55 kg World 5th Place finisher Max Nowry (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)After a day of competition at theSenior World Championships, Max Nowry at 55 kg, was the lone American in medal contention. Nowry made the semifinals, but fell to the eventual champion Eldaniz Azizli (Azerbaijan). That dropped Nowry into the bronze medal match opposite two-time Asian champion Yu Shiotani (Japan). Shiotani got the scoring underway with a four-pointer early in the first period. That proved to be the difference as Nowry was never able to penetrate the defense of the Japanese star and fell 7-0. It wasn't for a lack of trying as Nowry tried multiple headlock attempts, but was never able to land one.
This was the second time (2019) that Nowry lost in the bronze medal match. He battled through an apparent elbow injury that was aggravated during the first bout of the tournament, yet he still managed to notch a pair of falls.
Day two at the 2022 Senior World Championships saw one of the late additions to the Greco-Roman world team, Sammy Jones, hit the mat first at 63 kg. Less than a week ago, it was announced publicly that Jones would replace Jesse Thielke as the American representative. Jones' first world team event saw him take on India's Neeraj.
After no scoring for the first minute and a half of the contest, Jones was deemed passive and sent down in par terre. Neeraj was able to take advantage of favorable position and added a pair of points with a gut wrench. That gave the Indian wrestler a 3-0 lead heading into the second period. The second period mainly consisted of hand fighting and small positional battles. Neeraj was the only wrestler to put up any points, as he added a single score via step out. Despite a hard-charging Jones' efforts, Neeraj prevailed via 4-0 score.
2020 Olympian Alex Sancho was the next American to start his tournament on Sunday. Sancho's opponent at the 67 kg weight class was Norva Kalala Bukasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo). Sancho was the aggressor in the early going, which led to a passivity call on Kalala Bukasa. Right away, Sancho was able to convert with a four-point lift. Not content with a 5-0 lead, Sancho was able to get a second lift going out of bounds, which resulted in another four-points. That was enough for the technical superiority criteria and match termination.
Sancho's win put him into the Round of 16 opposite Ukraine's Parviz Nasibov. The 2020 Olympic silver medalist, Nasibov, got on the board first as he was given a point due to perceived passivity on Sancho's part. Nasibov added to his score with a four-point lift. That would be the only scoring sequence for the entire bout.
2021 U20 Greco-Roman World bronze medalist Braxton Amos wasted no time in his Senior world debut. Just :25 seconds into his bout in the qualification round against Vladen Kozliuk (Ukraine), Amos was able to counter an attack from Kozliuk and toss the Ukrainian for four points of his own. Shortly thereafter, Amos avoided disaster, when Kozliuk threw a headlock and nearly pinned the American. Back on their feet, Kozliuk tried for another and Amos deftly ducked the manuever and crunched his opponent to the match for another two points. The pair would head into the break with Amos leading 6-2.
Kozliuk got right back in the match in the second period with a duckunder followed immediately by a gut wrench. Though the bout was knotted at six points, Amos still led with criteria.
Late in the period, with Kozliuk looking to take the lead and seeking an opening, Amos brought out a headlock of his own, to blow the match wide open at 10-6. During the same sequence, Amos scored with a trapped-arm gut to extend his lead to 12-6, which ended up being the final tally.
In the Round of 16 Amos faced Kyrgyzstan's Beksultan Makhmudov, an Asian bronze medalist in 2021. As often is the case in Greco, the first scoring sequence took place after Amos was called for passivity. Makhmudov immediately locked up a trapped arm gut and rolled Amos through two times to take a 5-0 lead. That lead would prove insurmountable as Amos would add individual points for a step out and passivity, but still fell, 5-2.
The final member of the American contingent to start their tournament on Sunday was Spencer Woods at 82 kg. Woods got on the scoreboard right away with a four-point throw. That was a sign of things to come in a back-and-forth shootout that looked to favor Woods or opponent Chengwu Wang (China) on multiple different occasions. Woods led the contest 12-6 after the first period, but the lead was extended by a point after a failed challenge from the Chinese corner.
The tide turned once again, and for the final time, early in the second period when Wang used an over-under body lock to throw Woods for four points. Woods fought off his back from over :20 seconds, but eventually Wang was able to secure the fall.
2022 American Senior World Championship Results
55 kg Greco-Roman
Bronze Medal Match: Yu Shiotani (Japan) over Max Nowry 7-0
63 kg Greco-Roman
Qualification: Neeraj (India) over Sammy Jones 4-0
67 kg Greco-Roman
Qualification: Alex Sancho over Norva Kalala Bukasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo) 9-0
Round of 16: Parviz Nasibov (Ukraine) over Alex Sancho 5-0
82 kg Greco-Roman
Chengwu Wang (China) over Spencer Woods 4:01
97 kg Greco-Roman
Qualification: Braxton Amos over Vladen Kozliuk (Ukraine) 12-6
Round of 16: Beksultan Makhmudov (Kyrgyzstan) over Braxton Amos 5-2
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