Snyder Upends Sadulaev Before Reaching World Championships Final

ASTANA, Kazakhstan (October 29) -- Defending world champion Kyle SNYDER (USA), chasing his fifth world title, reached the 97kg gold medal bout for a second straight year at the World Championships in Astana.

Snyder faced Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL) in the semifinals on Thursday and came out on top 5-0. He scored a takedown when Baranowski was on the clock which gave him a 3-0 lead. He added two stepouts in the second period to reach the final.

To win the gold medal, Snyder will have to beat Arash YOSHIDA (JPN) in the final after the Japanese wrestler defeated Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) via fall in the other semifinal.

Tazhudinov caught Yoshida in a leg-lace and was up 6-0 when the Japanese broke the hold and put the Bahrain wrestler in danger. Yoshida managed to get the fall just before the break.

Snyder had defeated Yoshida in the semifinals of the World Championships last year and will be looking to continue his streak over the returning bronze medalist.

"He's difficult to wrestle and has come through a very challenging side," Snyder said of Yoshida. "So, he's going to be a great opponent tomorrow [Friday]. He's young, tough, good condition, and I think he's gotten better since last year, so I'm going to have to really dig deep."

Earlier in the day, Snyder took out Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS) in the quarterfinal with a 4-4 criteria win. Snyder overcame a 4-1 second-period deficit, fighting through for a takedown and a step out in the final minute. With the win, Snyder has closed the gap in head-to-head that now stands at 3-2 in favor of Sadulaev.

Yoshida also pulled off an incredible comeback when he beat Hassan YAZDANI (IRI), 7-5, in the pre-quarterfinals. Yazdani was leading 5-4 with less than 10 second remaining but was struggling for conditioning. Yoshida managed go-behind and get the two points for the win. Iran challenged the call but the takedown was confirmed on review.

The United States had another finalist when Bowen BASSETT (USA) managed to reach the 65kg gold medal after two remarkable bouts. He defeated Abdulmazhid KUDIEV (TJK), 12-2, with ease. But in the quarterfinals, Bassett pulled off a comeback for the ages when he defeated Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (RUS), 14-13 after being 12-3 down.

"That's a lot less of a deficit than nine [points] in the Russian match," Bassett said. "I didn't feel as nervous that time. When I was down nine in the quarters, my levels were high. I think that match, it's all about keeping a really good position and sticking to the basics."

The 20-year-old Bassett used a pair of counter exposure and then continued with a takedown and exposure in the final 30 seconds to get his win.

RESULTS

Freestyle

65kg
SF 1: Bowen BASSETT (USA) df. Abdulmazhid KUDIEV (TJK), 12-2
SF 2: Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) vs. Shamil MAMEDOV (BUL), 2-1

97kg
SF 1: Arash YOSHIDA (JPN) df. Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN), via fall (3-6)
SF 2: Kyle SNYDER (USA) df. Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL), 5-0

Women's Wrestling

55kg
SF 1: Everest LEYDECKER (USA) df. Nagisa HARADA (JPN), 6-1
SF 2: Nataliia KLIVCHUTSKA (UKR) df. Tuba DEMIR (TUR), via fall

59kg
SF 1: MANISHA (IND) df. Altyn SHAGAYEVA (KAZ), via fall (10-0)
SF 2: Abigail NETTE (USA) df. Mariia VYNNYK (UKR), via fall