Ramos drops World Championships opener

Former University of Iowa NCAA champion Tony Ramos lost his opening match of the 2014 FILA Men's Freestyle World Championships early Monday in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Ramos represented the U.S. at 125 1/2 pounds and fell to Mongolia's 2010 Junior World Champion Bekhbayar Erdenebat, 7-4. Ramos was eliminated from medal contention when Erdenebat lost in the semifinal round.

'It wasn't much of a day - I only had one match,” Ramos told USA Wrestling. 'It's not what I came here for and it's not what I've been training for. I didn't make all these sacrifices and train this hard to only wrestle one match.

'You can't put your head down. You've got to keep moving forward. I only came here for one thing and that was to win it all. That's still the main goal.”

Brent Metcalf, a two-time NCAA champion and three- national finalist for Iowa, will compete in the 143 bracket late Monday or early Tuesday (Iowa time). He is making his third World Championships appearance and looking for his first medal. Metcalf opens with Korea's Park Seoungun.

'Brent has a lot of experience,” Former Hawkeye NCAA champion and current USA Wrestling Assistant National Freestyle Coach Bill Zadick told USA Wrestling. 'You know he is training hard. He has great coaches. He has been there. He holds himself to a very high standard. He's looked great all summer and he's beaten some of the best guys in the world. He should have confidence with what he's done and how he's prepared.”

Former Iowa State NCAA champion and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Jake Varner took a year off last year. He was a bronze World medalist in 2011 and face's Germany's William Harth in the first round at 213.

'Jake has looked as good as we have seen in awhile,” Zadick said. 'He was not sure if he wanted to continue and took a year off. This year, coming back, he's looked as good as we have seen. We are excited to see him do what he's capable of doing.”

Tervel Dlagnev captured the only medal for the U.S. in Day 1 of competition. Dlagnev earned a bronze at 275. He finished with a 4-1 mark, beating Alexei Shemarov, of Belarus, 2-1, in the final.

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