David Taylor of the USA secures a leg attack on Dauren Kurugliev of Russia in the World Championship semifinals. Photo by Larry Slater.

BUDAPEST, Hungary – Competing in his first Senior World Championships, David Taylor (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC) powered through his half-bracket to qualify for the gold-medal finals at 86 kg/189 lbs.

In the semifinals, Taylor scored an impressive, come-from-behind victory over Russian National champion Dauren Kurugliev, 7-5 and celebrated to the roar of the American fans.

Kurugliev had a strong first period, jumping to a 5-1 lead at the break, after scoring two takedowns and forcing a stepout, while Taylor only scored on a stepout. In the second period, Taylor rallied with two takedowns to tie the match at 5-5, giving him the tiebreaking criteria. In the final seconds, Taylor converted another takedown to close out the win with one last score.

“I’m just going to keep coming every single match. That’s why I train. I have amazing training partners at home. I have amazing coaches. I have an amazing strength and conditioning program at the Treigning Lab. I just have to go out and wrestle. I was put through one of the toughest draws I could have ever imagined, but nothing is different. Every tournament I’ve been to, I’ve had a tough draw. I’m one match away from being a World champion, and that’s something I’ve dreamt about for a really, really long time. I don’t care how I feel right now. I’m ready to roll for tomorrow,” said Taylor.

On Sunday night, Taylor will battle Fatih Erdin of Turkey, the No. 1 seed, who like Taylor is competing in his first Senior World Championships. Erdin was fifth in the 2018 European Championships, and won four international medals this year. Taylor had the No. 2 seed coming in.

Taylor opened his tournament in the morning session with a big 11-6 win over Olympic and World champion Hassan Yazdani Charati of Iran, 11-6. He shut down his next two opponents, beating Hajy Rajabau of Belarus in a 10-0 technical fall and then stopping Yurieski Torreblanca of Cuba, 8-0 in the quarterfinals.

Taylor won two NCAA titles and two Hodge Trophies competing for Penn State.

Qualifying for the bronze-medal round match is Joe Colon (Fresno, Calif./Titan Mercury WC/Valley RTC) at 61 kg/134 lbs. Colon was defeated in the semifinals by Pan American rival and two-time World bronze medalist Yowlys Bonne Rodriguez of Cuba, 9-4.

Colon trailed 5-0 at the break, as he gave up one point on the shot clock and Bonne also hit a four-point throw at the end of the first period. In the second period, a four-point Bonne body lock extended it to 9-0. Colon scored the final four points, but was not able to change the result.

Colon won twice on Saturday morning, beating Ivan Bileichuk of Ukraine, 9-6 and Vladimir Dubov of Bulgaria, 10-0, to qualify for the semifinals. Colon had the No. 4 seed in the weight class.

In his bronze-medal bout, Colon will face the winner of the repechage match between Mohammedbagher Yakhkeshi of Iran and Ivan Guidea of Romania. Colon, an All-American at Northern Iowa, is a replacement for the injured Nahshon Garrett, and is competing in his first Senior Worlds.

Two U.S. stars were pulled back into Sunday’s repechage rounds when the opponent who defeated them in the quarterfinals advanced to the finals: 2012 Olympic champion and four-time World champion Jordan Burroughs (Lincoln, Neb./Sunkist Kids/Nebraska WTC) at 74 kg/163 lbs. and 2017 World bronze medalist Nick Gwiazdowski, Raleigh, N.C. (Titan Mercury WC/Wolfpack RTC) at 125 kg/275 lbs.

Burroughs was pulled back into repechage, after Zaurbek Sidakov of Russia scored a late takedown to edge two-time World champion Frank Chamizo of Italy, 3-2. Sidakov had beaten Burroughs 6-5 in the quarterfinals.

Burroughs will face the winner of the repechage bout between Franklin Gomez Matos of Puerto Rico and Miroslav Kirov of Bulgaria. Gomez was an NCAA champion for Michigan State, and trains with the Nittany Lion WC in the United States.

Burroughs has won six World-level medals in his career, an Olympic gold, four World golds and a World bronze medal. He was a two-time NCAA champion and a Hodge Trophy winner for Nebraska.

Gwiazdowski received new life when Zhiwei Deng of China controlled Sumit of India, 5-0 in the semifinals. Deng had edged Gwiazdowski 5-4 in the quarterfinals.

