InterMat Staff

From left, Seth Gross, Yianni Diakomihalis, and Kyle Snyder (photos courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 61 KG Title Contenders #3 Rei Higuchi (JPN) - 2016 Ziolkowski champ, 2016 Olympic runner-up 2016 Macedonian Pearl champion, 2016 57 KG Astana OG Qualifier champion, 2017 61 KG Asian Championships bronze, 2017 61 KG Yarygin bronze medalist, 2018 Meiji Cup runner-up (65), 2018 65 KG U-23 world champ, 2019 57 KG All-Japan championships gold medalist, 2020 57 KG All-Japan championships bronze medalist, 2022 61 KG Asian champion. Key Wins: #8 Islam Dudaev (2018 U-23 quarters), #10 (65) Tulga Tumur Ochir (2018 U-23 world's qualification round), Qualifier), Hassan Rahimi (2016 Olympics), Yowlys Bonne Rodriguez(2016 Olympics), Kyong Il Yang(2016 Olympics). Bekhan Gogyereev(2017 Yarygin), Takuto Otoguro (2019 65 KG Meiji Cup), Yuki Takahashi (2019 57 KG All-Japan championships), #15 Ulukbek Zholdoshbekov (2022 61 KG Asian championships) Key Losses: #6 (65) Gadzhimurad Rashidov(2015 Junior worlds, 2017 Yarygin), Fumitaka Morishita(2015 Mongolia Open), Damdinbazaar Tsgotbataar (2015 President Cup of Buryatia), Hak Song Kim (2017 61 KG Asian Championships) Vladimir Khinchegashvili (2016 57 KG Olympics), Rinya Nakamura (2017 World Team Trials wrestle off), Takuto Otoguro (2017 Emperor's Cup, 2018 Meiji Cup finals), Tulga Tumur Ochir (2018 Korkin quarters), Daulet Niyazbekov (2018 Korkin repechage), Yuto Takeshita (2020 57 KG All-Japan championships), Yuki Takahashi (2021 57 KG Olympic team wrestle-off) For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

Jordan Burroughs (left) and David Taylor (photo courtesy of Kadir Caliskan/UWW) Friday proved to be the most eventful day of the 2022 World Championships, thus far, at least from an American perspective. The first three American finalists in the men's freestyle division were in action and there were plenty of fireworks associated with the results. Two of the biggest storylines of the men's freestyle tournament were a potential rematch between David Taylor and Hassan Yazdani (Iran) in the 86 kg finals and Jordan Burroughs' pursuit of a seventh World/Olympic gold medal. Since the finals were conducted in ascending order, by weight, Burroughs took the mat first. After a tactical first period that saw Burroughs behind on the scoreboard (1-0), he began to wear down his opponent, Mohammad Nokhodi. Nokhodi was Burroughs' opponent from the 2021 world finals, as well. In the second period, Burroughs seized the lead with one of his patented double leg takedowns. He also was active and did not allow his Iranian foe to come close to a takedown during the closing seconds. As those seconds ticked off the scoreboard it read 4-2 in favor of the undisputed greatest of all-time (GOAT) in American wrestling history. After a pair of bronze medal matches at 86 kg, Taylor got on the raised stage opposite his rival Yazdani for the fifth time. The first three went Taylor's way, while Yazdani finally broke through in the 2021 world finals. Yazdani gained an early lead off of a shot clock violation, but it proved to be the one point he could muster against Taylor. A takedown off of a low reshot late in the opening period put Taylor in the lead, a position he'd never relinquish. Throughout the bout, Taylor was able to get to Yazdani's legs and on three occasions he converted them into takedowns. Perhaps most impressive was a sequence late in the second period where a Yazdani takedown looked imminent. Only inches away from a takedown and a possible momentum shift, Taylor was able to quickly get out of the dangerous position and then avoided exposure attempts from Yazdani. Taylor finished the match to win via a 7-1 margin. This victory gives Taylor a second world title and third world/Olympic gold medal. The afternoon session got underway for the Americans at 70kg as Zain Retherford took on Taishi Narikuni (Japan) in the gold medal match. In the first period, the two engaged in a prolonged scramble, which was eventually won by Narikuni. After securing the takedown, Narikuni was able to expose Retherford, then moved into a leg lace. He never released the hold and turned Retherford three more times to win 10-0 via technical superiority. Retherford settles for a silver medal, which is his first world hardware in three trips to the tournament. This morning, three more past world champions started their tournaments. Thomas Gilman (57 kg), Kyle Dake (74 kg), and J'den Cox (92 kg) all advanced to the tournament's gold medal matches at their respective weights. Gilman and Cox were met with little resistance during their run to the finals, while Dake had to grind out a 2-2 win over Iran's Yones Emamichoghaei. 2022 Senior World Championships US Results 57 kg Men's Freestyle Semifinals: Thomas Gilman over Wanhao Zou (China) 8-2 70 kg Men's Freestyle Gold Medal Match: Taishi Narikuni (Japan) over Zain Retherford (USA) 10-0 74 kg Men's Freestyle Semifinals: Kyle Dake over Yones Emamichoghaei (Iran) 2-2 79 kg Men's Freestyle Gold Medal Match: Jordan Burroughs over Mohammad Nokhodi (Iran) 4-2 86 kg Men's Freestyle Gold Medal Match: David Taylor over Hassan Yazdani (Iran) 7-1 92 kg Men's Freestyle Semifinals: J'den Cox over Osman Nurmagomedov (Azerbaijan) 7-0

