Logan Stieber is a World champion

BUDAPEST, Hungary — With perfect technique and measured poise, Logan Stieber blazed a path to greatness in wrestling that has produced one of the all-time best resumes in the history of the sport.The 2010 Monroeville graduate added another impressive accomplishment to that list Saturday afternoon in Budapest. Stieber won four difficult matches at 61kg (134 pounds) at the Non-Olympic Weight World Championships to claim the gold medal at his weight class.The four-time NCAA champion and 2015 Ohio State graduate was on his first U.S. World team with the appearance, and capped it off with a steady 8-4 win in the gold medal final over Beka Lomtadze (Georgia).Despite a 303-4 record in folkstyle at Monroeville and Ohio State, the international freestyle level had been a bit harder for Stieber to break through — making Saturday's gold medal performance all the more special."It's just different. I equally love winning each event, probably about the same, it doesn't really phase me too much," Stieber told USA Wrestling. "Everything else, nothing came easy in no way — but it's come naturally, and this hasn't. So this feels great."Leading 1-0 in the finals, it was the second period where Stieber was able to take control. He scored a takedown and an ankle lace just seconds apart for a 5-0 lead, though Lomtadze was able to get two counter points.But a low single-leg takedown made it 7-2, then Lomtadze — who placed seventh in the 2015 Worlds — came back with a takedown to close the lead to 8-4. But with time expiring, rather than get defensive, Stieber stayed aggressive and nearly scored one more takedown as time ran out to make the 4-point decision stand."I wanted to be all over him, I just wasn't scoring," Stieber said of the finals. "But I felt really good at the end of the first period. I knew it was a matter of time getting in. I knew he was dangerous with his chest lock and his fireman's (carry). But once I shut that down, I knew I was going to get to him."He did a good rip when I laced him, and I let up for a second with the takedown that made it 8-4," he added. "But I felt comfortable. I felt great the whole match."Stieber made a three-match run in the morning session to earn his spot in the finals, knocking off three high-quality opponents.He opened with a straight forward 10-0 technical fall over 2015 World bronze medalist Vasyl Shuptar (Ukraine). But the next two matches were won with dramatic last-second takedowns.In the quarterfinals, he beat medalist Akhmed Chakaev (Russia), 13-11. In the semifinals, a last-second takedown as time expired allowed him to rally past Iran's Behnam Ehsanpoor, 9-8."Just focus, I don't really think when I'm out there, I'm just trying to score," Stieber said of the climactic wins. "I have confidence in my sprint and short time offense. I didn't draw it up this way, but it's a win."I think I wasn't relaxed, but wearing on them," he added. "I feel like I'm close a lot, and happened to get the one with three seconds left. For the day, though, I wrestled well to win the title. I enjoyed it all and felt great."Stieber was fourth at the U.S. World Trials in 2009 and 2011, and finished third in 2013. In 2012, he was runner-up at the Olympic Trials for the Summer Games in London — at the age of 21, following his redshirt freshman season with the Buckeyes.But focusing solely on freestyle, the OHSAA record holder for consecutive wins (179), narrowly missed out on competing for an Olympic spot at 65kg (143 pounds) this past summer. At the Olympic Trials in Iowa on April 9, Stieber finished tied with Frank Molinaro in his semifinal match — but Molinaro won on a criteria tie-breaker for having a higher-point move.Molinaro went on to win the weight and competed for the U.S. at the Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) Summer Games in August. Stieber — also a four-time state champion at Monroeville and one of just four to claim four NCAA titles — made the trip to Rio as a training partner for Molinaro. By then, however, he had already began the process of cutting nearly 10 pounds to compete at 61kg on Saturday.With Saturday's win, Stieber also secured a spot in the best-of-three finals at the 2017 U.S. World Trials — meaning he's likely staying down at 134 pounds."It wasn't a couple months thing, it started in May and took a while to get my weight down where it needed to be," he said. "I didn't want to get lighter than 150 pounds, it makes the cut hard, but it was worth it, I guess."But I see myself there (at 134)," he added. "I'm in finals of Trials now, we'll see how these things work out. I don't enjoy making scratch weight, but I'll be on the World Cup team in February, too — so that's not bad."Younger brother by 18 months, Hunter Stieber, also a four-time state champion at Monroeville and a two-time All-American at Ohio State — was with Logan this week in Budapest as a training partner.Logan Stieber, a 2010 Monroeville graduate, stands atop the podium with his gold medal after winning the 61kg title at the Non-Olympic Weight World Championships Saturday in Budapest, Hungary.Logan Stieber, left, controls Frank Molinaro during their 65-kilogram freestyle match at the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team Trials on April 9 in Iowa City, Iowa.