Cornell Wrestling's Kyle Dake Places Third at 2012 Olympic Freestyle Wrestling
Cornell Wrestling's Kyle Dake Places Third at 2012 Olympic Freestyle Wrestling
(Saturday, April 21, 2012)
IOWA CITY, Iowa—Cornell wrestling’s Kyle Dake placed third at the Olympic Freestyle Wrestling Team Trials at 74 kg on Saturday at the Hawkeye-Carver arena. Dake won four matches on the day including
pinning Penn State NCAA champion and Hodge Trophy winner David Taylor, 5-0, 1:28. Frank Perrelli and Mack Lewnes Â’11 will compete on Sunday.
Dake opened his first Olympic Trials by facing Colt Sponseller (NYAC/Ohio RTC). He won in two periods, 2-0, 1-0. In the quarterfinals, Dake was unable to defend the clinch in the first to go down 0-1 against Nick Marable (Sunkist Kids). Dake rallied to win the next two periods 1-0, 1-0 to advance to the semifinals.
In the semis, Dake took on veteran World Team member Trent Paulson (Sunkist Kids/Cyclone Wrestling). Paulson won the first period, 2-0, but Dake tied the bout with a 1-0 win in the second. Paulson advanced with a 6-0 win in the third.
Dake moved to the consolation round to face Taylor in one of the most highly anticipated matches of the year. Both Dake and Taylor finished their NCAA seasons undefeated to win NCAA championships at 157 and 165 pounds, respectively. Dake immediately went to his offense to open the bout. He muscled his way to a 5-0 first period victory to take the lead in an incredibly dominant fashion. In the second, Taylor looked to convert on an ankle pick, but Dake countered sending Taylor to his back. Dake pinned Taylor in 1:28 to knock the Nittany Lion out of the trials.
In the bout for third place, Dake faced Marable for the second time of the tournament. Dake won 3-0, 1-1 to place third.
Jordan Burroughs won the Trials at 74 kg and will represent the United States at the Olympics.
Perrelli will wrestle at 55 kg on Sunday, while Lewnes will compete at 84 kg.