Freestyle/Greco News

BELGRADE, Serbia – Xavier Johnson, the lone U.S. athlete competing in Greco-Roman on the final day of the 2023 Senior World Championships, dropped his 63 kg repechage match on Sunday afternoon.

He was defeated by technical fall by Hrachya Poghosyan of Armenia, 8-0. Poghosyan scored an early takedown, lifted and threw Johnson for four points, and ended the match with a gutwrench in the first period.

Johnson, who had a 1-2 record for the tournament, placed 10th in the standings, scoring two team points for the United States.

The other two U.S. wrestlers in Group Three were eliminated on Saturday, Alejandro Sancho (67 kg) and Zachary Braunagel (87 kg).

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BELGRADE, Serbia – Xavier Johnson has the final opportunity to win a medal in Greco-Roman for the United States, as he has qualified for the repechage round at 62 kg at the World Wrestling Championships in Stark Arena.

Johnson will wrestle Hrachya Poghosyan of Armenia in repechage on Sunday afternoon. If he wins against Poghosyan, he reaches a bronze medal match against Georgij Tibilov of Serbia.

Johnson, competing in his first Senior Worlds, opened up his competition with a 10-0 technical fall over India wrestler Vikram Kurade of UWW. In his second bout, he was edged by past World silver medalist Murad Mammedov of Azerbaijan, 3-1. Mammedov won his Saturday night semifinal, which made Johnson eligible for repechage. Only losers to a finalist may compete in repechage.

2020 Olympian Alejandro Sancho won two matches to reach the Saturday afternoon quarterfinals, where he was defeated by Slavik Galstyan of Armenia, 9-0. When Galstyan was defeated in the semifinals in the evening, Sancho was eliminated.

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BELGRADE, Serbia – The USA won three matches on Friday in Greco-Roman at the World Wrestling Championships at Stark Arena on Friday.

Of the seven athletes who have competed so far for the USA, only Joe Rau at 97 kg still has a chance to battle for a medal. Rau had a 1-1 record on Saturday, winning his opening bout over Filip Smetko of Croatia, 4-1, then losing to Olympic and World champion Artur Aleksanyan of Armenia by technical fall, 9-0.

When Aleksanyan won his semifinal match on Friday night, Rau was pulled back into Saturday morning’s repechage round, which gives him a chance to wrestle back for a bronze medal.

Rau will face Nicu Ojog of Romania in repechage on Saturday morning. If he geats Ojog, he has another repechage match against Artur Omarov of Czechia. A win over Omarov would advance Rau to Saturday night’s bronze medal bout against Mindaugas Venckaitis of Lithuania.

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BELGRADE, Serbia – The United States women’s freestyle team closed out the 2023 World Championships with its first individual World champion of the year, Amit Elor at 72 kg and placed second in the team standings behind powerhouse Japan.

Elor defeated Davaanasan Enkh Amar of Mongolia, 8-2 in the finals, to win her second straight Senior World title at this weight class. Elor went to the break with a 3-0 lead, with two step out points and a point when Enkh Amar was placed on the shot clock and did not score. In the second period, Elor and Enkh Amar each got a takedown to make it 5-2, but Elor reversed to make it 6-2. A last-second counter takedown closed the scoring for Elor.

Elor won four matches on the way to the title. Last year, she became the youngest U.S. Senior World champion at age 18. She is now a two-time Senior World champion while still a teenager.

In addition to her two Senior World titles, Elor has won three U20 World titles, a U17 World title and a U23 World title. Last year, she won the Senior, U23 and U20 all in the same season. This year, she has already won the Senior and U20 World titles and is expected to compete in the U23 World Championships in Tirana, Albania at the end of October.

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BELGRADE, Serbia – The United States added four more women’s freestyle World medals on Wednesday, qualified three weight classes for the Paris Olympics, and placed two more athletes in medal matches set for Thursday at the World Wrestling Championships in Stark Arena.

All four U.S. women in Group Two won individual medals, a silver from first time World Team member Macey Kilty (65 kg), and bronze medals from veteran stars Helen Maroulis (57 kg), Adeline Gray (76 kg) and Sarah Hildebrandt (50 kg).

Maroulis, Gray and Hildebrandt compete at Olympic weight classes. By winning medals, they all have qualified the United States to compete at their weight class at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The top five in each of the six women’s freestyle Olympic weight classes qualify their nation to compete in Paris at that weight class.

Kilty had a strong run on Tuesday, winning four straight matches to reach the finals. She battled 2022 World champion Nonoka Ozaki of Japan in the finals. Ozaki scored a takedown, and was able to turn Kilty four times from par terre to secure a first-period technical fall.

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BELGRADE, Serbia – It was another busy and successful for Team USA at the World Wrestling Championships at Stark Arena on Tuesday.

The U.S. Men’s Freestyle World Team was crowned World Team Champions, the fifth-time ever and the first time that the team has won back-to-back World Team Titles. The USA men’s freestylers finished with seven medals (three gold, one silver and three bronze medals).

Team USA scored 148 points, well ahead of runner-up Iran with 108 points. Georgia claimed the third-place trophy with 80 points. The United States won men’s freestyle World Team titles in 1993, 1995, 2017, 2022 and 2023.

Kyle Snyder capped off a full week of success by winning his ninth straight World or Olympic medal for the United States by claiming a bronze medal at 97 kg. He won a Tuesday morning repechage match, then received the bronze medal Tuesday night when Abulrashid Sadulaev, a two-time Olympic champion and an Individual Neutral Athlete, could not compete due to injury. Snyder began his medal streak in 2015 with a World gold medal and now has two Olympic medals and seven World medals, including four golds.

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The USA men’s freestylers have won six medals, with a silver from Kyle Dake and bronze from Zahid Valencia today. The U.S. women started with Jacarra Winchester reaching the finals and Jen Page going for a bronze tomorrow.

BELGRADE, Serbia – The United States added two more men’s freestyle medals on Monday and remained in the men’s freestyle team race at the World Wrestling Championships at Stark Arena.

In the Group Two finals, four-time World champion Kyle Dake had a classic battle with 2020 Olympic champion and two-time World champion Zaurbek Sidakov, an Individual Neutral Athlete from Russia at 74 kg. It was the last final of the night. When it was all over, after a number of challenges and close calls, Sidakov won his third career World title with a 10-7 victory over Dake.

Dake led 1-0 at the break on a step out, but things opened up in the second period. When Dake was on the shot clock, Sidakov got a takedown and added a point when the 30 seconds ran out on Dake to lead 3-0. A Dake takedown tied it at 3-3. There was a wild exchange which went to a challenge and when it was sorted out Sidakov led 8-7. A exchange at the end of the match also went to a challenge, and Sidakov was given two more points for a 10-7 finish.

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