U17 World Champion Joel Adams (photos courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)On the first day that medals were awarded from the 2022 Cadet World Championships in Rome, Italy, the United States crowned its first U17 Greco-Roman champion in five years. Joel Adams, the entrant at 65 kg, finished his tournament in style with a 6-0 shutout of Iran's Ahoura Bouveiri Piani.
Adams jumped on the board quickly with a snapdown and arm drag in the opening stanza. Late in the period, Adams deftly escaped surrendering any points when he was driven to his backside by his Iranian counterpart. A well-placed whizzer prevented Bouveiri Piani from either exposure points or spinning for a takedown.
In what would be a reoccurring theme, Adams extended his lead to 4-0 with a second takedown off of an arm drag. Nursing a 4-0 lead and with the Iranian pushing, Adams was warned against circling inbounds with about :30 seconds left in the bout. Shortly thereafter, Adams secured yet another takedown via the drag, which pushed his lead to 6-0 and was the finishing touches on a dominant performance.
Not only did Adams blank the Iranian in the gold medal match, but the Nebraska native also did not yield a single point in the entire tournament. He outscored the competition 36-0 across five matches yesterday and today.
Adams' title is the first by a United State Greco-Roman wrestler since Cohlton Schultz did so in 2017. At the 2021 World Championships, Cory Land (silver at 55 kg), was the lone medalist.
The remainder of the Greco team took the mat on Tuesday and three still have a shot at winning a medal. Zan Fugitt (60 kg) and Arvin Khosravy (71 kg) were both pulled back into repechage after their opponents made the finals. Both will need to win a repechage match before having a shot at the bronze. Cody Merrill (92 kg) notched a pair of falls which landed him in the semifinals. A loss to German Darius Kiefer knocked Merrill out of the gold medal hunt, but he automatically falls into a bronze medal match tomorrow.
65 kg Greco-Roman Gold Medal Match
Joel Adams (USA) over Ahoura Bouveiri Piani (Iran) 6-0
45 kg Greco-Roman Results
Qualification: Ionut Mereuta (Romania) over Davis Motyka (USA) 2-1
***Eliminated from medal contention***
Gold Medal Match: Yevhen Pokovba (Ukraine) vs. Shakhzod Ruziokhunov (Uzbekistan)
51 kg Greco-Roman Results
Qualification: Peter Totok (Hungary) over Elyle Francisco (USA) 12-3
***Eliminated from medal contention***
Gold Medal Match: Aytjan Khalmakhanov (Uzbekistan) vs. Mohammadreza Gholami (Iran)
60 kg Greco-Roman Results
Qualification: Gaspar Terteryan (Armenia) over Zan Fugitt (USA) 9-0
Repechage Matchup: Zan Fugitt vs. Yussuf Ashrapov (Kazakhstan)
Gold Medal Match: Gaspar Terteryan (Armenia) vs. Lucas LoGrasso (France)
71 kg Greco-Roman Results
Round of 16: Arvin Khosravy (USA) over Marco Begle (Austria) 9-0
Quarterfinals: Anri Putkaradze (Georgia) over Arvin Khosravy 10-0
Repechage Matchup: Arvin Khosravy vs. Mihael Lukac (Croatia)/Dominik Czuczor (Hungary) winner
Gold Medal Match: Anri Putkaradze (Georgia) vs. Davud Mammadov (Azerbaijan)
92 kg Greco-Roman Results
Round of 16: Cody Merrill (USA) over Arsen Ruslanov (Kyrgyzstan) Fall
Quarterfinals: Cody Merrill (USA) over Florin Manolache (Romania) Fall
Semifinals: Darius Kiefer (Germany) over Cody Merrill 9-0
Bronze Medal Matchup: Cody Merrill vs. Marcell Gyuricza (Hungary)/Josip Benko (Croatia) winner
Gold Medal Match: Darius Kiefer (Germany) vs. Gor Ayvazyan (Georgia)
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