Jordan Burroughs

Burroughs freshman year ended with 16 wins and 13 losses.[16] He was also an NCAA qualifier[17] and placed third at the Big 12 Conference championships.[18]

For his sophomore year in college, he made adjustments with which he finished regular season with a 34–6 record. He also set a single-season record, scoring 98 dual takedowns and surrendering just seven on the year, marking one of UNL's best sophomore seasons.[16] As the top-seed at the Big 12 Championships, Burroughs made his way to the title with technical fall and major decisions and was also named the Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.[19] At the NCAAs, he capped three victories up until the semifinals, where he was downed by Hawkeyes' legend Brent Metcalf.[20] He placed third after defeating J.P. O'Connor and Josh Churella in his last matches of the season, claiming All-American honors.[21]

During his junior year he won the Cliff Keen title (with wins over returning AA O'Connor and defending NCAA champion Jordan Leen), where he was named the Outstanding Wrestler.[22] He also broke the school's single-season dual takedown record for the second straight year with 117 in 19 duals, only giving up one himself, to future three-time Bellator MMA World Champion Michael Chandler.[16] Burroughs then claimed his second Big 12 title with wins over Oklahoma State's Neil Erisman and once again over Chandler.[23] Entering as an undefeated (34–0) top-seed, he claimed his first NCAA title by beating fellow undefeated (17–0) second-seed Mike Poeta in the finals.[24] He also defeated future UFC fighter Gregor Gillespie in the semifinals.[25]

Burroughs was having a 7–0 regular season, including a single win at the Las Vegas Invitational against eventual UFC Interim Champion Justin Gaethje (he forfeited the next matches due to an injury from the match),[26] before suffering a season-ending injury at a dual match against Central Michigan's Steve Brown, where he dropped an overtime loss due to the injury.[27] This led to a medical redshirt for the remainder of the year.

Burroughs started his comeback senior season strong with a Harold Nichols Classic and Midlands Championships with a win over returning NCAA champion Andrew Howe in the finals, receiving the Dan Gable Most Outstanding Wrestler award due to his performance in the tournament.[28] This capped a perfect 29–0 to finish the regular season.[16] At the Big 12 championships, he defeated second-ranked in the country Tyler Caldwell 2–1 to claim the championship.[29] At the NCAA tournament, he again defeated Caldwell in the finals to become a two-time national champion.[8] He was awarded the Dan Hodge Trophy as the best collegiate wrestler in the country after an undefeated season.[30] He graduated with 128 wins and 20 losses overall, 13 of those coming in his first year.[31]

Burroughs made his senior-level debut at the US University Nationals on April, where he placed second to Teyon Ware.[32]

Just three weeks after graduating from college, Burroughs made an immediate jump into the freestyle scene, competing at the US Open on April 7–10. He dismantled all of his four opponents (including Nick Marable and Bobby Nash) to claim the championship.[33]

On May 5, he defeated Aniuar Geduev from Russia, at the annual Beat the Streets dual.[34] At the US World Team Trials of June 9–11, Burroughs defeated US University National Champion Andrew Howe twice in a row to become the US World Team Member at 74 kilograms.[8] He then won the Ukrainian Memorial International tournament on July 23–24, winning every period of his five matches and coming out with a notable victory over Musa Murtazaliev.[35]

At the World Championships on September 18, Burroughs was able to make a 5–0 mark in the stacked weight class, defeating the likes of two-time and defending World Champion Denis Tsargush, Central American and Caribbean Games champion Ricardo Roberty, Military World medalist Ashraf Aliyev and Sadegh Goudarzi, 10' World Silver medalist and Asian Games champion.[36] By this result, Burroughs became the third Cornhusker to win a world title for the United States.[37]

To close the year, the recently crowned World Champion won his first Pan American Games title on October 24, after running through all of his three opponents.[38]

Burroughs started off his legendary year by winning the Dave Schultz Memorial International on February 1–4, where he defeated the likes of Tyler Caldwell and Trent Paulson.[39] He travelled to Cuba for the Cerro Pelado International on February 14–15, where he once again claimed the gold medal, now with victories over Nick Marable and Paulson.[40][41] On April 21, he claimed the US Olympic spot at 74 kilograms after downing Andrew Howe once, as he was forced to forfeit the next match.[42]

Burroughs vs. Goudarzi at the 2012 Summer Olympics finale.

