RIO DE JANEIRO – After going 1-1 in his first two matches of the Rio Games, Andy Bisek found himself in the last place he wanted to be: watching two other Greco-Roman wrestlers on the mat, knowing his Olympic medal hopes lay entirely in their hands.

Bisek, of Chaska, eked out a 1-0 victory over Yurisandy Hernandez Rios of Cuba in his opener of the 75-kilogram (165 pounds) weight class. One mistake doomed him in the quarterfinals, as he lost 2-0 to Croatia's Bozo Starcevic. To get into the repechage — and keep wrestling toward a bronze medal — he needed Starcevic to upset defending Olympic champion Roman Vlasov of Russia in the semifinals.

"It's incredibly hard,'' Bisek said. "As soon as you lose, you know it's not in your hands any more. Then you have to watch.''

It was even harder to take when Starcevic lost a controversial, chaotic match at Carioca Arena 2, eliminating Bisek from his first Olympic tournament. Teammate Jesse Thielke fared no better in the 59kg (130 pounds) class. Thielke, who wrestled at the University of Wisconsin, won his first match 8-0 over El Mahadi Messaoudi of Morocco but lost 9-0 to Rovshan Bayramov of Azerbaijan in the quarterfinals. Bayramov lost in his semifinal to knock Thielke out of contention.

Bisek controlled much of the match against Starcevic, but Greco-Roman wrestling is an unforgiving sport in which overall superiority can be outweighed by a single error. He offered no excuses, nor did he grumble about his exit. Vlasov repeated as Olympic champion at 75kg, and Cuba's Ismael Borrero Molina won the 59kg title.

"I felt good in my wrestling, my condition, my body,'' said Bisek, who is ranked No. 5 in the world at 75kg. "I just made a few mistakes. I should have gotten a takedown earlier in that match, and I should have been able to fight and get him to open up again in the second period.

Brian Wicker — Star Tribune, Star Tribune
Andy Bisek of Chaska (in red) eked out a 1-0 victory over Yurisandy Hernandez Rios of Cuba in his opener of the 75-kilogram (165 pounds) weight class. One mistake doomed him in the quarterfinals, as he lost 2-0 to Croatia’s Bozo Starcevic. To get into the repechage — and keep wrestling toward a bronze medal — he needed Starcevic to upset defending Olympic champion Roman Vlasov of Russia in the semifinals. It was even harder to take when Starcevic lost a controversial, chaotic match at Carioca Arena 2, eliminating Bisek from his first Olympic tournament.

"I was really confident even after I got turned that I was going to be able to get back to those positions and get a score. But he did a great job of preventing that.''

There wasn't much action in Bisek's first match. He won by virtue of a point awarded to him because Hernandez Rios was too passive.

Starcevic upset three-time world champion Selcuk Cebi of Turkey in the round of 16 to reach the quarterfinals. He and Bisek never had faced each other in competition, but they have wrestled in practices. Bisek positioned himself well throughout the first period, creating some opportunities to score, but he could not finish.

His best chance came when the wrestlers went to the par terre position. Bisek had the advantage of being on top, with Starcevic down on his hands and knees, but Bisek could not turn him over. In the second period, with Bisek in the down position, Starcevic turned him with a gutwrench for the only two points of the match.

"When I didn't get a turn on top, that was a huge failure,'' Bisek said. "And I should not have been turned. I stopped moving.

"I thought I still had a really good chance, because I'd been dominating and controlling. I thought I was going to be able to come back. But he came out with a good amount of determination to stay solid and stay tight and really prevent me from getting anything going.''

Bisek's tournament ended when Starcevic lost a bizarre match. In the first period, Vlasov was cut above his eye, and officials stopped the match so his head could be wrapped with an enormous bandage. He was leading 6-0 when Starcevic tried to pin him; during the move, his arm pressed on Vlasov's throat, choking him into unconsciousness.

The referee stopped the match, Vlasov was revived, and Starcevic was given two points. He and his coaches argued he should have received four points for a fall. The Croatians jawed with the officials through the rest of the match to no avail, and Vlasov hung on to win 6-3.

Bisek was impressed with Vlasov's grit, even though it spelled the end for his Olympic tournament. He isn't sure what is next for him. He will take a week or so to reflect on his entire Olympic experience and ponder his future.

It was difficult, he said, to know he didn't get the job done despite having all the ingredients in place. That didn't make him love his sport any less.

"It is very frustrating,'' Bisek said. "But when you win, it's extremely rewarding. That's why we do it.''