Jordan Burroughs

Jordan Ernest Burroughs (born July 8, 1988) is an American freestyle wrestler and former folkstyle wrestler who currently competes at 74 kilograms.

As a wrestler, he became a three-time district champion, two-time regional champion, state (NJSIAA) champion, and NHSCA national champion in his senior year (2006).

He graduated with 115 wins and 20 losses.

In 2006, he accepted a scholarship to the University of Nebraska as the 52nd-ranked senior in the nation.

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.

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.

During his junior year he won the Cliff Keen title (with wins over returning AA O'Connor and defending NCAA champion Jordan Leen), 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 (34–0) top-seed, he claimed his first NCAA title by beating fellow undefeated (17–0) second-seed Mike Poeta in the finals.

He also defeated future UFC fighter Gregor Gillespie in the semifinals.

Burroughs was having a 7–0 regular season, including a single win at the Las Vegas Invitational against eventual UFC Interim Champion Justin Gaethje (he forfeited the next matches due to an injury from the match), 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.

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.

Burroughs made his senior-level debut at the US University Nationals on April, where he placed second to Teyon Ware.

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 (including Nick Marable and Bobby Nash) 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.

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.

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 went on to attend Winslow Township High School, where he was a three-sport athlete in wrestling, American football, and running.

He dreamed of playing in the NFL as a wide receiver, but gave up on it to focus on wrestling, weighing 130 pounds as a freshman.

In freestyle, Burroughs was the 2012 Olympic gold medalist, and is a six-time world champion (nine-time medalist), three-time Pan American Games gold medalist, multiple-time gold medalist in international tournaments, and an eleven-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.