2022 70 kg World Finalist Zain Retherford (photo courtesy of Kadir Caliskan/UWW) In the wake of Zain Retherford's semifinal win, I couldn't help but think about the various trajectories that these guys go through before they finally reach the top. We've been blessed with so much young talent in recent years that it's no longer surprising to see a current college wrestler make a Men's World Team. Daton Fix does it. Yianni got himself a nod last year. Kyle Snyder made a habit out of it. Gable Steveson did his thing on the biggest stage of them all. Back in 2016, J'den Cox was making Olympic teams and following everyone back on Twitter. And way back five years ago in 2017, Zain won himself a spot in the dreaded 65kg class. When I got back into the sport that same year, I immediately gravitated towards Zain and he quickly became my favorite wrestler to watch. Being a bit more naive at the time, I was certain he'd win a medal because he was as good a wrestler as I'd ever seen. Maybe I got ahead of myself by five years. Maybe we take for granted the number of years it takes to adjust to world-level freestyle after completing your folk career. After half a decade of battling in our toughest weight domestically, the Zain Train has settled into a comfortable weight at 70kg and looks better than ever. Now in his prime wrestling age of 27, the hammer from the pumpkin farms of Pennsylvania is primed to win this gold medal and hopefully start a run of domination like his teammate David Taylor did when he turned 27. Sometimes the journey to get there takes longer than expected, but the only thing that matters is you get there. Zain has arrived and the world has been put on proverbial notice. You love to see it. What's something I didn't know I needed to know about the upcoming college season? EB Did you know that Robbie Howard is back and ready to lift the 125 curse for Penn State? The legend from New Jersey has battled a bevy of shoulder surgeries through the years, but hopefully is ready to go this year without any setbacks. We got a small sample of the 3-time Cadet team member in the shortened 2021 season with mixed results but some nice victories to show that he's still dangerous. Plus, four years left! Would you rather get a cash prize for winning a World medal or a free boat with warranties for a lifetime of happiness? JL Vice Cash prize no doubt. I can always buy a boat with the money. I'm also quite the landlubber so the open water is all yours. All things considered, would you rather have free smokes for a year or an all-expense paid trip to the NCAA tournament? Jkos11 What's with all the hypothetical questions here? I'll take the free trip and quit smoking before it kills me. How good is Kyrgyzstan with their new Greco, Men's and Women's freestyle head coach CEO of Italians? Seth Petarra CEO of Italians Put it this way, I can spell it without looking thanks to your influence. Short mailbag today as I know you all want to sneak in a nap before the medal rounds in a few hours. Wrestling is officially back and off to a great start. Amit Elor! World Champ at 18! Most 18-year-olds are halfway through high school at this point and she's already destroying the world.

2022 59 kg World Champion Anastasia Nichita of Moldova (photo courtesy of Kostadin Andonov/UWW) 57 kg Women's Freestyle Gold Medal Match: Tsugumi Sakurai (Japan) over Helen Maroulis (USA) 3-0 Bronze Medal Match: Anhelina Lysak (Poland) over Davaachimeg Erkhembayar (Mongolia) 10-6 Bronze Medal Match: Alina Hrushyna (Ukraine) over Zhala Aliyeva (Azerbaijan) 10-0 59 kg Women's Freestyle Gold Medal Match: Anastasia Nichita (Moldova) over Grace Bullen (Norway) 4-1 Bronze Medal Match: Jowita Wrzesien (Poland) over Erdenesuvd Bat Erdene (Mongolia) 4-2 Bronze Medal Match: Sakura Motoki (Japan) over Qi Zhang (China) Fall 3:37 68 kg Women's Freestyle Gold Medal Match: Tamyra Mensah-Stock (USA) over Ami Ishii (Japan) Fall 2:10 Bronze Medal Match: Linda Morais (Canada) over Nisha (India) Fall 2:44 Bronze Medal Match: Irina Ringaci (Moldova) over Feng Zhou (China) Fall :50 72 kg Women's Freestyle Gold Medal Match: Amit Elor (USA) over Zhamila Bakbergenova (Kazakhstan) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Alexandra Anghel (Romania) over Svetlana Oknazarova (Uzbekistan) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Masako Furuichi (Japan) over Buse Tosun (Turkey) 3-2

David Taylor in the 2022 World semifinals (photo courtesy of Kostadin Andonov/UWW) The semifinal round was kicked off by Zain Retherford, who was on the precipice of his first Senior world medal. Standing between him, a medal, and the 70 kg world finals was a highly-decorated opponent in Zurabi Iakobishvili (Georgia). The three-time world medalist and 2017 world champion came into Belgrade fresh off a European Championship. Iakobishvili's past didn't matter at all to Retherford, who grabbed a pair of points in the opening period off a step-out and a shot clock violation. As the second period progressed, Iakobishvili became noticeably winded and Retherford capitalized. He amassed two takedowns and a step out all off of a sweep single to the tired Georgian. Shortly after Retherford pushed the score to 7-0 the final seconds ticked off on the scoreboard. Retherford clinched a world medal, though he is focused on making sure the color is gold. He'll have to contend with Taishi Narikuni (Japan), a bit of a surprise finalist. Narikuni was an Asian Champion earlier this year and knocked off the tournament's top seed, Ernazar Akmataliev (Kyrgyzstan) in a 10-10 semifinal shootout. We went from Retherford locking up his first world medal to Jordan Burroughs who now has ten. Burroughs squared off with Ali Umarpashaev (Bulgaria), a two-time ninth-place finisher at the World Championships. Umarpashaev was never able to get into a rhythm due to Burroughs' motion, fakes, and level changes. Burroughs also dealt with an opponent who repeatedly pushed the boundaries of legal physicality. None seemed to fluster the veteran, who ended up winning via a 9-2 score. Burroughs will now face off with his 2021 World finals opponent Mohammad Nokhodilarimi (Iran). The third finalist on the day was David Taylor who started off slow against Azamat Dauletbekov (Kazakhstan), leading only 1-0 after a period. As is usually the case, Taylor wore on his opening and found several openings throughout the final two-plus minutes. A takedown followed by a gut wrench blew the match open and Taylor didn't stop until the scoreboard read 12-0. Taylor's win sets up perhaps the most anticipated match of the entire tournament, as he will take on Hassan Yazdani (Iran). Taylor took the first three meetings between the two, including the 2020 Olympic finals; however, Yazdani returned the favor at the 2021 World Championships in Oslo. Both teams are expected to contend for the team titles, so this round could have extra implications. In the 125 kg semifinal, perennial gold medal threat Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) suffered an upset loss to Mongolia's Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur, which eliminated Hayden Zillmer from the tournament. 2022 Senior World Championships US Results 70 kg Men's Freestyle Semifinal: Zain Retherford over Zurabi Iakobishvili (Georgia) 7-0 79 kg Men's Freestyle Semifinal: Jordan Burroughs over Ali Umarpashaev (Bulgaria) 9-2 86 kg Men's Freestyle Semifinal: David Taylor over Azamat Dauletbekov (Kazakhstan) 12-0

