The 2015 World Wrestling Championships at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada are now in the books. Over 100 hundred countries competed for the right to see who is the best in the world at man’s oldest sport, and in the end only one person in each weight class was able to take home the gold.
African-American wrestlers came home with one gold medal and two bronze medals.
On the men’s freestyle side, Jordan Burroughs took home the gold at the 74 kilograms weight class. The defending Olympic champion and now three-time world champion, Burroughs entered last year’s world championships in Uzbekistan banged up and lost his semifinal match to Russian Denis Tsargush before rallying with a bronze.
This year Burroughs came in healthy and was firing on all cylinders from his first round match. His only real test came in the semifinals against Russian Aniuar Geduev. In the gold medal match Burroughs dazzled the crowd with a 10-0 win by technical-superiority over Purevjav Unurbat of Mongolia.
Burroughs, whose social media handle and motto is “all I see is gold,” thanked God after his victory and said now all eyes are on the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeriro, Brazil and capturing his second Olympic Gold Medal.
The two-time NCAA national champion for Nebraska has dominated since entering the world stage with a graceful combination of speed and power. With a likeable personality to go along with his skills on the mat, Burroughs has attracted a huge social media following and is in demand as a public speaker. The South New Jersey native is also one of the few American wrestlers with an international following and is frequently cheered by foreign fans.
James Green, a fellow South Jersey native and Nebraska Cornhusker standout, earned a bronze medal and third-place finish at 70 kilograms during his first trip to the big global stage. Green was a 4-time All-American in wrestling for Nebraska and like Burroughs began wrestling in a youth program near Camden, New Jersey. He won his spot on the national-team after defeating Mizzou grad Nick Marable.
Powering through the early rounds looking unbeatable, Green finally met his match in the semifinals. Hassan Yazdani Charati of Iran shut Green down with his defense and then successfully countered his way to a win. For his third-place match Green was back in form, scoring a pin at the 2:19 mark against Miloslav Kirov of Bulgaria.
Kyle Snyder of the United States became the youngest American world champion ever at the age of 19, winning a hard fought match against Dagestani-Russian Abdusalam Gadisov in the finals.
Other men’s freestyle gold medals went to Frank Chamizo (Italy), Haji Aliev (Azerbaijan), Abdulrashid Sadulaev (Dagestani-Russian), Vladimir Khinchegashvili (Georgia), Magomedrasul Gazimagomedov (Dagestani-Russian) and Taha Akgul (Turkey).
In women’s freestyle, another African-American and New Jersey-native stood out. Leigh Jaynes-Provisor, a 35 year old mother, powered her way to a bronze medal in the tournament, beating Irina Netreba of Azerbaijan on criteria to secure her finish.
Two American women took home gold medals. American Helen Maroulis, a former Missouri Baptist wrestler, won a world championship at 55 kilograms, defeating Russian Irina Ologonova in the finals, and Adeline Gray defended her world championship at 75 kilograms with a 13-2 win over Qian Zhou of China in finals.
All three women are looking to become the first women to ever win Olympic gold for the United States next year in Rio. Alli Ragan of Carbondale didn’t place; but looks promising for a future run.
On the men’s Greco-Roman side, three African-Americans represented Team USA at their respective weight classes: Spenser Mango at 59 kilograms, Justin Lester at 71 kilograms, and Caylor Williams at 98 kilograms. Unfortunately, all three failed to earn medals.
The only Americans to make it to the medal round in Greco-Roman were Andy Bisek at 75 kilograms with a third place finish and Robby Smith at 130 kilograms, who lost his bronze medal match in a thrilling bout against the tough Dagestani-Russian Bilyal Makhov.
Men’s world championships in Greco-Roman went to Ismael Borrero Molina (Cuba) Rasul Chunayev (Azerbaijan), Selcuk Cebi (Turkey), Riza Kaylaap (Turkey), Zhan Belenyuk (Ukranine), Frank Staebler (Germany), Roman Vlasov (Russia) and Artur Aleksanyan (Armenia).
Mango is a two-time United States Olympian and St. Louis native. He grew-up in North County and began wrestling at CBC High School, continuing his wrestling at Northern Michigan University and in the United States Army.
“It’s crucial to give African-American and inner-city kids access to the sport of wrestling,” Mango told The American. “They need both an outlet and a way out. Look at me: I got a college education and didn’t have to pay anything because I had a wrestling scholarship.”
