University of Minnesota Athletics
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Smith Earns World Team Spot While Steveson Falls at Final X
6/8/2019 7:29:00 PM | Wrestling
Pat Smith punched his ticket to the 2019 World Championships with two victories over Kamal Bey at 77kg in Greco-Roman wrestling, while at 125kg Gable Steveson fell to two-time bronze medalist Nick Gwiazdowski on Saturday night.
Smith avenges his US Open loss to Bey from earlier this year on Saturday night at Rutgers. Smith has now made his second Greco-Roman world team after competing in 2017 at 71kg.
After suffering a loss by 11-2 superiority in the first bout, Smith bounced back in the second putting forth his gameplan with a constant motor. Smith limited Bey's flashy offense and came out on top of the 2-1 bout to force a decisive third bout.
Smith continued to limit Bey's effectiveness and won 6-3 in the final bout. Smith was down 2-3 in the second period when he hit a crucial four-point throw that proved to be the winning points.
Smith will compete at the 2019 World Championships in Nur-Sultan, Kazhakstan from September 14-22. In his post-match interview, Smith credited the Gophers and Minnesota Storm community for their support and training.
Steveson fell to Gwiazdowski in two straight matches by criteria at Final X:Rutgers with the starting heavyweight spot on the 2019 World Team at stake. The 19-year old lost 4-4 and 3-3 with criteria the ultimate difference both times.
There are no ties in freestyle wrestling and the victor is determined by a series of criteria. In both cases, Gwiazdowski scored the final points of the bout providing him the criteria advantage.
Steveson has the option to request a wrestle-off against U23 Champion Daniel Kerkvliet for the 125kg spot at U23 World Champions in Budapest, Hungary.
Full Results:
Men's Freestyle
Bout 1 (Best-of-three): Nick Gwizadowski (Titan Mercury/Wolfpack RTC) VPO1 (4-4) Gable Steveson
Bout 2 (Best-of-three):Nick Gwizadowski (Titan Mercury/Wolfpack RTC) VPO1 (3-3) Gable Steveson
Greco-Roman
Pat Smith
Bout 1 (Best-of-three): Kamal Bey (Sunkist Kids) VSU1 (3:51) Pat Smith
Bout 2 (Best-of-three): Pat Smith VPO1 (2-1) Kamal Bey (Sunkist Kids)
Bout 3 (Best-of-three): Pat Smith VPO1 (6-3) Kamal Bey (Sunkist Kids)