Burroughs Begins International Career with US Open Title

Cleveland, Ohio-- Former Nebraska two-time national champion Jordan Burroughs kicked off his international wrestling career this weekend by winning the 74 kg/163 pound title at the US Open Wrestling Championships in Cleveland, Ohio. With the tournament title, Burroughs earned an automatic spot in the finals of the World Team Trials in Oklahoma City, Okla., on June 9.

After cruising through the first two rounds of competition, Burroughs edged out Kirk White (Bronco WC), 4-2, 3-2, to advance to the finals against Nick Marable. White, a former national champion from Boise State, has been competing at the international level since 2001 and has earned five USA National All-American medals.

In the finals, Burroughs evened the match with a 1-0 victory in the second period after dropping the opening period, 3-0. The three-time All-American then used his staple double-leg to score a 3-point takedown in the final period to secure the victory over Marable, a former two-time All-American from Missouri.

"I think I wrestled pretty well," Burroughs said. "I'm still getting adjusted the different style. It's really different with the rule changes and scoring system, but wrestling is still wrestling. You still have to go out there and score points, so that's what I'm going to continue to do."

Burroughs attention will now turn to the World Team Trials in Oklahoma City on June 9, where he has automatically earned a spot in the finals of the 74 kg/163 pound bracket. With a victory at the trials, Burroughs would earn a spot to compete at the World Championships in Instanbul, Turkey, in September, and would be a large step towards his ultimate goal of competing at the 2012 summer Olympics in London.

"I'm going to continue to train in Lincoln for a little bit, then I might travel around and train and get some different experience from different people," Burroughs said. "I might travel down to Oklahoma City and train down there for a little bit. I'm just going to keep working on getting better as a wrestler."

Burroughs became the school's first two-time national champion last season and earned the prestigious Hodge Trophy, which is given annually to the nation's top collegiate wrestler. The Sicklerville, N.J. native finished a perfect 36-0, while moving his career win total to 128.

Former Husker Justin Ruiz also competed at the US Open Wrestling Championships and collected his seventh US Open title by defeating Robbie Smith in the Greco-Roman 96 kg/211.5 pound final. Ruiz is a two-time medalist at the World Championships finishing in third place in 2005 and fifth place in 2010.

First Round
Jordan Burroughs by pin over Bobby Nash (Michigan WC), :36

Second Round
Jordan Burroughs by dec. over Lloyd Rogers (Hawkeye WC), 3-0, 8-0

Semifinals
Jordan Burroughs by dec. over Kirk White (Bronco WC), 4-2, 3-2

Finals
Jordan Burroughs by dec. over Nick Marable (Sunkist Kids), 0-3, 1-0, 3-0