70kg R1- PJ Duke vs. Begijon Kuldashev (UZB)
Period 1:
Coach Cody in the corner. Here we go! Day 2 begins. Circling, head tapping & hand fighting. PJ reaches for a leg, but doesn't get there. Tying up in the center & hand fighting again. PJ tries a 2 on 1, but Kuldashev pulls free. Back to tying up & hand fighting in the center. Kuldashev gets a passivity warning. PJ drives forward, tries an underhook, then throw by, but Kuldashev squares up & evades the takedown. Out of bounds & neutral restart. PJ reaches for an ankle, but doesn't get there. Kuldashev gets a 2nd passivity warning & goes on the clock. He hasn't done much, so far, other than defend. Back to tying up in the center. PJ snaps & reaches for a leg, but Kuldashev backs away. PJ gets a shot clock point, 1-0. Hard hand fighting. PJ snaps & reaches for a leg, but can't get there. Kuldashev has good defense, but not much offense. Kuldashev tries a duck, but doesn't commit. Out of bounds & restart. PJ snatches an ankle off the whistle & quickly finishes the TD, 3-0, no turns. Kuldashev drops in on a low leg. PJ squares up & fights him off as time expires. 3-0 PJ
Period 2:
Back to action. Tying up & hand fighting again. Kuldashev comes forward, PJ looks for a drag, but no luck. Kuldashev warned for hands to the face. Back to tying up & hand fighting. Kuldashev shoots for a leg, but PJ circles away. PJ drives forward & looks for an underhook, but Kuldashev backs away. Kuldashev shoots, PJ counters & comes behind for another TD, 5-0. No turns; neutral restart. Circling & hand fighting. PJ reaches for a low leg, but no luck. Kuldashev tries an underhook. PJ gets a whizzer & they go out of bounds, point Kuldashev, 5-1. Kuldashev is slow getting back to center. PJ goes back to the 2 on 1, but Kuldashev fights him off. Kuldashev shoots, PJ sprawls back, then grabs a leg & finishes another TD, 7-1, no turns. Back to neutral. Kuldashev is laying on the mat now & the ref has to tell him to get up. Kuldashev reaches for a leg, no luck. He tries an arm spin, but no luck again. Stoppage for something, 30-sec left. Tying up & hand fighting again. Kuldashev pushes PJ away. Kuldashev tries a shot, but PJ blocks him off. Kuldashev drives forward aggressively, but PJ circles away & they go out of bounds, no scoring. Back to neutral & time quickly expires. Kuldashev was cooked.
PJ Duke DEC Begijon Kuldashev 7-1
PJ will be up again before Luke & Levi. He's about 8 matches out on Mat C. Levi is a few matches after PJ & Luke is a few matches after Levi. All next round matches will be on Mat C.
Next round (R16): Mat C
70kg- PJ Duke vs. Rostislav Leicht (GER)
79kg- Levi Haines vs. Mahdi Yousefihajivar (IRI)
57kg- Luke Lilledahl vs. Honghang Liao (CHN)