US men's freestyle closes U23 Worlds with four medals
Ben Davino's gold headlines the American haul, with Luke Lilledahl fighting back to fifth after an opening loss.
Team USA's men's freestyle team finished U23 Worlds with four medals, per @justinjbasch. Ben Davino took the title, Jayden James and Justin Rademacher took silver, and Coby Merrill took bronze at 125kg. Defending champion Luke Lilledahl fought back to fifth after a tough opening loss.
Davino capped a 32-2 run through the bracket with a pin at the buzzer in the final, the earlier gold at 61kg.
James leads 3-0 and loses the 74kg final
James was up 3-0 on Russia's Magomed Baitukaev before falling 5-3. The Nittany Lion pinned Kyrgyzstan's Adilet Akylbekov in qualification, beat Uzbekistan's Fazliddin Nasritdinov 8-0, beat Moldova's Ion Marcu 7-4 in the quarters and pinned Iran's Ali Karampour in the semifinal. That is two World silver medals in two months for James after U20 silver in August, and Basch notes he has not wrestled a college match yet.
@globalwresorder gave Baitukaev credit for the win, writing that he has been notorious for gassing out in high stakes moments but looked better than ever and mounted a second period comeback after trailing 3-0 through one.
Merrill teches his way back
Merrill, the Iowa State heavyweight, lost in the quarterfinals and came all the way back through repechage. Three of his four matches ended in tech falls, including an 11-0 over Armenia's Khachatur Khachatryan in the round of 16, a 10-0 over Canada's Karanveer Singh Mahil in repechage and a 10-0 over Hungary's Milan Gellen for the bronze.
Four medals from a men's freestyle team that got only one gold is a mixed result, and the tournament is now closed on that side of the Americans' entry.
What to watch
Senior Worlds in Kazakhstan are next, with Bo Bassett and Marcus Blaze among the Americans in action, per @justinjbasch.
James is 18 and, as @globalwresorder points out, has five more years of U23 eligibility.
Four medals for Team USA, led by Ben Davino's World title. He capped a 32-2 run with a pin at the buzzer in the final.
Also an incredible tournament for James, who at only 18 years old has 5 more years of U23 eligibility.
That's two World silver medals in two months, after U20 silver in August, and he hasn't wrestled a college match yet.
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