Sharif Sharifov gave Azerbaijan its second gold medal of the London Olympics with victory in the men’s 84m kilogram freestyle wrestling Saturday.
Reigning world champion Sharifov beat Cuban grappler Jaime Yusept Espinal 3-1 on points after dominating their gold medal match.
The Azerbaijani fighter registered four points-scoring throws in a first round he won 6-1 before taking the second 2-0 to wrap up the win.
Georgia’s Dato Marsagishvili and Iran’s Ehsan Naser Lashgari won bronze.
Marsagishvili, a world championship bronze medalist last year, beat Belarusian grappler Soslan Gattsiev 3-1, registering big throws in each of the first two rounds to win the first 3-0 and the second 3-1.
Lashgari beat Ibrahim Bolukbasi of Turkey 3-1 after a hotly-contested first round ended 3-2 with five throws total, and the Iranian registered three minor throws in the second to take it 3-0.
