InterMat Staff

Two-time All-American Lucas Davison speaks to Kevin Claunch about a variety of topics. Kevin and Davison highlight the "student" in the student-athlete in his collegiate career. Davison discusses his time at Northwestern, the impact his family has on his career, and the move to Michigan in the offseason and his future. GMT20230927-200732_Recording_640x360.mp4

Pitt is coming off of the most successful year they have had since the return of head coach Keith Gavin to his alma mater. The Panthers won a share of the ACC dual title and crowned their first NCAA champion since Gavin, with Nino Bonaccorsi earning the title in his second appearance in the NCAA finals. Five other Panthers qualified for the NCAA tournament with Micky Phillippi and Cole Matthews both falling in the bloodround, while Holden Heller made the round of 16; Reece Heller went 1-2 and Luca Augustine went 0-2 in his first trip to the big show. The Panthers have intensified their focus on recruiting western PA and have locked in several solid recruiting classes in a row; their current roster skews 60% for Pennsylvania natives. The classes they have put together are stepping into the lineup and will immediately be dangerous. They will enter this season with nine wrestlers ranked in the preseason and a tenth on the cusp of rankings. It was widely known that Pitt had the potential to be a power program both in the conference and nationally with its location in the middle of the wrestling hotbed; they have had great individual results since Gavin took the helm, and now we are starting to see the team success and depth being built in the lineup. The Panthers will be a solid team this year and have the potential up and down the lineup to have several on the podium in Kansas City. TOP RETURNERS Cole Matthews is looking to return to the podium after a disappointing performance in Tulsa. He added a second ACC title last year and entered the NCAA tournament at 19-1 and in position for a second All-American finish to add to his fifth-place finish in Detroit. He made the quarterfinals in Tulsa before dropping two heartbreakers; 3-1 (TB1) to Beau Bartlett (PSU) in the quarters and 2-1 (TB1) to Dylan D’Emilio (OSU) in the blood round. Matthews has spoken candidly about what he needs to improve and has a great focus coming into this season. Expect to see a more aggressive and offensive Cole Matthews this year. Holden Heller ran through the ACC dual season undefeated but wasn’t able to keep that momentum going into the postseason. He took third in his first ACC Championships and went 2-2 in Tulsa, picking up impressive wins over Alex Facundo (PSU) and past All-American Peyton Hall (WVU). Heller provides a solid anchor in the middle of the lineup and will be in the fight for an ACC title. Reece Heller started the season on an absolute tear going 14-2 and picking up a Midlands title before entering ACC competition in arguably the deepest weight in the conference. He went 19-10 on the season, with six of those losses to All-Americans. Heller has shown that he can go with anyone in the country and should be in the All-American conversation. KEY DEPARTURES Nino Bonaccorsi: 2023 NCAA Champion - 2021 NCAA Runner-Up - 5x NCAA Qualifier - 3x ACC Champion - 2x Scholar All-American - 2023 ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Micky Phillippi: 5x NCAA Qualifier - 4x Round of 12 - 2x ACC Champion - 4x ACC Finalist - 3x Scholar All-American It will be hard to quantify the impact that Micky and Nino made on the Panther program during their time at Pitt. They both bought in fully to the vision that Coach Gavin had and were central to the rebuild of the program to the state that it is in today. The picture of Micky hugging Nino after he won the title encapsulates so much about the culture of the program and the friendships they built through their time as the leaders of this team, both on and off the mat. They set a high bar for current and future Panthers and the program is better from the impact that they left. Bonaccorsi will stay in Pittsburgh; he was brought on staff as the Student-Athlete Development Coordinator. Phillippi will also step into a similar role as the Operations Coordinator at Brown under former Pitt Associate Head Coach Jordan Leen. They both have a bright future in coaching and I’m excited to watch their journey. NEWCOMERS Finn Solomon transferred from NC State and will make an immediate impact at 149 fighting for the starting spot with Tyler Badgett. Vinny Santaniello originally signed with Navy and attended Navy Prep for a year before transferring to Pitt. He was on an injury redshirt last year but has an incredibly high ceiling. His little brother, Anthony was a highly touted recruit and will be joining Vinny as a Panther. Mac Stout is another local recruit who has a crazy amount of potential. He had a year of training with Nino as a redshirt and that impact can’t be understated. WRESTLER TO WATCH Dayton Pitzer Pitzer announced his presence on the NCAA scene last year at Midlands by knocking off former NCAA finalist Cohlton Schultz and All-American Trent Hilger on his way to an appearance in the Midlands finals. Coach Gavin considered naming Pitzer the starter and he utilized his five dates in duals, picking up critical team points; ultimately Gavin wanted to preserve his full eligibility and Pitzer didn’t wrestle in the postseason. He will immediately be an ACC title and All-American contender. REDSHIRT REPORT Briar Priest 8-4 Finn Solomon 16-3 (NC State) Jared Keslar 11-4 Mac Stout 8-4 Dayton Pitzer 7-3 2-1 ACC Duals TOP OUT-OF-CONFERENCE DUAL I am incredibly impressed by the schedule the Panthers have put together this season; it is shaping up to be one of the tougher schedules in the country. Their non-conference slate includes #18 Illinois, #12 Oklahoma State, and #11 Arizona State at home and trips to #22 Maryland, #24 Lehigh, #7 Ohio State and #10 Iowa State. They will also be competing in the National Collegiate Duals over winter break and will face #10 Iowa State, #2 Cornell and Little Rock. It is hard to pick one out-of-conference dual to highlight but I am very excited to see a rematch of the dual with Iowa State that last year went down to criteria. Selfishly, I wish they weren’t pooled with ISU at the Collegiate Duals and had the chance to face another top-10 team, but getting two chances to see that lineup will be great for the Panther squad. This team will be battle-tested going into ACC competition. POTENTIAL LINEUP #17 Tournament #15 Dual 125: #32 Colton Camacho:18-9; 3-2 ACC duals 133: #33 Vinny Santaniello: Did not compete in his redshirt year 141: #8 Cole Matthews: 21-3 5-0 ACC Duals - 2x ACC Champ - 4x NCAA Qualifier All-American (5th in 2022) - R12 2023 149: Finn Solomon: 16-3 (RS at NC State) Tyler Badgett: 16-12 2-3 ACC duals 157: #28 Jared Keslar: 11-4 (RS) Brock McMillen: 3-6 (149) 165: #13 Holden Heller: 16-8 5-0 ACC Duals - 2x NCAA Qualifier (R16 2023) 174: #24 Luca Augustine: 15-11 3-2 ACC Duals - NCAA Qualifier 184: #12 Reece Heller: 19-10 2-3 ACC Duals - NCAA Qualifier 197: #18 Mac Stout: 8-4 (RS) 285: #9 Dayton Pitzer: 7-3 2-1 ACC Duals (RS) - Midlands Runner-Up

With the large NCAA conferences being in the news cycle as of late, it feels right to discuss the potential of a realignment with the EIWA. Conference realignment “is so hot right now” in the words of Zoolander - so it has me asking, what would it look like? When would it occur? What other questions do we need answers to? The EIWA is the only wrestling-specific DI conference in the nation. This is part of what makes it unique. In a pessimist opinion, this also makes it susceptible to fading away forever. I say this because every school in the EIWA has a parent conference the school is part of where other sports are played. A perfect example of this is the Ivy League schools. There is no Ivy League wrestling conference tournament, so they are included with the EIWA schools at the end of the year. This makes the perfect transition to how this article came to fruition. By the looks of it, the Ivy League teams will eventually withdraw from the EIWA to start hosting their own conference championships. I use the term “eventually” because it’s been discussed over the past few seasons with no real timeframe. It does appear to be picking up steam lately and will become a reality. Let’s assume the Ivy League schools leave. The conference would become an 11-team conference once Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Penn, and Princeton withdraw. Of the remaining teams, there is a hodge-podge of parent conferences represented. Actually, six to be exact. This is not a normal conference. It’s not uncommon for a wrestling conference to absorb a team from another sports conference because the school’s main conference does not have wrestling. A prime example of this is Missouri. Every sport in the athletic department competes with the SEC. We know the SEC does not have a wrestling conference, so the Missouri wrestling squad is a Big 12 Conference affiliate. There are a few examples of this elsewhere. The Patriot League is home to American, Army, Navy, Lehigh, and Bucknell. The American East conference is home for Binghamton. The CAA is the sports conference for Drexel and Hofstra. Long Island and Sacred Heart each call the Northeast Conference home in their athletic department. The lone division 3 school, Franklin & Marshall, belongs to the Centennial Conference. One can see why the EIWA is such a unique conference. It’s the perfect conference for all of these teams without a place to call “home” in the wrestling landscape. The geography and academic standards are all similarly associated to each other. The EIWA has had a respectable number of NCAA qualifiers over the past few seasons. Note that the Ivy League did not compete during the 2021 season, so let’s ignore that data and look at the postseason since then. The EIWA allocated 45 automatic qualifiers in 2023 and 41 in 2022. According to the data, the Ivy League accounted for 22 of these allocated spots each season. Half of the automatic bids from the conference were from Ivy League schools. To break that down even further, Penn led the way with 14 over that span, while Cornell had 13. Again, this only looks at wrestlers who earned a qualifying spot for NCAAs before the conference tournament. These numbers dictate how many wrestlers advance to the championships at each weight class. Once we include the total number of actual participants, the numbers alter slightly, but the trend remains. In both 2022 and 2023, the conference gained 10 wild card spots each year. This brought the total number of NCAA participants from the EIWA to 51 in 2022 and 55 in 2023. It's evident how the six Ivy League schools are exceeding the expected average number of qualifiers per team. They make up approximately one-third of the conference (6 of 17 teams) and produce half of the automatic allocations. The emergence of the Ivy League wrestling schools has been discussed before, but these numbers show it to be true. Let’s not forget about the three NCAA Champions in 2023 representing the EIWA were all from Ivy League schools. To even further prove this point, the EIWA had seven All-Americans in 2023. Six of them were Ivy League guys. The lone non-Ivy All-American was Josh Humphreys of Lehigh, who is out of eligibility. This highlights the depth of the EIWA, as a whole conference, but proves the Ivies are much more top-heavy. This is in large part due to Cornell’s dominance in both the EIWA and NCAA alike. What would two separate conference tournaments look like? Going off past results, Cornell would probably still be the top dawg in the Ivies with the remainder chasing them down. Coach Leen taking over at Brown will increase the competition. Plus, a new head coach (Dubuque) at Princeton will expectedly continue to close this gap. The Ivy League wrestling teams are all on the right path to creating a very viable conference, albeit very small in size. Another hypothetical idea to consider is the addition of other conference teams. Once the Ivy League has an established conference tournament, what is stopping both Yale and Dartmouth from getting on board with varsity wrestling teams? An eight-team conference is a great number for wrestling, when looking at bracketing. It’s a perfect scenario to seed all 8 wrestlers and complete the tournament in a single day, if desired. I’m not sure what the consensus for a single-day conference tournament is, but I prefer two days. It just feels right to me. Also, let’s not hold our breath on Yale and Dartmouth adding wrestling to their athletic lineup. How about the EIWA? It’s hard to see anyone overcoming a Lehigh squad with the Ivy schools gone. Lehigh is already a perennial threat to be in the top-three currently. You would see a plethora of teams looking to challenge them at the top. Similar to the previous paragraph, let’s explore the idea of expansion. What teams could join the EIWA – since 11 members seems like a bizarre number. We know Morgan State recently applied to join the conference. That’s an obvious option, if accepted. We mentioned Drexel and Hofstra belonging to the CAA. Campbell is also a CAA program in other sports. Would they be willing to jump ship from the SoCon? This would really expand the conference geographically, making them the furthest team south. Their North Carolina location may not be ideal for the teams closer to the northeast like Sacred Heart, Hofstra, LIU, and more. George Mason used to be in the CAA, over a decade ago. They would be another option to join, as they would need to leave the MAC. For the record, I am not for teams leaving other conferences to join the EIWA – it is simply a hypothetical scenario. Both teams mentioned have seen steady improvement and we would hate to see any switching of conferences disrupt that growth. The Ivy League separation will add a large wrinkle to allocations across the board. The EIWA having such a large conference equates to more upsets at the conference tournament. With an increased number of overall matches, and larger brackets, we are more likely to see upsets occur. With two smaller conferences, the allocations are basically split in half. The conference tournament would make it much more difficult to qualify for NCAAs, as each weight would most likely only allocate the top two place-finishers. A few weights would get a 3rd place finisher through, if lucky. No one asked for my opinion, but I’ll conclude with it. The history of the conference is full of tradition. A handful of these schools have competed in over 100 seasons. We’ve seen many teams come and go from the EIWA. Many have gone into large conferences like the Big Ten and ACC. We’ve seen programs get cut without notice. At 17 teams, it is currently the largest and oldest conference in the country. I understand the desire for the Ivy programs to have their own conference. The potential for upsets, as mentioned before, is so intriguing with large brackets. Splitting the conference will eliminate much of this potential. Not to mention some of the rivalries that came from this conference may end up going by the wayside. Cornell and Lehigh seem to have a nice rivalry going to see who the king of the EIWA is. Many of the fans would love to see this rivalry continue. Drexel and Penn had a friendly rivalry, which has steadily dissipated as they both encourage bettering one another via the Pennsylvania Regional Training Center. But, there is always room for more rivalries once conferences are realigned. It is part of college athletics, and one of those aspects we will need to deal with – whether we like it or not. Whatever the outcome is, whenever the decision is made, the most important thing is for the student-athletes having the opportunity to better themselves for the future. Any current EIWA or Ivy League institution will already provide that. Nothing will change on that front, and that’s a great thing!

Perhaps the "Most Interesting Man in Wrestling" John Clark, head coach of Sacred Heart University, sits down to talk with EIWA correspondent Austin Sommer. Coach Clark explains his well-rounded athletic background that includes a past playing soccer and hockey in addition to his wrestling prowess. Coach Clark is also in the process of getting his doctorate and teaches a class at Sacred Heart. The two also discuss SHU's strong schedule, large roster, and much more. SHU_Clark.mp4

Preseason is one of my favorite times of the year. The discussion of who should be ranked where, what teams will surprise, and the difference of a few spots in the rankings are all topics that could be talked to death before a single competition. Pure rankings are tough to do (shout-out to Earl Smith), especially when you’re doing all the teams in a conference. So instead I decided to try and group them into tiers. Of course, every team is going to say that they want team and individual titles, but what are some other storylines that fans should be keeping an eye out for? Keep on Building (1) California Baptist In their first season fully competing at Division I California Baptist went 1-6 in conference dual competition. They notched a big upset win over Wyoming with a 22-10 victory on the road. One of their best wrestlers Eli Griffin was injured before Big 12’s and is currently ranked #28 at 125lbs. Head coach Derek Moore won Amateur Wrestling News Rookie Coach of the Year, and with three incoming big boarders, are showing the building blocks needed to compete in the Big 12. Finish Strong (1) Utah Valley It was announced this off-season that Utah Valley’s head coach Greg Williams is planning to retire at the end of the 2023-2024 season. He has led the Wolverines for 18 years and helped them transition to Division I. The team is consistently filled with tough wrestlers and has one of the more experienced teams this season. Nine projected starters are upperclassmen, including four seniors. Set up for a solid finish, the team has the potential to surprise some and set themselves up for the future. Fresh Faces (2) North Dakota State Wyoming North Dakota State was 5th in the Big 12 tournament last year, but had a tumultuous offseason. Head coach Roger Kish left, but Obe Blanc was bumped up from within and he brought on Hayden Hidlay, Scott Mattingly, and Ceron Francisco to strengthen his staff. The team was hit hard by the transfer portal, losing All-Americans Jared Franek and Michael Caliendo, along with starters Owen Pentz, DeAnthony Parker, and Juan Mora. They had six 2023 recruits on the Big Board that could make an early impact, and return experienced starters Kellyn March and Gaven Sax. Wyoming graduated starters Hayden Hastings, Cole Moody, Jacob Wright, Chase Zollman, Job Greenwood, and Terren Swartz. They did bring in Gabe Willochell, who qualified for Edinboro in 2022 and placed 3rd in the MAC at 141lbs. The Cowboys also return true freshman qualifier Jore Volk, who will be looking to contend for a Big 12 title. With the #18 ranked recruiting class there is potential for a lot of new, young starters. Wildcard (1) West Virginia West Virginia finished 12th at the Big 12 tournament last season, but that included Killian Cardinale not wrestling and Peyton Hall going 1-1 before injury defaulting. There are some roster changes with last year's starters Cardinale and Scott Joll leaving. The Mountaineers had injury issues last year and struggled to find consistent success, but did have a big win over Pittsburgh in a dual. If they can stay healthy, they have young talent in Jordan Titus, Caleb Dowling, and Brody Conley who can pair with veterans Sam Hillegas, Peyton Hall, and Michael Wolfgram to help the Mountaineers put together some tough duals. Individual Title Contenders (3) #24 Air Force #18 Northern Colorado #17 Northern Iowa Air Force is coming off their best finish in program history with 28.5 points at NCAA’s with five qualifiers. Leading the way is heavyweight Wyatt Hendrickson, the team's first All-American since 2003. The two-time Big 12 champ is a bonus machine, with an 85% rate and 17 falls. The team graduated two other qualifiers, but also returned Tucker Owens and Sam Wolf. Hendrickson has a chance to be Air Force’s second-ever national champ, and the team has a solid core behind him as well. Northern Colorado’s Andrew Alirez appears on his way to take an Olympic redshirt, but right now is the favorite to repeat his title from last year. He also has an impressive 71% bonus rate and looked dominant up to NCAA’s. Stevo Poulin, another Big 12 champ, returns looking to repeat and build off his breakout freshman year. Young wrestlers Xavier Doolin, Derek Matthews, and Vinny Zerban should round this team out to build off last year. Northern Iowa is consistently a top 25 team, and is the epitome of anywhere, anytime. That is shown by the team’s returning leader, Parker Keckeisen. The three-time All-American is the favorite at 184lbs and has previous wins over seven of the top ten. Colin Realbuto is likely to take an Olympic redshirt while competing for Italy, but the Panthers have experience with returning qualifiers Cael Happel, Lance Runyon, and Tyrell Gordon. Add in recent U20 World Greco member Wyatt Voelker coming off redshirt and the team has upset potential in duals. Sleeper Conference Picks (2) #14 Oklahoma #14 South Dakota State After a wild offseason, Oklahoma brought in Roger Kish as the new head coach. The team also brought in transfers Antonio Lorenzo, Jace Koelzer, Guiseppe Hoose, DeAnthony Parker, and Juan Mora. There’s also Stephen Buchanan, Willie McDougald, and John Wiley coming off redshirts. Not every wrestler has a clear lineup spot, but whoever comes out should be competing for a spot in the rankings. The team has a solid starter at every weight and typically performs well at the Big 12 tournament. If everything comes together, they could knock off some of the top teams. South Dakota State finished in sixth at last year’s conference tournament, but has the combination of big guns and young wrestlers with more experience. The team had its best NCAA finish since 2018 and is returning two All-Americans in Tanner Sloan and Clay Carlson. They have Bennett Berge and Luke Rasmussen coming off redshirt, plus returning starters Cael Swenson, Tanner Cook, and Cade DeVos. Similar to OU it will take certain pieces working out, but the Jackrabbits have the potential to make quite a bit of noise this season. TeamTrophy Contenders (3) #11 Iowa State #10 Oklahoma State #2 Missouri Iowa State finished just outside the top ten at NCAA’s and was three points behind Oklahoma State at Big 12’s last season. They did graduate All-American Marcus Coleman and bloodround finisher Sam Schuyler. However, Kysen Terukina should be back and healthy, Yonger Bastida is bumping up to heavyweight, plus they had Garrett Grice and All-American William Feldkamp come in through the transfer portal. Add that in with returning starters Zach Redding, Casey Swiderski, Julien Broderson, and David Carr and this is a dangerous lineup already. Then there is MJ Gaitan coming off redshirt along with a lineup battle between Cody Chittum and Jason Kraisser at 157lbs. There is some wait-and-see with Paniro Johnson and any consequences for gambling as well. As it stands the team has three returning All-Americans plus all ten starters are ranked. The Cyclones are set up for a big year in David Carr’s swan song season. Oklahoma State is coming off their worst finish in school history which was 18th at NCAA’s. However, they’ve been active in the transfer portal and are bringing in the top-ranked recruiting class this year. They are expected to return a core of Daton Fix, Dustin Plott, and Luke Surber. Fix and Plott are eligible for Olympic redshirts but it seems likely that they will wrestle. Troy Spratley, Sammy Alvarez, and Izzak Olejnik are looking to be three big-impact transfers for the Cowboys. OSU has some youth expected to enter the lineup this season as well. Spratley and Jordan Williams are coming off redshirt, then true freshman Brayden Thompson is looking to make the lineup at 174 with Dustin Plott moving up. There is a potential lineup battle at heavyweight as well, with returning qualifier Konner Doucet trying to hold off #2 overall recruit Christian Carroll. The only potential question is at 157, but the Cowboys have some depth and experience to put out a ranked wrestler. Oklahoma State is my “sleeper” pick for a trophy this season. As the returning Big 12 champs Missouri will be looking to extend their conference champ streak to 13. At the end of last season, they were returning the most NCAA points with five All-Americans, but that was before the PSU/Iowa/Michigan transfers. Brock Mauller, Keegan O’Toole, Peyton Mocco, Rocky Elam, and Zach Elam will all be looking to repeat podium finishes. O’Toole and Rocky Elam are both in the title discussion as well. Outside of the five All-Americans are returning starters Noah Surtin, Josh Edmond, and Colton Hawks. Surtin has made the bloodround before, and Colton Hawks took out eventual All-American Gavin Kane last season. There are some question marks at 133 and 157 from last year, but redshirt freshmen Zeke Seltzer and Cam Steed are looking to man those spots. With NCAA’s in Kansas City this year, Mizzou could be set up to break into the top three.