Burroughs was selected to represent the United States at the World Cup on May 12–13. He collected notable wins for his resume after beating the likes of Akhmed Gadzhimagomedov, Sosuke Takatani, Sadegh Goudarzi and Davit Khutsishvili, to claim gold.[43] He also dominated Russia's Kamel Malikov at the annual Beat the Streets.[44]

At the 2012 Summer Olympics of London on August 10, Burroughs opened up with a dominant 4–0, 6–0 performance over Francisco Soler from Puerto Rico and followed up with a 2–1, 1–1 score over Matt Gentry from Canada, to advance to the semifinals. In the semis, he took out two–time World Champion and three-time European champion Denis Tsargush from Russia, in a rough 3–1, 0–2, 2–1 to advance to the final, where he shut down the highly accomplished Sadegh Goudarzi from Iran, 1–0, 1–0, to claim his Olympic gold medal.[45][46][47]

The newly crowned Olympic champion, Burroughs won his second World Cup on February 21–22, defeating Sosuke Takatani, Ezzatollah Akbari, and Ali Shabanau.[48][49] On March 1–2, he also won the Alexander Medved Prizes International title.[50]

On April 17–19, he came back to the national circuit to claim his second US Open title, defeating Penn State legend David Taylor in the process.[51] He then defeated Saba Khubezhty in two different duals, the first one at the Rumble on the Rails and the second one at Beat the Streets, on May 15 and 19 respectively.[52][53]

Burroughs made his second US World Team on June 21–23, when he defeated recent graduate and four-time NCAA champion Kyle Dake twice, remaining un-scored (7–0) in the first match and going to overtime (8–6) in the second.[54] He then warmed up with a Stepan Sargsyan International title on August 3–4, compiling four more victories to his streak.[55]

Four weeks prior to the World Championships, Burroughs broke his ankle,[56] however, he was once again victorious at the tournament, now in even more dominant fashion. He outscored his opposition 34–3, and recorded technical falls in three of his five matches (including Narsingh Yadav and Jabrayil Hasanov), the two remaining being a disqualification win against Ali Shabanau and a 4–0 match in the finale against Ezzatollah Akbari, to crown himself as a two-time World Champion.[57][58]

In 2014, Burroughs received the 2013 John Smith Award as USA Wrestling's Freestyle Wrestler of the Year.[59]

Burroughs travelled to Turkey to compete at the Yasar Dogu on February 15–16, where he won over Rashid Kurbanov (6–0) and Pürevjavyn Önörbat (TF 10–0) before his legendary 70-match win streak and undefeated 70–0 record since crossing over to freestyle full-time were broken by Nick Marable, in a 4–4 loss.[60][61] He went on to claim the bronze medal.[62]

Despite his streak being snapped, Burroughs continued to dominate his opposition, next representing the United States at the World Cup on March 15–16, where he got two falls (one over Parveen Rana), two tech falls and one 7–1 decision over Ezzatollah Akbari, helping the United States reach third-place and claiming his second individual World Cup.[63] He also claimed his third US Open title on April 15–19, after defeating two-time Dan Hodge Trophy winner David Taylor in an exciting finale.[64] Before the US WTT, Burroughs pinned Russia's Atsamaz Sanakoev on May 7 at Beat the Streets.[65]

At the US World Team Trials of May 31–June 1, Burroughs defeated Taylor for the third and fourth times in his senior career to secure the spot, the first a fairly dominant performance by the Olympic gold medalist (6–2) and the second as close as the US Open's match between the two (6–5).[66] To warm up, Burroughs competed in Mexico City and claimed a Pan American title on July 15–17, while defeating the accomplished Liván López from Cuba in the finals.[67][68]

At the World Championships of September 8–14, Burroughs advanced to the semifinals without much problem, beating four-time African Champion Augusto Midana (spraining his MCL throughout the match) and Rashid Kurbanov, who would go on to win the Asian Games Gold medal 20 days later. Despite initial success in the tournament, he was unable to secure his fourth consecutive World/Olympic title, as he was downed by Denis Tsargush 2–9, but captured the bronze medal by pinning Rustam Dudaiev from Ukraine.[69] The loss to Tsargush marked the first time he had been defeated by an international wrestler in over 60 international matches.[70]

