Dake Banks 7th Senior Level Medal Behind Bronze Medal Effort in Paris

While fulfillment of the dream to be the one to deliver New York's first Olympic gold medal on the mats since the 1984 Games in Los Angeles (Jeff Blatnick GR 100+ KG; Ed Banach FS 90kg; & Lou Banach FS 100kg) would not be in the cards for Kyle Dake; the former 2x NYSPHSAA DII State Champion for Lansing/4x NCAA Division I National Champion for Cornell, has no reason to hang his head as he did himself, his family, and the Evil Empire proud by equaling the 74kg bronze medal he earned in Tokyo three years ago!!

Displaying the "Intestinal fortitude" that has made him a champion at every level of the sport throughout his storied career, Dake successfully bounced back from a heart shattering loss in the semifinals on Friday afternoon by claiming a 10-4 victory over Hetik Cabolov (Serbia) in his lone appearance on Saturday to officially become a multiple-time Olympiad medalist!!!

The win over the 3x Senior World medalist/2x finalist/2014 Champion being a proper conclusion to a 3-1 overall showing in Paris, Dake would will himself onto the podium as he miraculously and valiantly climbed out of a 4-1 hole in the final 48 ticks of regulation by exploding for nine unanswered points to steal the "w"!!!

Switching off from a low-single to a traditional single to garner a 1pt stepout 1:00 into the 1st period to carry the slim advantage (1-0) into the break; the American found himself in "boiling water" when he allowed a controversial stepout (could have been argued that he should have been awaited a 2pt throw off of a chest wrap; or at least white paddle of the sequence) with 2:00 remaining in regulation; and then surrendered a 2pt TD with approximately 1:10 to go....A lost challenge (from that original stepout call) created the aforementioned predicament indicated above!!!

But alas, a visibly fired up Dake refused to go down without a fight, taking his fate into his hands when he spun behind for a takedown on the edge of the mat to cut the deficit to 4-3 with :31 on the clock...

Feeding off of the USA chants from the crowd and seemingly growing stronger, the ultimate deciding factor came into play off of the restart, as Dake again snapped and got behind his opponent; but this time, instead of settling for the 2pt TD, he'd elect to go BIG, as he hit a 5pt back-arching suplex (23 ticks to go) and then tacked on a 2pt gut off of the continuation to vault himself to the victory!!

His accolades decorated to his father/hero, Doug, who passed away in April right before trials; the emotion poured out of Kyle when he was reunited with his loved ones during post-match celebrations!

By virtue of his top-3 effort, the 33-year-old Section IV living legend collected his SEVENTH overall medal at a major UWW Senior Level Championship event, as he had previously four-peated at Worlds from 2018-2022 (twice at 79kg before dropping down for a pair at 74kg), settled for silver in 2023, and was already an aforementioned 2021 Olympic bronze recipient...

The feat moved him into a tie (with Dave Schultz---1984 Olympic Champion/1983 World titlist; 3x World Silver; 2x World Bronze) for 4th place all-time for cumulative medals among U.S. male freestylers, as he vaulted past legends--- John Smith (6x Champion; 4x World/2x Olympic from 1987-1992) and J'Den Cox (5x World medalist/3x finalist/2x titlist in '18 and '19/Runner-up in '22; 2016 Olympic Bronze)

At present time, only the following company sit above him on the totem pole:‍

*Bruce Baumgartner (13 total medals---4x Olympic placer/3x finalist/2x gold in '84 and '92; 9x World medalist/3x Champion in '86, '93, and '95/runner-up in '89, '90, and '94)

*Jordan Burroughs (10 total medals---2012 Olympic Gold medalist; 9x World medalist/6x King in '11, '13, '15, '17, '21, and '22)

*Kyle Snyder (Seeking the 10th medal of his career when he goes for 97kg Bronze on Sunday....Past 2x Olympic finalist/2016 Champ; 7x World placer/5x finalist/3x titlist in '15, '17, and '22; World runner-up in both 2018 & 2021)

Note: With so many seasoned and credentialed icons (both domestic and foreign) on "shoe watch" during the course of the week-long festivities; it needs to be acknowledged that Dake DID NOT give any indication of plans to hang them up following his strong close on the penultimate day of action!!!
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THE PATH TO BRONZE (Taken from NYWN FB excerpts)

Qualification Round vs. 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐉𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐨 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐬 (Venezuela): 10-0 TF

In the contest with the 3x Senior Pan-American Medalist/2016 Champion [Montero Chirinos], Dake Converted a single-leg takedown followed by a 2pt gut-wrench to jump out to a 4-0 lead approximately 24 ticks into the 1st period....He'd later tack on an ankle pick followed by two additional guts to complete the technical superiority victory in a time of 2:20!!

Quarterfinals vs. 𝐘𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐤𝐛𝐚𝐫 𝐄𝐦𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐢 (Iran): Fall 5:27

The head-to-head with the former 2x Senior World 3rd/ 3x Age-Group World medalist (2013 U17 runner-up), Emamichoghaei, was just as one-sided...

The 11-1 TF already locked up after utilizing a 2pt chest-wrap (while up 9-1) for exposure, Dake would be able to scissor the head off of the ensuing scramble to notch the stick with 23 seconds remaining in duration....

Able to repeatedly get to his attacks with ease, the aforementioned lead was established behind three takedowns (two in the 1st, one in the 2nd), a 2pt gut-wrench (complemented the third TD), as well as an induced stepout (while attempting to finish a single-leg)

Semifinals vs. 𝐃𝐚𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐢 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐢 (Japan): Loss 20-12

Getting off to a fast start in his bout by converting a low-level single for a TD (to go up 2-0) half a minute into the 1st period, the former 4x NCAA National Champion for the Cornell Big Red struggled throughout the bout to contain/stop his Japanese foe from getting in and scoring with his own low-singles, as he'd surrender a TD and then two turns late (last :40) in the opening stanza to trail 9-4 at the break...

Much as he did at the onset of the 1st, Dake came out of the intermission with guns blazing, as he'd quickly cut the deficit to 9-8 behind a takedown + 2pt gut..

But the 2023 UWW Senior World Bronze Medalist/2x Age-Group World Bronze [Takatani] was relentless in answering back, as he'd again be able to score points in bunches!!

The victory avenged a 6-4 loss suffered to Dake in the quarterfinals at 2023 UWW Senior Worlds!!!