Mills Wins U17 Gold in Men's Freestyle; Three Others in Sunday's Finals

The first medals were awarded in men’s freestyle at the U17 World Championships on Saturday and the American contingent already has three with more on the horizon.

Saturday gold medal matches featured a pair of American wrestlers - Ariah Mills at 48 kg and Arseni Kikiniou at 65 kg. The two split as Mills dominated for the gold, while Kikiniou was painfully close but will have to settle for silver.

Mills squared off with Iranian Sina Boustani Kalateh Abbasabad, who took an early lead; however, it went downhill fast for the Iranian. Mills was placed on the shot clock in the opening period and ended up surrendering a point to Boustani Kalateh Abbasabad. Shortly after the point, Mills used a knee pick to get his opponent off balance and then locked up a takedown. He’d take a 2-1 lead into the second period.

Mills would add to his lead early in the final period by getting a second takedown, this time after a snapdown, followed by spinning for two. Off the next restart, Boustani Kalateh Abbasabad made a poor shot and Mills made him pay with a lightning-quick counter for two more and a 6-1 lead. One more was all Mills needed to seal the win. Another bit of stout defense allowed Mills to get a third takedown. This time, he was able to isolate an arm and turned Boustani Kalateh Abbasabad twice with a trapped-arm gut wrench for the 12-1 win.

With Mills’ win, it will ensure that the men’s freestyle team has at least one gold medalist from this event - something they’ve had every year since this tournament was reintroduced in 2011.

Kikiniou lost a tactical affair in the 65 kg finals to Azerbaijan’s Huseyn Ismayilov, 1-1. Both points awarded came via slot clock violations - one by each wrestler. Despite the loss, Kikiniou will receive a silver medal and become the first

American at the U17 level to earn medals in both disciplines. Earlier in the week, he claimed a bronze medal in Greco-Roman.

The third American to receive a medal on Saturday was Grey Burnett at 55 kg. Early in his contest with Iran’s Mohammedreza Barari, Burnett stuffed a shot attempt and then scored a takedown from the front headlock position. Seconds later, he locked up a high gut and turned the Iranian for two points and a 4-0 lead. That sequence represented the only scoring of the bout and Burnett walked away with a bronze medal.

The last five members of the men’s freestyle team began their tournaments on Saturday, as well. They were a powerful bunch that pushed three wrestlers into the finals and one other will be in Sunday’s repechage. Keegan Bassett (45 kg), Sammy Sanchez (51 kg), and Jayden James (71 kg) all will wrestle for gold medals tomorrow.

Bassett fought through a path that included some traditional powers in India, Kazakhstan, and Russia. He’ll have to get by Iran’s Parsa Tahmasbi for the gold.

Sanchez is looking to become just the fifth two-time U17 champion in men’s freestyle for Team USA since the tournament was revived in 2011. A group that includes Yianni Diakomihalis, Gable Steveson, Kurt McHenry, and Dom Munaretto is pretty solid company. Standing between Sanchez and that group is Uzbekistan’s Ulugbek Rashidov. Like Sanchez, Rashidov is a returning U17 gold medalist. In 2024, Sanchez won the 45 kg gold medal, while Rashidov won at 48 kg.

One of the more entertaining bouts of the day came in the 71 kg semifinals as Jayden James pinned Armenia’s Yeghishe Mosesyan for a berth in the finals. The Armenian had a chest wrap from a front headlock position and tried to roll through with it - a scramble ensued and James ended up on top for the fall. He’ll face Iran’s Arsham Mostafa in tomorrow’s gold medal match.

Still with medal hopes alive is Tanner Hodgins at 92 kg. Hodgins lost his first bout of the tournament to Iran’s Amirali Alizadeh. Alizadeh ended up in the finals and pulled Hodgins back into repechage. He’ll need to win two bouts tomorrow morning just to wrestle for a bronze medal. Hodgins journey through the repechage bracket starts with a bout versus Mongolia’s Saruul Erdenetsogt. 
 

