Not 1, not 2, but 3 World Team members!
Spartan Combat RTC will be well represented at the upcoming World Championships in Oslo with Yianni Diakomihalis (65 kg), Kyle Dake (74 kg), and Nick Gwiazdowski (125 kg) all capturing spots on Team USA in men's freestyle.
Dake accepted the 74 kg position after winning a bronze medal at the Olympics at that weight in August. Diakomihalis and Gwiazdowski punched their tickets to Norway over the weekend at the World Team Trials in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Gwiazdowski is no stranger to the World Championships. A two-time World bronze medalist, the heavyweight will be making his fourth appearance as a member of Team USA at the Worlds. He was in top form in Lincoln, outscoring his opponents by a combined 35-3 during the event. He blanked Demetrius Thomas of Pittsburgh RTC (10-0) and Jordan Wood of Lehigh Valley (9-0) on day one to advance to the finals series against Mason Parris of Cliff Keen Wrestling Club.
While Gwiazdowski and Parris split a pair of bouts at the Flowrestling RTC Cup a few months ago, Gwiz was in control from start to finish this time, picking up a 6-0 victory in round one and following up with a 10-3 triumph in the second contest.
Diakomihalis has won titles at a number of prestigious international tournaments, and now he will make his debut at the World Championships. He had only one match on Saturday, and he looked dominant in a 10-0 technical fall over Luke Pletcher in the semis.
On Sunday in the finals, Diakomihalis dropped match one in a roller coaster battle against Joey McKenna that featured a surprising award of four points to McKenna on a challenge by his corner and a head pinch exposure at the buzzer by the Pennsylvania RTC wrestler to take the lead on criteria.
However, Yianni was in command from that point forward. He built a 5-0 advantage in match two and never looked back in a 5-2 decision. In the decisive third bout, the Cornell star left no doubt. An early attack led to a 4-2 lead and from there Diakomihalis scored a takedown to a lace for an 8-2 advantage. He wasn't done, again getting to his offense for a takedown and a gut wrench to seal a 12-2 technical fall.
At the World Championships in Norway, Dake and Gwiazdowski are slated to begin competition on October 2, while Diakomihalis gets started the following day.