Greco-Roman was the last discipline to take the stage at the 2023 World Championships and, in turn, the first one that finished. Now that the final medals have been awarded, we have some sort of a picture as to how the 2024 Olympics will look. In addition to winning medals and titles, the wrestlers in Belgrade were also working towards Olympic qualification. At each Olympic weight, five wrestlers locked up Olympic quotas for their respective countries. Countries are the key word as they are tied to the country, not necessarily the wrestler. In most instances, the wrestler who secured the bid will also go to Paris; however, in highly competitive nations with deep talent pools (like the United States), that isn’t necessarily a given. For each weight class, we have a document with wrestlers who have already qualified and the other ways to qualify. Those tournaments are months away at this point. Below each chart are some of the notables that did not earn a quota this week, divided into continents, as that will be their next avenue to solidify Olympic participation. For now, we have only listed wrestlers/countries that participated in the 2023 World Championships. There may be other contenders that didn’t wrestle in Belgrade that will be a factor down the line. Wrestlers from Africa haven’t been listed as it doesn’t have the depth, across the board, that other continents feature. Next to each wrestler is a key accomplishment for them, along with their record at the 2023 World Championships. 60 kg Asia Aslomdzhon Azizov (Tajikistan) - 2022 Asian U23 Silver Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Manish Kundu (India) - 1-1 @ Worlds Olzhas Sultan (Kazakhstan) - 2022 U23 World Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Seunghak Kim (South Korea) - 2017 World Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Europe Pridon Abuladze (Georgia) - 2021 U23 World Bronze Medalist; 2-2 @ Worlds Anvar Allakhiarov (Russia) - 2021 U23 World Champion; 1-1 @ Worlds Victor Ciobanu (Moldova) - 2021 World Champion; 2-2 @ Worlds Gevorg Gharibyan (Armenia) - 2020 European Champion; 3-3 @ Worlds Kerem Kamal (Turkey) - 2022 U23 World Champion; 0-1 @ Worlds Christopher Kraemer (Germany) - 2-1 @ Worlds Helary Maegisalu (Estonia) - 2018 European Silver Medalist; 0-2 @ Worlds Hleb Makaranka (Belarus) - 2021 European 5th Place; 2-1 @ Worlds Nihat Mammadli (Azerbaijan) - 2x U20 Bronze Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Edmond Nazaryan (Bulgaria) - 2022 World Silver Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Viktor Petryk (Ukraine) - 2021 European Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Jacopo Sandron (Italy) - 2018 European Bronze Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Erik Torba (Hungary) - 2021 U23 World 5th Place; FFT @ Worlds Pan-American Kevin DeArmas Rodrigues (Cuba) - 2023 Pan-Am Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Ildar Hafizov (USA) - 2021 Pan-Am Silver Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Jeremy Peralta Gonzalez (Ecuador) - 2023 Pan-Am Silver Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Raiber Rodriguez (Venezuela) - 3x Pan-Am Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Dichter Toro Castaneda (Colombia) - 2x Pan-Am Champion; 0-1 @ Worlds 67 kg Asia Abror Atabaev (Uzbekistan) - 2023 Asian Champion; 0-1 @ Worlds Almat Kebispayev (Kazakhstan) - 5x World Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Minseong Kim (South Korea) - 0-1 @ Worlds Kyotaro Sogabe (Japan) - 2022 U23 World Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Europe Murat Firat (Turkey) - 2x World 5th Place; 1-1 @ Worlds Joni Khetsuriani (Georgia) - 2023 European Silver Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Aliaksandr Livonchyk (Belarus) - 2020 European 5th Place; 1-1 @ Worlds Mihai Mihut (Romania) - 2018 European Champion; 2-2 @ Worlds Parviz Nasibov (Ukraine) - 2020(1) Olympic Silver Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Valentin Petic (Moldova) - 2019 U23 World Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Kristupas Sleiva (Lithuania) - 2021 World Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Mamadassa Sylla (France) - 2018 World 5th Place; 2-1 @ Worlds Kriszstian Vancza (Hungary) - 2021 European U23 Champion; 2-1 Worlds Pan-American Julian Horta Acevedo (Colombia) - 1-1 @ Worlds Alex Sancho (USA) - 2-1 @ Worlds 77 kg Asia Mohammadali Geraei (Iran) - 3x World Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Daekun Park (South Korea) - 1-1 @ Worlds Demeu Zhadrayev (Kazakhstan) - 2017 World Silver Medalist; 4-3 @ Worlds Europe Yunas Basar (Turkey) - 2022 World Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Patryk Bednarz (Poland) - 2022 European U23 5th Place; 2-1 @ Worlds Johnny Bur (France) - 2018 European U23 Silver Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Alexandrin Gutu (Moldova) - 2022 U23 World Silver Medalist; 2-2 @ Worlds Zoltan Levai (Hungary) - 2022 World Silver Medalist: 1-1 @ Worlds Pavel Liakh (Belarus) - 2017 European Silver Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Iuri Lomadze (Georgia) - 2020 European Silver Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Aik Mnatsakanian (Bulgaria) - 2x World Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Viktor Nemes (Serbia) - 2022 World Champion; 2-1 @ Worlds Adlet Tiuliubaev (Russia) - 0-1 @ Worlds Pan-American Kamal Bey (USA) - 2023 Pan-Am Champ; 2-2 @ Worlds Joilson de Brito Ramos Junior (Brazil) - 0-1 @ Worlds Jair Cuero Munoz (Colombia) - 3x Pan-Am Silver Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Yosvanys Pena Flores (Cuba) - 3x Pan-Am Champ; 2-1 @ Worlds Wuileixis Rivas Espinoza (Venezuela) - 2014 Pan-Am Champ; 1-1 @ Worlds 87 kg Asia Naser Alizadeh (Iran) - 2022 World 5th Place; 2-1 @ Worlds Jalgasbay Berdimuratov (Uzbekistan) - 2x World Medalist; 2-2 @ Worlds Sanghyeok Park (South Korea) - 2-1 @ Worlds Haitao Qian (China) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Azat Salidinov (Kyrgyzstan) - 2020 Asian Silver Medalist; 0-2 @ Worlds Masato Sumi (Japan) - 2018 Asian Silver Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Europe Islam Abbasov (Azerbaijan) - 2x U23 World Medalist; 4-2 @ Worlds Lasha Gobadze (Georgia) - 3x World Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Ivan Huklek (Croatia) - 2020(1) Olympic 5th Place; 0-1 @ Worlds Alex Kessidis (Sweden) - 2019 World Silver Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Arkadiusz Kulynycz (Poland) - 2021 World Bronze Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Kiryl Maskevich (Belarus) - 2021 World Silver Medalist; 2-2 @ Worlds Exauce Mukubu (Norway) - 2022 U23 World Bronze Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Gevorg Tadevosyan (Armenia) - 2022 U23 World Silver Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Hannes Wagner (Germany) - 2x European Bronze Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Pan-American Zac Braunagel (USA) - 1-1 @ Worlds Daniel Gregorich Hechavarria (Cuba) - 3x Pan-Am Champ; 0-1 @ Worlds Daniel Vicente Gomez (Mexico) - 2022 Pan-Am Champ; 0-1 @ Worlds 97 kg Asia Rustam Assakalov (Uzbekistan) - 2x World Medalist; 1-2 @ Worlds Beksultan Makhmudov (Kyrgyzstan) - 2021 Asian Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Yuta Nara (Japan) - 2023 Asian Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Olzhas Syrlybay (Kazakhstan) - 2023 Asian Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Europe Felix Baldauf (Norway) - 2022 European 5th Place; 1-1 @ Worlds Metehan Basar (Turkey) - 2x World Champion; 0-1 @ Worlds Mihail Kajaia (Serbia) - 2x World Bronze Medalist; 3-1 @ Worlds Nikoloz Kakhelashvili (Italy) - 2x World 5th Place; 1-1 @ Worlds Gerald Kurniczak (Poland) - 2021 World 5th Place; 1-1 @ Worlds Tomas Levai (Hungary) - 2022 World Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Georgi Melia (Georgia) - 2x U23 World Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Arif Niftullayev (Azerbaijan) - 2022 World Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Peter Oehler (Germany) - 2021 World 5th Place; 2-2 @ Worlds Markus Ragginger (Austria) - 2021 U23 World Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Artur Sargsian (Russia) - 2021 World Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Arvi Savolainen (Finland) - 2022 European Silver Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Aleksandar Stjepanetic (Sweden) - 2-1 @ Worlds Mindaugas Venckaitis (Lithuania) - 2023 World 5th Place; 3-2 @ Worlds Pan-American Kevin Mejia Castillo (Honduras) - 2x Pan-Am Champion; 0-1 @ Worlds Joe Rau (USA) - 1-2 @ Worlds 130 kg Asia Seungchan Lee (South Korea) - 1-1 @ Worlds Europe Alin Alexuc Ciurariu (Romania) - 2022 World Bronze Medalist; 1-1 at Worlds Romas Fridrikas (Lithuania) - 2x World 5th Place; 3-3 @ Worlds Iakobi Kajaia (Georgia) - 2020(1) Olympic Silver Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Beka Kandelaki (Azerbaijan) - 2022 European 5th Place, 0-1 @ Worlds Jello Krahmer (Germany) - 2020 European Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Elias Kuosmanen (Finland) - 2x European Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Oskar Marvik (Norway) - 2021 World Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Heiki Nabi (Estonia) - 2013 World Champion; 2-2 @ Worlds David Ovasapyan (Armenia) - 2021 U23 World Silver Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Mykhailo Vyshnyvetskyi (Ukraine) - 2023 European U23 Champion; 2-2 @ Worlds Pan-American Yasmani Acosta Fernandez (Chile) - 2020(1) Olympic 5th Place; 0-1 @ Worlds Cohlton Schultz (USA) - 3x Age Group World Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Eduard Soghomonyan (Brazil) - 2x Pan-Am Silver Medalist; 0-2 @ Worlds

Minisink Valley

Today, PJ Duke (Minisink Valley, NY), the top recruit in the high school Class of 2025 made his collegiate choice known via social media. Duke will head to State College, Pennsylvania to wrestle for Cael Sanderson’s Penn State Nittany Lions. Duke has earned the top spot after winning some of the top high school events in the country. He is a two-time Walsh Ironman finalist, winning in 2022, at 150 lbs. Duke has made the Super 32 finals on three occasions. He has championship belts from the North Carolina-based preseason major in each of the last two years (at 126 and 138 lbs). Also in 2022, Duke claimed a Fargo stop sign after winning the 138 lb weight class in 16U freestyle. At home, Duke has a pair of New York state titles to his name. He did not compete in the 2023 tournament (or other recent national events) because of injury. He’ll join Minisink Valley teammate and fellow blue-chip recruit, Zack Ryder, who is a part of the 2024 recruiting class who has committed to PSU. Duke is the third wrestler from the Class of 2025 to give a verbal to Sanderson’s team. He’ll join #27 Dalton Perry (PA) and #42 Asher Cunningham (PA) as PSU recruits who are currently high school juniors. With Duke’s verbal, it could give Penn State back-to-back recruiting classes featuring the #1 overall recruit in the nation. 2024’s #1, Luke Lilledahl, has given the Nittany Lions a verbal; however, he can’t sign until November. Despite all of their success individually and, as a team, the last time Penn State inked the number one overall recruit in their respective class was Mark Hall in 2016 (Greg Kerkvliet was 2019’s top recruit and initially signed with Ohio State). At the next level, Duke appeared to project at 165 lbs. With another year-plus until Duke can sign and almost two years before he makes it on campus, that could change. Looking at the Nittany Lions current roster and Class of 2024, 157-174 doesn’t appear to be a pressing need. That being said, if you can sign a wrestler of Duke’s caliber, you do it. Top recruits Mitchell Mesenbrink, Josh Barr, Joe Sealey, and Tyler Kasak could end up in that 157-174 range for Penn State and would be around when Duke arrives in Happy Valley.