Burroughs came back to competition on March 6–7 at the Alexander Medved Prizes International. He made his way to the gold medal in the stacked bracket, defeating Rashid Kurbanov, Ali Shabanau, and Jakob Makarashvili in the process.[71]

Burroughs then competed on April 11–12 at the 15' World Cup. He powered through Cuba's Liván López, Russia's Iakubali Shikhdzhamalov, Mongolia's Pürevjavyn Önörbat and Iran's Morteza Rezaei Ghaleh to claim his fourth straight World Cup.[72] He also downed Luis Quintana in his fifth-consecutive appearance at Beat the Streets, now on May 12.[73] At the US World Team Trials of June 12–14, Burroughs defeated the challenger Kyle Dake twice, winning by decision in the first match (6–3) and dismantling the later 15' US National champion with a technical fall (14–4).[74] To warm up, Burroughs won his second Pan American Games title on July 18, defeating Liván López (for the third time in his career), Jevon Balfour and Yoan Blanco.[75]

At the World Championships of September 12, Burroughs had a tough six-match run, being dominant on his way to the semifinals (scores of 5–2, TF 10–0, TF 11–0, 5–0) before bumping into European Games champion Aniuar Geduev, whom he was able to defeat in a close 4–3 match. At the finals, Burroughs outclassed his opponent Pürevjavyn Önörbat with a technical fall to help the United States place second at the tournament.[76]

To start off the Olympic year, Burroughs won his second Yasar Dogu gold medal February 4–6, racking up notable wins over Soner Demirtaş and Zelimkhan Khadjiev.[77] He also won his second Pan American title on February 26–28, with dominant performances at the tournament.[78] At the 2016 US Olympic Team Trials of April 10, Burroughs dismantled 12' opponent Andrew Howe with a 9–3 in the first match and a technical fall in the second to make his second Olympic Team.[79] He also competed at Beat the Streets for the sixth time, now on May 19 against 15' Asian Champion Peyman Yarahmadi, whom he almost tech'd with an 11–2 score.[80]

Burroughs was then expected to compete at the World Cup on June 11–12, however, he chose to withdraw from the tournament as the birth of his second child was coming up.[81] Burroughs won his last tournament before the Summer Olympics at the Germany Grand Prix, on July 2, soundly defeating Bekzod Abdurakhmonov and Martin Obst.[82]

On August 19, Burroughs competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics, entering the tournament as a heavy-favorite to win his second gold medal.[83] After an 8–3 win in the Round of 16 against eight-time African Championships medalist Augusto Midana,[84] he wrestled Aniuar Geduev (whom he was 2–0 against) in the quarterfinals. After a match full of emotions, Burroughs was violently upset with a close 2–3 loss, which stunned the United States and sent him to the consolation bracket.[85] At the consolation semifinals, Burroughs was defeated in an impressive fashion, as Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (whom he had comfortably beaten a month prior) was able to pick up the win by technical fall over the American.[86] After being sent home, an emotional Burroughs with tears on his eyes, stated:

"I left my wife at home with two kids in Nebraska for long periods of time to go to training camps and tournaments in foreign countries, but she did that joyfully, not begrudgingly, because she knew on days like these I always performed. Now I feel like I let her down and I let my family down."[87]

After a long lay-off, Burroughs came back to the scene at the World Cup on February 16–17, where he was able to put his name back on notice once with four victories over foreigner opponents.[88] He then went back to the National scene, as he competed at the US Open on April 26–29.[89] At the tournament, he outscored his opponents 32 points to 2 up until the finals, where he was able to edge long-time rival Kyle Dake with a 2–2 criteria win to claim his fourth US Open title.[90][91] On May 17, he defeated Sosuke Takatani at Beat the Streets.[92]

Burroughs then faced his US Open opponent Kyle Dake at the US World Team Trials on June 9–10. He lost the first match of the best-of-three via criteria, 6–6, but was able to conquer the spot in the two following bouts with convincing decisions, 8–4 and 6–2.[93][94] He travelled to Madrid to compete at the Spain Grand Prix on July 15–16, where he picked up four victories and notable ones over Taimuraz Friev and Jevon Balfour, winning all of his matches with the same score, 10–0.[95]

