Americans Bisek and Thielke fall in quarterfinals on first day of Olympic wrestling in Brazil

Andy Bisek in the 75 kg quarterfinals of the 2016 Olympic Games. Photo: John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com.

RIO DE JANEIRO – Americans Jesse Thielke and Andy Bisek took the mat for day one of Greco-Roman competition at the 2016 Olympic Games, and both men suffered similar fates, falling in the quarterfinal round and not qualifying for the repechage.


Both U.S. Olympians won their first round bouts on Sunday morning inside Carioca Arena 2 to qualify for the quarterfinals. Thielke picked up four quick turns to take out El Mahadi Messaoudi of Morocco by technical fall, 8-0, while Bisek held on for a tight 1-0 decision over Yurisandy Hernandez Rios of Cuba with the only point being scored off a caution.


In the 59 kg quarterfinals Thielke fell to four-time World medalist and two-time Olympic silver medalist Rovshan Bayramov of Azerbaijan, 9-0. After a scoreless first minute on the feet, Bayramov was awarded top position and converted on multiple turns to end the bout.


“It’s upsetting. I should have won the match. I should have defended. I should have not challenged so many things. There’s nothing you can do now. I just have to move forward,” said Thielke.


Bayramov was pinned in the semifinals by Shinobu Ota, the electric upstart from Japan, eliminating Thielke from medal contention.


“The only positive I can see right now, obviously at this time, is I didn’t get psyched out. I didn’t treat this as anything but another tournament. Laser focused, head on straight the whole time, so, I mean, that’s positive,” he added.


Bisek, a two-time World bronze medalist, was unable to get his offense going against Bozo Starcevic of Croatia in the 75 kg quarters and ultimately fell, 2-0. The match deciding points came off a high gutwrench from Starcevic early in the second period.


“I went out there and felt good, felt I was dominating in positions on the feet, really close to scoring and, I don’t know, I didn’t get a turn on top. Huge failure, and then when I went down I got turned. I should not have got turned,” said Bisek.


The Croatian met his match in the semifinals as he was ousted by defending Olympic champion and two-time World champion Roman Vlasov of Russia, 6-3. The Starcevic loss eliminated Bisek from the tournament.


“I made a few mistakes,” Bisek continued. “It is very frustrating, but when you win it’s extremely rewarding. That’s what we’re doing it for, to have the total package, to have it all together on that day.”


Four men have advanced to the finals and kept their dreams of Olympic gold intact. Defending World champion Ismael Borrero Molina of Cuba is set to face Ota for gold at 59 kg. Vlasov will defend his Olympic title from 2012 against five-time World medalist Mark Madsen of Denmark.


Borrero Molina, ranked No. 1 in the World, cruised through the top side of the 59 kg bracket with wins over World No. 7 Arsen Eraliev of Kyrgyzstan, Lumin Wang of China and World No. 9 Elmurat Tasmuradov of Uzbekistan.


World No. 12 Ota navigated landmine after landmine on his road to the finals with wins over six-time World champion and Olympic champion Hamid Soryan of Iran, three-time World bronze medalist Almat Kebispayev of Kazakhstan and World bronze medalist Stig-Andre Berge of Norway, on top of Bayramov.


The defending World champion Vlasov opened with a controversial 7-6 win over 2012 Olympic champion Hyeonwoo Kim of Korea, then reeled off wins over World No. 11 Bin Yang and Starcevic to qualify for the gold medal match.


World No. 3 Madsen, who is a four-time World runner-up and three-time Olympian, topped two past World champions on his route to the finals. He edged Saeid Morad Abdvali of Iran in the first round, 1-1, and scored a 1-0 win over Peter Bacsi of Hungary in the semifinals to get another crack at gold.


Competition will resume in Rio de Janeiro at 3 p.m. (ET) with the repechage rounds followed by medal matches. All the action can be watched live on NBCOlympics.com.

2016 OLYMPIC GAMES

Aug. 14-21 at Carioca Arena 2 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Finals Matchups
59 kg/130 lbs.

Gold – Ismael Borrero Molina (Cuba) vs. Shinobu Ota (Japan)


Bronze – Elmurat Tasmuradov (Uzbekistan) vs. Repechage 1 Winner

Repechage 1 – Lumin Wang (China) vs. Arsen Eraliev (Kyrgyzstan)


Bronze – Rovshan Bayramov (Azerbaijan) vs. Repechage 2 Winner

Repechage 2 – Stig Andre Berge (Norway) vs. Repechage 1 Winner

Repechage 1 – Hamid Soryan (Iran) vs. Almat Kebispayev (Kazakhstan)

75 kg/165 lbs.

Gold – Roman Vlasov (Russia) vs. Mark Madsen (Denmark)


Bronze – Bozo Starcevic (Croatia) vs. Repechage 1 Winner

Repechage 1 – Bin Yang (China) vs. Hyeonwoo Kim (Korea)


Bronze – Peter Bacsi (Hungary) vs. Repechage 1 Winner

Repechage 1 – Viktor Nemes (Serbia) vs. Saeid Morad Abdvali (Iran)

U.S. Greco-Roman Results

59 kg/130 lbs. – Jesse Thielke, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC)

WIN El Mahadi Messaoudi (Morocco), 8-0

LOSS Rovshan Bayramov (Azerbaijan), 9-0


75 kg/165 lbs. – Andy Bisek, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Minnesota Storm)

WIN Yurisandy Hernandez Rios (Cuba), 1-0

LOSS Bozo Starcevic (Croatia), 2-0