In repechage, Gwiazdowski will wrestle 2014 Junior World champion Amar Dhesi of Canada, who was a Div. I All-American for Oregon State.

“Not a bad spot with everyone wrestling tomorrow for medals. It’s less than what we anticipated, knowing the stars that we have and the star power we had wrestling today. That’s reality. That’s why the World Championships are what they are and why it’s so exciting to wrestle, compete and do well. We still have a chance to do some great things and win a lot of medals tomorrow and start with four new weights. Big tomorrow, really big day tomorrow,” said National Freestyle Coach Bill Zadick.

The repechage begins at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow, as well as the preliminary action for four new weight classes. In addition to the four athletes from today, Team USA will have J’den Cox (92 kg), Logan Stieber (65 kg), Thomas Gilman (57 kg) and Kyle Dake (79 kg) taking the mat.

The semifinals for the new weights are at 5:45 p.m., with the finals of the first four weight beginning at 7:00 p.m. Budapest is six hours ahead of the U.S. Eastern time zone.

The event is broadcast live on TrackWrestling.

TrackWrestling is partnering with USA Wrestling and the athletes of the World Team, by making a donation to the Living the Dream Medal Fund each time the promo code WINUSA is used at checkout on Trackwrestling.com for the Worlds broadcast.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Budapest, Hungary, October 20

U.S. men’s freestyle first round draws for Saturday

61 kg/134 lbs. – Joe Colon, Fresno, Calif. (Titan Mercury WC/Valley RTC)
WIN Ivan Bileichuk (Ukraine), 9-6
WIN Vladimir Dubov (Bulgaria), tech. fall 10-0
LOSS Yowlys Bonne Rodriguez (Cuba), 9-4
Bronze-medal match – vs. winner of Mohammedbagher Yakhkeshi (Iran) vs. Ivan Guidea (Romania)

74 kg/163 lbs. - Jordan Burroughs, Lincoln, Neb. (Sunkist Kids/Nebraska WTC)
WIN Venicious Juah (Liberia), forfeit
WIN Mostafa Hosseinkhani (Iran), 4-3
LOSS Zaurbek Sidakov (Russia), 6-5
Repechage – Vs. winner of Franklin Gomez Matos (Puerto Rico) and Miroslav Kirov (Bulgaria)

86 kg/189 lbs. - David Taylor, State College, Pa. (Nittany Lion WC)
WIN Hassan Yazdani Charati (Iran), 11-6
WIN Hajy Rajabau (Belarus), tech. fall 10-0
WIN Yurieski Torreblanca (Cuba), 8-0
WIN Dauren Kurugliev (Russia), 7-5
Gold-Medal Match – Fatih Erdin (Turkey)

125 kg/275 lbs. - Nick Gwiazdowski, Raleigh, N.C. (Titan Mercury WC/Wolfpack RTC)
WIN Zolboo Natsatgsuren, 9-4
LOSS Zhiwei Deng (China), 5-4
Repechage vs. Amar Dhesi (Canada)

Gold-Medal Finals pairing

61 kg - Yowlys Bonne Rodriguez (Cuba) vs. Gadzimurad Rashidov (Russia)
74 kg - Zaurbek Sidakov (Russia) vs. Avtandil Ketchadze (Georgia)
86 kg - David Taylor (USA) vs. Fatih Erdin (Turkey)
125 kg - Zhiwei Deng (China) vs. Geno Petriashvili (Georgia)

Semifinal results

61 kg
Yowlys Bonne Rodriguez (Cuba) dec. Joe Colon (USA), 9-4
Gadzimurad Rashidov (Russia) tech fall Beka Lomtadze (Georgia), 10-0

74 kg
Zaurbek Sidakov (Russia) dec. Frank Chamizo (Italy), 3-2
Avtandil Ketchadze (Georgia) pin Soner Demirtas (Turkey), 5:30

86 kg
Fatih Erdin (Turkey) dec. Taymuraz Friev (Spain), 7-4
David Taylor (USA) dec. Dauren Kurugliev (Russia), 7-5

125 kg
Zhiwei Deng (China) dec. Sumit (India), 5-0
Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) dec. Parviz Hadi Basmanj (Iran), 13-6