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American freestyle wrestlers B.J. Futrell at 61 kg, James Green at 70 kg, Chris Perry at 86 kg and Tyrell Fortune at 125 kg will wrestle for gold medals in the prestigious University World Championships this afternoon. The year's championship takes place in Pecs, Hungaria, and features some excellent university affiliated talent in the world. Yesterday, in the first of two days of men's freestyle competition, the U.S. took home three medals: a bronze from Matt McDonough at 57 kg, a gold from Tyler Caldwell at 74 kg and a silver from Dustin Kilgore at 97 kg. The USA Wrestling press release provides a bit more background on each finalist and their opponents.
Futrell, a past NCAA All-American for Illinois, won three matches handily, including a pin over Niurgin Skriabin of Russia in the semifinals. He will face Tuvsingtulga Tumenbileg of Mongolia in the gold-medal bout.
Green, a three-time NCAA All-American for Nebraska, won his two early matches, pinning an opponent from Finland and stopping Russian Shamil Magomedov, 6-4 in the semifinals. He will face Evgheni Nedealco of Moldova in the finals, who was fifth at the 2008 Junior World Championships.
Perry, a two-time NCAA champion for Oklahoma State, won three matches to reach the finals, knocking off opponents from Romania, Turkey and Hungary. He will face Piotr Ianulov of Moldova for the title. Ianulov was a 2010 World University champion, and won a bronze at the 2013 World University Games. He was also fifth at the 2010 Senior World Championships.
Perry is a past Junior World bronze medalist, and is ranked No. 3 on the U.S. Senior national team at his weight.
Fortune, a Div. II national champion for Grand Canyon, rolled past opponents from Moldova and Hungary to reach the finals. He drew Sakir Bozkurt of Turkey in the championship match. Bozkurt was fifth in the 2012 Yasar Dogu International in Turkey.
Fortune won a bronze medal at the 2013 World University Games and has returned seeking a gold medal this year. He is ranked No. 3 on the U.S. Senior national team at his weight.
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