Japan's wrestlers made a promising start on the mat Thursday as Chikara Tanabe and Kazuyuki Miyata both posted wins in their respective preliminary bouts.
In the 54-kg freestyle category, Tanabe threw down Moon Myung Seok of South Korea on his way to an 8-2 win and will face 1998 world champion Sam Henson of the United States in the afternoon session.
Miyata, wrestling at 63 kg, took an extra 93 seconds to finish off Georgia's Otar Tushishvilli, 4-3, and will take on Cuba's 1997 Pan American gold medalist Carlos Ortiz in the afternoon meet.