Somewhat fitting that on the same day the tournament he won three times in his Gopher career began in Bloomington, Ind., Tony Nelson won another title, this one in the 125 kilogram weight class in Kiev, Ukraine at the XXI Outstanding Ukrainian Wrestlers and Coaches Memorial tournament.
Nelson allowed just two points in his three freestyle matches on Saturday, rolling through a trio of international opponents on his way to the top of the podium. In his opening bout, Nelson knocked off Belgian Azzouzi Tarik, 4-1. He followed that by taking out Ukrainian Oleksandr Koldovskyi, 3-1, in the closest contest of his championship run. On the heels of that victory, Nelson put together his most complete match of the day, defeating Hungarian Ligeti Daniel, 5-0, for gold.
The win is the latest in a strong freestyle career for Nelson. In the past year alone, he won the Bill Farrell Open championship in New York and captured a silver medal at the Yasar Dogu International in Istanbul last spring.
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