Takedown Report

Dake repeats as World Champion, Snyder gets bronze, USA is third as team to close out World Championships

By Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling | Sept. 22, 2019
NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan – 2018 World champion and No. 1 seed Kyle Dake (Ithaca, N.Y. (Titan Mercury WC/Finger Lakes RTC) did it again. He is the World Champion at 79 kg/174 lbs. for the second straight year. Also for the second straight year, Dake defeated 2016 Olympic bronze medalist and three-time World medalist Jabrail Hasanov of Azerbaijan in the finals, this time by a 4-2 decision.
A tactical bout, Dake led 2-0 at the break after creating two step out positions. One the first stepout, he drove Hasanov out. On the second one, he had a single leg and walked Hasanov off the mat. In the second period, Dake converted a single leg for a takedown and a 4-0 lead. Hasanov forced a step out, and, as time ran down, was awarded with a caution and one point for Dake fleeing. However, throughout the match, it was Dake who dictated the pace of the match and the action. In the 2018 World finals in Budapest, Hungary in 2018, Dake beat Hasanov, 2-0.
On Saturday, Dake hammered 2019 Asian bronze medalist Oibek Nasirov of Kyrgyzstan by technical fall, 12-2 then stopped 2015 Junior World champion and 2018 U23 World silver medalist Gadzhi Nabiev of Russia, 5-1. In the semifinals, he scored a solid 6-1 win over 2013 World bronze medalist Rashid Kurbanov of Uzbekistan. Dake, a four-time NCAA champion for Cornell, was competing in his second Senior World Championships.
It was a challenging year for Dake, who did not compete most of the year with injury. He received an extension on his Final X championship series against Alex Dieringer because of the injury, and earned his World Team spot with a two-match sweep of a Final X Special Wrestle-off in Austin, Texas. 2016 Olympic champion and two-time World champion Kyle Snyder (Columbus, Ohio/Titan Mercury WC/Ohio RTC) came through with a bronze medal at 97 kg/213 lbs. by defeating 2018 World bronze medalist Elizbar Odikadze of Georgia, 3-0. Rest of the story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2019/September/22/Dake-gold-Snyder-silver-USA-third-at-World-Championships?mc_cid=86d95781f8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

September 27, 2019 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized