Gable Steveson wins Olympic wrestling gold with insane buzzer-beating move

A golden buzzer-beater. University of Minnesota wrestling star Gable Steveson won the Olympic men’s freestyle 125kg gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games in the most dramatic fashion. The...

A golden buzzer-beater.

University of Minnesota wrestling star Gable Steveson won the Olympic men’s freestyle 125kg gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games in the most dramatic fashion.

The 21-year-old Apple Valley, Minn. native was trailing Georgia’s Geno Petriashvili – the No. 1 seed and three-time world champion – 8-5 with under 10 seconds left. Steveson rallied for two takedowns, including one in the final second, which held up under video review.

Gable Steveson (left) celebrates after his last-second victory over Georgia’s Gennadij Cudinovic.

Trailing 4-0 after the first period, Petriashvili rallied back before the American earned a 9-8 comeback victory. Steveson earned the gold medal after outscoring his opponents – including 2016 Olympic gold medalist Taha Akgul of Turkey – 23-0 in the first three rounds.

The 275-pound heavyweight celebrated his triumph with a backflip.

DO A FLIP!@GableSteveson x #TokyoOlympicspic.twitter.com/PpSNj8wUSc
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) August 6, 2021

And his family went even crazier.

Minnesota’s Gable Steveson’s family goes WILD as two last-second takedowns land him Olympic GOLD in the the men’s 125kg freestyle wrestling event. @GableSteveson pic.twitter.com/TgTl4QjDpM
— Mark Vancleave (@MDVancleave) August 6, 2021

Steveson’s full name is Gable Dan Steveson. He was prepared for greatness from the start, named after Dan Gable, a 1972 Olympic champion.

“It might have been destiny to reach this spot,” Steveson said.

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The reigning Pan American Continental champion won his first NCAA title in March and was the co-winner of the Hodge Trophy – given to the best college wrestler in the country – last season after a 17-0 year with the Gophers. He holds a 34-match win streak in collegiate play.

The US has now won seven wrestling medals in Tokyo. Steveson is the first American heavyweight to win gold at the Olympics since Bruce Baumgartner in 1992.

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:David Lazar