Beijing: Italian policeman Andrea Minguzzi and Cuban teacher Mijain Lopez combined Thursday to limit powerhouse Russia to a single gold medal on the last day of Greco-Roman Olympic wrestling action.
Rank outsider Minguzzi upset world and Olympic champion Aleksei Mishin of Russia on the way to winning the 84kg title, at the expense of an old and familiar foe in Zoltan Fodor of Hungary.
"It's true what they say, when you know your opponent you do have an advantage," Minguzzi said.
Fodor confirmed he had faced the Italian twice before, and ended up on the losing end each time. "It's the third loss for me," he said.
"Minguzzi deserved the gold medal because the only action that took place in the match was from Minguzzi," Hungarian coach Gyorgy Struhacs said, referring to the Italian's decisive throw in the third round.
In the 120kg final, world champion Lopez got the better of another well-known rival, former Russian world champion Khasan Baroev.
After the Havana teacher won the first round, the Russian lost when failing to score from a dominant position with the bout tied 1-1 in the second round.
Aslambek Khustov averted a Russian shutout Thursday when the European champion scored a spectacular victory against German fireman Mirko Englich in the 96kg final.
Englich was taken down twice while failing to score in two rounds.
Khustov said he considered his nine month-old daughter as his good-luck charm, as he had gone on a winning streak since she was born.
"After her birth, I have not lost a single official match," he said.
"Khustov is the best in the world," said the outmatched German.
Adam Wheeler of the United States and Asset Mambetov of Kazakhstan both won bronze medals in the 96kg, while Yuri Patrikeev of Armenia and Mindaugas Mizgaitis both won the bronze in the 120kg.
Nazmi Avluca of Turkey won an 84kg bronze, but there was drama involving the other bronze medallist after Ara Abrahamian left it on the mat as she stormed out of the medal ceremony while raising a clenched fist in protest against the officiating.
A point had been deducted against the Swede late in his semi-final bout with Minguzzi which cost him a place in the final. The Swede was a silver medallist at the Athens Olympics four years ago.
"My semi-final round loss today was totally unjustified. The controversial ruling shows that FILA (the sport's governing body International Amateur Wrestling Federation) does not play fair," the Swede claimed.
Minguzzi said the Swede should not rain on his victory parade, adding: "In sports I think it is appropriate to show sportsmanship and respect the result."
The Russians had threatened to dominate the Greco-Roman events after earlier gold medal efforts by Nazyr Mankiev (55kg) and Islam-Beka Albiev (60kg), compared to a two-gold haul in Greco-Roman in Athens.
Steve Guenot won the 66kg title for France here and Manuchar Kvirkelia of Georgia took the 74kg gold.
The women's freestyle wrestling competition begins on Saturday, followed by men's freestyle wrestling, where the Russians hold five of six world titles.
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