Three Huskers Help U.S. to World Cup TitleThree Huskers Help U.S. to World Cup Title
Wrestling

Three Huskers Help U.S. to World Cup Title

Iowa City, Iowa - Former Husker greats Jordan Burroughs and James Green and Nebraska Assistant Coach Kendric Maple helped the United States to its first UWW Men's Freestyle World Cup title since 2003, as the Americans defeated Azerbaijan in the gold medal match, 6-4, on Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Burroughs (74 kg/163 pounds) finished the weekend with an undefeated 4-0 record. He has never lost in 27 World Cup matches over seven appearances, and he won a pair of technical falls and a pin in Iowa City over the weekend. Green (70 kg/154 pounds) went 3-1 on the weekend with a technical fall, while Maple (61 kg/134 pounds) went 1-2 in his first World Cup appearance, with his win coming in the gold medal match.

The 2018 World Cup title marks the 14th all-time won by the United States, which ranks second only to Russia's 15 World Cup titles.

With the dual score tied at two wins a piece, Burroughs brought the Carver-Hawkeye Arena crowd to its feet as he scored the first and only pin for the United States at the World Cup, as he scored a fall over Gadzhimurad Omarov in 3:20. Burroughs opened the scoring with a double-leg takedown on the edge of the mat in the final 30 seconds of the first period. When the second period whistle blew, Burroughs attacked quickly, scoring a takedown and a turn, and he put Omarov on his back before the referee ended the match. Burroughs' win gave the Americans a 3-2 lead, which they would not relinquish.

Maple got the Americans on the board in the gold medal match, and found his first win of the tournament with a 6-2 decision over Afgan Khashalov. After Azerbaijan won a decision at 57 kg, Maple scored early with a takedown and a turn for four points. Khashalov scored a takedown in the final seconds of the first period, but Maple closed out the bout with a double-leg takedown on the edge of the mat in the second period, and used strong defensive wrestling down the stretch to clinch the win. The victory marked Maple's first in a World Cup match.

Green fell by tiebreaker criteria to Joshgun Azimov by a 4-4 score, as he dropped his only match of the weekend. Green scored early, with a double-leg takedown mid-way through the first period. Azimov scored a takedown and got a turn for a four-point move in the second period, but Green responded with a pair of step-out points. Green went on the offensive attack late in the period, needing another score to win, but Azimov held him off to close the bout, as he held the tiebreaker advantage of having two, two-point moves, while Green had just one. With the loss, Green is now 10-2 all-time at the World Cup. 

The United States cruised to an 8-2 victory over Georgia on Sunday to advance to the gold-medal match out of Pool A. Green and Burroughs both won their matches in the Georgia dual to wrap up pool competition with 3-0 records.

Green defeated Levan Kelekhsashvili of Georgia to finish off a third victory in pool competition, as he dominated in an 8-0 win. He got to his offense early, as he scored a takedown just seconds into the match, and scored another in the opening minute. He closed the first period with a double-leg takedown in the final 30 seconds. Green also hit on a single-leg takedown in the final minute of the match to close out the victory, his 10th all-time in World Cup competition.

Burroughs earned his second win by technical superiority of the tournament, as he made quick work of Tarzan Maisuradze in a 10-0 victory. Maisuradze went on the offensive early, as he got in on a leg on the edge of the mat, but Burroughs would not give up the takedown and a stalemate was called. Shortly after the whistle to continue wrestling, Burroughs scored on a takedown. He scored two more takedowns in the final minute of the first period, and turned Maisuradze twice on his final takedown for a pair of two-point moves to end the match, as he closed pool competition with three wins.

Maple dropped his match in the Georgia dual in the final seconds, as Lasha Lomtadze scored a late takedown on the edge of the mat to grab the victory by a 4-3 score. Maple led 1-0 at the break after Lomtadze failed to score on a 30-second activity clock, and built his lead to 3-0 after scoring on a single-leg takedown, before Lomtadze's comeback started as Maple failed to score on a shot clock. After Lomtadze's takedown, Maple got in on a last-ditch shot attempt, but no takedown was called. The United States challenged, but the review was upheld and Maple was assessed a penalty point for a lost challenge to reach the final margin.

In addition to the three American wrestlers with NU ties, Dom Bradley (125 kg/275 pounds), who lives in Lincoln and trains at the Nebraska Wrestling Training Center, was also a part of the United States World Cup team, and won his only match by technical superiority against India on Saturday.

