Former Husker Jordan Burroughs won the gold medal at 74
kilograms (163 pounds) at the 2012 Olympics in London on Friday. Burroughs
defeated Iran's Sadegh Saeed Goudarzi 3-0 in the gold medal match.
Burroughs, a two-time NCAA champion at Nebraska, won four
matches on Friday en route to becoming the first freestyle gold medalist in
school history. Burroughs adds the gold medal to his list of accomplishments
after Nebraska, which includes winning the 2011 FILA World Championships.
After taking a bye in the round of 32, Burroughs
dominated Puerto Rico's Francisco Soler Tanco. Burroughs won the first round
4-0 before taking the second round 6-0. With the win, he advanced to the
quarterfinals to face Matthew Gentry of Canada.
In a much closer match, Burroughs survived the scare from
Gentry. Burroughs posted a 2-1 victory in the first round before tying the
second round and winning the match.
In the semifinals, Burroughs was challenged by Russia's
Denis Tsargush, but prevailed in the third round. The Sicklerville, N.J., native
won the first round 3-1, but fell 2-0 in the second round. He bounced back in
the third round, however, for a 2-1 win.
Burroughs then shut out Goudarzi in the gold medal match,
winning 1-0, 1-0.
Burroughs, who won the 2011 Hodge Trophy for best collegiate
wrestler, was coached by Nebraska Head Coach Mark Manning at the London
Olympics.
Burroughs joins Dan Brand (1964), Bill Scherr (1988),
Rulon Gardner (2000 and 2004) and Matt Lindland (2000) as the only former
Huskers to earn Olympic medals. Brand and Scherr each took bronze in freestyle,
Gardner won gold (2000) and bronze (2004) in Greco-Roman and Lindland earned
silver.
