Ohio State's wrestling room is filled with international contenders, including current senior world team members Logan Stieber and reigning world champ Kyle Snyder. Another world medalist is coming, as class of 2018 commitment Gavin Hoffman took bronze at the Cadet World Championships in Athens, Greece, toppling India's Sandeep Singh Mann 7-2.
Hoffman's path to the podium started with a solid 10-2 qualifying round victory over Hungary's David Losonczi, but took a detour when he dropped a 9-3 decision to Iranian Abbas Ali Foroutanrami, the eventual silver medalist.
As Foroutanrami advanced in the tournament, Hoffman found a spot in the repechage bracket and never looked back. He won by forfeit over Colombia’s Brayan Ortiz Valderrama, and notched a 10-0 tech fall against Bekzat Urkimbay of Kazakhstan to earn his medal round bid.
Gavin Hoffman will be leaving Athens with a bronze medal. Hoffman over Sandeep Mann of India, Dec 7-2 pic.twitter.com/9CHMewm3XP
— Trackwrestling (@trackwrestling) September 9, 2017
In the bronze medal match, Hoffman took his shots early and often, picking up a pair of points via step out in the first 90 seconds of the match. Mann evened things up with a takedown and held the lead on criteria 2-2 going into the second round.
Finding himself on the shot clock early in the second period, the future Buckeye returned to the aggressive style he showed at the beginning of the match, and quickly picked up another step out to regain the lead. From there he added a single-leg takedown to extend his advantage, earning a final takedown as time expired to finish with a 7-2 decision and the bronze medal.
The Montoursville, Penn., native has a pair of state titles in his pocket already, going 42-1 in his junior season and finishing the year as Intermat's 6th-ranked wrestler at 195 pounds. He announced his commitment to Tom Ryan and the Buckeye wrestling program in May, and is expected to compete at 197 pounds.
