Team USA Cleans House At 2022 World Wrestling Championships, Russia Absent
Over the weekend, Team USA dominated the 2022 World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. The team took home 15 medals total, seven being gold. Second and third for the team event was Japan and Turkey. The host nation, Serbia, came in fourth with a strong showing in Greco Roman. Russia, the traditionally dominant force in wrestling, was absent from the event due to the war in Ukraine.
Team USA: Looking Fantastic in Men’s Freestyle
Team USA looked great in the freestyle world where they generally do well. Leading the pack, Kyle Dake (74 kg), Jordan Burroughs (79 kg), David Taylor (86 kg), and Kyle Snyder (97 kg) took home gold medals. Of those wrestlers, Dake is the only not to be an Olympic gold medalist, he took home bronze in 2020.
Elsewhere, Thomas Gilman (57 kg), Yianna Diakomihalis (65 kg), Zain Retherford (70 kg), and J’Den Cox (92 kg) took home silver for Team USA. Other notable names were Geno Petriashvili of Georgia taking home bronze, Hassan Yazdani of Iran taking silver, and Kamran Ghasempour of Iran taking gold at 92.
Absent were Russia’s Abdulrashid Sadulaev, arguably the best wrestler on the planet, Zaurbek Sidakov, and Zaur Uguev of Russia, all gold medalists, and Gable Steveson of the US who retired for a career in the WWE.
As mentioned, Serbia looked great in Greco Roman with Zurab Datunashvili, Ali Arsalan, Mate Nemes, and Sebastian Nad taking gold in their respective weight classes. Team USA did not secure a single medal.
Finally, women’s freestyle came out and looked great after having a superb Olympic cycle in Tokyo. Dominique Parrish came home with gold for her first World Championship medal, as well as Amit Elor, and Olympic champion Tamyra Mensah-Stock. Helen Maroulis and Kayla Miracle came home with silver. Sarah Hildebrandt and Mallory Velte rounded out Team USA with bronze.
All in all Russia being absent was a hamper on the event but there’s no telling how that would have changed the event in Belgrade. Snyder and Sadulaev have a friendly rivalry and Sidakov and Dake are due for a showdown at one of these big stage events.
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In addition to covering Olympic wrestling for My MMA News, Blaine Henry, the author, also analyzes fights from all combat sports across the globe.
Blaine Henry can be found on Twitter, on his Substack, and Discord.
