World bronze medalists Ali Bernard (left) and Adeline Gray. Larry Slater photo.

ISTANBUL, Turkey – Ali Bernard and Adeline Gray broke Team USA’s medal drought by winning bronze medals at the World Championships on Friday night at the Sinan Erdem Dome.

Bernard and Gray delivered with clutch performances as the U.S. women’s freestyle team came on strong to tie for third in the team standings.

American Nick Simmons fell just short of a medal after placing fifth at 55 kg/121 lbs. as the men’s freestyle competition kicked off on Friday.

Bernard and Simmons qualified the U.S. for the 2012 Olympic Games in their weight classes by virtue of their top-six finish at the Worlds. Gray competes in a non-Olympic weight class.

The U.S. made it onto the medal podium Friday for the first time on Day 5 of 7 of the World Championships.

Bernard, fifth in the 2008 Olympics, pinned Guzel Manyurova of Kazakhstan in the bronze-medal match to cap a phenomenal day for the Minnesota native. Bernard gave up a takedown midway through the first period, but quickly reversed Manyurova to her back and recorded the dramatic fall with 20 seconds left in the period. Manyurova is a past Olympic silver and World bronze medalist.

“I’m excited, I feel great right now,” Bernard said. “I’ve been pushing myself every day and it paid off. I went out and gave it my all. It’s a great day.”

Bernard (New Ulm, Minn./Gator WC) navigated her way through a loaded bracket at 72 kg/158.5 lbs. to reach the semifinals.

Bernard downed World fifth-place finisher Jenny Fransson of Sweden, Olympic gold medalist Jiao Wang of China and World silver medalist Ohnewa Akuffo of Canada to reach the semifinals.

Bernard then ran into four-time World champion and Olympic silver medalist Stanka Zlateva of Bulgaria in the semifinals. Zlateva earned a 3-1, 2-0 win to reach the finals. Zlateva went on to win her fifth World title on Friday night.

Gray swept Burcu Orskaya of Turkey 1-0, 1-0 in the bronze-medal match at 67 kg/147.5 lbs. Orskaya was seventh in the 2010 World Championships. Gray placed fifth in this event in 2009 before missing most of last season with an injury.

Gray (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) dropped her first match 4-1, 1-0 to China’s Luozhuoma Xi, but rebounded to beat three-time World champion Martine Dugrenier of Canada in the repechage at 67 kg/147.5 lbs. That win sent Gray into the bronze-medal match for the second time in the last three years.

“I’m excited,” Gray said. “I was really disappointed when I lost my first match. I thought my Worlds was over. I was real excited to come back against a great wrestler like Martine and beat her. She was the favorite to win here so that was a great win.”

Xi went on to win the World title at 67 kilos.

Japan won the team title with 52 points. Canada was second with 33 points with the U.S. tying Mongolia for third with 32 points apiece. Mongolia won the tiebreaker for the third-place team trophy by virtue of having two second-place finishers.

“Adeline had a great day, beating a three-time World champion,” U.S. National Coach Terry Steiner said. “Adeline’s made some huge strides and she showed great character in this tournament. It was great to see Ali get a World medal at the Senior level. It was long overdue. She turned in a gutsy performance. I couldn’t be happier for her and it’s great to see her get a reward for all of her work.”

Simmons dropped a 1-0, 4-0 decision to Hassan Rahimi of Iran in the bronze-medal match. Rahimi is a past Junior World champion who placed 10th in the 2010 Senior World Championships. Simmons was competing in his first World Championships.

Simmons (Corvallis, Ore./Sunkist Kids) won his first four matches before falling to past World champion Radoslav Velikov of Bulgaria 1-0, 1-0 in the semifinals at 55 kg/121 lbs. Velikov finished with a silver medal after falling to 2010 champion Victor Lebedev of Russia in the finals on Friday night.

“I was prepared,” Simmons said. “I was a little anxious my first match, but I felt better after that. It was a great experience for me. I know I can wrestle with anybody and I know I can beat the best guys. I just need to learn from this and put it all together the next time.”

Freestyle wrestlers Reece Humphrey (Columbus, Ohio/New York AC), Cael Sanderson (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC) and Jake Varner (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC) are scheduled to compete on Saturday.

