Olympics wrestling 2016 results: August 20

Here are the full results from Olympics freestyle wrestling in the men’s 86 kg and 125 kg competitions for Saturday, August 20.

There was no shortage of star power in this day’s action of Olympics wrestling. Arguably the greatest wrestler of the Games did what was expected of him, but there were still lots of surprises along the way.

In the 86 kg tournament, J’den Cox blitzed through the competition. He was in superb form during the Round of 16 and quarterfinal, but the semifinal was a different story. With the score tied at 1 in the second period, Yasar would’ve advanced on criteria. However, Cox wasn’t trying to score, and didn’t look like he knew he was losing. Cox would lose 2-1 in bizarre fashion, and will live to regret this moment since he knows he should’ve been competing for Gold.

But coming into this competition, all eyes were on 20-year-old Abdulrashid Sadulaev. As expected, the Russian Tank plowed through the field, winning his matches 10-0, 5-0, and 8-1 en route to the Final where he would take on Yasar. Yasar was too afraid to attack, and when he was forced to, he fell victim to Sadulaev’s counter-wrestling. The Russian Tank would win in virtuoso fashion by a score of 5-0 to cement his status as the best pound-for-pound wrestler on the planet.

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In the bronze medal matches, 2012 Gold medalist Sharif Sharifov got back to the podium, and Cox’s bronze medal match was somehow more controversial than the semifinal. In the final 10 seconds, Cox appeared to get a takedown and make it 3-1. It wasn’t awarded initially, but that decision was overturned after a challenge. His opponent Reineris Salas refused to continue, resulting in Cox winning by disqualification.

MEDAL RESULT | Men's Freestyle 86 kg

It didn’t take long for an upset to happen in the 125 kg tournament. UFC bound, and the No. 3 125 kg wrestler in the world, Bilyal Makhov lost in the qualification match to No. 13 ranked Alen Zasieiev. As long as Zasieiev made it to the Final, Makhov could still medal, but he lost right away in the Round of 16.

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In his first bout, American Tervel Dlagnev faced a tall task in Jamaladdin Magomedov, the defending runner up at the World Wrestling Championships. But he was unfazed by it, and he captured a 6-5 win right at the buzzer to advance. While Dlagnev did better than expected by getting to the semifinals, he came up short just like his compatriot.

The Gold medal match between Taha Akgul and Komeil Ghasemi was tough to call. Both looked excellent on their path to the Final, and both are accomplished in their own right. It was a slow-paced affair, with the first two points coming off of passivity. But once Akgul built up a lead, he shut out Ghasemi to win the Gold. Ibrahim Saidau of Belarus won the first bronze medal match while Geno Petriashvili got a great superiority win over Dlagnev in just 30 seconds.

MEDAL RESULT | Men's Freestyle 125 kg

So while the Russian Tank lived up to expectations, Makhov fell well short of them. His performance will hardly silence the UFC fans who were critical of someone signing before turning pro and only competing in one area of martial arts. But only time will tell if Makhov can move past the Olympics and silence those doubters.