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NC State Olympic hopeful Nick Gwiazdowski
NC State Olympic hopeful Nick Gwiazdowski

Gwiz Dominant As Wolfpack Splits in 'Wrestling Underground' Event

While former NC State national champion Nick Giazdowski won his bout, Tommy Gantt, the other Wolfpack alumnus on the card, went down to defeat in the UFC's Wrestling Underground 1 event

Nick Gwiazdowski was hoping to be wrestling for Olympic gold in Tokyo this summer.

Although that goal has been pushed back a year after the Games were postponed until 2021 by the coronavirus pandemic, the two-time NCAA champion from NC State isn't just sitting around waiting.

Gwiazdowski put on a dominant performance Sunday night in a pay-per-view wrestling event put on by UFC competitor and former Greco-Roman national team member Chael Sonnen. 

Going up against former Iowa State national champion Kyven Gadson in the main event of Wresting Underground 1, Gwiazdowski took just two minutes, 43 seconds of the first round to score a 10-0 technical fall.

The other Wolfpack alumus on the card, Tommy Gantt, lost an 8-4 decision to four-time NCAA All-American David McFadden.

Wrestling in the heavyweight match inside the UFC octagon, Nick Gwiazdowski went on the attack early against Gadson.

The World Championship bronze medalist, who won back-to-back national championships for the Wolfpack in 2014-15, scored a takedown just 10 seconds into the match.

Using his speed and superior size to his advantage, he built on his fast start with two more takedowns for an 8-0 lead before sending Gadson to the mat one final time from behind to finish off his opponent just before the end of the period.

Gantt, meanwhile, also got off to a promising start in his match 185 pounds.

But after scoring the first points with an early takedown, he couldn't sustain the momentum when McFadden battled back to take a 4-2 lead after one period. The 2020 ACC tournament runnerup from Virginia Tech extended his lead to 8-2 before Gantt scored a late takedown for the final margin.

The matches featuring Gwiazdowski and Gantt were part of a six-bout card -- five freestyle and one Grecco-Roman -- held at an unannounced location in the Pacific Northwest and streamed live on UFC Fight Pass.

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