USA’s Steveson scores late to win wrestling gold
US wrestling heavyweight Gable Steveson strikes gold in Tokyo.[NBC Sports / YouTube ]
CHIBA, Japan (AP) – Gable Steveson, a University of Minnesota Golden Gopher from Apple Valley, scored on a spin-behind takedown with 10 seconds remaining, then another with less than a second remaining to win the men’s freestyle 125-kilogram class final 10-8 over Georgia’s Geno Petriashvili for the gold medal.
Steveson became the first Gopher wrestler in program history to bring home an Olympic gold medal.
Petriashvili, the No. 1 seed, is a three-time world champion who was an Olympic bronze medalist in the class in 2016. He led Steveson 8-5 in the final minute, but couldn’t handle the 21-year-old’s quickness late.