LONDON – Top wrestling journalists picked the winners for the 18 weight classes prior to the 2012 Olympic Games, and it ended up being a close race.

Two journalists – Ikuo Higuchi of the Japanese Wrestling Federation and Eddie Goldman of No Holds Barred – each correctly picked 10 of the wrestlers who won Olympic gold medals in London on Aug. 5-12.

InterMat’s Andrew Hipps, who was in London covering the event, correctly picked nine of the champions.

Sports Illustrated’s Brian Cazeneuve and Russian journalist Petr Pavlov correctly picked eight of the wrestlers who won titles.

There were 14 journalists from around the world who submitted predictions for the Olympic wrestling competition.

Thirteen journalists correctly picked Jordan Burroughs of the USA to win a gold medal. USA Wrestling’s Gary Abbott was the only one who correctly picked Jake Varner of the USA to win a gold medal.