Henry Cejudo of US stands on podium during victory ceremony of men's freestyle 55kg medal match at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games wrestling event, Aug. 19, 2008. Henry Cejudo of US won the bout over Matsunaga Tomohiro of Japan and got the gold medal. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

Henry Cejudo of US celebrates victory during the men's freestyle 55kg gold medal match at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games wrestling event in Beijing, China, Aug. 19, 2008. Henry Cejudo of US won the bout over Matsunaga Tomohiro of Japan and got the gold medal. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Pan American champion Henry Cejudo on Tuesday won the United States' first wrestling gold medal in the Olympic men's freestyle 55kg category competition on Tuesday.

    The 21-year-old American defeated 2008 Asian champion Tomohiro Matsunaga of Japan in two bouts in the final.

    The United States had won two bronzes in the men's Greco-Roman and women's freestyle.

    Radoslav Velikov of Bulgaria, 2006 world champion, and 2007 world champion Besik Kudukhov of Russia finished joint third.