Les Sigman (in red) hits a foot sweep against Nicholas Lane of New Zealand in the first round. John Sachs photo.

MOSCOW, Russia – The U.S. men’s freestyle team went 1-3 on the final day of the World Championships on Sunday at the Olympiysky Sports Complex.

Brent Metcalf and Travis Paulson each lost in the first round, and Les Sigman lost in the second round in the freestyle competition. It was the first World Championships for each of them.

Sigman lost in the second round to 2009 World bronze medalist Ioannis Arzoumandis of Greece by scores of 0-1, 1-0, 0-1 at 120 kg/264.5 lbs.

“It’s pretty disappointing,” Sigman said. “I knew I could beat that guy. I just need to learn from this and come back strong.”

Sigman was eliminated when Arzoumandis lost in the semifinals to two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time World champion Artur Taymazov of Uzbekistan. Sigman finished ninth.

Paulson lost in the first round to Kazakhstan’s Abdulhakim Shapiyez 4-0, 1-0 at 74 kg/163 lbs. Paulson, who had knee surgery after being injured in July, was unable to finish in the leg clinch in the second period.

Paulson was eliminated when Shapiyez failed to reach the finals.

“Travis beat that guy earlier this year in Baku, but Travis’ knee was hurt and he just had surgery five weeks ago,” U.S. National Coach Zeke Jones said. “At the end of the day, Travis had one leg out there and it showed. He wasn’t 100 percent today. He had made fast progress in practice, and that’s why we put him out there. We thought he could compete, but obviously he couldn’t.”

Paulson said the injury had an impact on his match.

"There are no excuses, but a couple of times I couldn't commit to a move because of my knee," Paulson said. "It was limiting and it was frustrating. I was only about 80 percent out there, but I felt like I could still come in here and win. I've wrestled the best guys and I know I can beat them."

Metcalf shot in on leg attacks repeatedly, but was unable to finish as he suffered a first-round loss to past World silver and bronze medalist Otar Tushishvili of Georgia in freestyle at 66 kg/145.5 lbs.

Metcalf was eliminated when Tushishvili lost by fall in his next match.

“You come to the big show and you work your whole life for this, you’ve got to be ready to go come whistle one,” Metcalf said. “I felt like I was ready, but I wasn’t scoring points like I needed to. I did have a pretty tough guy, but you’ve got to be ready for that in this tournament because you can draw the best guy in the first round.”

The U.S. lost seven of the 11 matches it competed in during the freestyle competition in Moscow. The U.S. did not win a freestyle medal in a World Championships it has competed in for the first time since 1975. The 1975 tournament was in Minsk, Soviet Union.

“It’s terrible,” Jones said when asked about the U.S. freestyle performance. “We just didn’t have enough fight. We need to go home and make some changes. We just weren’t tough enough in the right moments. We need to make practice and training tougher, and we need to get technically better.”

India's Sushil Kumar won the title at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. Kumar became India's first World champion.

Russia's Denis Tsargush repeated as champion at 74 kg/163 lbs. Russia's Bilyal Makhov won his third straight title at 120 kg/264.5 lbs.

Russia won the team title with 66 points. Azerbaijan was second with 42 and Cuba third 37. The U.S. tied for 22nd with five points.

U.S. RESULTS FROM SUNDAY’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Freestyle

66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Brent Metcalf, Iowa City, Iowa (New York AC)
LOSS Otar Tushishvili (Georgia), 0-1, 2-2

74 kg/163 lbs. – Travis Paulson, Ames, Iowa (Sunkist Kids)
LOSS Abdulkahim Shapiyez (Kazakhstan), 0-4, 0-1

120 kg/264.5 lbs. – Les Sigman, State College, Pa. (Nittany Lion WC)
WIN Nicholas Lane (New Zealand), fall 0:55
LOSS Ioannis Arzoumandis (Greece), 0-1, 1-0, 0-1

Men's freestyle results

66 kg/145.5 lbs.
Gold – Sushil Kumar (India)
Silver – Alan Gogaev (Russia)
Bronze – Jabrayil Hasanov (Azerbaijan)
Bronze –Jeandry Garzon (Cuba)
5th – Batzorig Buyanjav (Mongolia)
5th – Haislan Garcia (Canada)
7th – Heinrich Barnes (South Africa)
8th – Martin Daum (Germany)
9th – Yuri Poliak (Israel)
10th – Akzhurek Tantarov (Kazakhstan)

74 kg/163 lbs.
Gold – Denis Tsargush (Russia)
Silver – Sadegh Goudarzi (Iran)
Bronze – Gabor Hatos (Hungary)
Bronze – Abdulkhakim Shapiev (Kazakhstan)
5th – Krystian Brzozowski (Poland)
5th – Ivan Fundora (Cuba)
7th – Kiril Terziev (Bulgaria)
8th – Volodymyr Syrotyn (Ukraine)
9th – Andriy Shyyka (Germany)
10th – Roman Dermenji (Moldova)

120 kg/264.5 lbs.
Gold –Bilyal Makhov (Russia)
Silver – Artur Taymazov (Uzbekistan)
Bronze –Levan Berianidze (Georgia)
Bronze –Ioannis Arzoumanidis (Greece)
5th – Daniel Ligeti (Hungary)
5th – Ali Isayev (Azerbaijan)
7th – Fardin Masoumi (Iran)
8th – Marid Mutalimov (Kazakhstan)
9th – Les Sigman (USA)
10th – Zhiwei Dong (China)

Men’s Freestyle Standings
1. Russia, 66
2. Azerbaijan, 42
3. Cuba, 37
4. Iran, 28
5. Georgia, 21
6. Bulgaria, 18
6. Uzbekistan, 18
6. Ukraine, 18
9. Hungary, 14
9. Kyrgyzstan, 14
11. Kazakhstan, 12
11. Mongolia, 12
13. India, 10
13. Canada, 10
13. Poland, 10
16. Belarus, 9
16. Korea, 9
18. Greece, 8
18. Japan, 8
18. Turkey, 8
21. Moldova, 7
22. Germany, 5
22. United States, 5
24. South Africa, 4
25. Armenia, 3
26. Israel, 2
27. China, 1