan 9-1 in the 65kg final in Astana, in his Senior Worlds debut. Tevanyan is a two-time Olympian.
Per Justin Basch, Bassett is the first American World champion at the weight since Bill Zadick won it in 2006, when it was contested at 66kg. That is a 20 year gap at one of the deepest weights in men's freestyle, closed by a wrestler who has not yet finished his first college season.
How the week went
Basch laid out the run in one line, and nothing about it was quiet. Bassett pinned the 3 seed in 1:13, picked up two tech falls, and then survived a 14-13 match against Russia in the semifinal before the gold medal bout. That semifinal comeback is covered in our earlier story.
The final was the least dramatic match of the bracket for him. USA Wrestling confirmed the 9-1 decision, and FloWrestling called it the same way, with no late scramble to sweat out. After the week he had, a seven point margin in a World final reads like a closing statement.
What it means
A Senior World title at 65kg changes the math for the US at the weight heading toward the next Olympic cycle, and it arrives from a true freshman rather than from the established senior level order. Bassett did it against an opponent with two Olympic Games on his record, in a bracket he had to fight through from the first round.
It also lands with his college season about to start. Bassett was already slotted into the NWCA All-Star Classic card, one of five Virginia Tech wrestlers in the nine Division I bouts, as covered earlier. He returns to Blacksburg with a gold medal.
Watch for how Virginia Tech handles his folkstyle weight and schedule now that he is a World champion, and for who steps up at 65kg domestically with Bassett holding the spot.
a 1:13 pin over the 3 seed, two techs, a 14-13 thriller over Russia, and now World gold
He's the first American World champion at this weight since Bill Zadick won it in 2006, back when it was 66kg.
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