UNITED 4 WRESTLING - LOS ANGELES
Burroughs, Oliver deliver with big wins
World champion Elena Pirozhkova also prevailed for the U.S. team in front of 3,500 enthusiastic fans
By Craig Sesker LOS ANGELES – An incredible day for wrestling was capped by an amazing per- formance from arguably the best pound- for-pound wrestler on the planet. Olympic and World champion Jordan Burroughs put his immense talents on full display to put an exclamation point on the United 4 Wrestling event on May 19 before a boisterous crowd of 3,500 fans at the L.A. Sports Arena. The powerful, dynamic Burroughs put
on a clinic in dismantling Russia’s Saba Khubetzhty 14-3 in the day’s final freestyle match at 74 kg/163 lbs. Burroughs came out firing with his
lethal double-leg attacks and finished off the Russian with a series of leg laces as the crowd stood and cheered. He finished the match by technical fall with 32 sec- onds left in the first period. “I was really amped,” Burroughs said. “I
had a great time. I wrestled that guy on Wednesday in New York City and I didn’t do as well as I would’ve liked. I knew the crowd was into it. I just wanted to come out here and put on a good show. I hope the people liked it.” Burroughs moved to 54-0 on the Senior
level and 1-0 under the new FILA rules which were implemented for the first time after being changed two days before the dual.
Matches now consist of two three-
minute periods with cumulative scoring. Burroughs now scores two points for a takedown instead of one under the new rules. Once a wrestler leads by 10 points they win by technical fall.
14 USA Wrestler
Olympic gold medalist Jordan Burroughs put on a show in capping the dual by winning 14-3 against Russia’s Saba Khubetzhty. Tony Rotundo photo.
The event, featuring strong teams from
the U.S., Russia and Canada, was held to support the fight to keep wrestling in the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee Executive Board recommend- ed in February that wrestling be removed as a core sport beginning in 2020. The U.S. men’s and women’s teams
went a combined 7-4 in the dual. Past Junior World medalist Jordan
Oliver also turned in a superb perform- ance, registering two impressive wins at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. Oliver, just coming off his second
NCAA title, powered in on a double-leg attack for a takedown late in the match to upend Russia’s Magomed Kurbanliev 7-6 in the dual’s first bout. Oliver then knocked off Olympian Haislan Garcia of
Canada 5-2 in his second bout of the day. “This was incredible,” Oliver said of the
event. “It’s one of the biggest stages in wrestling. It was just an honor to come out and wrestle in such an event. We’re all here for a beautiful thing. It’s a good cause, and just pushing for that 2020 dream.” Garcia earlier defeated Russia’s Soslan Ramonov 6-3. Past World champion Elena Pirozhkova
earned a gritty 4-2 win over past Junior World champion Danielle Lappage in women’s freestyle at 63 kg/138.75 lbs. “This sport means a lot,” Pirozhkova
said. “It’s really exciting to be a part of it. It means a lot to all of the wrestling coun- tries. The environment here is amazing.
Continued on page 15
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