Gardner Takes Bronze in Athens

Former Nebraska wrestler Rulon Gardner won the bronze medal in 120kg Greco-Roman wrestling in the Olympics in Athens Wednesday. Gardner, the 2000 gold medalist in the 120kg weight class in Sydney, lost his first match of the day before rebounding to defeat Sarad Barzi of Iran 3-0 in the bronze medal match.

In the semifinal, Gardner was defeated by Georgiy Tsurtsumia of Kazakhstan in overtime 4-1, stopping Gardner’s bid for back-to-back gold medals in the 120kg weight-class.

With his bronze medal, Gardner becomes the first Husker wrestler to win two Olympic medals. Gardner is one of four former Nebraska wrestlers with Olympic medals. In the 1964 Olympics, Dan Brand earned a bronze medal as a middleweight freestyle wrestler. Bill Scherr became the second Husker to claim an Olympic medal, taking bronze in the Freestyle 220-pound weight class. In Sydney, Matt Lindland earned silver in the 167-pound Greco-Roman weight class, along with Gardner’s gold medal at heavyweight in Greco-Roman wrestling.