Murata, Eggum claim silver medals at 2001 Freestyle World Championships; McCoy finishes 4th
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Heather Van Peursem (USA Wrestling)
11/27/2001
SOFIA, BULGARIA - In front of another packed house at the Sofia Winter Sports Complex, the U.S captured two silver medals in the second final round of the 2001 Freestyle World Championships. At 51kg, Stephanie Murata faced defending World Champion Hikomi Sakamoto of Japan, but lost the match by a 12-1 technical fall at 4:59 to earn the silver. The other U.S finalist, Brandon Eggum (85kg), fell on a 3-0 overtime decision after losing his lock during the OT clinch. Challenging for 3rd place, Kerry McCoy (130kg) fell to a 3-1 decision to Cuban Alexis Rodrigez. McCoy went into the second period with a 2-0 deficit, and scored a single leg takedown at the edge. The U.S. started the final day of competition off strong, winning both quarter and semi final matches. In quarterfinal competition, Brandon Eggum won a 3-0 overtime decision over Magomed Kurugliyev (KAZ). Eggum scored a takedown off an ankle pick and was awarded two points from clinch positions in the second and overtime periods to secure the decision. In his semi final Eggum won a 3-2 decision over Betbulat Musaev of Belarus. Musaev and Eggum traded takedowns, but Eggum scored a point on a gut to secure the match. After winning her pool, Murata moved directly to the semi finals. In semi-final competition, Murata gave up the first takedown, but came on strong winning a decisive 4-1 decision over Lyndsay Belisle of Canada on her way to the finals. At 130kg, Kerry McCoy also moved directly from his pool into the semi final round where he lost an 8-0 decision to Russian David Moussoulbes, the 2000 Olympic Champion, moving McCoy into the 3rd and 4th place round.