With Olympic qualifying spots on the line, the 2019 World Championships in Kazakhstan was a hugely important event.
The top six finishers in each of the 18 Olympic weight classes -- six in men's freestyle, six in Greco-Roman and six in women's wrestling -- landed their countries spots in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
The stakes were high in Kazakhstan and the pressure to perform was magnified even more.
United States wrestlers certainly had their moments at the World Championships, but also struggled in the Olympic weight classes.
The U.S. won a combined five gold medals at the World Championships while qualifying four of 18 weight classes for the Olympic Games. Three of the five gold medals came in non-Olympic divisions.
The Americans qualified for the Olympics in two weight classes in men's freestyle and two in women's wrestling.
Adeline Gray won an American-record fifth world title in women's wrestling while teammates Jacarra Winchester and Tamyra Mensah captured their first world titles.
J'den Cox and Kyle Dake earned their second straight world titles in men's freestyle.
There are more Olympic qualifiers to come, including the ultra-important continental qualifiers. The U.S. will need a strong performance at the Pan American Olympic qualifier to make up for the missed opportunities at the World Championships.
Here is the breakdown of American performances by style from Kazakhstan:
Ryan Mango went 1-1 at the World Championships (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com)Greco-Roman
The struggles continue for the U.S. in the classic style of Greco-Roman wrestling.
The 10-member American squad won a combined eight matches, fell short of winning a medal and failed to qualify any of the six Olympic weight classes for Tokyo.
The U.S. compiled an 8-12 overall record in Greco. American wrestlers actually had the lead in eight of the bouts that they lost.
The U.S. did manage a fifth-place finish by Max Nowry and a seventh-place finish by Ryan Mango. Both are first-time world team members competing in non-Olympic weight classes.
Nowry and Mango are veterans who turned in solid performances in their first trip to the big stage.
The American Greco-Roman program has won just four world-level medals since 2008 -- two silver medals and two bronze medals.
And it was another disappointing showing in Kazakhstan.
Grade: D
Tamyra Mensah-Stock, Adeline Gray and Jacarra Winchester won world titles (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Women's wrestling
The good news for the U.S. women's team is that it crowned a record three individual champions in Kazakhstan.
The not-so-good news is that they only qualified for the Olympics in two of the six weight classes at the World Championships.
But the U.S. certainly will have an opportunity at the Pan Am qualifier and, if needed, at the last-chance qualifier.
The American squad was without Olympic gold medalist and two-time world champion Helen Maroulis at the World Championships. If Maroulis can return after being out with an injury, she could help the U.S. qualify one of those classes for Tokyo.
Winchester could also move into one of the Olympic weight classes to help with qualification.
The U.S. has a good blend of proven veterans and bright young stars as Gray, Winchester and Mensah showed in Kazakhstan.
Overall, it was a solid performance when you factor in all 10 weight classes from the worlds. The U.S. placed third in the team standings.
But obviously there is still work to be done.
Grade: B+
The United States freestyle team finished third in the team standings (Photo, Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Freestyle
The powerful American squad entered the tournament with high hopes and had its share of memorable moments.
But overall, the U.S. fell considerably short of the loaded Russian squad in the team standings.
Cox and Dake delivered in the non-Olympic weight classes while Olympic and world champions Jordan Burroughs and Kyle Snyder earned bronze medals to qualify their weight classes for Tokyo.
The United States men's freestyle squad qualified two of the six weight classes for the Olympics. The American men finished third in the team standings in Kazakhstan after winning the team title in 2017 and finishing second in 2018.
The American team was without returning world champion David Taylor, who missed the event after suffering an injury. Taylor is on his way back now and he is expected to make a run at Olympic gold in 2020.
It will be interesting to see how it all plays out now with Dake and Cox moving back into Olympic weight classes next year.
Dake is expected to battle Burroughs for the U.S. spot at 74 kilograms with Cox possibly matching up against Snyder at 97 kilograms.
And one final note on delivering clutch performances: Burroughs is now 8-0 in medal matches at the World Championships or Olympics. Cox is 4-0 in medal matches, Dake is 2-0 and Snyder is 4-1. They've come up big in the money round, that's for sure.
Grade: B
Craig Sesker has written about wrestling for more than three decades. He's covered three Olympic Games and is a two-time national wrestling writer of the year.
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