American results

45 kg

Round of 16: Keegan Bassett over Shivam (India)  8-5

Quarterfinals: Keegan Bassett over Bakdaulet Agabek (Kazakhstan)  15-4

Semifinals: Keegan Bassett over Ibragim Veliullov (Russia)  6-2
 

48 kg

Gold medal match: Ariah Mills over Sina Boustani Kalateh Abbasabad (Iran)  12-1
 

51 kg

Round of 32: Sammy Sanchez over Georgi Spasov (Bulgaria)  10-0

Round of 16: Sammy Sanchez over Bugra Kavak (Turkiye)  13-2

Quarterfinals: Sammy Sanchez over Temuri Tutaarashvili (Georgia)  12-1

Semifinals: Sammy Sanchez over Danael Abdykassym (Kazakhstan)  10-0
 

55 kg

Bronze medal match: Grey Burnett (USA) over Mohammadreza Barari (Iran)  4-0
 

60 kg

Round of 32: Bekassyl Assambek (Kazakhstan) over Ashton Besmer  10-0

65 kg

Gold medal match: Huseyn Ismayilov (Azerbaijan) over Arseni Kikiniou  1-1
 

71 kg

Round of 32: Jayden James over Koba Goguadze (Georgia)  12-2

Round of 16: Jayden James over Rashad Veysalov (Azerbaijan)  13-2

Quarterfinals: Jayden James over Farrukhbek Jumanazarov (Uzbekistan)  6-0

Semifinals: Jayden James over Yeghishe Mosesyan (Armenia)  Fall 3:38
 

92 kg

Round of 32: Amirali Alizadeh (Iran) over Tanner Hodgins  11-4
 

Sunday’s gold medal matches

45 kg: Keegan Bassett vs. Parsa Tahmasbi (Iran)

51 kg: Sammy Sanchez vs. Ulugbek Rashidov (Uzbekistan)

60 kg: Rihito Hiura (Japan) vs. Sitender (India)

71 kg: Jayden James vs. Arsham Mostafa (Iran)

92 kg: Amirali Alizadeh (Iran) vs. David Dzebisov (Russia)
 

Final Medal round results

48 kg

Gold medal match: Ariah Mills (USA) over Sina Boustani Kalateh Abbasabad (Iran)  12-1

Bronze medal match: Dovudbek Bakhadirov (Kyrgyzstan) over Masamune Ushimado (Japan)  12-0

Bronze medal match: Islam Rabadanov (Russia) over Ravan Hasanzade (Azerbaijan)  11-9
 

55 kg

Gold medal match: Jinnosuke Okonogi (Japan) over Abdumalik Jaloldinov (Uzbekistan)  5-4

Bronze medal match: Chingis Saryglar (Russia) over Jovanni Tovar (Colombia)  8-2

Bronze medal match: Grey Burnett (USA) over Mohammadreza Barari (Iran)  4-0
 

65 kg

Gold medal match: Huseyn Ismayilov (Azerbaijan) over Arseni Kikiniou  1-1

Bronze medal match: Adisbek Altynbekov (Kyrgyzstan) over Yeraly Askerbek (Kazakhstan)  7-1

Bronze medal match: Morteza Haj Mollamohammadi (Iran) over Gourav Punia (India)  8-8
 

80 kg

Gold medal match: Artur Kostiuk (Ukraine) over Mohammadparsa Karami (Iran)  3-1

Bronze medal match: Issa Zangiev (Russia) over Muhammet Erturk (Turkiye)  5-2

Bronze medal match: Dinmukhammed Kassymbek (Kazakhstan) over Ivan Paslari (Moldova)  5-4
 

110 kg

Gold medal match: Magomedrasul Omarov (Russia) over Lacky (India)  6-4

Bronze medal match: Amirhossein Naghdalipour (Iran) over Murtaz Bagdavadze (Georgia)  11-0

Bronze medal match: Hakim Taghiyev (Azerbaijan) over Stefan Stefanov (Bulgaria)  1-1