From: Fresno State Athletics [email protected] Subject: Fresno State WRES: Colon earns bronze medal at 2018 World Championships Date: October 21, 2018 at 12:33 PM To: [email protected]

Colon earns bronze medal at 2018 World Championships 10/21/2018 | Wrestling , - Fresno State Wrestling volunteer assistant coach and Valley Regional Training Center athlete Joe Colon earned a bronze medal at the 2018 World Wrestling Championships on Sunday morning.

Competing at 61 kg./134 lbs., Colon went 3-1 in the tournament on his way to earning a spot on the podium.

Entering the tournament as the No. 4 seed based upon his results in the 2018 UWW Ranking Series, Colon came out and defeated No. 11 seed Ivan Bileichuk of Ukraine, 9-6 in the first round on Saturday morning.

He then turned around and made quick work of No. 8 seed Vladimir Dubov of Bulgaria in the quarterfinals making his way into the semifinals where he met up with No. 6 seed Yowlys Bonne Rodriguez of Cuba. Unfortunately, Colon ran into trouble falling 9-4 finding his way into the bronze medal match.

Facing No. 5 seed Mohammadbagher Yakhkeshi of Iran, Colon used a takedown and a number of gut wrenches to close out the match.

Joe Colon rolls up Iran's Mohammadbagher Yakhkeshi and becomes your 61 kg bronze World medalist.@colon_133 @USAWrestling pic.twitter.com/Sw7rFVm0J2

- Trackwrestling (@trackwrestling) October 21, 2018

Colon, who was 2014 All-American at Northern Iowa, enters his second season this fall as a member of the Fresno State Wrestling coaching staff as well as his second year as a Valley Regional Training Center athlete.

61 kg men's freestyle Joe Colon, Fresno, Calif. (Titan Mercury WC/Valley RTC) First Round: Colon def. Ivan Bileichuk (Ukraine), 9-6 Quarterfinals: Colon tech. fall over Vladimir Dubov (Bulgaria), 10-0 Semifinals: Yowlys Bonne Rodriguez (Cuba) def. Colon, 9-4 Bronze Medal Match: Colon tech. fall over Mohammadbagher Yakhkeshi (Iran), 13-2

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