At the World Championships of August 26, Burroughs had a tough challenge in the first round, despite defeating the two-time World Championship bronze medalist Ali Shabanau with a close score of 7–5. He then advanced to the second round and quarterfinals, where he tech'd his opposition, downing his BTS opponent Sosuke Takatani with a score of 12–2 and Zelimkhan Khadjiev with a score of 13–2, respectively. He then proclaimed redemption at Bekzod Abdurakhmonov, whom he was tech'd by at the Olympics, with a score of 6–5 to pass on to the finale. At the finals, he faced Russian National Champion Khetag Tsabolov and was able to beat him 9–6 to reclaim his throne at 74 kilograms .[96][97]

After his World Championship run, Burroughs was named a Comeback Wrestler of the Year by United World Wrestling on December 27.[98]

Burroughs started off the year strong by winning his sixth World Cup on April 7–8 at Iowa City, Iowa, bumping up his record at such tournament to 27–0 and clinching the team title for Team USA.[99] He then faced Frank Chamizo for the first time, going to a close and exciting come-from-behind 6–5 decision win,[100] giving birth to one of the best rivalries in recent wrestling history.[101]

He then made his eight World or Olympic team on June 8–9, at the '18 Final X: Lincoln,[102] where he was the crowd-favorite as Lincoln, Nebraska is the city where he attended college.[103] He did so by defeating US Open champion and NCAA legend Isaiah Martinez, with a 4–1 score in the first match and a case-closing 11–1 technical fall in the second.[104] Burroughs took a trip to Istanbul, Turkey to compete at the Yasar Dogu tournament on July 27–29, where he made the finale comfortably, to face Frank Chamizo.[105] In a high-scoring match packed with action, Burroughs found himself defeated by the Italian via criteria, 10–10 to make the series a tie and claim his first silver medal in his entire freestyle career since crossing over.[106]

At the World Championships of October 20–21, he defeated Mostafa Hosseinkhani from Iran in the opening round, 4–3, but suffered an upset in the quarterfinals to two-time and reigning Russian National champion and eventual winner of the championship Zaurbek Sidakov in a close 5–6 loss.[107] However, he came back in the consolation semis, where he defeated Miroslav Kirov from Belarus by a 9–0 decision. At the bronze medal match, he faced Frank Chamizo and was able to break the tie with a 4–4 criteria win to claim the third-place, therefore his sixth medal from Worlds.[108]

Burroughs started off his athletic year in Bulgaria, at the Dan Kolov – Nikola Petrov Memorial of February 28 to March 3. In this tournament, he beat Frank Chamizo once again with a convincing 9–2 win[109] and also got a notable victory over Bekzod Abdurakhmonov to claim the championship.[110] On April 19–21 Burroughs competed at his first Pan American Championships since 2016, and was able to claim his third title with notable victories over Franklin Gómez and Jevon Balfour.[111]

On May 6, Burroughs competed at Beat the Streets against UFC undefeated star and former Dan Hodge Trophy winner Ben Askren.[112] He was able to outclass the long-time retired wrestler via 11–0 technical fall.[113][114] On June 14–15, Burroughs made his seventh US World Team by claiming the spot at 19' Final X: Lincoln. Just like last year, he faced Isaiah Martinez, World Cup champion and two-time US Open champion, who pushed Burroughs to a closer series to last year's. In the first match, Burroughs won a close 5–4 decision, but was defeated via criteria in the second match (5–5) and was forced to come back with a dominant 7–1 to claim the series.[115]

On July 11–14, Burroughs claimed his second Yasar Dogu title, beating 18' U23 World champion Tajmuraz Salkazanov and Yakup Gör in the process. In the finals, he was scheduled to face Frank Chamizo,[116] however, Chamizo pulled out of the bout and Burroughs claimed gold.[117] On August 10, Burroughs took home his third Pan American games title with notable wins over Geandry Garzón and Franklin Gómez, helping to clinch the team title for the United States.[118]

At the World Championships of September 20–21, Burroughs started off with two close victories, coming from behind in both of them and winning 11–10 and 6–4 respectively. He then picked up a solid win to make his way into the semifinals, where he was once again stopped by Zaurbek Sidakov by one point scored in the last second in a 3–4 match, forcing him to compete for the bronze medal.[119] In the third-place match, he was able to defeat Mao Okui with a dominant 10–0 technical fall.[120]

On March 6–9, Burroughs claimed his fourth Pan American Championship with dominant scores of 10–0, 3–0 and 8–1 over Jorge Llano, Geandry Garzón and Franklin Gómez.[111][121]

Burroughs was scheduled to compete at the '20 US Olympic Team Trials on April 4 at State College, Pennsylvania.[122] However, the event was postponed for 2021 along with the Summer Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving all the qualifiers unable to compete.[123]

After months of not being able to compete due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Burroughs wrestled two-time NCAA champion and '19 US National Champion at 86 kilos Zahid Valencia, at a catchweight of 185 pounds in the headline of FloWrestling: Burroughs vs. Valencia, on November 14.[124] At the weigh-ins, Burroughs weighed 178.2 pounds, while Valencia marked 184.1 pounds on the scale.[125] After being topped 0–4 in the first period, Burroughs overcame Valencia and took the lead, outscoring him 8–1 in the second period to mark the final score 8-5 and claim the dual.[126]

After downing the number two-ranked 86 kilogram'er in the country, Burroughs had been booked to wrestle former rival and '18 World Champion David Taylor at 86 kilos, while headlining FloWrestling: Burroughs vs. Taylor, which would take place on January 9.[127] However, it was announced on January 8 that Taylor was unable to travel to Austin, Texas due to COVID-19 restrictions and the bout was subsequently postponed for four days later and changed its location for Lincoln, Nebraska, thus moving to a different card also named FloWrestling: Burroughs vs. Taylor.[128] After a 0-4 period, Burroughs rallied late to score four points of his own, but was unable to secure the victory as Taylor had criteria, defeating Burroughs for the first time in five matches.[129]

After a full year without competing at 74 kilograms, Burroughs competed at the prestigious Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series.[130] To make the finals, Burroughs shut down '20 Asian Continental Champion Daniyar Kaisanov and the accomplished Narsingh Yadav. In the finale, he faced two-time World Champion Frank Chamizo for the fifth time, and was edged in a close match by a point, marking the second time Burroughs had ever been defeated in a final (first loss was also handed by Chamizo) and claiming the silver medal.[131][132]

In April 3, Burroughs competed at the rescheduled US Olympic Team Trials in an attempt to make his tenth straight US World/Olympic Team. Able to sit out as a 2019 World Championship medalist, Burroughs faced reigning and two–time World Champion at 79kg and former rival Kyle Dake in a best–of–three final.[133] Both matches were similar and had the same result, with Dake coming out on top after seemingly shutting down the Olympic champion with the scores of 2–3 and 0–3.[134] This marked the first time Burroughs was unable to make the US Olympic or World Team, ending a dominant nine–year long reign.[135]

Burroughs had been set to wrestle former rival Isaiah Martinez on June 18 at Who's Number One,[136] but on June 14, Martinez announced he would not be able to make the weight of 79 kilograms and the bout was cancelled.[137]

After initial manifestation of moving up to 79 kilograms in April, Burroughs registered to bulk up and compete at the 2021 US World Team Trials on September 11–12 as the top-seed, intending to represent the country at the World Championships for the eight time.[138] Burroughs showed immense longevity in his career while displaying his signature double leg throughout the tournament, dropping All-Americans Hayden Hidlay and Chance Marsteller as well as three-time NCAA champion Jason Nolf, advancing to the finals.[139] In a best-of-three series, Burroughs downed another three-time NCAA champion in Alex Dieringer twice in a row in frenetic bouts, getting back on the top of the podium for the first time since March 2020.[140] During his second match with Dieringer, Burroughs suffered a torn calf muscle, and he was told by the doctors that he would need eight weeks to recover, but still represented the United States at the 2021 World Championships from October 3 to 4 in Oslo, Norway, less than a month later.[141][142]

To make his first World Championship final since 2017, Burroughs won four matches during the first date, including a close bout with two-time U23 European champion Radik Valiev.[143] He topped Mohammad Nokhodi from Iran in the finals in order to capture the gold at the new weight class and become a five-time World Champion, cementing his legacy as one of the most accomplished American wrestlers of all time.[144]

After defeating Nestor Taffur at Bout at the Ballpark in February 12,[145] Burroughs competed at the prestigious Yasar Dogu International on February 27, claiming the gold medal.[146] On May 8, he swept the competition at the 2022 Pan American Championships to add a fifth title to his name.[147]

On September 16, at the World Championships in Belgrade, Burroughs won his second straight world championship at 79 kg, and sixth overall.[148]