2006 World gold medalist Seyed Morad Mohammadi of Iran defeated 2006 World silver medalist Mike Zadick of the U.S. 1-0, 0-1, 1-0 in the second round of the Freestyle Olympic Qualifying Tournament on Saturday.
Zadick was eliminated when 2004 Olympic gold medalist Yandro Quintana of Cuba swept Mohammadi 6-0, 2-0 in the quarterfinal round.
This is the second-to-last Olympic Qualifying Tournament in freestyle. The final qualifier is set for May 3-4 in Poznan, Poland. The top three finishers in each weight class at that qualifier will qualify their countries for the Olympics.
The U.S. has qualified in the other six freestyle weight classes for the Olympics, set for Aug. 12-21 in Beijing, China.
"We are really in a pressure situation now," U.S. National Coach Kevin Jackson said.
Zadick (Solon, Iowa/Gator WC) needed to place in the top four in Switzerland to qualify the U.S. for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. There were 28 wrestlers entered at 60 kilos.
Zadick swept Themis Iakovidis of Greece 7-4, 4-0 in the first round.
In the second-round match with Mohammadi, a rematch of the 2006 World finals, Zadick dropped the first period 1-0 when Mohammadi scored on a single-leg takedown. Zadick spun behind Mohammadi in the second period for a takedown to win the period 1-0.
The third period was scoreless after two minutes and went to the clinch. Jackson said Zadick refused to let the Iranian clinch his leg and lost on a caution call to decide the match.
"Mike did not get off enough scoring attempts in the periods we lost," Jackson said. "We cannot afford for periods to be determined by the clinch."
The U.S. has qualified 14 of 18 weight classes overall for the Olympics. The U.S. has qualified in five of the seven classes in Greco-Roman and three of the four classes in women's freestyle. Two qualifiers remain in Greco-Roman and women's freestyle.
The U.S. still needs to qualify for the Olympics in Greco-Roman at 60 kg/132 lbs. and 74 kg/163 lbs. The women still need to qualify at 55 kg/121 lbs.
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