The former two-time NCAA champion and one of the greatest grapplers in ACC history competes at the World Championships in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan this Friday and Saturday.
Gwiazdowski has won bronze medals in each of the last two years at the event and enters this year as the No. 4 seed at 125 kg (heavyweight). This year is especially important becaus the top five placers this weekend qualify the weight (for their country, not necessarily themselves … Gwiz will have to win the starting US spot again next year, likely over the same wrestler — Minnesota rising-sophomore Gable Steveson) for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Here's the GoPack preview, which notes six different wrestlers at his weight have previously won World or Olympic medals and that two-time defending world champion Geno Petriashvili of Georgia is on Gwiz' half of the bracket. The Wolfpack product would become just the 10th American (in all weight classes) to win a World or Olympic medal in each of his first three tries.
TrackWrestling will provide a live stream — the qualification round Friday starts at 1 a.m. ET and runs until 6 (heavyweight is traditionally the last weight class of a round, but I think he'd wrestle three times during the session … brackets aren't out yet), while semifinals are set to begin at 6:45 a.m.
Repechage (the international version of a loser's bracket) starts at 1 a.m. Saturday and goes until 6. The finals are set for 6:45-11 a.m. NBC Sports will have replay coverage at 2:30 p.m., but IIRC they do only the medal matches.
Here's Gwiz talking about Worlds:
Gwiazdowski has won bronze medals in each of the last two years at the event and enters this year as the No. 4 seed at 125 kg (heavyweight). This year is especially important becaus the top five placers this weekend qualify the weight (for their country, not necessarily themselves … Gwiz will have to win the starting US spot again next year, likely over the same wrestler — Minnesota rising-sophomore Gable Steveson) for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Here's the GoPack preview, which notes six different wrestlers at his weight have previously won World or Olympic medals and that two-time defending world champion Geno Petriashvili of Georgia is on Gwiz' half of the bracket. The Wolfpack product would become just the 10th American (in all weight classes) to win a World or Olympic medal in each of his first three tries.
TrackWrestling will provide a live stream — the qualification round Friday starts at 1 a.m. ET and runs until 6 (heavyweight is traditionally the last weight class of a round, but I think he'd wrestle three times during the session … brackets aren't out yet), while semifinals are set to begin at 6:45 a.m.
Repechage (the international version of a loser's bracket) starts at 1 a.m. Saturday and goes until 6. The finals are set for 6:45-11 a.m. NBC Sports will have replay coverage at 2:30 p.m., but IIRC they do only the medal matches.
Here's Gwiz talking about Worlds:
