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Dieringer powers to gold, Colon takes silver, Megaludis gets a bronze at Medved International in Belarus

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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling

Video capture of Alex Dieringer on the way to his 79 kg gold at Medved.


MINSK, Belarus – On the final day of the Alexander Medved International, the United States claimed three individual medals, including a gold medal at 79 kg in men’s freestyle by Alex Dieringer (Stillwater, Okla./Titan Mercury WC/Cowboy WC).


Dieringer was in powerful control in the finals, getting a 16-5 technical fall over Dovletmyrat Orazglyjov of Turkemenistan.


Orazglyjov nailed a four-point arm throw right off the bat for the early lead, but then it was all Dieringer. In the first period, after a forced stepout, Dieringer scored three crisp takedowns to lead 7-4 at the break. In the second period, Dieringer added two takedowns and two turns, plus a point on a failed challenge, to secure the 11-point lead and close out the victory.


Dieringer was dominant throughout the two-day tournament, winning three matches on Saturday. He opened with a 4:17 pin over Rustam Dudaiev of Ukraine, then a 10-0 technical fall over former Lehigh wrestler Santiago Martinez Restrepo of Colombia in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, he controlled Oleksiy Sherbak of Ukraine., 10-1.


Dieringer was a three-time NCAA champion at Oklahoma State, where he continues to train. He is a past Junior World silver medalist.


Capturing a silver medal at 61 kg was 2018 U.S. Open champion Joe Colon (Fresno, Calif./Titan Mercury WC/Valley RTC). Colon was defeated in the gold-medal finals by Zelimkhan Abakarov of Russia, by technical fall in the first period, 10-0. Abakarov scored both takedowns and turns during his victory.


Colon edged American rival Nico Megaludis (Pittsburgh, Pa./Titan Mercury WC/Pittsburgh WC), 4-0, in the semifinals on Saturday. He won his first two bouts, getting a technical fall over Pingping Zhou of China, 12-2 and out-pointing Asadulla Lachinau of Belarus, 14-6.


Colon was an All-American at Northern Iowa, and trains full-time at Fresno State.


Megaludis added a bronze medal to the USA haul, scoring a solid 10-2 win over Zhou of China. Megaludis had a two takedowns and a stepout in the first period, then added two more takedowns and another stepout in the second period. Megaludis had a technical fall win in his first round over Ivan Bileichuk of Ukraine, before his loss to Colon.


Megaludis was an NCAA champion and four-time All-American for Penn State, and now trains at Pitt.


Finishing with fifth place at 57 kg was 2012 Olympian Kelsey Campbell who dropped her bronze-medal bout to Dhanda Pooja of India, 10-0.


Complete medal match results from Sunday will be posted when available.


Over the course of the two days of finals, Team USA won five medals, including men’s freestyle bronze medals on Saturday from Isaiah Martinez (Champaign, Ill./Titan Mercury WC/Illini WC) at 74 kg and Ty Walz (Blacksburg, Va./Titan Mercury WC/SERTC) at 97 kg

ALEXANDER MEDVED INTERNATIONAL

At Minsk, Belarus



U.S. Men’s Freestyle (Group 2) results



61 kg: Joe Colon, Fresno, Calif. (Titan Mercury WC/Valley RTC), silver medal

WIN Pingping Zhou (China), tech. fall 12-2, 5:28

WIN Asadulla Lachinau (Belarus), 14-6

WIN Nico Megaludis (USA), 4-0

LOSS Zelimkhan Abakarov (Russia), tech. fall 10-0


61kg: Nico Megaludis, Pittsburgh, Pa. (Titan Mercury WC/Pittsburgh WC), bronze medal

WIN Ivan Bileichuk (Ukraine), tech. fall 10-0, 5:18

LOSS Joe Colon (USA), 4-0

WIN Pingping Zhou (China), 10-2


79kg; Alex Dieringer, Stillwater, Okla. (Titan Mercury WC/Cowboy WC), gold medal

WIN Rustam Dudaiev (Ukraine), pin 4:17

WIN Santiago Martinez Restrepo (Colombia), tech. fall 10-0, 1:16

WIN Oleksiy Sherbak (Ukraine), 10-1

WIN Dovletmyrat Orazglyjov (Turkemenistan), tech fall 16-5


92 kg – Hayden Zillmer, Minnesota, Minn. (Minnesota Storm)

LOSS Amarhajy Mahamedau (Belarus), 6-2

U.S. Women’s Freestyle (Group 2) results


57kg: Becka Leathers. Chapel Hill, N.C. (Titan Mercury WC/Tarheel WC)

LOSS Battsetseg Altantsetseg (Mongolia), tech fall 11-1

LOSS Dhanda Pooja (India)


57kg: Kelsey Campbell, Tempe, Ariz. (Sunkist Kids), 5th place

WIN Valeryia Yarmola (Belarus), 7-0

LOSS Battsetseg Altantsetseg (Mongolia), 9-1

LOSS Dhanda Pooja (India), tech fall 10-0

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