Wrestling

The Americans dropped a 4-3 dual-meet decision to Ukraine in the finals of the World Cup on Sunday night.

"We made some good improvements and our guys gave it their all," USA Wrestling National Greco-Roman coach Steve Fraser said. "Were by no means satisfied with second place, but it was a good competition and it lets us know where were at and what we need to work on. We need to continue to get better. We know we can wrestle with the best countries in the world, but we know were not quite there yet."

World champions Joe Warren (60 kg/132 lbs.) and Dremiel Byers (120 kg/264.5 lbs.), along with Sgt Jacob Clark (84 kg/185 lbs.), each earned wins over Ukraine to cap perfect 3-0 weekends in the World Cup.

The Americans trailed two matches to one in the dual against Ukraine before nearly pulling out a key win at 74 kg/163 lbs. But Ukraines Dmytro Pyshkov lifted Keith Sieracki of the U.S. with four seconds left in the third period to pull out a dramatic win.

"Keith wrestled a lot better and we almost had that one," Fraser said. "He did a real good job fighting the guy off and then got lifted right there at the end."

Clark came back to sweep Vitaliy Lishcynskyy in two straight periods at 84 kg to draw the U.S. within 3-2.

"Jake had a real good weekend and is showing he can compete internationally," Fraser said. "Jake wrestled with great confidence and wrestled smart."

But Ukraines Dimitry Timchenko used a pair of front headlocks to sweep Justin Ruiz and clinch the team win for Ukraine.

Byers followed by winning a three-period match with Ukraines Oleksandr Chernetskyy at 120 kg.

"Dremiel wrestled real well," Fraser said. "He came up with the big points when he needed to. He had a strong weekend for us."

Warren recorded a pin against Ukraines Danylo Krymov to cap an impressive performance over the weekend.

"Joe lost the first period and then came back and blasted the guy with a five-point throw in the second period," Fraser said. "Then he hit a reverse lift and pinned the guy in the third period. He looked really good, just tenacious. Joe was just amazing the way he came back in a couple matches."

Turkey beat Russia 5-2 in the third-place match with Iran downing Georgia 6-1 in the fifth-place dual.

GRECO-ROMAN WORLD CUP

SUNDAYS RESULTS, ANTALYA, TURKEY

CHAMPIONSHIP DUAL: Ukraine 4, United States 3