Williams, Cormier win gold, as U.S. men capture five medals at Ivan Yarygin International in Russia
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling
Joe Williams (Ames, Iowa/Sunkist Kids) and Daniel Cormier (Stillwater, Okla./Gator WC) won gold medals in men’s freestyle at the Ivan Yarygin Memorial Tournament in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.
Williams captured the 74 kg/163 lbs. weight class, and Cormier won at 96 kg/211.5 pounds. Both were members of the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team.
The United States won five medals overall in the men’s freestyle division. Capturing a silver medal was Tommy Rowlands (Columbus, Ohio/Dave Schultz WC) at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. Capturing bronze medals were Sammie Henson (St. Louis, Mo./Sunkist Kids) at 55 kg/121 lbs. and Lee Fullhart (Blacksburg, Va./Gator WC) at 84 kg/185 lbs.
Williams won five matches on the way to the title. He defeated Sergei Vitkovsky of Russia in the championship match.
Williams opened with a victory over Dimitry Kirilov of Russia, then stopped Ruslan Kokaev of Russia. In the quarterfinals, Williams stopped Magomed Isagadjiev of Russia. His semifinal win was over Ivan Fundora of Cuba.
Cormier won four matches to claim his victory, defeating American teammate Rowlands in the gold-medal match.
He opening with a win over Nurjane Cateav of Kazakhstan. His quarterfinals victory came over Oleg Kallagov of Russia. In the semifinals, Cormier defeated Muhammad Hadi Purslgian of Iran.
Rowlands won his first three matches before losing to Cormier in the finals. He opened with a victory over Aleksey Mastepanov of Belarus. In the quarterfinals, he stopped Kazvbek Kudzaev of Russia. His semifinal victory was over Roman Kudryevtsev of Russia.
Henson, a 1998 World Champion, won his first three matches, then was defeated by Alexander Kontoev of Russia in the semifinals. Kontoeve went on to win the gold medal.
In the repechage round, Henson defeated Asey Serikhaev of Kazakhstan to win one of the two bronze medals.
Fullhart won his first two matches, then was stopped in the semifinals by Vadim Laliev of Russia. Laliev went on to capture the silver medal.
In the repechage round, Fullhart defeated Soslan Gatciev of Belarus to capture one of the two bronze medals.
More results will be posted when available.
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