Freestyle Wrestling Tandem Finish Among Top SixThe United States freestyle wrestling team recorded a pair of top six finishes Saturday at the final day of wrestling action at the World Youth Games.
Mike Pirozolla (Levittown, Pa.) recorded a fourth-place finish at 63kg, while Brandon Phelps (Cornell, Wis.) finished among the top six in 95kg.
In the bronze medal match, Pirozolla fell behind 19 seconds into the match, 1-0, before seeing the deficit extended to 4-0. The match was ended at 3:47 as a 10-0 technical fall.
"We did an exceptional job with the competition and faced some of the world's best wrestlers, who decided to come to this event, as opposed to the World Championships," said U.S. head coach Cliff Laughlin (Idaho Falls, Idaho). "We had one session where we won all five of our matches by either fall or technical fall, which showed the potential that our nine wrestlers showed."
Final Day Results, Freestyle Wrestling
63kg - Mike Pirozolla (Levittown, Pa.) received bye; Pirozolla def. Ulan Yerzhekenov (KAZ); Romanzan Dzhamaldinov (UKR) won by technical fall over Pirozolla, 10-0 (3:47). Pirozolla finished fourth.
95kg - Brandon Phelps (Cornell, Wis.) received bye; Levon Vatchardze (GEO) won by technical fall over Phelps, 10-0. Phelps finished top six.