Kevin Claunch speaks with Michigan State head coach Roger Chandler about a variety of topics. The two discuss the Greco influence in the Spartan wrestling room, Chandler's career competing against other notable coaches, leadership, the "toughest guy on the team, and much more. Roger Chandler - MSU 9-20-2023.mp4

The final medals were awarded at the 2023 World Championships on Sunday which put a bow on the marquee event on the Senior level calendar for this year. The United States men’s freestyle team took the title, while the women’s team finished as runner’s-up to Japan. Each team earned seven world medals (four of which were gold). A handful of the active legends on the American team added more hardware to their already impressive legacy. Tallying their career medal count led us to do so for each of the medalists at the 2023 World Championships; in all three styles. Below, you will find the milestones that each wrestler hit with their performance in Belgrade. Some became multi-time champions, while others multi-time medalists, or perhaps first-timer’s. Wrestlers have been grouped according to their career medal haul; with champions coming before medalists. For the ease of this exercise, we have combined Olympic and world medals. For instance, the first wrestler below, Yui Susaki won her fourth world title last week, to go along with a 2020(1) Olympic gold medal, so she’s alone in the 5x champion category. 5x Champion Yui Susaki (Japan) - 50 kg women’s freestyle 4x Champions Zaurbek Sidakov (Russia) - 74 kg men’s freestyle David Taylor (USA) - 86 kg men’s freestyle 3x Champions Eldaniz Azizli (Azerbaijan) - 55kg Greco-Roman Haruna Okuno (Japan) - 55 kg women’s freestyle Tsugsumi Sakurai (Japan) - 57 kg women’s freestyle Aisuluu Tynybekova (Kyrgyzstan) - 62 kg women’s freestyle 2x Champions Amit Elor (USA) - 72 kg women’s freestyle Akari Fujinami (Japan) - 53 kg women’s freestyle Rafig Huseynov (Azerbaijan) - 82 kg Greco-Roman Akzhol Makhmudov (Kyrgyzstan) - 77 kg Greco-Roman Luis Orta Sanchez (Cuba) - 67 kg Greco-Roman Nonoka Ozaki (Japan) - 65 kg women’s freestyle Zholaman Sharshenbekov (Kyrgyzstan) - 60 kg Greco-Roman Amir Zare (Iran) - 125 kg men’s freestyle First Time Champions Leri Abuladze (Georgia) - 63 kg Greco-Roman Rizabe Aitmukhan (Kazakhstan) - 92 kg men’s freestyle Vito Arujau (USA) - 61 kg men’s freestyle Ali Cengiz (Turkey) - 87 kg Greco-Roman Ibrahim Ghanem (France) - 72 kg Greco-Roman Yuka Kagami (Japan) - 76 kg women’s freestyle Stevan Micic (Serbia) - 57 kg men’s freestyle Amin Mirzazadeh (Iran) - 130 kg Greco-Roman Iszmail Muszukajev (Hungary) - 65 kg men’s freestyle Zain Retherford (USA) - 70 kg men’s freestyle Gabriel Rosillo-Kindelan (Cuba) - 97 kg Greco-Roman Akhmed Tazhudinov (Bahrain) - 97 kg men’s freestyle Buse Tosun (Turkey) - 68 kg women’s freestyle Akhmed Usmanov (Russia) - 79 kg men’s freestyle Qi Zhang (China) - 59 kg women’s freestyle 12x Medalist Riza Kayaalp (Turkey) - 130 Greco-Roman 10x Medalists Taha Akgul (Turkey) - 125 kg men’s freestyle Artur Aleksanyan (Armenia) - 97 kg Greco-Roman Adeline Gray (USA) - 76 kg women’s freestyle Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) - 125 kg men’s freestyle 9x Medalists Helen Maroulis (USA) - 57 kg women’s freestyle Kyle Snyder (USA) - 97 kg men’s freestyle Hassan Yazdani (Iran) - 86 kg men’s freestyle 7x Medalist Zhan Beleniuk (Ukraine) - 87 kg Greco-Roman 6x Medalist Kyle Dake (USA) - 74 kg men’s freestyle 5x Medalists Eldaniz Azizli (Azerbaijan) - 55kg Greco-Roman Kenichiro Fumita (Japan) - 60 kg Greco-Roman Sarah Hildebrandt (USA) - 50 kg women’s freestyle Yui Susaki (Japan) - 50 kg women’s freestyle David Taylor (USA) - 86 kg men’s freestyle Yuliya Tkach (Ukraine) - 59 kg women’s freestyle Nugzari Tsurtsumia (Georgia) - 55kg Greco-Roman Aisuluu Tynybekova (Kyrgyzstan) - 62 kg women’s freestyle 4x Medalists Odunayo Adekuoroye (Nigeria) - 57 kg women’s freestyle Mohammadreza Geraei (Iran) - 67 kg Greco-Roman Rafig Huseynov (Azerbaijan) - 82 kg Greco-Roman Vanesa Kaladzinskaya (Belarus) - 53 kg women’s freestyle Koumba Larroque (France) - 68 kg women’s freestyle Oscar Pino Hinds (Cuba) - 130 kg Greco-Roman Mohammadhadi Saravi (Iran) - 97 kg Greco-Roman Zholaman Sharshenbekov (Kyrgyzstan) - 60 kg Greco-Roman Zaurbek Sidakov (Russia) - 74 kg men’s freestyle Amir Zare (Iran) - 125 kg men’s freestyle 3x Medalists Leri Abuladze (Georgia) - 63 kg Greco-Roman Malkhas Amoyan (Armenia) - 77 kg Greco-Roman Zhamila Bakbergenova (Kazakhstan) - 72 kg women’s freestyle Otgonjargal Dolgorjav (Mongolia) - 50 kg women’s freestyle Arsen Harutyunyan (Armenia) - 57 kg men’s freestyle Rei Higuchi (Japan) - 57 kg men’s freestyle Iryna Koliadenko (Ukraine) - 62 kg women’s freestyle Akzhol Makhmudov (Kyrgyzstan) - 77 kg Greco-Roman Murad Mammadov (Azerbaijan) - 63 kg Greco-Roman Miwa Morikawa (Japan) - 72 kg women’s freestyle Iszmail Muszukajev (Hungary) - 65 kg men’s freestyle Mate Nemes (Serbia) - 67 kg Greco-Roman Mohammad Nokhodilarimi (Iran) - 79 kg men’s freestyle Osman Nurmagomedov (Azerbaijan) - 92 kg men’s freestyle Haruna Okuno (Japan) - 55 kg women’s freestyle Nonoka Ozaki (Japan) - 65 kg women’s freestyle Irina Ringaci (Moldova) - 68 kg women’s freestyle Tsugsumi Sakurai (Japan) - 57 kg women’s freestyle Buse Tosun (Turkey) - 68 kg women’s freestyle Khetik Tsabolov (Serbia) - 74 kg men’s freestyle 2x Medalists Zelimkhan Abakarov (Albania) - 57 kg men’s freestyle Myles Amine (San Marino) - 86 kg men’s freestyle Ali Arsalan (Serbia) - 72 kg Greco-Roman Grace Bullen (Norway) - 62 kg women’s freestyle Selcuk Can (Turkey) - 72 kg Greco-Roman Ali Cengiz (Turkey) - 87 kg Greco-Roman Azamat Dauletbekov (Kazakhstan) - 86 kg men’s freestyle Amit Elor (USA) - 72 kg women’s freestyle Yaroslav Filchakov (Ukraine) - 82 kg Greco-Roman Hasrat Jafarov (Azerbaijan) - 67 kg Greco-Roman Yuka Kagami (Japan) - 76 kg women’s freestyle David Losonczi (Hungary) - 87 kg Greco-Roman Abasgadzhi Magomedov (Russia) - 61 men’s freestyle Magomedkhan Magomedov (Azerbaijan) - 97 kg men’s freestyle Givi Matcharashvili (Georgia) - 97 kg men’s freestyle Aiperi Medet Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan) - 76 kg women’s freestyle Stevan Micic (Serbia) - 57 kg men’s freestyle Amin Mirzazadeh (Iran) - 130 kg Greco-Roman Sakura Motoki (Japan) - 62 kg women’s freestyle Anastasia Nichita (Moldova) - 57 kg women’s freestyle Luis Orta Sanchez (Cuba) - 67 kg Greco-Roman Jasurbek Ortikbekov (Uzbekistan) - 55 kg Greco-Roman Zain Retherford (USA) - 70 kg men’s freestyle Sanan Suleymanov (Azerbaijan) - 77 kg Greco-Roman Jacarra Winchester (USA) - 55 kg women’s freestyle Amir Yazdani (Iran) - 70 kg men’s freestyle Demeu Zhadrayev (Kazakhstan) - 77 kg Greco-Roman First Time Medalists Rizabe Aitmukhan (Kazakhstan) - 92 kg men’s freestyle Feyzullah Akturk (Turkey) - 92 kg men’s freestyle Arman Andreasyan (Armenia) - 70 kg women’s freestyle Vito Arujau (USA) - 61 kg men’s freestyle Islomjon Bakhramov (Uzbekistan) - 60 kg Greco-Roman Enes Basar (Turkey) - 63 kg Greco-Roman Anastasia Blayvas (Germany) - 55 kg women’s freestyle Liguo Cao (China) - 60 kg Greco-Roman Poya Dad Marz (Iran) - 55 kg Greco-Roman Mariana Dragutan (Moldova) - 55 kg women’s freestyle Delgermaa Enkhsaikhan (Mongolia) - 68 kg women’s freestyle Davaanasan Enkh Amar (Mongolia) - 72 kg women’s freestyle Ziqi Feng (China) - 50 kg women’s freestyle Robert Fritsch (Hungary) - 72 kg Greco-Roman Vladimeri Gamkrelidze (Georgia) - 79 kg men’s freestyle Ibrahim Ghanem (France) - 72 kg Greco-Roman Aues Gonibov (Russia) - 82 kg Greco-Roman Othelie Hoeie (Norway) - 59 kg women’s freestyle Mimi Hristova (Bulgaria) - 65 kg women’s freestyle Macey Kilty (USA) - 65 kg women’s freestyle Lili (China) - 65 kg women’s freestyle Shamil Mamedov (Russia) - 65 kg men’s freestyle Abdellatif Mohamed (Egypt) - 130 kg Greco-Roman Alireza Mohmadipiani (Iran) - 82 kg Greco-Roman Vasyl Mykhailov (Ukraine) - 79 kg men’s freestyle Semen Novikov (Bulgaria) - 87 kg Greco-Roman Artur Omarov (Czech Republic) - 97 kg Greco-Roman Antim Panghal (India) - 53 kg women’s freestyle Jennifer Page (USA) - 59 kg women’s freestyle Mason Parris (USA) - 125 kg men’s freestyle Shota Phartenadze (Georgia) - 61 kg men’s freestyle Ramazan Ramazanov (Bulgaria) - 70 kg men’s freestyle Tatiana Renteria (Colombia) - 76 kg women’s freestyle Sebastian Rivera (Puerto Rico) - 65 kg men’s freestyle Gabriel Rosillo-Kindelan (Cuba) - 97 kg Greco-Roman Daichi Takatani (Japan) - 74 kg men’s freestyle Vazgen Tevanyan (Armenia) - 65 kg men’s freestyle Georgij Tibilov (Serbia) - 63 kg Greco-Roman Akhmed Usmanov (Russia) - 79 kg men’s freestyle Zahid Valencia (USA) - 92 kg men’s freestyle Lucia Yepez Guzman (Colombia) - 53 kg women’s freestyle Qi Zhang (China) - 59 kg women’s freestyle Taiyrbek Zhumashbek (Kyrgyzstan) - 61 kg men’s freestyle

