Kyle Snyder defeated Ali Shabanibengar of Iran to win the gold medal at 97 kilograms (Photo/Gabor Martin, United World Wrestling)ISTANBUL, Turkey -- The United States closed out a strong performance at the Yasar Dogu by winning three gold medals in freestyle on the final day of competition.
World champions Jordan Burroughs (74 kilograms), J'den Cox (92 kilograms) and Kyle Snyder (97 kilograms) claimed titles on Sunday.
Burroughs, a 2012 Olympic champion and four-time world champion, received a forfeit in the finals against Italy's Frank Chamizo, a two-time world champion and Olympic bronze medalist. Burroughs previously won a Yasar Dogu gold medal in 2016. A year ago, Burroughs fell to Chamizo in the Yasar Dogu finals before coming back to beat him in the bronze-medal match at the World Championships.
Cox, a returning world champion, closed out a dominant performance at the Yasar Dogu by claiming a 10-0 technical superiority over Bendeguez Toth of Hungary in the gold-medal match at 92 kilograms. The 24-year-old Olympic medalist picked up four technical superiorities in four matches and did not surrender a point, outscoring his opposition 43-0. In the gold-medal match, Cox secured two takedowns in the first period and led 4-0 at the break. He added two more takedowns in the second period before finishing the match with a gut wrench.
After winning bronze medal in the event last year, Snyder, an Olympic champion and two-time world champion, earned a gold medal by topping Ali Shabanibengar 2-1 in the finals at 97 kilograms. Just after the opening whistle, Snyder fired off a single-leg attack and scored a takedown 10 seconds into the match. Shabanibengar would find his first point -- a step out -- with just over two minutes remaining in the match, but was unable to score again and Snyder took the one-point victory.
Pat Downey fell short in the bronze-medal match at 86 kilograms, losing 7-6 to Osman Gocen of Turkey. Downey led 6-2 in the second period before Gocen rallied late to pull out the victory.
The United States finished the Yasar Dogu with six gold medals overall. Forrest Molinari won gold in women's wrestling on Friday at 65 kilograms. On Saturday, Yianni Diakomihalis (65 kilograms) and Alex Dieringer (79 kilograms) captured gold medals.
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