Pictured: Three-time World/Olympic medalist Thomas Gilman celebrates after winning gold at the 2021 Senior World Championships in Oslo, Norway, October 4. Photo courtesy of the Team USA Twitter Page (@TeamUSA).
After a tough session five for Team USA to begin day three in Jordal Amfi on Monday from Oslo, Norway, the U.S. responded with a stellar session six at the 2021 World Champions.
First, 2021 Olympians Kyle Snyder (97kg) and Kayla Miracle (62kg) both won semifinals bouts to earn spots in World gold-medal finals bouts tomorrow (Tuesday).
Then, the Red, White, and Blue went a perfect three-for-three in medal-round bouts. Both Thomas Gilman (57kg) and Jordan Burroughs (79kg), won gold. J’den Cox (92kg) brought home the third World medal of the day with a bronze of his own.
Also of note, Unfortunately, James Green (70kg) was not pulled into the repechage tomorrow. His tournament is over. However, Jenna Burkert (55kg) was pulled back in after Germany’s Nina Hemmer won 8-6 over Pinki of India.
Inside the Medal-Round Bouts
The Herculean run for Thomas Gilman has continued. The 2020 Olympic bronze medalist can now call himself a 2021 57kg World gold medalist as well.
Gilman took out Iranian Alireza Sarlak 5-3. After collecting a passivity point and a slick takedown in the first, Gilman took a 3-0 lead into the break.
Gilman added another takedown to extend his lead to five points in the second period with just a minute left. He went on to win 5-3.
Sarlak, a 2019 U23 Senior Worlds bronze medalist, had zero answers for Gilman's relentless pace.
https://twitter.com/TeamUSA/status/1445065601932689418
https://twitter.com/FloWrestling/status/1445068409239216145
At 79kg, Jordan Burroughs did precisely what he had done every other time he has made it to the gold-medal match at the World Championships – win a World title. Burroughs tied John the legendary John Smith as the only other wrestler in American history with six World/Olympic gold medals. At 33, JB is now a nine-time World/Olympic medalist.
https://twitter.com/TeamUSA/status/1445082135417655298
In 2021, Jordan brought home the first World gold up at 79kg and did so in dominant fashion, winning 5-1 over Iranian Mohammad Nokhodilarimi.
J.B. led 1-0 at the break before adding a pair of his signature double-leg takedowns. The only point against him in the gold-medal match came on a caution-and-one for hands to the face.
In the day's third and final medal match, J'den Cox won a World bronze with authority over Ukraine's Andrii Vlasov. Cox secured a last-second step-out point to take a 2-0 lead into the break (Cox's other point was for passivity against Ukraine).
In the second, the American knew there was blood in the water. Now a five-time World/Olympic medalist, Cox added another passivity point, a massive feet-to-back four-pointer, and a pair of takedowns to win 11-0 and earn his fourth medal at the Senior World Championships.
https://twitter.com/FloWrestling/status/1445094980675059717
https://twitter.com/TeamUSA/status/1445091559402184708
https://twitter.com/USAWrestling/status/1445093590376538134
Inside the Semifinal Bouts
Both the 97kg (Snyder) and 62kg (Miracle) semifinal bouts were low-scoring, but Team USA came out on top on both occasions. They have now punched a ticket to their respective World gold-medal matches tomorrow afternoon.
At 97kg, Snyder and Iranian Mojtaba Goleij struggled to score on one another. At the break, the only point of the match was a shot clock point for Iran. With less than two minutes to go, we were tied at 1-1, and passivity points were the only scores. Then, Kyle was put back on the clock and gave up another point for passivity. He trailed 2-1 late in the match.
The final 20 seconds of the bout had all the action. With 10 seconds left, Goleij was fighting for a push-out. Kyle countered with a throw-by and secured the winning takedown with three seconds to go. He won 3-2.
https://twitter.com/theopenmat/status/1445045331729788933
https://twitter.com/beck_diggity/status/1445049904791961603
Tomorrow, in Oslo, it will be a gold-medal rematch from the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games at 97kg.
Sadulaev and Snyder will meet once again with World/Olympic gold on the line. The series between these two former Olympic gold medalists currently sits at 2-1 in favor of the Russian.
At 62kg, Miracle held on to beat Brazil’s Lais Nunes de Oliveira 2-0. Miracle recorded a passivity point in the first and a step-out point in the second to win it. Miracle is now 3-0 in her career against the Brazilian career after the pair met earlier this year at the 2021 Pan American Championships in Guatemala City.
Miracle will now compete for the first World/Olympic medal of her career tomorrow afternoon. The American will face Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan.
OTHER TOM COVERAGE FROM THE 2021 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Session 1 Recap here
Session 2 Recap here
Session 3 Recap here
Session 4 Recap here
Session 5 Recap here
Post-Match Interviews
https://twitter.com/wrestling/status/1445090813109850129
https://twitter.com/wrestling/status/1445085426977476619
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