Burroughs, Green Compete at 2019 World Wrestling Championships

Former Nebraska All-Americans Jordan Burroughs and James Green wrestled in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, on Friday and Saturday at the 2019 World Wrestling Championships. 

Green competed in the 70kg weight class and defeated Vincent De Marinis of Canada in his first match. Green recorded three takedowns and two gut wrenches to win by technical fall, 10-0. Green then faced Magomedmurad Gadzhiev of Poland. Green built a 3-1 lead before yielding a two-point takedown in the waning seconds of the match, tying the score at 3-3. Gadzhiev held the advantage on criteria, however, and after a challenge by Green, Gadzhiev was awarded a point and ultimately emerged victorious, 4-3. 

Burroughs competed in the 74kg weight class and defeated Azmat Nurykau in a dramatic opening-round match. Burroughs trailed 6-2 before rallying. The score was tied 10-10 when Burroughs scored an apparent takedown in the last seconds of the match. After a video review, Burroughs was awarded one point for a stepout, giving him an 11-10 victory. In his next match, Burroughs trailed Hungary's Murad Kuramagomedov 4-0 before scoring a critical four-pointer on his way to a 6-4 comeback victory.

Burroughs' third match lacked the drama of his first two as he dominated Khadzimurad Gadzhiyev of Azerbijan and advanced to the semifinals with an 8-1 victory. Burroughs faced Zaurbek Sidakov of Russia in the semifinals, a rematch of the 2018 World Championships quarterfinals in which Sidakov defeated Burroughs by a score of 6-5 with a last-second move. Burroughs took an early 1-0  lead on a stepout before Sidakov scored a takedown to go ahead 2-1. Burroughs then recorded a takedown of his own and lead 3-2 before Sidakov scored a pushout with 1.3 seconds left to win 4-3 in eerily similar fashion to their 2018 matchup. 

In the bronze medal match, Burroughs met Mao Okui of Japan. The former Husker standout ended the tournament on a high note, earning a 10-0 technical fall victory. In his international career, Burroughs is a perfect eight-for-eight in medal matches, having earned gold medals at the World Championships four times (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017) and the Olympics one time (2012) in addition to earning bronze medals at the World Championships on three occasions (2014, 2018, 2019). 

Green and Burroughs were coached by Nebraska Head Coach Mark Manning and associate head coach Bryan Snyder. Green's training partner was current Husker wrestler Peyton Robb while Burroughs trained with three-time All-American and 2019 NCAA runner-up Tyler Berger, who recently joined the Nebraska coaching staff as a volunteer assistant.