Final Team Scores 1) Azerbaijan 120 2) Iran 102 3) Turkey 93 4) Cuba 73 5) Armenia 65 55 kg Gold Medal Match: Eldaniz Azizli (Azerbaijan) over Nugzari Tsurtsumia (Georgia) 13-4 Bronze Medal Match: Poya Dad Marz (Iran) over Marlan Mukashev (Kazakhstan) 6-3 Bronze Medal Match: Jasurbek Ortikboev (Uzbekistan) over Artiom Deleanu (Moldova) 6-1 60 kg Gold Medal Match: Zholaman Sharshenbekov (Kyrgyzstan) over Kenichiro Fumita (Japan) 11-6 Bronze Medal Match: Liguo Cao (China) over Gevorg Gharibyan (Armenia) 5-3 Bronze Medal Match: Islomjon Bakhramov (Uzbekistan) over Mehdi Mohsen Nejad (Iran) 3-3 Olympic Quota Wrestle-Off: Mehdi Mohsen Nejad (Iran) over Gevorg Gharibyan (Armenia) 7-0 63 kg Gold Medal Match: Leri Abuladze (Georgia) over Murad Mammadov (Azerbaijan) 2-2 Bronze Medal Match: Enes Basar (Turkey) over Stefan Clement (France) 9-6 Bronze Medal Match: Georgij Tibilov (Serbia) over Hrachya Poghosyan (Armenia) 4-0 67 kg Gold Medal Match: Luis Ortz Sanchez (Cuba) over Hasrat Jafarov (Azerbaijan) 4-3 Bronze Medal Match: Mate Nemes (Serbia) over Amantur Ismailov (Kyrgyzstan) 3-3 Bronze Medal Match: Mohammadrez Geraei (Iran) over Slavik Galstyan (Armenia) 10-0 Olympic Quota Wrestle-Off: Slavik Galstyan (Armenia) over Amantur Ismailov (Kyrgyzstan) 8-0 72 kg Gold Medal Match: Ibrahim Ghanem (France) over Robert Fritsch (Hungary) 3-0 Bronze Medal Match: Selcuk Can (Turkey) over Stoyan Kubatov (Bulgaria) 1-1 Bronze Medal Match: Ali Arsalan (Serbia) over Shingo Harada (Japan) 9-0 77 kg Gold Medal Match: Akzhol Makhmudov (Kyrgyzstan) over Sanan Suleymanov (Azerbaijan) 1-1 Bronze Medal Match: Malkhas Amoyan (Armenia) over Demeu Zhadrayev (Kazakhstan) 9-7 Bronze Medal Match: Nao Kusaka (Japan) over Aram Vardanyan (Uzbekistan) 8-0 Olympic Quota Wrestle-Off: Aram Vardanyan (Uzbekistan) over Demeu Zhadrayev (Kazakhstan) 5-4 82 kg Gold Medal Match: Rafig Huseynov (Azerbaijan) over Alireza Mohmadipiani (Iran) 2-1 Bronze Medal Match: Aues Gonibov (Russia) over Burhan Akbudak (Turkey) 6-3 Bronze Medal Match: Yaroslav Filchakov (Ukraine) over Mihail Bradu (Moldova) 1-1 87 kg Gold Medal Match: Ali Cengiz (Turkey) over David Losonczi (Hungary) 8-7 Bronze Medal Match: Zhan Beleniuk (Ukraine) over Nursultan Tursynov (Kazakhstan) 7-2 Bronze Medal Match: Semen Novikov (Bulgaria) over Islam Abbasov (Azerbaijan) 6-3 Olympic Quota Wrestle-Off: Nursultan Tursynov (Kazakhstan) over Islam Abbasov (Azerbaijan) 8-0 97 kg Gold Medal Match: Gabriel Rosillo Kindelan (Cuba) over Artur Aleksanyan (Armenia) 3-3 Bronze Medal Match: Artur Omarov (Czech Republic) over Mindaugas Venckaitis (Lithuania) 3-1 Bronze Medal Match: Mohammadhadi Saravi (Iran) over Abubakr Khaslakhanau (Belarus) 4-1 Olympic Quota Wrestle-Off: Abubakr Khaslakhanau (Belarus) over Mindaugas Venckaitis (Lithuania) Fall 5:08 130 kg Gold Medal Match: Amin Mirzazadeh (Iran) over Riza Kayaalp (Turkey) 2-2 Bronze Medal Match: Abdellatif Mohamed (Egypt) over Lingzhe Meng (China) 3-2 Bronze Medal Match: Oscar Pino Hinds (Cuba) over Romas Fridrikas (Lithuania) 5-1 Olympic Quota Wrestle-Off: Lingzhe Meng (China) over Romas Fridrikas (Lithuania) 1-1

Women’s Freestyle was the second discipline to take the stage at the 2023 World Championships and, in turn, the first one that finished. Now that the final medals have been awarded, we have some sort of a picture as to how the 2024 Olympics will look. In addition to winning medals and titles, the wrestlers in Belgrade were also working towards Olympic qualification. At each Olympic weight, five wrestlers locked up Olympic quotas for their respective countries. Countries are the key word as they are tied to the country, not necessarily the wrestler. In most instances, the wrestler who secured the bid will also go to Paris; however, in highly competitive nations with deep talent pools (like the United States), that isn’t necessarily a given. For each weight class, we have a document with wrestlers who have already qualified and the other ways to qualify. Those tournaments are months away at this point. Below each chart are some of the notables that did not earn a quota this week, divided into continents, as that will be their next avenue to solidify Olympic participation. For now, we have only listed wrestlers/countries that participated in the 2023 World Championships. There may be other contenders that didn’t wrestle in Belgrade that will be a factor down the line. Wrestlers from Africa haven’t been listed as it doesn’t have the depth, across the board, that other continents feature. Next to each wrestler is a key accomplishment for them, along with their record at the 2023 World Championships. 50 kg Asia Jasmina Immaeva (Uzbekistan) - 2x Asian Silver Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Neelam Sirohi (India) - 2023 Asian U23 Champion; 2-1 @ Worlds Europe Oksana Livach (Ukraine) - 2018 World Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Anna Lukasiak (Poland) - 2022 World Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Polina Lukina (Russia) - 2023 U23 World 5th Place: 1-1 @ Worlds Julie Sabatie (France) - 2023 European 7th Place; 0-1 @ Worlds Mariya Stadnik (Azerbaijan) - 4x Olympic Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Kseniya Stankevich (Belarus) - 2x European Bronze Medalist; 2-2 @ Worlds Emilia Vuc (Romania) - 2x World Silver Medalist; 2-2 @ Worlds Pan-American Alisson Cardozo Rey (Colombia) - 2-3 @ Worlds Yusneylis Guzman (Cuba) - 2019 Pan-Am Champion; 0-1 @ Worlds Jacqueline Mollocana Eleno (Ecuador) - 2023 Pan-Am Silver Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Madison Parks (Canada) - 2022 Pan-Am Silver Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds 53 kg Asia Otgonjargal Ganbaatar (Mongolia) - 2017 U23 World Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Aktenge Keunimjaeva (Uzbekistan) - 3x Asian Champion; 0-1 @ Worlds Qianyu Pang (China) - 2020 Olympic Silver Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Altyn Shagayeva (Kazakhstan) - 2022 U20 World Silver Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Europe Andreea Ana (Romania) - 2x European Champion; 2-1 @ Worlds Tuba Demir (Turkey) - 2022 U20 World Bronze Medalist; 1-2 @ Worlds Iulia Leorda (Moldova) - 2x World Silver Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Natalia Malysheva (Russia) - 2017 European Silver Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Stalvira Orshush (Hungary) - 3x European Champion; 1-1 @ Worlds Elnura Mammadova (Azerbaijan) - 2023 European 5th Place; 0-1 @ Worlds Maria Prevolaraki (Greece) - 3x World Bronze Medalist; 3-3 @ Worlds Roksana Zasina (Poland) - 2017 World Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Pan-American Karla Acosta Martinez (Mexico) - 2x Pan-Am Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Dom Parrish (USA) - 2022 World Champion; 0-1 @ Worlds Samantha Stewart (Canada) - 2021 World Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds 57 kg Asia Ainur Ashimova (Kazakhstan) - 2021 World 5th Place; 0-1 @ Worlds Bolortuya Bat Ochir (Mongolia) - 2020 Olympic Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Kalmira Bilimbek Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan) - 2x U20 World Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Kexin Hong (China) - 2023 Asian U23 Champion; 0-1 @ Worlds Sarita Mor (India) - 2021 World Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Laylokhon Sobirova (Uzbekistan) - 2023 Asian Silver Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Europe Zhala Aliyeva (Azerbaijan) - 2022 World 5th Place: 2-1 @ Worlds Ramona Galambos (Hungary) - 2016 World 5th Place; 2-1 @ Worlds Alina Hrushyna Akobiia (Ukraine) - 2022 World Bronze Medalist; FFT @ Worlds Elvira Kamaloglu (Turkey) - 2022 U23 World Bronze Medalist; 4-3 @ Worlds Olga Khoroshavtseva (Russia) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Iryna Kurachkina (Belarus) - 2020 Olympic Silver Medalist; 2-2 @ Worlds Evelina Nikolova (Bulgaria) - 2020 Olympic Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Pan-American Nes Rodriguez (Puerto Rico) - 2020 Pan-Am Silver Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Betzabeth Sarco Colmenarez (Venezuela) - 3x Pan-Am Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Hannah Taylor (Canada) - 2x U23 World Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Alma Valencia (Mexico) - 2022 Pan-Am Silver Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Luisa Valverde Melendres (Colombia) - 2023 Pan-Am Champion; 1-1 @ Worlds 62 kg Asia Jia Long (China) - 2022 World Silver Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Irina Kuznetsova (Kazakhstan) - 2x Asian U23 Champion; 1-1 @ Worlds Orkhon Purevdorj (Mongolia) - 2017 World Champion; 2-1 @ Worlds Europe Bilyana Dudova (Bulgaria) - 2021 World Champion; 3-3 @ Worlds Anastasija Grigorjeva (Latvia) - 2x World Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Kriszta Incze (Romania) - 2019 European Silver Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Veronika Ivanova (Belarus) - 2x European Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Alina Kasabieva (Russia) - 2021 U20 World Champion; 0-1 @ Worlds Johanna Lindborg (Sweden) - 2021 World 5th Place; 1-1 @ Worlds Elis Manolova (Azerbaijan) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Pan-American Ana Godinez-Gonzalez (Canada) - 2x U23 World Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Alexis Gomez (Mexico) - 0-1 @ Worlds Kayla Miracle (USA) - 2x World Silver Medalist Lais Nunes (Brazil) - 2x Pan-Am Champion; 2-2 @ Worlds 68 kg Asia Yelena Shalygina (Kazakhstan) - 2008 Olympic Bronze Medalist; 2-2 @ Worlds Feng Zhou (China) - 2x World Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Meerim Zhumanazarova (Kyrgyzstan) - 2021 World Champion; 2-0 (+FFT) @ Worlds Europe Alexandra Anghel (Romania) - 2022 World Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Wiktoria Choluj (Poland) - 2022 U23 World Silver Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Adela Hanzlickova (Czech Republic) - 2021 World 5th Place; 2-2 @ Worlds Vusala Parfianovich (Russia) - 2021 U23 World Silver Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Tatiana Rizhko (Ukraine) - 2022 European Champion; 1-1 @ Worlds Noemi Szabados (Hungary) - 3x European U23 Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Yuliana Yaneva (Bulgaria) - 2023 European Champion; 1-1 @ Worlds Pan-American Emma Bruntil (USA) - 3-3 @ Worlds Olivia DiBacco (Canada) - 2x World 5th Place; 0-1 @ Worlds Nicoll Parrado Osorio (Colombia) - 2x Pan-Am U20 Champion; 1-1 @ Worlds Grabriela Pedro de Rocha (Brazil) - 2x Pan-Am Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Alejandra Rivera Arriaga (Mexico) - 1-2 @ Worlds Yanet Sovero Nino (Peru) - 2020 Pan-Am Champ, 0-1 @ Worlds 76 kg Asia Yuanyuan Huang (China) - 2018 Junior World Champion, 2-2 @ Worlds Divya Kakran (India) - 2021 U23 World Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Svetlana Oknazarova (Uzbekistan) - 2022 World 5th Place; 0-1 @ Worlds Europe Anastasiya Alpyeyeva (Ukraine) - 2021 U23 World Champion; 2-1 @ Worlds Catalina Axente (Romania) - 2x European Bronze Medalist, 2-3 @ Worlds Epp Mae (Estonia) - 4x World Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Cynthia Vescan (France) - 2021 World 5th Place; 1-1 @ Worlds Inkara Zhanatayeva (Kazakhstan) - 2022 U23 World 5th Place; 0-1 @ Worlds Anastasiya Zimiankova (Belarus) - 2021 U23 World 5th Place, 1-1 @ Worlds Pan-American Maria Acosta (Venezuela) - 5x Pan-Am Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Justina DiStasio (Canada) - 2018 World Champion; 2-2 @ Worlds Genesis Reasco Valdez (Ecuador) - 3x Pan-Am Silver Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds

Pleasant

Canton

Osage

Marist

St. Peter's Prep

Friday at the 2023 World Championships marked the first full day of Greco-Roman action. Three new weight classes got underway for the first time, 60 kg, 72 kg, and 97 kg. Unfortunately for the American contingent, two of those athletes; Ildar Hafizov (60) and Pat Smith (72) were eliminated from medal contention. Joe Rau (97 kg) still has an opportunity to bring home a medal as the opponent that defeated him, five-time World/Olympic champion Artur Aleksanyan (Armenia), advanced to Saturday’s gold medal match. Rau, along with Smith, both won their first bouts of the tournament before suffering a loss. Rau will have to win a pair of matches on Saturday to wrestle for a bronze medal and an Olympic quota. First up, is Romania’s Nicu Ojog, a 2018 U23 World silver medalist and a 2022 European runner-up. Should Rau get past Ojog, he’d face Artur Omarov (Czech Republic), a 2023 European bronze medalist. Speaking of repechage, the only American from yesterday’s action that made it to the second day of competition was Kamal Bey. Bey was facing an uphill battle to earn a bronze medal as he would need three repechage victories just to wrestle for a medal. Bey responded with a victory in his first repechage match. He downed Finland’s Jonni Sarkkinen 7-3. The key sequence in the contest took place with under :40 seconds remaining and Bey trailing 3-2. He bullied Sarkkinen to the edge, caught him off balance, and drove through him for a takedown. On the ensuing restart, Sarkkinen pushed the pace as he was now trailing. Bey was able to slip out of a Sarkkinen head and arm for an insurance takedown. In his second repechage match, Bey took on Moldova’s Alexandrin Gutu. The key sequence in this bout took place during the waning seconds of the opening period. Gutu had a chest lock and went for a big throw. Bey did not expose himself; however, he did give up a takedown, which brought the score to 3-2 in favor of Gutu. Bey would tie the score in the second period on a passivity point, but he still trailed since all of his scores were of the one-point variety. Despite a frantic effort from Bey in the last minute, he wasn’t able to add to his score and lost 3-3 on criteria. 55 kg Gold Medal Match - Eldaniz Azizli (Azerbaijan) over Nugzari Tsurtsumia (Georgia) 13-4 Bronze Medal Match - Poya Dad Marz (Iran) over Marlan Mukashev (Kazakhstan) 6-3 Bronze Medal Match - Artiom Deleanu (Moldova) over Mohamed Yacine Dridi (Algeria) Fall :44 77 kg Gold Medal Match - Akzhol Makhmudov (Kyrgyzstan) over Sanan Suleymanov (Azerbaijan) 1-1 Bronze Medal Match - Malkhas Amoyan (Armenia) over Demeu Zhadrayev (Kazakhstan) 9-7 Bronze Medal Match - Nao Kusaka (Japan) over Aram Vardanyan (Uzbekistan) 8-0 Olympic Quota Wrestle-Off - Aram Vardanyan (Uzbekistan) over Demeu Zhadrayev (Kazakhstan) 5-4 82 kg Gold Medal Match - Rafig Huseynov (Azerbaijan) over Alireza Mohmadipiani (Iran) 2-1 Bronze Medal Match - Aues Gonibov (AIN - Russia) over Burhan Akbudak (Turkey) 6-3 Bronze Medal Match - Yaroslav Filchakov (Ukraine) over Branko Kovacevic (Serbia) 9-0 130 kg Gold Medal Match - Amin Mirzazadeh (Iran) over Riza Kayaalp (Turkey) 2-2 Bronze Medal Match - Abdellatif Mohamed (Egypt) over Lingzhe Meng (China) 3-2 Bronze Medal Match - Oscar Pino Hinds (Cuba) over Romas Fridrikas (Lithuania) 5-1 Olympic Quota Wrestle-Off - Lingzhe Meng (China) over Romas Fridrikas (Lithuania) 1-1 American Results 60 kg Round of 32 - Mehdi Mohsen Nejad (Iran) over Ildar Hafizov 7-0 72 kg Qualification - Pat Smith over Kamil Czarnecki (Poland) Fall 4:08 Round of 16 - Ibragim Magomadov (Kazakhstan) over Pat Smith 5-1 77 kg Repechage - Kamal Bey over Jonni Sarkkinen (Finland) 7-3 Repechage - Alexandrin Gutu (Moldova) over Kamal Bey 3-3 97 kg Round of 32 - Joe Rau over Filip Smetko (Croatia) 4-1 Round of 16 - Artur Aleksanyan (Armenia) over Joe Rau 9-0

Final Results Team Scores 1) Japan 195 2) United States 135 3) Mongolia 80 4) China 65 5) Ukraine 59 50 kg Gold Medal Match: Yui Susaki (Japan) over Otgonjargal Dolgorjav (Mongolia) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Ziqi Feng (China) over Alisson Cardozo Rey (Colombia) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Sarah Hildebrandt (USA) over Evin Demirhan (Turkey) 5-0 Olympic Quota Wrestle-Off: Evin Demirhan (Turkey) over Alisson Cardozo Rey (Colombia) 4-1 53 kg Gold Medal Match: Akari Fujinami (Japan) over Vanesa Kaladzinskaya (Belarus) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Lucia Yepez Guzman (Ecuador) over Maria Prevolaraki (Greece) 10-3 Bronze Medal Match: Antim Panghal (India) over Emma Malmgren (Sweden) 16-6 Olympic Quota Wrestle-Off: Emma Malmgren (Sweden) over Maria Prevolaraki (Greece) Fall 2:11 55 kg Gold Medal Match: Haruna Okuno (Japan) over Jacarra Winchester (USA) 4-2 Bronze Medal Match: Mariana Dragutan (Moldova) over Karla Godinez Gonzalez (Canada) 3-2 Bronze Medal Match: Anastasia Blayvas (Germany) over Neha Sharma (UWW - India) 2-2 57 kg Gold Medal Match: Tsugumi Sakurai (Japan) over Anastasia Nichita (Moldova) 3-2 Bronze Medal Match: Helen Maroulis (USA) over Anhelina Lysak (Poland) 10-6 Bronze Medal Match: Odunayo Adekuoroye (Nigeria) over Elvira Kamaloglu (Turkey) 9-5 Olympic Quota Wrestle-Off: Anhelina Lysak (Poland) over Elvira Kamaloglu (Turkey) Fall 1:55 59 kg Gold Medal Match: Qi Zhang (China) over Yulia Tkach (Ukraine) 4-1 Bronze Medal Match: Jennifer Page (USA) over Alyona Kolesnik (Azerbaijan) Fall 1:40 Bronze Medal Match: Othelie Hoeie (Norway) over Elena Brugger (Germany) 5-1 62 kg Gold Medal Match: Aisuluu Tynybekova (Kyrgyzstan) over Sakura Motoki (Japan) 4-1 Bronze Medal Match: Grace Bullen (Norway) over Bilyana Dudova (Bulgaria) 3-0 Bronze Medal Match: Iryna Koliadenko (Ukraine) over Luisa Niemesch (Germany) 10-0 Olympic Quota Wrestle-Off: Luisa Niemesch (Germany) over Bilyana Dudova (Bulgaria) 3-2 65 kg Gold Medal Match: Nonaka Ozaki (Japan) over Macey Kilty (USA) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Mimi Hristova (Bulgaria) over Tatsiana Paulava (AIN - Belarus) Fall 1:51 Bronze Medal Match: Lili (China) over Kadriye Aksoy (Turkey) 3-2 68 kg Gold Medal Match: Buse Tosun (Turkey) over Delgermaa Enkhsaikhan (Mongolia) Fall 3:17 Bronze Medal Match: Koumba Larroque (France) over Emma Bruntil (USA) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Irina Ringaci (Moldova) over Ami Ishii (Japan) 8-8 Olympic Quota Wrestle-Off: Ami Ishii (Japan) over Emma Bruntil (USA) 2-0 72 kg Gold Medal Match: Amit Elor (USA) over Davaanasan Enkh Amar (Mongolia) 8-2 Bronze Medal Match: Zhamila Bakbergenova (Kazakhstan) over Natalia Strzalka (Poland) 4-1 Bronze Medal Match: Miwa Morikawa (Japan) over Kendra Dacher (France) 4-2 76 kg Gold Medal Match: Yuga Kagami (Japan) over Aiperi Medet Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan) Injury Default Bronze Medal Match: Tatiana Renteria (Colombia) over Catalina Axente (Romania) Fall 5:59 Bronze Medal Match: Adeline Gray (USA) over Milaimys Marin Potrille (Cuba) 10-6 Olympic Quota Wrestle-Off: Milaimys Marin Potrille (Cuba) over Catalina Axente (Romania) Fall :50