From left, Thomas Gilman, Kyle Dake, J'den Cox (photos courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Another year, another world championship. Even without the inclusion of returning World/Olympic champions Russia, the competition in Belgrade will be excellent with headlining matchups brewing between 2021 Olympic medalists #2 Ravi Kumar (IND) and #3 Thomas Gilman at 57 KG and #1 Hassan Yazdani Charati (IRI) and #2 David Taylor (USA) at 86 KG in a rematch of the world finals won by Yazdani that avenged his Olympic finals loss to Taylor. Day one of the World championships for men's freestyle will see competition from athletes at the 70, 79, 86, and 125 kilogram weight classes. Read below to figure out who are the favorites, who's got the chance to medal, and who are the dark horses that could break through. 57 KG Title Contenders #2 Ravi Kumar (IND) - 2019 57 KG world bronze medalist, 2018 57 KG U23 world runner-up, 2015 55 KG Junior world runner-up, 2020 57 KG Asian Champion, 2021 61 KG Ziolkowski runner-up, 2022 61 KG Dan Kolov runner-up, 2021 57 KG Asian champion, 2022 57 KG Asian champion, 2022 61 KG Yasar Dogu champion, 2020 57 KG Matteo Pellicone champion, 2019 57 KG Asian championships 5th, 2019 57 KG Medved bronze medalist, 2022 57 KG Commonwealth Games champion. Key Wins: Arsen Harutyunyan (2019 57 KG world championships), Yuki Takahashi (2019 57 KG world championships), Reza Atri (2019 57 KG world bronze medal match, 2021 61 KG Ziolkowski semis), Gulomjon Abdullaev (2021 61 KG Yasar Dogu finals, 2021 61 KG Ziolkowski rd 1), Nurislam Sanayev (2020 57 KG Asian championships, 2021 57 KG Olympics), Georgi Vangelov (2021 57 KG Olympics, 2022 61 KG Dan Kolov), Taras Markovych (2018 57 KG U23 world championships), Jahongirmirza Turobov (2018 57 KG U23 world championships), Alireza Sarlak (2020 57 KG Asian championships finals), Adlan Askarov (2021 61 KG Ziolkowski rd 2). Key Losses: Gulomjon Abdullaev (2016 57 KG Junior World championships, 2021 61 KG Ziolkowski finals), Gamzatgadzhi Khalidov (2020 57 KG Individual World Cup), Zavur Uguev (2019 57 KG world championships semifinals, 2021 57 KG Olympics finals), Zelimkhan Abakarov (2022 61 KG Dan Kolov finals), Toshihiro Hasegawa (2018 57 KG U23 world finals), Kumsong Kang (2019 57 KG Asian championships), Yuki Takahashi (2019 57 KG Asian championships), Jahongirmirza Turobov (2019 57 KG Medved), Volodmyr Borukov (2019 61 KG Dan Kolov round of 16), Makhir Amiraslanov (2015 55 KG Junior world finals). For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

2022 World Champions Tamyra Mensah-Stock (left) and Amit Elor (photo courtesy of Kostadin Andonov/UWW) History was made for Team USA in the very last match of the women's freestyle tournament at the 2022 World Championship. 18-year-old Amit Elor became the youngest American wrestler to win a Senior world championship when she disposed of returning world silver medalist Zhamila Bakbergenova (Kazakhstan) in just over :70 seconds. The previous mark was held by Kyle Snyder who won his 2015 world championship as a 19-year-old. Bakbergenova was the offensive wrestler, but was stymied by Elor on her only shot attempt. Elor patiently improved her position until she was able to swiftly go behind for a takedown. She quickly transitioned into a leg lace and that was the match. Four turns later, Elor was a world champion. The numbers are staggering for Elor. In her four matches in Belgrade, Elor downed three of the four returning world medalists, including both finalists. Her other contest was a win over the 2021 U23 world champion. Although, Elor outscored the field 23-2 and that doesn't include a fall in the quarterfinals. Elor now has two world titles in 2022 (U20 and Senior) and will seek a third next month at U23's. The American squad crowned another gold medalist at the weight class before Elor's, as Tamyra Mensah-Stock prevailed at 68 kg. Mensah-Stock faced Japan's Ami Ishii, another U20 world champion from earlier this year. After a brief “feeling-out” process, Mensah-Stock hit a big blast double to get on the scoreboard, 2-0. Shortly after, Mensah-Stock got a second takedown and then sucked Ishii back for exposure. She didn't stop at the point, instead increasing the pressure and eventually picking up the fall at 2:10 in the opening period. Throughout the tournament, Mensah-Stock did not surrender a single point and never was pushed to the fourth minute of any bout. She tallied three 10-0 techs before the fall in the finals. The gold medal gives Tamyra three World/Olympic titles and five medals overall. She has left every World/Olympic event with some form of hardware since 2018. Also adding to her medal collection was Helen Maroulis at 57 kg. Maroulis was held in check by Japan's Tsugumi Sakurai, 3-0 in the gold medal match. Sakurai was a world champion in 2021 at 55 kg, who moved up this year. Maroulis had to settle for silver for the second time in her illustrious career. For her career, Maroulis now has eight World/Olympic medals (4 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze). The US women's freestyle team finished the tournament in second place, behind Japan. Seven American women won medals and three were crowned world champions; two being first-time champs. The US team also had three champions in 2019 when Mensah-Stock, Jacarra Winchester (55kg) and Adeline Gray (76 kg) won. 2022 Senior World Championships US Results 57 kg Women's Freestyle Gold Medal Match: Tsugumi Sakurai (Japan) over Helen Maroulis 3-0 68 kg Women's Freestyle Gold Medal Match: Tamyra Mensah-Stock over Ami Ishii (Japan) Fall 2:10 72 kg Women's Freestyle Gold Medal Match: Amit Elor over Zhamila Bakbergenova (Kazakhstan) Fall 1:12

