Jordan Burroughs
Jordan Ernest Burroughs is an American freestyle wrestler and former folkstyle wrestler who currently competes at 74 kilograms.
In freestyle, Burroughs was the 2012 Olympic gold medalist, and is a six-time world champion, three-time Pan American Games gold medalist, multiple-time gold medalist in international tournaments, and a twelve-time US Olympic or World Team Member. He holds the record for the most Olympic and World Championships in American history, and is considered one of the greatest freestyle wrestlers of all time.
In folkstyle, Burroughs was a two-time NCAA Division I National champion for the Nebraska Cornhuskers and was awarded the Dan Hodge Trophy in 2011.
Early life
Burroughs is from the Sicklerville section of Winslow Township, New Jersey. When he was in elementary school, he brought a wrestling flyer home and became the first member of his family to ever wrestle, at the age of five.He attended Winslow Township High School, where he was a three-sport athlete in wrestling, football, and track. He dreamed of playing in the NFL as a wide receiver, but decided to focus on wrestling, weighing 130-pounds as a freshman.
As a high school wrestler, Burroughs was a three-time district champion, two-time regional champion, a New Jersey state champion, and an NHSCA national champion during his senior year in 2006. He graduated with 115 wins and 20 losses.
College career
In 2006, he accepted a scholarship to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln as the 52nd-ranked senior in the nation.2006–07
Burroughs freshman year ended with 16 wins and 13 losses. He was also an NCAA qualifier and placed third at the Big 12 Conference championships.2007–08
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. 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. At the NCAAs, he capped three victories up until the semifinals, where he was downed by Hawkeyes' legend Brent Metcalf. He placed third after defeating J.P. O'Connor and Josh Churella in his last matches of the season, claiming All-American honors.2008–09
During his junior year he won the Cliff Keen title, where he was named the Outstanding Wrestler. 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. Burroughs then claimed his second Big 12 title with wins over Oklahoma State's Neil Erisman and once again over Chandler. Entering as an undefeated top-seed, he claimed his first NCAA title by beating fellow undefeated second-seed Mike Poeta in the finals. He also defeated future UFC fighter Gregor Gillespie in the semifinals.2009–10
Burroughs was having a 7–0 regular season, including a single win at the Las Vegas Invitational against eventual UFC Interim Champion Justin Gaethje, 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. This led to a medical redshirt for the remainder of the year.2010–11
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. This capped a perfect 29–0 to finish the regular season. At the Big 12 championships, he defeated second-ranked in the country Tyler Caldwell 2–1 to claim the championship. At the NCAA tournament, he again defeated Caldwell in the finals to become a two-time national champion. He was awarded the Dan Hodge Trophy as the best collegiate wrestler in the country after an undefeated season. He graduated with 128 wins and 20 losses overall, 13 of those coming in his first year.Freestyle career
2007
Burroughs made his senior-level debut at the US University Nationals on April, where he placed second to Teyon Ware.2011
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 to claim the championship.On May 5, he defeated Aniuar Geduev from Russia, at the annual Beat the Streets dual. 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. 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.
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. By this result, Burroughs became the third Cornhusker to win a world title for the United States.
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.
2012
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. 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. 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.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. He also dominated Russia's Kamel Malikov at the annual Beat the Streets.
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.
2013
The newly crowned Olympic champion, Burroughs won his second World Cup on February 21–22, defeating Sosuke Takatani, Ezzatollah Akbari, and Ali Shabanau. On March 1–2, he also won the Alexander Medved Prizes International title.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. 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.
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 in the first match and going to overtime in the second. He then warmed up with a Stepan Sargsyan International title on August 3–4, compiling four more victories to his streak.
Four weeks prior to the World Championships, Burroughs broke his ankle, 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, 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.
In 2014, Burroughs received the 2013 John Smith Award as USA Wrestling's Freestyle Wrestler of the Year.
2014
Burroughs travelled to Turkey to compete at the Yasar Dogu on February 15–16, where he won over Rashid Kurbanov and Pürevjavyn Önörbat 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. He went on to claim the bronze medal.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, 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. 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. Before the US WTT, Burroughs pinned Russia's Atsamaz Sanakoev on May 7 at Beat the Streets.
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 and the second as close as the US Open's match between the two. 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.
At the World Championships of September 8–14, Burroughs advanced to the semifinals without much problem, beating four-time African Champion Augusto Midana 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. The loss to Tsargush marked the first time he had been defeated by an international wrestler in over 60 international matches.