Snyder Vs Sadulaev Will Decide Team Champs...Again!
Snyder Vs Sadulaev Will Decide Team Champs...Again!
Take a look at the Olympic Team race update in Men's Freestyle leading up to the final day of wrestling in Tokyo.
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Wrestling at the Olympic Games is almost concluded and the team race between Russia and the United States could not be closer. There’s only one day of wrestling left - read below to see where the team standings and how the final matches in Tokyo will influence who wins the team title.
Snyder - Sadulaev To Decide The Olympic Team Champs
USA is currently leading Russia in the team score 100-95. Team USA has been on an unstoppable streak the last 2 days of wrestling and have won 9 straight matches. In most recent action, Kyle Snyder made the finals in dominant fashion winning 3 straight matches and outscoring his opponents 23-2. After Snyder’s semi-final, Kyle Dake came back to win bronze 5-0 over Frank Chamizo. Then, in the gold medal match, Gable Steveson closed out his sensational run in the most dramatic way possible. Steveson won Olympic gold over 3-time defending world champion Geno Petriashvili by scoring a takedown with less than 1 second remaining in the match!
Russia did see Abdulrasid Sadulaev look as dominant as ever making the finals with three straight wins and outscoring his opponents 19-0. Notably, Sadulaev defeated all world or Olympic medalists (and 1 world/Olympic Champion). It wasn’t all good for Russia; Gadzhimurad Rashidov lost his semi-final match at 65kg and will wrestle for bronze. Rashidov has only earned 10 points up to this point instead of the 20 he would have earned had he made the finals.
Take a look at the current top 10:
| USA | 100 |
| ROC | 95 |
| IRI | 55 |
| IND | 30 |
| TUR | 29 |
| JPN | 28 |
| KAZ | 25 |
| BLR | 24 |
| GEO | 20 |
| AZE | 20 |
It All Comes Down To 1 Match
Though Rashidov still has his bronze medal match, the result of his match is irrelevant to the team score. Should Rashidov lose, Russia would remain down by 5 to Team USA. However, there are 5 points on the line between Sadulaev and Snyder. Should Sadulaev win, Russia would win the team title on the first criteria with most golds - 3 (Russia) to 2 (United States).
Remarkably, the 2017 World Team Title was also decided in a match between Kyle Snyder and Abdulrashid Sadulaev. At those worlds, Kyle Snyder won the showdown in an epic, 5-4 win over Sadulaev. Their Olympic match should happen around 6:30am-7:30am (ET), be sure to do your homework on where and when you need to watch. You can also join in with the FloWrestling team at 5:45am (ET) for our Olympic Games Watch Party .