Humphrey competes at 60 kg/132 lbs. and is wrestling in his first Senior World Championships. He is a past World University silver and bronze medalist.

Sanderson, a 2004 Olympic gold medalist and the head coach at Penn State, will compete at 84 kg/185 lbs. He won a World silver medal in 2003. He returned to competition this year after nearly a seven-year absence.

Varner was a World quarterfinalist in 2009 at 96 kg/211.5 lbs.

Wrestling on Day 6 of 7 of the World Championships is scheduled to start at 12:30 p.m. local time on Friday.

WORLD WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
at Istanbul, Turkey, Sept. 16

Women's Freestyle Results

67 kg/147.5 lbs.
1 Luozhuoma Xi (China)
2 Oyunsuren Banzragch (Mongolia)
3 Yoshiko Inoue (Japan)
3 Adeline Gray (USA)
5 Alina Makhynia (Ukraine)
5 Burcu Orskaya (Turkey)
7 Martine Dugrenier (Canada)
8 Iryna Ysyrkevich (Belarus)
9 Nadya Sementsova (Azerbaijan)
10 Natalia Kuksina (Russia) 

72 kg/158.5 lbs.
1 Stanka Zlateva (Bulgaria)
2 Ekaterina Bukina (Russia)
3 Ali Bernard (USA)
3 Vasilisa Marzaliuk (Belarus)
5 Guzel Manyurova (Kazakhstan) 
5 Laure Ali (Cameroon)
7  Maja Gunvor Erlandsen (Norway)
8 Mae Epp (Estonia)
9 Cinthya Vescan (France)
10 Aline Da Silva Ferreira (Brazil) 

U.S. Women’s freestyle results

67 kg/147.5 lbs. – Adeline Gray, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC) – 3rd
LOSS Luozhuoma Xi (China), 1-4, 0-1
WIN Martine Dugrenier (Canada), 1-1, 3-1
WIN Burcu Orskaya (Turkey), 1-0, 1-0

72 kg/158.5 lbs. – Ali Bernard, New Ulm, Minn. (Gator WC) – 3rd
WIN Jenny Fransson (Sweden), 7-6, 2-1
WIN Jiao Wang (China), 4-6, 8-7, fall 1:56
WIN Ohnewa Akuffo (Canada), 1-0, fall 2nd period
LOSS Stanka Zlateva (Bulgaria), 1-3, 0-2
WIN Guzel Manyurova (Kazakhstan), fall 1:40

Women's Team Standings
1 Japan, 52
2 Canada, 33
3 Mongolia, 32
3 United States, 32
5 Russia, 31
5 Azerbaijan, 31
7 China, 29
8 Ukraine, 28
9 Sweden, 17
10 Belarus, 16
11 Kazakhstan, 14
12 Bulgaria, 10
12 North Korea, 10
14 Hungary, 9
14 India, 9
16 France, 7
17 Cameroon, 6
17 Colombia, 6
17 Turkey, 6
20 Norway, 4
21 Austria, 3
21 Estonia, 3
21 Poland, 3
24 Germany, 2
24 Venezuela, 2
26 Brazil, 1
26 Czech Republic, 1
26 Mexico, 1
26 Senegal, 1

Men’s freestyle results

55 kg/121 lbs.
1. Viktor Lebedev (Russia)
2. Radislav Velikov (Bulgaria)
3. Daulet Niyabekov (Kazakhstan)
3. Hassan Rahimi (Iran)
5. Mihran Jaburyan (Armenia)
5. Nick Simmons (USA)

U.S. Men's freestyle results

55 kg/121 lbs. – Nick Simmons, Corvallis, Ore. (Sunkist Kids) – 5th
WIN Marcel Ewald (Germany), 1-0, 0-1, 1-0
WIN Alexandru Chirtoaca (Moldova), fall 1:25
WIN Nikolay Noev (Tajikistan), 2-1, 0-3, 4-3
WIN Shinichi Yumoto (Japan), 7-4, 6-5
LOSS Radoslav Velikov (Bulgaria), 0-1, 0-1
LOSS Hassan Rahimi (Iran), 0-1, 0-4