Austin Gomez Goes Big, Hands Yianni Diakomihalis Second Career Loss
Austin Gomez Goes Big, Hands Yianni Diakomihalis Second Career Loss
Wisconsin's Austin Gomez used a big move in the second period to take control and handed three-time NCAA champ Yianni Diakomihalis his second career loss.
Two weeks after suffering a stunning defeat, Austin Gomez was on the other end of another headline-grabbing result Saturday.
The Wisconsin All-American used a four-point move in the second period to take control on his way to a 9-3 victory against three-time NCAA champion Yianni Diakomihalis — the second career loss for the Cornell senior and first since Dec. 30, 2017.
It's the first time in Division I history that a three-time NCAA champ has been knocked off.
Diakomihalis entered Saturday with a 93-1 career record. His lone setback came as a freshman when a late lead dissolved in the closing seconds against Jaydin Eierman at the South Beach Duals.
Diakomihalis was closing in on Kyle Dake's school record 77-match winning streak. He entered Saturday with 75 consecutive victories, but he never led against Gomez.
Gomez escaped in the second period to go up 1-0 and then padded his lead late in the period when he came off a whipover position into a bodylock and outside trip that put Diakomihalis on his back for a takedown and two-point near-fall.
Fourth-ranked Gomez added two more re-attack takedowns in the third period on his way to the victory. The win came two weeks after Gomez dropped a 9-4 decision to previously-unranked Iowa State freshman Paniro Johnson.