NLWC Resident Athlete David Taylor (86 kg/189 lbs.) captured gold earlier today at the Yarygin Grand Prix in Krasnoyarsk, Russia!   David became only the 12th U.S. men's freestyle wrestler to ever win a Yarygin title.  This accomplishment is especially noteworthy since the Yarygin is considered the toughest open tournament in the world!

David won his first match by 4-4 criteria over two-time Pan American champion Yurieski Torreblanca Queralta of Cuba.  In the quarterfinals, David defeated 2016 Olympic silver medalist Selim Yasar of Turkey 4-1.  He pinned Artur Naifanov of Russia in 2:27 in the semifinal round.  And to finish the day, David won by fall in 2:00 over Fatih Erdin of Turkey in the gold medal match.

Brown wins Silver and Lefever Bronze at Dave Schultz Memorial Tournament

U.S. Army WCAP athlete Matt Brown (79 kg/174.2 lbs.) had a strong performance defeating Y. Lee or Korea, 10-0, and 2016 Junior World Bronze Medalist Nikita Suchkov of Russia, 7-5, before dropping a decision to American Jon Reader in the finals.  

NLWC Resident Athlete Riley Lefever (92 kg/202.8 lbs.) also had a fine tournament, defeating Vic Avery of TMWC, 12-2, dropping a decision to Nick Heflin of Titan Mercury Wrestling Club, 2-1, and finishing with two more technical fall wins over J. Manu (16-6) and Nikko Reyes, 12-1, to earn the Bronze.  

Resident Athlete Josh Rodriguez (61 kg/134.5 lbs.) dropped his first match Chris Darnanes, had a nice win over Shelton Mack, and then dropped his final match to D. Deshazer to fall short of placing.

Josh Rodriguez (57 kg/125.5 lbs.) and Riley Lefever (97 kg/213 lbs.) had strong performances, both finishing 3rd earlier today at the U23 World Team Trials.  Josh had a bye and a technical fall before dropping an 8-3 decision in the semifinals.  He then scored two more technical falls to wrestle back for the bronze.  Riley started the day with a win by technical fall, lost a 5-0 decision in the semifinals, and then had two more victories by technical fall to get 3rd.