Hancock Pins Greco Legend Aleksanyan, Wins Poland Open Gold!
Hancock Pins Greco Legend Aleksanyan, Wins Poland Open Gold!
Tracy Hancock beat reigning four-time World and Olympic champion Artur Aleksanyan on his way to winning the Poland Open.
Tracy G'Angelo Hancock just put the world on notice, notching one of the most impressive upsets by an American in recent wrestling history.
Tracy Hancock just pinned the Olympic Champ!!! #gogreco @5PtMove @OlympicKidd @USAWrestling pic.twitter.com/PlxEkho5RM
— Josef Rau (@Raustler84) September 7, 2018
After victories over Nikoloz Kakhelashvili of Italy and Maksim Safarian of Russia, Hancock would draw Artur Aleksanyan of Armenia in the semifinals. Aleksanyan won the last four World and Olympic Greco-Roman championships at 98kg and is one of the pound-for-pound best wrestlers in the world in any style.
Hancock showed no fear, going after Aleksanyan right off the whistle, ensnaring the six-time world and Olympic medalist in a sag-headlock and decking the Armenian giant in under a minute.
But Hancock wasn't done yet. He came back the next day and beat Nikolay Bayryakov of Bulgaria in the finals, 7-0, to win the Poland Open 97kg Greco-Roman gold.
Congratulations to G'angelo Hancock (USA) on winning the Ziolkowski at 97 KG. He took out 4x World/Olympic champ Artur Aleksanyan (ARM), 2015 Junior world champ Nikoloz Kakhelashvili (ITA), Maksim Safarian (RUS), and 2017 European bronze medalist Nikolay Bayryakov (BUL)
— Seth Petarra (@SethPetar) September 8, 2018
A tremendous overall performance by Hancock, who showed that America is bringing some serious Greco-Roman firepower to Budapest.
Related Content
- Two Rising Stars Collide At WNO At 155 Pounds With Johnson vs Pulk
Sep 23, 2024
- Gilfoil And Henckel Meet At 145 Pounds To Decide Who's Number One
Sep 23, 2024
- A #1 vs #2 Rematch For Williams & France At WNO
Sep 23, 2024
- Krazer And McGowan To Wrestle At WNO To Decide 130
Sep 23, 2024
- Leydecker Back At 3rd WNO To Face Fargo Champ James
Sep 23, 2024
- Bella Gonzales Puts #1 On The Line vs Savanaah Witt
Sep 23, 2024
- Crull To Face Whiting At WNO In Showdown Of Midwestern Powers
Sep 22, 2024
- Two U17 World Teamers, Bouzakis & Delgado, Clash At WNO At 100lbs
Sep 22, 2024
- It's Business As Usual For Julia Horger At Who's Number One
Sep 22, 2024