Three Americans in Repechage After Day One at U17 World Championships

Action got underway today from the U17 World Championships, and Greco-Roman was the initial style. Half of the American Greco contingent saw the mats on day one. When the dust settled, all five Americans have been knocked out of the chase for gold, but three remain in repechage. With a couple of wins, they still can come home from Athens, Greece, with a bronze medal. 

Of the two Americans that have already been eliminated - Isai Fernandez (80 kg) and Alex Taylor (110 kbs), both were able to garner wins on the day. Each came via tech. 

At 55 kg and 65 kg, Alexander Pierce and Arseni Kikiniou, respectively, suffered losses in their round of 32 bouts, but managed to get pulled back into repechage. 

The lightest member of Monday’s group of five, Michael Rundell, managed to post a win and is still in medal contention. In his opening round match with Ukraine’s Artem Kolos, Rundell got to wok from the par terre position after Kolos was deemed to be passive in the opening stanza. That opportunity was all Rundell needed as he secured a head pinch and exposed Kolos four times for a 9-0 tech. 

The remainder of the Greco-Roman weights will start their tournament on Tuesday morning. Before they get going, the wrestlers in repechage will continue their quest towards bronze medals. 

Below are the results for the Americans on day one, plus their repechage opponents, and the gold medal match at their weight. 
 

48 kg 

Round of 16: Michael Rundell over Artem Kolos (Ukraine)  10-0

Quarterfinals: Nurdaulet Kumaruly (Kazakhstan) over Michael Rundell  8-0

Repechage: Michael Rundell vs. Gurban Majnunov (Azerbaijan)

Finals Matchup: Nurdaulet Kumaruly (Kazakhstan) vs. Bunyod Hansanov (Uzbekistan)
 

55 kg

Round of 32: Nurali Askar (Kazakhstan) over Alexander Pierce  8-4

Repechage: Alexander Pierce vs. Lavozier Wadik Maruso (Brazil)
 

Finals Matchup: Nurali Askar (Kazakhstan) vs. Alkham Abdirasulov (Kyrgyzstan) 
 

65 kg

Round of 32: Janes Nazaryan (Armenia) over Arseni Kikiniou  4-1

Repechage: Arseni Kikiniou vs. Huseyn Isgandarov (Azerbaijan
 

Finals Matchup: Huseyn Isgandarov (Azerbaijan) vs. Erekle Tavberidze (Georgia)
 

80 kg

Round of 32: Isai Fernandez over Valentin Valentinov (Bulgaria)  10-0

Round of 16: Nurislam Oskonbaev (Kyrgyzstan) over Isai Fernandez  5-1

Finals Matchup: Luka Martiashvili (Georgia) vs. Abdulaziz Kholmirzev (Uzbekistan)
 

110 kg

Round of 32: Alex Taylor over Essam Hussein (Egypt)  10-1

Round of 16: Denis Lazarov (Bulgaria) over Alex Taylor  3-3
 

Finals Matchup: Yazdan Delrouz (Iran) vs. Hardeep (India)