2018 UWW Men's Freestyle World Cup
April 7-8
Iowa City, Iowa (Carver-Hawkeye Arena)

United States 10, India 0
57 kg: Thomas Gilman (USA) by forfeit (USA 1, IND 0)
61 kg: Joe Colon (USA) dec. Sandeep Tomar (IND), 6-4 (USA 2, IND 0)
65 kg: Logan Stieber (USA) tech. fall Sharvan Sharvan (IND), 12-2 (USA 3, IND 0)
70 kg: James Green (USA) tech. fall Kumar Arun (IND), 10-0 (USA 4, IND 0)
74 kg: Jordan Burroughs (USA) tech. fall Kumar Vinod (IND), 11-1 (USA 5, IND 0)
79 kg: Kyle Dake (USA) tech. fall Sachin Giri (IND), 10-0 (USA 6, IND 0)
86 kg: David Taylor (USA) tech. fall Pawan Kumar (IND), 10-0 (USA 7, IND 0)
92 kg: Hayden Zillmer (USA) dec. Deepak Punia (IND), 7-0 (USA 8, IND 0)
97 kg: Kyle Snyder (USA) tech. fall Viky Viky (IND), 10-0 (USA 9, IND 0)
125 kg: Dom Bradley (USA) tech. fall Pushpender Singh (IND), 10-0 (USA 10, IND 0)

United States 7, Japan 3
57 kg: Yuki Takahashi (JPN) dec. Thomas Gilman (USA), 4-1 (JPN 1, USA 0)
61 kg: Kazuya Koyanagi (JPN) dec. Kendric Maple (USA), 2-2 (JPN 2, USA 0)
65 kg: Takotu Otoguro (JPN) dec. Logan Stieber (USA), 10-5 (JPN 3, USA 0)
70 kg: James Green (USA) dec. Kirin Kinoshita (JPN), 8-5 (JPN 3, USA 1)
74 kg: Jordan Burroughs (USA) dec. Yuhi Fujinami (JPN), 7-1 (JPN 3, USA 2)
79 kg: Kyle Dake (USA) tech. fall Sohsuke Takatani (JPN), 10-0 (JPN 3, USA 3)
86 kg: David Taylor (USA) tech. fall Masao Matsusaka (JPN), 12-2 (USA 4, JPN 3)
92 kg: J'den Cox (USA) tech. fall Takashi Ishiguro (JPN), 11-0 (USA 5, JPN 3)
97 kg: Kyle Snyder (USA) tech. fall Taira Sonoda (JPN), 10-0 (USA 6, JPN 3)
125 kg: Nick Gwiazdowski (USA) tech. fall Nobuyoshi Arakida (JPN), 10-0 (USA 7, JPN 3)

United States 8, Georgia 2
57 kg: Thomas Gilman (USA) dec. Teimuraz Vanishvili (GEO), 6-4 (USA 1, GEO 0)
61 kg: Lasha Lomtadze (GEO) dec. Kendric Maple (USA), 4-3 (USA 1, GEO 1)
65 kg: Logan Stieber (USA) tech. fall Magamed Saidovi (GEO), 10-0 (USA 2, GEO 1)
70 kg: James Green (USA) dec. Levan Kelekhsashvili (GEO), 8-0 (USA 3, GEO 1)
74 kg: Jordan Burroughs (USA) tech. fall Tarzan Maisuradze (GEO), 10-0 (USA 4, GEO 1)
79 kg: Kyle Dake (USA) tech. fall Tariel Gaphrinsashvili (GEO), 10-0 (USA 5, GEO 1)
86 kg: David Taylor (USA) tech. fall Davit Khutsishvili (GEO), 11-1 (USA 6, GEO 1)
92 kg: Dato Marsagishvili (GEO) dec. J'den Cox (USA), 5-0 (USA 6, GEO 2)
97 kg: Kyle Snyder (USA) tech. fall Givi Matcharashvili (GEO), 10-0 (USA 7, GEO 2)
125 kg: Nick Gwiazdowski (USA) dec. Zviadi Metreveli (GEO), 7-0 (USA 8, GEO 2)

Gold Medal Match: United States 6, Azerbaijan 4
57 kg: Giorgi Edisherashvili (AZE) dec. Thomas Gilman (USA), 8-7 (AZE 1, USA 0)
61 kg: Kendric Maple (USA) dec. Afgan Khashalov (AZE), 6-1 (USA 1, AZE 1)
65 kg: Logan Stieber (USA) dec. Haji Aliyev (AZE), 6-3 (USA 2, AZE 1)
70 kg:  Joshgun Azimov (AZE) dec. James Green (USA), 4-4 (USA 2, AZE 2)
74 kg: Jordan Burroughs (USA) pin Gadzhimurad Omarov (AZE), 3:15 (USA 3, AZE 2)
79 kg: Kyle Dake (USA) dec. Jabrayil Hasimov (AZE), 5-3 (USA 4, AZE 2)
86 kg: David Taylor (USA) dec. Aleksandr Gostiyev (AZE), 12-2 (USA 5, AZE 2)
92 kg: Aslanbek Alborov (AZE) dec. J'den Cox (USA), 4-4 (USA 5, AZE 3) 
97 kg: Kyle Snyder (USA) tech. fall Roman Bakirov (AZE), 14-3 (USA 6, AZE 3)
125 kg: Jamaladdin Magomedov (AZE) dec. Nick Gwiazdowski (USA), 4-3 (USA 6, AZE 4)

Gold Medal: United States
Silver Medal: Azerbaijan
Bronze Medal: Japan