On the final day of the women’s freestyle competition at the 2023 World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, the youngest member of the team brought home the first, and only, world title. 19-year-old Amit Elor went back-to-back and captured her second Senior world title in as many tries. Standing between Elor and a second world title was Mongolian Davaanasan Enkh Amar, a dangerous opponent that defeated Elor’s 2022 finals counterpart in the semifinals. Elor opened up the scoring with a step-out point halfway through the first period. Shortly after, Enkh Amar was put on the shot clock and unable to score during the :30 seconds that followed. Late in the first stanza, Elor locked up a front headlock and walked Enkh Amar out of bounds for another step-out point and a 3-0 lead. After the break, Elor got her first takedown of the contest, one that came after a snapdown. Enkh Amar was able to do what few have been able to and earned a pair of points via takedown after a throw-by. Elor wrestled through the position and ended up on top, which brought the score to 6-2. As the clock ticked under ten seconds in the final period, Enkh Aar tried for the home run and attempted a lateral drop. Elor was ready, countered, and got a takedown for good measure. The contest ended with the American on top and with an 8-2 advantage. In four matches at the 2023 World Championships, Elor outscored her competition by a 33-4 margin. Along the way, she notched wins over a U23 world champion and a returning Senior champion. This is also the second world title for Elor in 2023. She also won gold at the U20 World Championships in August. Next month, she’ll attempt to replicate her 2022 trifecta and also win the U23 tournament. The only other American woman in action on Thursday was Emma Bruntil at 68 kg. Bruntil made the semifinals yesterday, which dropped her into a bronze medal match-up today. There she met two-time world medalist Koumba Larroque (France), who made it number three with a 10-0 tech. Bruntil was not done, though. In the final match of the day, she met Ami Ishii (Japan) in an Olympic Quota Wrestle-Off. The winner would gain a berth for her country at the 2024 Olympic Games. Bruntil was never able to mount any offense against her stingy Japanese opponent and lost a 2-0 bout. The United States finished in second place (135 points) behind Japan (195) and ahead of Mongolia (80). For the second straight year, the US women put seven wrestlers on the medal stand. Also, Thursday was the first day of competition in Greco-Roman. None of the four Americans were able to advance past the Round of 16, but three did notch victories. Brady Koontz (55 kg), Kamal Bey (77 kg), and Cohlton Schultz (130 kg). Bey was pulled into repechage when Azerbaijan’s Sanan Suleymanov made the world finals. He’ll have a long path back to medal contention, as Bey will need to chart three wins before even wrestling for the bronze. He’ll also need four wins to lock up an Olympic berth. Final Results Women’s Freestyle 53 kg Gold Medal Match: Akari Fujinami (Japan) over Vanesa Kaladzinskaya (Belarus) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Lucia Yepez Guzman (Ecuador) over Maria Prevolaraki (Greece) 10-3 Bronze Medal Match: Antim Panghal (India) over Emma Malmgren (Sweden) 16-6 Olympic Quota Wrestle-Off: Emma Malmgren (Sweden) over Maria Prevolaraki (Greece) Fall 2:11 Women’s Freestyle 62 kg Gold Medal Match: Aisuluu Tynybekova (Kyrgyzstan) over Sakura Motoki (Japan) 4-1 Bronze Medal Match: Grace Bullen (Norway) over Bilyana Dudova (Bulgaria) 3-0 Bronze Medal Match: Iryna Koliadenko (Ukraine) over Luisa Niemesch (Germany) 10-0 Olympic Quota Wrestle-Off: Luisa Niemesch (Germany) over Bilyana Dudova (Bulgaria) 3-2 Women’s Freestyle 68 kg Gold Medal Match: Buse Tosun (Turkey) over Delgermaa Enkhsaikhan (Mongolia) Fall 3:17 Bronze Medal Match: Koumba Larroque (France) over Emma Bruntil (USA) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Irina Ringaci (Moldova) over Ami Ishii (Japan) 8-8 Olympic Quota Wrestle-Off: Ami Ishii (Japan) over Emma Bruntil (USA) 2-0 Women’s Freestyle 72 kg Gold Medal Match: Amit Elor (USA) over Davaanasan Enkh Amar (Mongolia) 8-2 Bronze Medal Match: Zhamila Bakbergenova (Kazakhstan) over Natalia Strzalka (Poland) 4-1 Bronze Medal Match: Miwa Morikawa (Japan) over Kendra Dacher (France) 4-2 American Results Women’s Freestyle 68 kg Bronze Medal Match: Koumba Larroque (France) over Emma Bruntil 10-0 Olympic Quota Wrestle-Off: Ami Ishii (Japan) over Emma Bruntil 2-0 Women’s Freestyle 72 kg Gold Medal Match: Amit Elor over Davaanasan Enkh Amar (Mongolia) 8-2 Greco-Roman 55 kg Qualification: Brady Koontz over Hyeokjin Jeon (South Korea) 7-3 Round of 16: Denis Florin Mihai (Romania) over Brady Koontz 9-0 Greco-Roman 77 kg Qualification: Kamal Bey over Fabio Dietsche (Switzerland) 4-1 Round of 32: Sanan Suleymanov (Azerbaijan) over Kamal Bey 8-0 Greco-Roman 82 kg Qualification: Stanislau Shafarenka (Belarus) over Spencer Woods 5-3 Greco-Roman 130 kg Qualification: Cohlton Schultz over Marcel Albini (Czech Republic) Fall 5:02 Round of 16: Romas Fridrikas (Lithuania) over Cohlton Schultz Fall :45

Men’s Freestyle was the first discipline to take the stage at the 2023 World Championships and, in turn, the first one that finished. Now that the final medals have been awarded, we have some sort of a picture as to how the 2024 Olympics will look. In addition to winning medals and titles, the wrestlers in Belgrade were also working towards Olympic qualification. At each Olympic weight, four wrestlers locked up Olympic quotas for their respective countries. Countries are the key word as they are tied to the country, not necessarily the wrestler. In most instances, the wrestler who secured the bid will also go to Paris; however, in highly competitive nations with deep talent pools (like the United States), that isn’t necessarily a given. For each weight class, we have a document with wrestlers who have already qualified and the other ways to qualify. Those tournaments are months away at this point. Below each chart are some of the notables that did not earn a quota this week, divided into continents, as that will be their next avenue to solidify Olympic participation. For now, we have only listed wrestlers/countries that participated in the 2023 World Championships. There may be other contenders that didn’t wrestle in Belgrade that will be a factor down the line (ex: Roman Bravo-Young: Mexico - 57 kg). Wrestlers from Africa haven’t been listed as it doesn’t have the depth, across the board, that other continents feature. Next to each wrestler is a key accomplishment for them, along with their record at the 2023 World Championships. 57 kg Notables That Didn't Qualify Asia Gulomjon Abdullaev (Uzbekistan) - 2x World 7th Place; 2-2 @ Worlds Aman Sehrawat (India) - 2022 U23 World Champion; 1-1 @ Worlds Meirambek Kartbay (Kazakhstan) - 2x World 5th Place; 3-3 @ Worlds Almaz Smanbekov (Kyrgyzstan) - 2023 Asian Silver Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Milad Valizadeh (Iran) - 2-1 @ Worlds Zanabazar Zandanbud (Mongolia) - 2022 World Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Wanhao Zou (China) - 2022 World 5th Place; 1-1 @ Worlds Europe Suleyman Atli (Turkey) - 2x World Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Vladimir Egorov (North Macedonia) - 2022 European Champion; 1-1 @ Worlds Aliabbas Rzazade (Azerbaijan) - 2023 European Champion; 1-1 @ Worlds Niklas Stechele (Germany) - 2023 European U23 Champion; 2-1 @ Worlds Georgi Vangelov (Bulgaria) - 2022 World 5th Place; 0-1 @ Worlds Pan-American Darian Cruz (Puerto Rico) - 2x Pan-Am Silver Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Zane Richards (USA) - 0-1 @ Worlds 65 kg Notables That Didn't Qualify Asia Umidjon Jalolov (Uzbekistan) - 2022 U20 World Champ, 1-1 @ Worlds Abdulmazhid Kudiev (Tajikistan) - 2023 Asian U23 Champion; 2-1 @ Worlds Adil Ospanov (Kazakhstan) - 1-2 @ Worlds Takuto Otoguro (Japan) - 2020 Olympic Gold Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Tulga Tumur Ochir (Mongolia) - 2021 World Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Europe Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan) - 3x World Champion; 3-1 @ Worlds Erik Arushanian (Ukraine) - 2022 U23 World Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Edemi Bolkvadze (Georgia) - 2023 European Bronze Medalist: 1-1 @ Worlds Islam Dudaev (Albania) - 2022 European Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Mikyay Naim (Bulgaria) - 2023 European Silver Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Maxim Sacultan (Moldova) - 2023 World 5th Place; 4-3 @ Worlds Pan-American Agustin Destribates (Argentina) - 4x Pan-Am Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Austin Gomez (Mexico) - 1-1 @ Worlds Nick Lee (USA) - 3-1 @ Worlds Lachlan McNeil (Canada) - 0-1 @ Worlds Alejandro Valdes Tobier (Cuba) - 2x World Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds 74 kg Notables That Didn't Qualify Asia Bekzod Abdurakhmanov (Uzbekistan) - 2020 Olympic Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Arsalan Budazhapov (Kyrgyzstan) - 2022 World Bronze Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Yones Emami (Iran) - 2x World Bronze Medalist; 2-2 @ Worlds Nurkozha Kaipanov (Kazakhstan) - 2019 World Silver Medalist; 2-2 @ Worlds Feng Lu (China) - 2023 Asian U23 Champion; 2-1 @ Worlds Naveen Malik (India) - 2022 World 5th Place; 1-1 @ Worlds Suldkhuu Olonbayar (Mongolia) - 2023 Asian Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Europe Hrayr Alikhanyan (Armenia) - 2x European 5th Place; 2-1 @ Worlds Turan Bayramov (Azerbaijan) - 2x World 5th Place; 3-3 @ Worlds Frank Chamizo (Italy) - 2x World Champion; 0-1 @ Worlds Soner Demirtas (Turkey) - 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Mitch Finesilver (Israel) - 2021 European Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Mahamedkhabib Kadzimahamedau (Belarus) - 2020 Olympic Silver Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Avtandil Kentchadze (Georgia) - 2018 World Silver Medalist; 1-2 @ Worlds Murad Kuramagomedov (Hungary) - 2020 European 5th Place; 1-1 @ Worlds Taimuraz Salkazanov (Slovakia) - 2x World Silver Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Ali Umarpashaev (Bulgaria) - 2023 European 5th Place; 0-1 @ Worlds Pan-American Cesar Alvan (Brazil) - 2x Pan-Am Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Shane Jones (Puerto Rico) - 2023 Pan-Am Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Anthony Montero (Venezuela) - 2020 Pan-Am Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Adam Thomson (Canada) - 2022 U23 World 8th Place; 1-1 @ Worlds Anthony Valencia (Mexico) - 2023 Pan-Am 7th Place; 0-1 @ Worlds 86 kg Notables That Didn't Qualify Asia Bat Erdene Byambasuren (Mongolia) - 2-1 @ Worlds Hayato Ishiguro (Japan) - 2023 Asian Bronze Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Dovletmyrat Orazgylyjov (Turkmenistan) - 2018 U23 World Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Magomed Shapirov (Bahrain) - 2023 Asian Bronze Medalist; 3-3 @ Worlds Lin Zushen (China) - 2023 Asian 5th Place; 2-1 @ Worlds Europe Abubakr Abakarov (Azerbaijan) - 2021 World Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Arslan Bagaev (Russia) - 2019 Cadet World Silver Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Matt Finesilver (Israel) - 2023 European 5th Place; 0-1 @ Worlds Taimuraz Friev (Spain) - 2018 World Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Osman Gocen (Turkey) - 2019 U23 World Bronze Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Sebastian Jezierzanski (Poland) - 2x European Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Boris Makoev (Slovakia) - 2x World Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Rakhim Magomedov (France) - 2x U20 World Champion; 3-1 @ Worlds Stefan Reichmuth (Switzerland) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Pan-American Pedro Ceballos Fuentes (Venezuela) - 2x Pan-Am Silver Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Carlos Izquierdo Mendez (Colombia) - 2x Pan-Am Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Alexander Moore (Canada) - 2023 Pan-Am Silver Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Ethan Ramos (Puerto Rico) - 2022 World 5th Place; 1-1 @ Worlds Yureski Torreblanca (Cuba) - 4x Pan-Am Champ, 0-1 @ Worlds 97 kg Notables That Didn't Qualify Asia Sahil Ahlawat (India) - 2023 Asian U23 Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Mojtaba Goleij (Iran) - 2021 World Bronze Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Awusayiman Habila (China) - 2023 Asian Silver Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Magomed Ibragimov (Uzbekistan) - 2018 World 5th Place; 1-2 @ Worlds Takashi Ishiguro (Japan) - 2021 Asian Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Alisher Yergali (Kazakhstan) - 2022 U23 World Bronze Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Europe Vladislav Baitcaev (Hungary) - 2022 World 5th Place; 1-1 @ Worlds Zbigniew Baranowski (Poland) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Ahmed Bataev (Bulgaria) - 2022 World 5th Place; 1-1 @ Worlds Aliaskandr Hushtyn (Belarus) - 3x European Silver Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Radu Lefter (Moldova) - 2021 U23 World Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Murazi Mchedlidze (Ukraine) - 2017 U23 World Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Magomedgadji Nurov (North Macedonia) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Abdulrashid Sadulaev (Russia) - 7x World/Olympic champion; 3-1 @ Worlds Erik Thiele (Germany) - 2022 European 5th Place; 2-2 @ Worlds Pan-American Maxwell Lacey (Costa Rica) - 2020 Pan-Am Champion; 1-2 @ Worlds 125 kg Notables That Didn't Qualify Asia Zhiwei Deng (China) - 2x World Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Aiaal Lazarev (Kyrgyzstan) - 2015 Asian Champion; 2-1 @ Worlds Sumit Malik (India) - 2019 Asian Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ Worlds Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur (Mongolia) - 2x World Medalist; 0-1 @ Worlds Europe Robert Baran (Poland) - 2x European Silver Medalist; 2-2 @ Worlds Abraham Conyedo Ruano (Italy) - 2020 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 1-1 @ Worlds Oleksandr Khotsianivskyi (Ukraine) - 2019 World Medalist; 2-1 @ Worlds Dzianis Khramiankou (Belarus) - 2x U23 World Medalist; 1-2 @ Worlds Daniel Ligeti (Hungary) - 2023 World 5th Place, 3-3 @ Worlds Georgi Meshvildishvili (Azerbaijan) - 2023 European Bronze Medalist, 1-1 @ Worlds Pan-American Jose Diaz Robertti (Venezuela) - 2016 Pan-Am Champ; FFT @ Worlds Catriel Muriel (Argentina) - 4x Pan-Am Bronze Medalist; 0-1 at Worlds

