Medals are still in play for both Americans wrestling in Rio on Saturday, though J’den Cox and Tervel Dlagnev will need to hope for bronze at best.
Dlagnev stunned World No. 2 Jamaladdin Magomedov of Azerbaijan 6-5 in the Round of 16 before earning another slim win over Robert Baran of Poland (3-2).
Unfortunately, he had to settle for the repechage after running into a bull. Iran’s Komeil Ghasemi started in the Round of 32 and would not be denied, beating Dlagnev 10-0 in the semifinal.
WATCH: 3 p.m. EDT medal matches
Meanwhile, J’den Cox’s dropped into repechage after a 2-1 semifinal loss to Selim Yasar of Turkey. The 86kg class saw him defeat Iran’s Alireza Karimi of Iran 5-1 after clobbering Amarhajy Mahamedau of Belarus 7-1.
Cox enters the repechage and will face the winner of Jaime Espinal of Puertro Rico and Reineris Salas of Cuba for bronze.
Dlagnev will grapple with either Korey Jarvis (Canada), Diaaeldin Kamal (Egypt) or Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) for one of two bronze medals in the 125kg class.