Day number five (session nine of 13) of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games kicked off late Wednesday night inside the Makuhari Messe Hall. With all the Greco-Roman brackets now finished, we are surging ahead to finish the men's freestyle and women's freestyle brackets over the next three days. Tonight, Team USA fans saw men's freestyle 57 kg (Thomas Gilman in repechage). Additionally, 74 kg (Kyle Dake), 125 kg (Gable Steveson), and 53 kg (Jacarra Winchester) all started their three respective tournaments in Tokyo.
The first round went as well as expected for the Red, White, and Blue, but things imploded in the quarterfinals for Team USA. Here's why:
Thomas Gilman was the first American to take the match in his repechage bout against Uzbekistan's Gulomjon Abdullaev. First, the duo exchanged a pair of step-out points. Tied 1-1, Gilman quickly took Abdullaev down and turned him three times via a leg lace. With that, the score climbed to 9-1. Upon restart, Gilman quickly added a final takedown to win 11-1. With the win, Gilman earned himself a spot in the bronze-medal match. It took the former Hawkeye just 2:07 to secure the technical superiority.
Jacarra Winchester, the second American to take the mat for Team USA, picked up a massive 7-4 win over Russia's Olga Khoroshavtseva to start her Olympic run. Winchester fell behind early, 4-1, thanks to a two-and-two from Khoroshavtseva. But Jacarra responded accordingly, picking up a critical takedown at the buzzer to end the first period and then another to start the second period to take the lead 5-3. Winchester added another takedown for good measure to win 7-4.
Team USA ended the opening round (Round of 16) dominantly as hammers Kyle Dake and Gable Steveson started their Tokyo 2020 quests for gold in style. Dake authored a 4-0 win over No. 4 seed and 2016 World bronze medalist Mostafa Hosseinkhani (Iran). Dake was in total control for all six minutes and won via two step-outs and a takedown. Steveson's Olympic debut was an easy first-period 10-0 tech of Aiaal Lazarev (Kyrgyzstan). Gable used five takedowns to get the 10-0 decision that took just over two minutes in the Round of 16.
In the quarterfinals, Team USA ran into a brick wall.
First, Winchester went down to China's Pang Qianyu, 6-1. Qianyu, a 2018 and 2019 World bronze medalist, grabbed a takedown and added two turns for a 6-0 lead within the first 40 seconds. Winchester never recovered. The American mustered a step-out point, but that was it. Qianyu's defense was outstanding.
Next, Gable had possibly the biggest match of his career so far against Turkey's Taha Akgul, a three-time Olympian and the reigning 125 kg gold medalist from 2016 in Rio. Akgul also boasts gold medals from the World Championships in 2014 and 2015 and a pair of silver medals from the World Championships in 2017 and 2019. Despite Akgul's extensive credentials, Gable was unfazed. The reigning Hodge Trophy winner and NCAA champion used four takedowns to secure the 8-0 over Akgul. The big man from Turkey was stumped by Steveson's defense and was never able to adjust.
Kyle Dake was the last American to take the mat during session nine. The result was utterly shocking as Dake was on the losing end of an 11-0 technical superiority decision to Belarus' Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov. The astonishing onslaught started when the scrapper from Belarus countered a Dake takedown and hit a big 4-pointer of his own on the edge in the first, and then instantly added another exposure to go up 6-0. The lead escalated quite quickly. Dake gave up a takedown and a step-out to trail 9-0 at the break. Another takedown was all it took to close out the match. The loss was genuinely stunning and may even be the biggest upset in wrestling at the 2020 Tokyo Games. We'll find out tomorrow if Dake, a two-time World champion (79 kg), can get back in the bracket via repechage. Every offensive attack Dake attempted seemingly was turned into points for his opponent, Kadimagomedov.
Session nine was certainly a rollercoaster of emotions for Team USA and its fans. Going from Gable's quarterfinal victory to Kyle's quarterfinal shellacking in back-to-back fashion took fans from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows.
Team USA Results
57 kg Men's freestyle repechage
Thomas Gilman (USA) over Gulomjon Abdullaev (Uzbekistan) 11-0
74 kg Men's freestyle
Kyle Dake (USA) over Mostafa Hosseinkhani (Iran) 4-0
Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (Belarus) over Kyle Dake 11-0
125 kg Men's freestyle
Gable Steveson (USA) over Aiaal Lazarev (Kyrgyzstan) 10-0
Gable Steveson (USA) over Taha Akgul (Turkey) 11-0
53 kg Women's freestyle
Jacarra Winchster (USA) over Olga Khoroshavtseva (ROC) 7-4
Qianyu Pang (China) over Jacarra Winchester (USA) 6-2
Bronze Medal Match
57 kg Men's Freestyle
Thomas Gilman (USA) vs. Reza Atri (Iran)
Semifinals
74 kg Men's freestyle
Frank Chamizo (Italy) vs. Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (Belarus)
Zaurbek Sidakov (ROC) vs. Daniyar Kaisanov (Kazakhstan)
125 kg Men's freestyle
Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) vs. Amir Zare (Iran)
Gable Steveson (USA) vs. Monkhtoriin Lkhagvagerel (Mongolia)
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