By Adam Roberts – 8/6/2021

It’s the final countdown for Tokyo 2020 this weekend, as the US makes one final push for medals to pad their solid lead at the top of the medal leaderboard. Here’s your daily Olympic update:

• In the semifinal of the 97kg division of men’s freestyle wrestling, Pennsylvania’s Kyle Frederick Snyder got the best of Turkey’s Suleyman Karadeniz 5-0. Snyder improved his record at this year’s Summer Games to a perfect 3-0 as the 25-year-old goes for a second consecutive gold medal after winning during the 2016 Olympics in Rio. The men’s freestyle 97kg final is set for tomorrow.
• Jacarra Gwenisha Winchester of Colorado missed out on winning a bronze medal for the U.S. after she was bested by Vanesa Kaladzinskaya of Belarus in the 53kg division of women’s freestyle wrestling. Mayu Mukaida of Japan won the gold medal and Qianyu Pang of China won the silver. Mongolia’s Bolortuya Bat Ochir of Mongolia also took home a bronze medal.
• California native Allyson Felix collected her 10th Olympic medal after she finished in third place in the women’s 400m to win bronze. Felix set a season best with a time of 49.46 seconds. Fellow American Quanera Hayes finished in seventh place with a time of 50.88 seconds. Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas won the gold and Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic took home the silver.
• Gable Steveson of Minnesota defeated Georgia’s Geno Petriashvili in the final of the men’s freestyle wrestling 125kg division to win the gold medal for the U.S. It was the first time in four matches that Steveson surrendered any points as he picked up the 10-8 win. The gold is the first Olympic medal won by the 21-year-old Steveson.

Coming up this evening, the USA men’s basketball team will play for the gold medal against France. We’re sending good vibes to Jrue, Khris, and the rest of Team USA!

By Adam Roberts – 8/5/2021

After a quiet quarterfinal against Spain, Khris Middleton re-emerged last night as an important bench piece for the USA men’s basketball team. Couple that with a fine contribution from Jrue Holiday plus a big third quarter for the team in general, and the Americans are one win away from silencing all the doubt they faced ahead of the Olympics.

Holiday and Middleton each scored 11 points, with Jrue adding eight rebounds and eight assists, while Kevin Durant scored 23 points and Devin Booker chipped in with 20 as Team USA knocked off Australia, 97-to-78 in the semifinals. The Americans overcame a 15-point deficit to advance to Friday night’s gold medal game against France.

The French outlasted Slovenia, 90-to-89, in the other semifinal. Evan Fournier had 23 points and four threes for the French while Luka Doncic had a triple double with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 18 assists for the Slovenian unit.

By Adam Roberts – 8/4/2021

Former Badger coach and player Alando Tucker has responded to a report written in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that details events that reportedly went on during a difficult stretch of the 2019-20 season for the Badger men’s basketball team.

Tucker was hired by the program as an interim assistant after Howard Moore suffered a heart attack following the loss of his wife and daughter in a car crash. The Journal article reached out to a number of unnamed sources, who said Tucker had a plot to turn players against head coach Greg Gard, going so far as to tell then-AD Barry Alvarez he would be ready to take over the program and hoping that if Northern Illinois AD John Frazier was hired to replace Alvarez instead of Chris McIntosh that he would fire Gard and hire himself.

“For months…I have been the target of slanderous articles, conversations, tweets and messages concerning my exit from UW-Madison, most of which have been based upon falsehoods, mistaken assumptions and misguided opinions.” Tucker said in his statement. “At this moment, I can no longer remain silent. I wish to state categorically that I have not done any of the things that I have been accused of. Those who know me and have worked with me know that is not my character.”

You can view the whole Tucker statement here.

By Adam Roberts – 8/4/2021

There are two things I personally associate with the Viroqua community: Wild West Days and baseball excellence.

The former is coming up in two weeks, while the latter was on display once again yesterday. The Class A Legion baseball title went to Viroqua courtesy of a 4-2 win over second-ranked Denmark. The runs all came in the bottom of the third with Griffin Olson, Evan Hubatch, and Braden Lendosky coming up big. Pitcher Clayton Slack was also dominant, throwing a complete game four-hit effort.

Next up for Viroqua is a trip to the Division 2 Central Plains Tournament; their pool includes La Crescent, and the two teams will face off on Friday afternoon.

Additionally, La Crosse Post 52 opens their national regional tonight in Sioux Falls, South Dakota against the hosts. Ace pitcher Dylan Lapic will be unavailable to throw until at least Friday.

By Adam Roberts – 8/3/2021

On top of Jrue, Khris, and the rest of Team USA men’s basketball earning a quarterfinal win over Spain, there’s been plenty of other Olympic news made today. Here’s your daily check on the latest from Tokyo:

• After pulling out of all her other events while focusing on her mental health, Simone Biles returned to Olympic competition by earning the bronze medal in the women’s balance beam final. Biles finished with a score of 14.000 while fellow American Suni Lee finished in fifth place with a score of 13.866. China earned the gold and silver medals after Chenchen Guan and Xijing Tang finished atop the rankings with scores of 14.633 and 14.233. Her seventh medal ties her with Shannon Miller for the most ever by a U.S. gymnast.
• Keyshawn Davis of Virginia advanced past the quarterfinals of the men’s lightweight boxing division after topping Gabil Mamedov of the Russian Olympic Committee 4-1 on points. Up next for Davis is a semifinal bout against Armenia’s Hovhannes Bachkov scheduled for Thursday night. Davis finished in second place of the men’s lightweight division during the 2019 World Championships in Russia. Meanwhile Duke Ragan of Ohio continued his charge towards Olympic gold after taking down Ghana’s Samuel Takyi in the semifinal of the men’s featherweight boxing division. Ragan cruised to a 4-1 win on points and will take on Albert Batyrgaziev of the Russian Olympic Committee in the final tomorrow night.
• The team of April Ross and Alix Klineman cruised past Germany in straight sets to advance to the semifinals of the women’s beach volleyball tournament. The Americans improved their record at this year’s Summer Games to 5-0. Up next for the duo of Ross and Klineman is a match against Switzerland’s Anouk Verge-Depre and Joana Heidrich with a chance to play for the gold medal on the line.
• The U.S. Track and Field team is adding six more medals in Tokyo including a gold for Athing Mu in the women’s 800-meters. Fellow American Raevyn Rogers grabbed the bronze. Gabrielle Thomas also won bronze in the women’s 200-meters, Christopher Nilsen earned silver in the men’s pole vault, Rai Benjamin picked up the silver in men’s 400-meter hurdles, and Brittney Reese won silver in the women’s long jump. The U.S. now has 11 total medals in athletics with five more medal events on tap Wednesday.

In the medal race, Team USA is maintaining its overall medal lead. Americans have won a total of 73 medals, now four ahead of China. The Chinese continue to lead all nations with 32 gold while the U.S. has 24 gold. Keep checking espnlacrosse.com for daily updates from the 2020-21 Olympics!