70 kg world team member Zain Retherford (photo courtesy of Ben Mrad Bayrem/UWW) The first four weight classes for men's freestyle took the mat Thursday morning at the 2022 World Championships. In doing so, the American team made its presence felt. Three of the four team members punched their ticket to the semifinals and did so in impressive fashion Former Penn State Hodge Trophy winners Zain Retherford (70 kg) and David Taylor (86 kg) both have berths in the semifinals and went 5-0 with a combined score of 36-0 and a fall. For Taylor, he is seeking his fourth world/Olympic medal and second world championship. A possible 2021 finals rematch with Hassan Yazdani (Iran) is one of the most anticipated potential matches of the entire tournament. Before getting another shot at Yazdani, Taylor will need to go through the Asian Champion Azamat Dauletbekov (Kazakhstan), a fifth place finisher at the 2021 World Championships. Retherford, on the other hand, is chasing after his first world medal, after coming up short in his two previous world team appearances. He had a tech and a fall in his first two bouts, before a workman-like 5-0 victory over Arman Andreasyan (Armenia) in the quarterfinals. The third semifinalist for the American team is one of the most decorated wrestlers in our nation's history, Jordan Burroughs at 79 kg. In search of his sixth world title and seventh world/Olympic gold medal, Burroughs has looked like his typical self. Although he's the only one of the semifinalists who have surrendered a single point, they have been insignificant in back-to-back 12-1 victories to start the tournament. None of Burroughs' three matches this morning made it out of the first period. For another world medal and a berth in the finals, Burroughs will have to get by Ali Umarpashaev (Bulgaria). Umarpashaev's best finish at the world championships has been 9th place, which he has done twice. Also starting his tournament today was Hayden Zillmer at 125 kg. Zillmer picked up two solid wins, the second being a 3-2 victory over battle-tested veteran, Robert Baran (Poland), before running into legendary big man Geno Petriashvili (Georgia). The two-time Olympic medalist downed Zillmer 9-4 to move into the semi's. But with a loss to a high-quality opponent like Petriashvili, Zillmer's hopes for repechage look good. The morning started with one of our women's freestylers in repechage, Abby Nette, at 59 kg. Nette fell to Mongolia's Erdenesuvd Bat Erdene 4-0 and has been eliminated. 2022 World Championship US Results 70 kg Men's Freestyle Qualification: Zain Retherford over Kevin Henkel (Germany) 10-0 Round of 16: Zain Retherford over Marc Dietsche (Switzerland) Fall 1:10 Quarterfinals: Zain Retherford over Arman Andreasyan (Armenia) 5-0 79 kg Men's Freestyle Qualification: Jordan Burroughs over Sahergeldi Saparmyradov (Turkmenistan) 12-1 Round of 16: Jordan Burroughs over Dejan Mitrov (Macedonia) 12-1 Quarterfinals: Jordan Burroughs over Arslan Budazhapov (Kyrgyzstan) 10-0 86 kg Men's Freestyle Round of 16: David Taylor over Aron Caneva (Italy) 10-0 Quarterfinals: David Taylor over Ethan Ramos (Puerto Rico) 11-0 125 kg Men's Freestyle Qualification: Hayden Zillmer over Zyyamuhammet Saparov (Turkmenistan) 15-4 Round of 16: Hayden Zillmer over Robert Baran (Poland) 3-2 Quarterfinals: Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) over Hayden Zillmer 9-4 59 kg Women's Freestyle Repechage: Erdenesuvd Bat Erdene (Mongolia) over Abby Nette 4-0

Three-time World Champion Yui Susaki (photo courtesy of Kostadin Andonov/UWW) 50 kg Women's Freestyle Gold Medal Match: Yui Susaki (Japan) over Otgonjargal Dolgorjav (Mongolia) Fall 1:23 Bronze Medal Match: Sarah Hildebrandt (USA) over Emilia Vuc (Romania) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Anna Lukasiak (Poland) over Miesinnei Genesis (Nigeria) 3-2 53 kg Women's Freestyle Gold Medal Match: Dom Parrish (USA) over Khulan Batkhuyag (Mongolia) 4-2 Bronze Medal Match: Vinesh Phogat (India) over Emma Malmgren (Sweden) 8-0 Bronze Medal Match: Maria Prevolaraki (Greece) over Lucia Yepez Guzman (Colombia) 14-4 65 kg Women's Freestyle Gold Medal Match: Miwa Morikawa (Japan) over Jia Long (China) 2-0 Bronze Medal Match: Mallory Velte (USA) over Mimi Hristova (Bulgaria) 11-2 Bronze Medal Match: Koumba Larroque (France) over Elis Manolova (Azerbaijan) 3-2 76 kg Women's Freestyle Gold Medal Match: Yasemin Adar (Turkey) over Samar Hamza (Egypt) 6-0 Bronze Medal Match: Yuka Kagami (Japan) over Genesis Reasco Valdez (Ecuador) 4-0 Bronze Medal Match: Epp Maee (Estonia) over Justin DiStasio (Canada) 2-1

61 kg world team member Seth Gross (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 57 kg Men's Freestyle 61 kg Men's Freestyle 65 kg Men's Freestyle 70 kg Men's Freestyle 74 kg Men's Freestyle 79 kg Men's Freestyle 86 kg Men's Freestyle 92 kg Men's Freestyle 97 kg Men's Freestyle 125 kg Men's Freestyle

