Taylor LaMont Finishes Third at World Championships

MACON, France – Utah Valley University freshman wrestler Taylor LaMont earned a bronze medal for the United States of America in Greco-Roman wrestling at the UWW Junior World Championships in Macon, France, on Tuesday. The Wolverine freshman went 3-1 against some of the world's finest grapplers en route to earning the third-place finish.

"This was Taylor's fourth trip to the world championships (three as a Cadet team member and this year as a Junior team member). One of his goals is to win world team medals so we are very excited for him that he has crossed that off his list," said UVU head wrestling coach Greg Williams. "He also has goals to win world and Olympic gold as well as NCAA championships. We are looking forward to working with him and helping him accomplish those goals. He has a tremendous amount of drive and the talent to go with it. He is going to represent UVU very well."

LaMont, who recently won a Greco-Roman national title at the 2016 ASICS/Vaughan Junior National Championship in Fargo, North Dakota, just last month, followed that up with a bronze finish on the world stage this week.

The UVU freshman opened the Junior World Championships with a pair of victories over Romania's Madalin Nicolae Bulgar (8-4) and France's Ariles Mouloud Adjaoud (5-3) to reach the semifinals in the 60-kilogram division. After suffering a tightly contested 2-1 setback to Germany's Etienne Kinsinger in the semis, LaMont capped his tournament by winning the third-place bout over Ukraine's Oleksandr Hrushyn by a score of 5-3.

Trailing 2015 Cadet World champion Hrushyn of Ukraine 3-0 midway through the bout, LaMont managed to reel off five unanswered points late in the contest to secure the bronze medal.

"This was my fourth time here and I wasn't going to go out empty handed. So I just went out and there and took what was mine," LaMont said in an interview with USA Wrestling. "This gives me a lot of confidence. I felt great and I'm looking forward to the folkstyle season."

To watch LaMont's matches at the UWW Junior World Championships visit FloWrestling.org and to read more about his journey in Macon check out TeamUSA.org.

LaMont and the Wolverines will open the 2016-17 season at the Cowboy Open in Laramie, Wyoming, on Nov. 5. Following the opening tournament, UVU will head to Cedar Falls, Iowa, for a pair of duals against UNI and Nebraska-Kearney on Nov. 11.