Coleman Scott Wins Olympic Bronze Medal; Herbert Falls Short

A day after Jordan Burroughs, the current face of USA Wrestling, captured an Olympic Gold medal the USA Men’s Freestyle team featured three promising wrestlers in the second day of competition. Two of those wrestlers included Pennsylvania natives Coleman Scott and Jake Herbert. The day in London ended with the United States earning one Olympic Medal as Coleman Scott (Waynesburg, PA) finished with a Bronze at 66 kg.

Scott began his Olympic debut by defeating South Korea’s Seungchui Lee in two periods (3-0, 3-0) and advancing to the quarter-final round. There Scott battled a tough Malkhaz Zarkua from Georgia, winning the first period by a score of (1-0). In the second period Scott turned on all cylinders as he rolled to a (7-0) tech-fall in just 1:29. The victory propelled the former NCAA Champion into the semi-final round where he would face 19 year old Toghrul Asgarov of Azerbaijan. After dropping a tough (0-1) first period to Asgarov Scott faced being eliminated from the championship round and a chance at Gold or Silver. In the second period the Azerbaijani was able to score a (4-0) win after a scramble to secure a (1-0, 4-0) win over Scott. Asgarov would go on to win the 66 kg Freestyle Olympic Gold medal at the age of 19.

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The defeat dropped Scott into the top half Bronze medal match where he would face Japan’s Kenichi Yumoto. After dropping the first period (1-0) to Yumoto Scott rallied back to claim the second (3-0) forcing a third period. The deciding period and the Bronze medal became Coleman Scott’s when he scored a (3-1) period win securing a (0-1, 3-0, 3-1) match victory and his first Olympic Games medal. It was an extraordinary end to a dramatic road that led Coleman to the 2012 Olympic Games. Whether or not Scott competes in another Olympic Game or not he will always be remembered for his Championship at the Olympic Trials and subsequent wins over two former World Team members in Times Square, New York. Scott rode that momentum into London where the 26 year old and former 3x PIAA State Champion made Pennsylvania proud bringing home the 66 kg Bronze medal.

The second Pennsylvania native to compete in the 2012 Olympic Games Freestyle Wrestling was Jake Herbert (North Allegheny High School) from Wexford, PA at 84 kg. Coming into the Olympic Games Herbert had won a 2009 World Silver medal and had his sights on a Gold medal in London. The 27 year old 2x NCAA Champion opened up against Cuba’s Humberto Daniel Arencibia Martinez. Herbert dropped the opening period (4-1) before countering with a (7-0) tech-fall win in 1:39 during the second period. In the deciding third period Herbert fell behind (1-0) but rallied to score and tie the match (1-1), winning the period and match on the criteria of scoring the last point.

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In the quarter-final round of the 84 kg. bracket Herbert would face a formabile opponent in Azerbaijan’s Sharif Sharifov. The match did not begin in Herberts favor as he fell (4-1) to Sharifov and unlike his previous bout Herbert would not counter in the second period. Instead a strange series of attacks, reversals, and throws occurred that ended with controversy. Just 30 seconds into the second period Sharifov earned 5 points before the ruling was challenged by USA Head Coach Zeke Jones. In the action Herbert appeared to clearly throw the Azerbaijani before being reversed, however the judge and mat chairman disagreed, granting 1 penalty point to Sharifov for Jones’ failed challenge, effectively ending the period and match with a (6-0) tech-fall victory and (4-1, 6-0) win for Sharif Sharifov. 

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Visibly upset, Zeke Jones continued to argue for Herbert to no avail, standing up for his wrestler who fell short of earning an Olympic Gold medal. Sharifov would end up winning the 2012 Olympic Gold medal at 84 kg., securing Azerbaijan’s second Gold medal of the day. Following the disappointing lose, Herbert faced Turkey’s Ibrahim Bolukbasi in the Repechage Round 2 at 84 kg. Bolukbasi opened the match with a (1-0) first period win but the American again rallied back to a (4-1) win in the second period. Down to the last period, Herbert again experienced a similar situation as he did in the earlier match. Again, it appeared Herbert exposed the Turk’s back after securing a 1 point takedown. The ref however judged the sequence to be a (5-4) victory for Turkey’s Bolukbasi effectively winning the match by score of (1-0, 1-4, 5-4). 

It was a truly disappointing finish for Herbert who had worked extremely hard over the past three years . It is unclear if the Team Cliff Keen wrestler will return in four years at the age of 31 to compete for a spot on the 2016 Olympic Men’s Freestyle Wrestling Team. I would not be surprised to see Jake take some time to reflect on his experience in London and waste no time getting back to training for the road ahead and a trip to Brazil. If that is the case, he will have many supporters across the country, especially in Pennsylvania.

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