2022 53 kg World Champion Dom Parrish (photo courtesy of Kadir Caliskan/UWW) Wednesday afternoon saw the "Star Spangled Banner" being played for the first time as Dom Parrish captured the gold medal and a first world title at 53 kg. Parrish got on the board with a double leg early in the first period against Khulan Batkhuyag (Mongolia). That's how the first period would end. In the second, Batkhuyag retaliated with a takedown of her own to even the score, though she was ahead on criteria. After the takedown, the Mongolian attempted to corral Parrish's legs for a lace; however, Parrish was able to deny the move. Shortly after, Batkhuyag attempted to extend her lead with a trip attempt, a move that Parrish avoided and then she dropped to a leg for a shot of her own. Parrish quickly finished to lead 4-2. The rest of the bout featured strong defensive tactics from Parrish as she did not allow any more scoring. Parrish got her hand raised and became only the 11th American woman to win a world title. This title came in only her first appearance at a Senior world tournament. Before Parrish took the mat, Sarah Hildebrandt won her fourth world/Olympic medal at 50 kg, when she defeated Emilia Vuc (Romania), 10-0. Despite the score, there was plenty of drama surrounding this bout. Hildebrandt had a 4-0 lead in the opening stanza on the strength of two takedowns. As she was attacking and looking for a third, Vuc sunk in a deep head pinch and tried to roll Hildebrandt to her back. The move turned into a choke and Hildebrandt went unconscious and rolled flat onto her back with Vuc covering her. At that point, the official stopped the bout and waited for Hildebrandt to come to. Initially, two points were awarded to Vuc; however, those were waved off. Just minutes after lying unconscious in the center of the mat, Hildebrandt got back to her feet collected three more takedowns and gathered the win and her third bronze medal. After the Parrish victory, fellow Simon Fraser alum Mallory Velte took the mat competing for bronze at 65 kg. Velte was ready to go from the opening whistle and applied constant pressure on Mimi Hristova (Bulgaria) throughout their match. Velte took control with four points in the opening period. Hristova briefly made things interesting with a takedown of her own in the second, but Velte reeled off seven unanswered points to prevail, 11-2. The win gives Velte two world bronze medals in her three Senior world appearances. The Wednesday morning session was favorable to the women's world team. The athletes used that momentum during the second session as three athletes wrestled in the semifinals and three others were in medal matches. Helen Maroulis continued her dominance at 57 kg with a fall over Davaachimeg Erkhembayar of Mongolia. During the earlier portion of the bout, Erkhembayar and Maroulis were tied up with little action. Maroulis led by a score of 3-0 after a period. She was able to break open that match in a big way during the second period, using her trademark footsweep into a fall. Japan's Tsugumi Sakurai is all that's standing between Maroulis and her fifth world/Olympic gold medal. Sakurai is the returning world champion at 55 kg. The next American to compete in the semis was Tamyra Mensah-Stock at 68 kg. Mensah-Stock was paired with 2021 Senior/U20 Irina Ringaci (Moldova). You wouldn't know it from the action itself as it was all-Tamyra from the opening whistle. Mensah-Stock only needed :25 to get her first takedown and then snowballed from there with a 10-0 tech in less than two and a half minutes. Mensah-Stock advanced to the finals with three identical 10-0 tech falls. She'll need to get by Japan's Ami Ishii to win her second world title. Ishii was a U20 world champion earlier this year. Speaking of 2022 U20 champions, there was one in action for the United States at 72 kg with Amit Elor. The 18-year-old faced 2021 world champion, Masako Furuichi (Japan), in a tactical affair. The veteran, Furuichi blinked first and attempted a headlock early in the first period, a maneuver that Elor avoided and countered for a takedown. That proved to be pivotal as Furuichi was never able to score until the last :15 seconds, when she got a takedown to narrow the gap to 3-2. Overall, Elor proved to be too stout defensively and controlled the ties and center of the mat for much of the contest. 3-2 was the final score for Elor, who clinched her first Senior medal with a finals berth. In order for Elor to claim her second world title this year, she'll have to defeat Kazakhstan's Zhamila Bakbergenova in tomorrow's final. Bakbergenova was a silver medalist at the 2021 World Championships and a two-time Asian champion. The American women finished the day with 12 straight victories and have clinched at least seven medals for a second consecutive year. Tomorrow, with three finalists, we'll determine what color those medals will be. 2022 Senior World Championships US Results 50 kg Bronze Medal Match: Sarah Hildebrandt over Emilia Vuc (Romania) 10-0 53 kg Gold Medal Match: Dom Parrish over Khulan Batkhuyag (Mongolia) 4-2 57 kg Semifinals: Helen Maroulis over Davaachimeg Erkhembayar (Mongolia) Fall 5:19 65 kg Bronze Medal Match: Mallory Velte over Mimi Hristova (Bulgaria) 11-2 68 kg Semifinals: Tamyra Mensah-Stock over Irina Ringaci (Moldova) 10-0 72 kg Semifinals: Amit Elor over Masako Furuichi (Japan) 3-2