Ringgold

Below are the women's freestyle brackets for the 2023 Senior World Championships 55 kg 60 kg 63 kg 67 kg 72 kg 77 kg 82 kg 87 kg 97 kg 130 kg

Wednesday’s medal round matches at the 2023 World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia featured three of the most decorated women in American wrestling history. Each had the opportunity to add to their hard-to-fathom medal counts and each was successful in doing so. Sarah Hildebrandt (50 kg), Helen Maroulis (57 kg), and Adeline Gray (76 kg) each suffered close losses on Tuesday, but brushed themselves off and got the next best thing as they rebounded in bronze medal-winning performances. Hildebrandt had a ho-hum 5-0 victory over Evin Demirhan (Turkey) to get her hardware. Within the first minute and a half of the bout, Hildebrandt was on three takedown attempts but was stymied by Demirhan during each attack. She finally was able to break through and gain a takedown and added a shot clock violation point on Demirhan to lead 5-0 after a period. In the second period, Hildebrandt added an insurance takedown to make the score 5-0. That was more than enough, as Demirhan was never close to generating any offense against the American star. Hildebrandt’s bronze medal brings her career medal count up to five counting Olympic and World Championships. A medal from Hildebrandt also means that the United States has qualified for the 2024 Olympics at her 50 kg weight class. Next up was Maroulis, who appeared to be cruising like Hildebrandt. She led Anhelina Lysak (Poland) 2-0 at the break after converting a picturesque swing single. Maroulis added another in the second period and transitioned into a leg lace for a 6-0 advantage. As Maroulis appeared to be close to tacking on another takedown, Lysak was able to get on the scoreboard by exposing Maroulis. That wasn’t the only offensive attempt from Lysak, as she threw Maroulis to her back for four points during the last minute of the contest. Maroulis was able to stop the rally and added scores of her own to win, 10-6. The bronze medal for Maroulis now gives her nine total World/Olympic medals. Her latest came 11 years after her first at the 2012 World Championships. Maroulis’ finish also earns a quota for the United States at the 2024 Olympics. The last American to take the mat on Wednesday was Gray who was paired with fellow Pan-American wrestler Milaimys Marin Potrille (Cuba). Gray got on the board first, scoring with a snatch single, then quickly working into a pair of turns to grab a commanding 6-0 advantage. Marin Potrille wasn’t discouraged as she was able to get her first points by way of a huge double leg late in the first period. Each would add a pair of two-point scores in the second period which led to a 10-6 victory for Gray. For Gray, she now has 10 World/Olympic medals to her name. This most recent one may be her most impressive considering she gave birth to twins just over a year ago. Like Hildebrant and Maroulis, Gray has qualified the United States for the Olympics at 76 kg. In the first weight class contested during today’s medal round, Macey Kilty was in the 65 kg world finals opposite Nonoka Ozaki (Japan), a 2022 world champion at 62 kg. Ozaki got an early takedown and was able to pour it on and rolled to a tech fall in 60 seconds. For Kilty, she earned a silver medal in her first Senior World event and will get to advance to the Olympic Challenge Tournament semifinals at whichever weight she chooses. Today also saw the final four women’s team members take the mat for the first time. 2022 U20/U23/Senior world champion Amit Elor took another step towards the top of the podium by making the 72 kg finals opposite Davaanasan Enkh Amar (Mongolia). Enkh Amar downed Elor’s 2022 Senior finals opponent Zhamila Bakbergenova (Kazakhstan) in the semis. Elor scored a huge win in the quarters over 2022 World Champion (65 kg) Miwa Morikawa of Japan. Another first-time world team member, Emma Bruntil (68 kg), still has medal hopes alive. Bruntil defeated a pair of past world medalists in her first two matches (Alexandra Anghel - Romania and Feng Zhou - China). She then survived a 2-1 battle against Russian Vusala Parfianovich to make the semis. In the semis, Bruntil fell victim to Mongolia’s Delgermaa Enkhsaikhan via fall. She’ll have to await repechage to find her bronze medal opponent. In addition to her quest for a medal, Bruntil will have two opportunities to qualify the United States for the Olympics at 68 kg. The United States also had a pair of 2022 world medalists who lost early in the tournament and were eliminated. Dom Parrish (53 kg) was edged in her first bout by India’s Antim Panghal, 3-2. Kayla Miracle (62 kg) got to Romanian Kriszta Incze’s legs multiple times, but wasn’t able to finish often enough or avoid exposure points in the process. Miracle fell 6-3. Both Parrish and Miracle are at Olympic weights. They or another member of the team will head to the Pan-American Championships in early 2024 with the goal of placing top two and qualifying the US for the Olympics. Tomorrow will mark the final day of the women’s competition in Belgrade. Elor and Bruntil will wrestle for medals, while the Greco-Roman team starts their tournament. Final Results 50 kg Gold Medal Match: Yui Susaki (Japan) over Otgonjargal Dolgorjav (Mongolia) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Ziqi Feng (China) over Alisson Cardozo Rey (Colombia) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Sarah Hildebrandt (USA) over Evin Demirhan (Turkey) 5-0 Olympic Quota Wrestle-Off: Evin Demirhan (Turkey) over Alisson Cardozo Rey (Colombia) 4-1 57 kg Gold Medal Match: Tsugumi Sakurai (Japan) over Anastasia Nichita (Moldova) 3-2 Bronze Medal Match: Helen Maroulis (USA) over Anhelina Lysak (Poland) 10-6 Bronze Medal Match: Odunayo Adekuoroye (Nigeria) over Elvira Kamaloglu (Turkey) 9-5 Olympic Quota Wrestle-Off: Anhelina Lysak (Poland) over Elvira Kamaloglu (Turkey) Fall 1:55 65 kg Gold Medal Match: Nonaka Ozaki (Japan) over Macey Kilty (USA) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Mimi Hristova (Bulgaria) over Tatsiana Paulava (AIN - Belarus) Fall 1:51 Bronze Medal Match: Lili (China) over Kadriye Aksoy (Turkey) 3-2 76 kg Gold Medal Match: Yuga Kagami (Japan) over Aiperi Medet Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan) Injury Default Bronze Medal Match: Tatiana Renteria (Colombia) over Catalina Axente (Romania) Fall 5:59 Bronze Medal Match: Adeline Gray (USA) over Milaimys Marin Potrille (Cuba) 10-6 Olympic Quota Wrestle-Off: Milaimys Marin Potrille (Cuba) over Catalina Axente (Romania) Fall :50 American Results 50 kg Bronze Medal Match: Sarah Hildebrandt (USA) over Evin Demirhan (Turkey) 5-0 53 kg Qualification: Antim Panghal (India) over Dom Parrish 3-2 57 kg Bronze Medal Match: Helen Maroulis (USA) over Anhelina Lysak (Poland) 10-6 62 kg Qualification: Kayla Miracle over Subeen Jo (South Korea) 12-2 Round of 16: Kriszta Incze (Romania) over Kayla Miracle 6-3 65 kg Gold Medal Match: Nonaka Ozaki (Japan) over Macey Kilty (USA) 10-0 68 kg Qualification: Emma Bruntil over Alexandra Anghel (Romania) 2-2 Round of 16: Emma Bruntil over Feng Zhou (China) 6-3 Quarterfinals: Emma Bruntil over Vusala Parfianovich (AIN - Russia) 2-1 Semifinals: Delgermaa Enkhsaikhan (Mongolia) over Emma Bruntil Fall 2:45 72 kg Round of 16: Amit Elor over Nesrin Bas (Turkey) 7-0 Quarterfinals: Amit Elor over Miwa Morikawa (Japan) 6-0 Semifinals: Amit Elor over Kendra Dacher (France) 12-2 76 kg Repechage: Adeline Gray over Yuanyuan Huang (China) Fall 2:54 Bronze Medal Match: Adeline Gray over Milaimys Marin Potrille (Cuba) 10-6

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