Team USA member Sam Hazewinkel fell short in his bid to medal in the 55kg men's freestyle wrestling event on Friday evening in London, as the Minnesota native fell on class points, 3-1, to Kazakhstan's Daulet Niyazbekov in the round of 16.
The 121-pound Hazewinkel was bested on technical points in the opening round, 3-1, and was then taken down, 2-0, in the second round by a much more aggressive Niyazbekov on all fronts. Hailed as the only second-generation U.S. wrestler in Olympic history, the 28-year-old Hazewinkel, who actually graduated from the University of Oklahoma, had to settle for an earlier than anticipated exit from this year's event.
In the gold medal match, Russia's Dzhamal Otarsultanov edged Vladimer Khinchegashvili of Georgia with a 3-1 victory. Otarsultanov took down Niyazbekov in the semifinals with an impressive performance to reach the final match, and became the fourth Russian team member to pick up a gold thus far in a wrestling event.
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