Helen Maroulis at the 2022 World Championships (photo courtesy of Martin Gabor/UWW) The Wednesday morning round from the US women's freestyle team was easily the best session of the Senior World Championships thus far, for any American squad. Three of the four women starting their tournaments today made it to this afternoon's semifinal round and did so in dominant fashion. With a pair of past Olympic champions in the mix (Helen Maroulis and Tamyra Mensah-Stock), it was expected that those veterans would make the semis; however, expectations for the young Amit Elor were unclear. Less than a month ago, Elor won her second straight U20 world title and metaphorically lapped the field in doing so. At only 18 years old, would she be too young to compete with the seasoned women at the Senior level? Elor proved that concerns about her age were no issue by crushing 2021 U23 world champion Anastasia Alpyeva (Ukraine) 10-0, in less than two minutes, during her Senior world debut at 72 kg. A match later, in the quarterfinals, two-time world medalist Bose Tosun (Turkey) attempted to outmuscle Elor and was promptly put on her back for a fall in only :39 seconds. Elor's semifinal opponent is returning world champion and two-time medalist Masako Furuichi of Japan. Speaking of quick falls, Maroulis was able to top Elor's 39-second fall when she pinned Kazakhstan's Emma Tissina in only :16 in the Round of 16. After a 10-0 tech over Poland's Anhelina Lysak, Maroulis finds herself in a familiar spot, the world semifinals. Maroulis will need to defeat Mongolia's Davaachimeg Erkhembayar, a 2021 World bronze medalist, to get back to the world finals at 57 kg. Fellow Olympic gold medalist, Mensah-Stock looked to be in top form as she disposed of two opponents with identical 10-0 scores in the 68 kg bracket. Her quarter's foe, Feng Zhou (China) defeated Mensah at the 2020 Matteo Pellicone. This time it was all-Tamyra early and often. Mensah-Stock has Moldova's Irina Ringaci in the semis. In 2021, Ringaci won U20 and Senior world titles at 65 kg. None of the three quarterfinalists surrendered a point during the morning session. The fourth member of the team in action this morning was Abby Nette at 59 kg. In her opening match, Nette fell to Norway's Grace Bullen, 13-2. Bullen has advanced to the semis and if she defeats Jowita Wrzesien (Poland), it will pull Nette into repechage. 2022 Senior World Championships US Results 57 kg Women's Freestyle Round of 16 - Helen Maroulis over Emma Tissina (Kazakhstan) Fall :16 Quarterfinals - Helen Maroulis over Anhelina Lysak (Poland) 10-0 59 kg Women's Freestyle Qualification - Grace Bullen (Norway) over Abby Nette 13-2 68 kg Women's Freestyle Round of 16 - Tamyra Mensah-Stock over Alla Belinska (Ukraine) 10-0 Quarterfinals - Tamyra Mensah-Stock over Feng Zhou (China) 1-0 72 kg Women's Freestyle Round of 16 - Amit Elor over Anastasia Alpyeva (Ukraine) 10-0 Quarterfinals - Amit Elor over Bose Tosun (Turkey) Fall :39

Five-time Greco-Roman world champion Riza Kayaalp of Turkey (photo courtesy of Kadir Caliskan/UWW) 60 kg Greco-Roman Gold Medal Match: Zholaman Sharshenbekov (Kryzgystan) over Edmond Nazaryan (Bulgaria) 11-2 Bronze Medal Match: Aidos Sultangali (Kazakhstan) over Krisztian Kecskemeti (Hungary) 7-1 Bronze Medal Match: Kenichiro Fumita (Japan) over Murad Mammadov (Azerbaijan) 5-1 130 kg Greco-Roman Gold Medal Match: Riza Kayaalp (Turkey) over Amin Mirzazadeh (Iran) 1-1 Bronze Medal Match: Mantas Knystautas (Lithuania) over Iakobi Kajaia (Georgia) 3-1 Bronze Medal Match: Alin Ciurariu (Romania) over Muminjon Abduallev (Uzbekistan) 5-3 55 kg Women's Freestyle Gold Medal Match: Mayu Mukaida (Japan) over Oleksandra Khomenets (Ukraine) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Mengyu Xie (China) over Jacarra Winchester (USA) Fall 4:55 Bronze Medal Match: Karla Godinez-Gonzalez (Canada) over Mariana Dragutan (Moldova) 6-2 62 kg Women's Freestyle Gold Medal Match: Nonoka Ozaki (Japan) over Kayla Miracle (USA) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Ilona Propkopevniuk (Ukraine) over Aisuluu Tynybekova (Kryzgystan) 8-7 Bronze Medal Match: Xiaojuan Luo (China) over Ana Godinez Gonzalez (Canada) 4-3

