Alex Dieringer won a gold medal at 79 kilograms and outscored his opponents 18-1 (Photo/Gabor Martin, United World Wrestling)ISTANBUL, Turkey -- The United States claimed a pair of gold medals on Saturday at the Yasar Dogu as Yianni Diakomihalis (65 kilograms) and Alex Dieringer (79 kilograms) won in the finals. Nick Gwiazdowski (125 kilograms) finished with a silver.
Diakomihalis, a day after winning in dramatic fashion in the semifinals, won in anticlimactic fashion, receiving a medal forfeit in the gold-medal match at 65 kilograms.
Dieringer capped off an impressive run to gold with a 4-1 victory in the 79-kilogram finals over Akhsarbek Gulaev of Slovakia. Dieringer scored a takedown midway through the first period and added a step to go up 3-0 at the break. In the second period, Dieringer scored off the activity clock to go up 4-0. With just under 30 seconds remaining, Gulaev drove Dieringer out of bounds for a step out, which was the first point Dieringer gave up throughout the competition. He outscored his opponents 18-1.
He will face returning world champion Kyle Dake on Aug. 17 in Austin, Texas, for a spot on the U.S. World Team.
Gwiazdowski fell 5-1 in the gold-medal match to Turkey's Taha Akgul, a 2016 Olympic champion and two-time world champion. All the scoring occurred in the first period as Akgul scored with a step out and two takedowns, while Gwiazdowski scored a point off a reversal.
The Yasar Dogu wraps up on Sunday. World champions Jordan Burroughs, J'den Cox and Kyle Snyder will wrestle for gold medals. Pat Downey will wrestle for bronze.
