Bassett falls 6-3 on last-second four, Lilledahl out 3-1
Two of the biggest US men's freestyle title hopes at U23 Worlds were knocked out in the same session, both now waiting on repechage.
Bo Bassett's U23 World title run ended in the quarterfinals, where India's Jaskaran Singh hit a four-point move with less than 10 seconds to go and won 6-3, per Justin Basch.
Christian Pyles said Bassett held the criteria advantage in the closing seconds and could have surrendered a single point and still advanced. Instead it was feet to back exposure, four points, and the match flipped. Bassett opened the tournament with a bye.
He is not finished. If Jaskaran reaches the final, Bassett gets pulled back into repechage with a shot at bronze.
Lilledahl out in the Round of 16
The other American headliner went out earlier in the same bracket run. Defending champion Luke Lilledahl lost 3-1 to Kazakhstan's Merey Bazarbayev in the Round of 16 at 57kg, per Basch.
That ends a streak that had defined Lilledahl's age-group career. Coming into Las Vegas, the Nittany Lion had reached the gold-medal match at all five of his age-group World Championships. He arrived chasing back-to-back U23 titles and did not get out of the first full round.
Lilledahl's path back is the same as Bassett's. If Bazarbayev makes the final, Lilledahl drops into repechage and can still wrestle for bronze.
Why it matters
Two of the United States' most decorated age-group wrestlers were both eliminated from gold contention on single scoring sequences, one of them inside the final 10 seconds of a match he was winning on criteria. Both now sit waiting on someone else's semifinal result to decide whether they wrestle again at all.
Nobody from the US side has said anything further about either loss beyond the reporting from Basch and Pyles.
What to watch: whether Jaskaran Singh and Merey Bazarbayev reach their respective finals, which is the only thing that puts Bassett and Lilledahl back on the mat for bronze.
Wound up giving up feet to back exposure to lose 6-3.
Coming in, the Nittany Lion had reached the gold-medal match at all five of his age-group World Championships.
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