2021 NCAA All-American Clay Carlson (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Welcome to a new, regular feature for InterMat! Every day, for the next few months, we'll look into the recent history of a DI wrestling program with our "Ten Years of…" feature. Even if you're a die-hard supporter of a particular school, there will be good information you may have forgotten. For others, it's a quick way to learn about a program you may not be familiar with. We're going in alphabetical order for this one, so next up is...South Dakota State! NCAA Qualifiers (38) 2022 #7 Clay Carlson (141 lbs), #12 Cade DeVos (174 lbs), #12 Tanner Sloan (197 lbs), #22 AJ Nevills (285 lbs) 2021 #22 Danny Vega (125 lbs), #14 Zach Price (133 lbs), #15 Clay Carlson (141 lbs), #18 Cade DeVos (157 lbs), #13 Tanner Sloan (197 lbs) 2020 #12 Henry Pohlmeyer (149 lbs), #22 Tanner Cook (165 lbs), #12 Zach Carlson (184 lbs), #11 Tanner Sloan (197 lbs) 2019 #22 Henry Pohlmeyer (149 lbs) 2018 Connor Brown (125 lbs), #1 Seth Gross (133 lbs), Henry Pohlmeyer (141 lbs), #13 Luke Zilverberg (157 lbs), #11 David Kocer (174 lbs), Martin Mueller (184 lbs), #8 Nate Rotert (197 lbs) 2017 #2 Seth Gross (133 lbs), Alex Kocer (149 lbs), Luke Zilverberg (165 lbs), David Kocer (174 lbs), #9 Nate Rotert (197 lbs) 2016 Seth Gross (141 lbs), Alex Kocer (149 lbs), #7 Cody Pack (157 lbs), David Kocer (174 lbs) #15 Nate Rotert (197 lbs) 2015 #5 Cody Pack (157 lbs), Nate Rotert (197 lbs), JJ Everard (285 lbs) 2014 Alex Kocer (149 lbs), Cody Pack (157 lbs), Joe Brewster (165 lbs) 2013 Cody Pack (157 lbs) NCAA Champions Seth Gross (133 - 2018) NCAA All-Americans 2021: Clay Carlson (141 - 8th) 2018: Seth Gross (133 - 1st), Luke Zilverberg (157 - 8th), David Kocer (174 - 7th) 2017: Seth Gross (133 - 2nd), Alex Kocer (149 - 8th) NWCA All-Americans Henry Pohlmeyer (149 - Second Team) Zach Carlson (184 - Second Team) Tanner Sloan (197 - Second Team) NCAA Round of 12 Finishers Clay Carlson (2022 - 141) Zach Price (2021 - 133) Tanner Sloan (2021 - 197) Nate Rotert (2018 - 197) Seth Gross (2016 - 141) Cody Pack (2015, 2016 - 157) Conference Champions Big 12 2018: Seth Gross (133), Nate Rotert (197) 2017: Seth Gross (133) WWC 2015: Cody Pack (157), JJ Everard (285) 2014: Alex Kocer 149), Cody Pack (157) Dual Record 2021-22: 13-4 2021: 5-6 2019-20: 12-6 2018-19: 3-10 2017-18: 14-2 2016-17: 14-5 2015-16: 14-6 2014-15: 11-8 2013-14: 6-8 2012-13: 5-12 Conference Tournament Placement Big 12 2021-22: 6th 2021: 8th 2019-20: 4th 2018-19: 10th 2017-18: 3rd 2016-17: 3rd 2015-16: 4th WWC 2014-15: 3rd 2013-14: 5th 2012-13: 5th NCAA Tournament Team Placement 2021-22: 44th (3.5 points) 2021: 26th-tie (15.5 points) 2019-20: No Tournament 2018-19: No Team Score 2017-18: 12th (42 points) 2016-17: 16th (28.5 points) 2015-16: 39th-tie (7.5 points) 2014-15: 53rd-tie (1.5 points) 2013-14: No Team Score 2012-13: No Team Score Head Coaching History Damion Hahn (2018 - Present) Chris Bono (2012 - 2018) Best Lineup (Comprised of Wrestlers from 2013-22) 125 - Danny Vega: 2021 NCAA Qualifier, 2021 Big 12 4th Place 133 - Seth Gross: 2x NCAA Qualifier (#1 and #2 seeds), 2018 NCAA Champion, 2x NCAA All-American (1,2), 2x Big 12 Champion, 2020 NCAA Qualifier for Wisconsin 141 - Clay Carlson: 2x NCAA Qualifier (#7 and #15 seeds), 2021 NCAA All-American (8th), 2022 Big 12 3rd Place 149 - Alex Kocer: 3x NCAA Qualifier, 2017 NCAA All-American (8th), 2014 WWC Champion 157 - Cody Pack: 4x NCAA Qualifier (#5 and #7 seeds), 2x NCAA Round of 12 Finisher, 2016 Big 12 Runner-Up, 2x WWC Champion 165 - Luke Zilverberg: 2x NCAA Qualifier (#13 seed), 2018 NCAA All-American (8th), 2018 Big 12 3rd Place 174 - David Kocer: 3x NCAA Qualifier (#11 seed), 2018 NCAA All-American (7th), 2018 Big 12 Runner-Up 184 - Zach Carlson: 2020 NCAA Qualifier (#12 seed), 2020 NWCA First Team All-American, 2020 Big 12 Runner-Up 197 - Nate Rotert: 4x NCAA Qualifier (#8, #9, and #15 seeds), 2018 NCAA Round of 12 Finisher, 2018 Big 12 Champion, 2x Big 12 Finalist 285 - AJ Nevills: 2022 NCAA Qualifier Recruiting Number of Big Boarder's Per Year 2022: #66 Bennett Berge (MN), #125 Kail Wynia (MN), #163 Luke Rasmussen (SD), #208 Caleb Thoennes (MN), #209 Christian Noble (MN), #247 Brock Fettig (ND) 2021: #14 Alek Martin (OH), #59 Derrick Cardinal (MN), #71 Cael Swensen (MN), #97 Roman Rogotzke (MN), #224 Isaac Klinkhammer (SD), #265 Connor Gaynor (IL) 2020: #111 Joey Thompson (MN), #186 Lucas Anglin (SD) 2019: #48 Cade DeVos (IA), #78 Spencer Trenary (IA), #83 Tanner Jordan (OH) 2018: #74 Alex Lloyd (MN), #89 Clay Carlson (MN) 2017: #63 Kevin Vough (OH), #74 Connor Brown (MO) 2015: #78 Anthony Cefolo (NJ), #85 Brett Bye (SD), #139 Cam Sykora (MN) 2014: #139 Spencer Derefield (IA) 2013: #72 Nate Rotert (SD), #91 Collin Holler (IL), #132 Paul Mascarenas (NM) For past teams: Air Force American Appalachian State Arizona State Army West Point Binghamton Bloomsburg Brown Bucknell Buffalo Cal Poly Campbell Central Michigan Chattanooga Clarion Cleveland State Columbia Cornell CSU Bakersfield Davidson Drexel Duke Edinboro Franklin & Marshall Gardner-Webb George Mason Harvard Hofstra Illinois Indiana Iowa Iowa State Kent State Lehigh Lock Haven Maryland Michigan Michigan State Minnesota Missouri Navy NC State Nebraska North Carolina North Dakota State Northern Colorado Northern Illinois Northern Iowa Northwestern Ohio Ohio State Oklahoma Oklahoma State Oregon State Penn Penn State Pittsburgh Princeton Purdue Rider Rutgers Sacred Heart SIU Edwardsville

2022 53 kg world finalist Dom Parrish (photo courtesy of Kadir Caliskan/UWW) Tuesday marked the first day of the 2022 Senior World Championships with four women's freestyle weights being contested. Before getting to the new weights, two American women were competing for medals, Kayla Miracle at 62 kg, wrestling in the gold medal match and Jacarra Winchester, who wrestled for bronze at 55 kg. Miracle's opponent, 2022 U20 world champion Nonoka Ozaki (Japan), was aggressive from the opening whistle and took a shot which led to an Ozaki takedown. In the process, Ozaki held onto Miracle's legs and was able to get to sets of exposure points to take a commanding 6-0 lead. Ozaki ended up scoring twice more and ending the match in the first period. Miracle settled for a silver medal for the second consecutive year. The second session of the day was kicked off by Jacarra Winchester in the 55 kg bronze medal match against China's Mengyu Xie. Winchester jumped out to an early lead and initially was ruled the winner after a pair of exposures from a high gut attempt. The Chinese corner challenged and it was shown that Xie initiated the action on the second sequence, which led to an 8-4 match in Winchester's favor. In the second period, Winchester appeared to be cruising towards a tech after securing a takedown to lead 12-4. Xie continued wrestling and caught Winchester on her back. Despite a valiant effort bridging, there was just too much time left on the clock and Xie eventually put Winchester down for the fall. She'll finish fifth for the third time at a World/Olympic event. One of the two first-timers on the day, Dom Parrish showed no signs of jitters as she navigated her way through the 53 kg bracket and into the world finals. In her opening bout, Parrish controlled the action from the opening whistle and locked up a victory via a 10-0 tech of Mercedesz Denes (Hungary) in the last three seconds of regulation. The quarterfinals saw Parrish matched up with a Pan-American opponent in Lucia Yepez Guzman (Ecuador). After scoring the first takedown of the bout, Parrish used a leg lace, going one direction and then the other, to turn her opponent four times and close the match emphatically. All that stood between Parrish and a berth in the world finals was Greece's veteran Maria Prevolaraki. With Prevolaraki on the shot clock, Parrish stayed offensive and grabbed the only takedown of the contest. When the shot clock expired, she was given a third point. Parrish's defense was the key to victory in the second period, as she gave up her own shot clock point, but was never in danger of surrendering a takedown to Prevolaraki. Parrish will face Mongolia's Khulan Batkhuyag in tomorrow's final. Batkhuyag was trailing Emma Malmgren 6-0 in the second period of their semifinal contest, when she got the quick fall. It was a Mongolian opponent that doomed Parrish's teammate, Sarah Hildebrandt, just one match before her semifinal, at 50 kg. Hildebrandt, the longer of the two combatants, had difficulty finishing against the short and muscular Otgonjargal Dolgorjav. Hildebrandt's fate was sealed after giving up a takedown followed by a set of exposure points in a scramble situation late in the opening period. Dolgorjav got a second takedown to make the final score 6-2 as Hildebrandt threw caution to the wind and was furiously attacking in the waning seconds of the match. Hildebrandt drops into the bronze medal match and will take on the winner of Jasmina Immaeva (Uzbekistan) and Emilia Vuc (Romania) tomorrow afternoon. Also wrestling for the bronze tomorrow is Mallory Velte at 65 kg. Velte put on a dominant performance in her first match, only to lose a razor-thin 2-0 decision to Japan's Miwa Morikawa. A large chunk of the bout featured Velte controlling the mat with Morikawa not in a scoring position. The other first-time Senior world team member, Dymond Guilford, suffered a close loss to Japan in her only bout of the tournament. Guilford was put on the shot clock twice as she fell to Yuka Kagami (Japan), 3-0 at 76 kg. 2022 Senior World Championships US Results 50 kg Women's Freestyle Round of 16: Sarah Hildebrandt over Kamila Barbosa Da Silva (Brazil) 10-0 Quarterfinals: Sarah Hildebrandt over Oksana Livach (Ukraine) 11-0 Semifinals: Otgonjargal Dolgorjav (Mongolia) over Sarah Hildebrandt 6-2 53 kg Women's Freestyle Round of 16: Dom Parrish over Mercedesz Denes (Hungary) 10-0 Quarterfinals: Dom Parrish: over Lucia Yepez Guzman (Ecuador) 10-0 Semifinals: Dom Parrish over Maria Prevolaraki (Greece) 3-1 55 kg Women's Freestyle Bronze Medal Match: Mengyu Xie (China) over Jacarra Winchester Fall 4:55 62 kg Women's Freestyle Gold Medal Match: Nonoka Ozaki (Japan) over Kayla Miracle 10-0 65 kg Women's Freestyle Round of 16: Mallory Velte over Purevsuren Ulziisaikhan (Mongolia) 14-4 Quarterfinals: Miwa Morikawa (Japan) over Mallory Velte 2-0 76 kg Women's Freestyle Qualification: Yuka Kagami (Japan) over Dymond Guilford 3-0

Four-time World Champion Artur Aleksanyan of Armenia (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 63 kg Greco Roman Gold Medal Match: Sebastian Nad (Serbia) over Leri Abuladze (Georgia) 3-1 Bronze Medal Match: Erbatu Tuo (China) over Ali Nejati (Iran) 4-1 Bronze Medal Match: Taleh Mammadov (Azerbaijan) over Hrachya Poghosyan (Armenia) 10-4 67 kg Greco-Roman Gold Medal Match: Mate Nemes (Serbia) over Mohammadreza Geraei (Iran) 5-4 Bronze Medal Match: Amantur Ismailov (Kyrgyzstan) over Joni Khetsuriani (Georgia) 17-8 Bronze Medal Match: Hasrat Jafarov (Azerbaijan) over Murat Firat (Turkey) 8-2 82 kg Greco-Roman Gold Medal Match: Burhan Akbudak (Turkey) over Jalgasbay Berdimuratov (Uzbekistan) 7-6 Bronze Medal Match: Tamas Levai (Hungary) over Rafig Huseynov (Azerbaijan) 3-1 Bronze Medal Match: Yaroslav Filchakov (Ukraine) over Gela Bolkvadze (Georgia) 3-1 97 kg Greco-Roman Gold Medal Match: Artur Aleksanyan (Armenia) over Kiril Milov (Bulgaria) 5-1 Bronze Medal Match: Mohammadhadi Saravi (Iran) over Metehan Basar (Turkey) 6-1 Bronze Medal Match: Nikoloz Kakhelashvili (Italy) over Deepanshu (India) 12-0

53 kg world team member Dom Parrish (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 50 kg Women's Freestyle 53 kg Women's Freestyle 65 kg Women's Freestyle 76 kg Women's Freestyle

Two-time world finalist Kayla Miracle (photo courtesy of Kadir Caliskan/UWW) Almost a month to the day of her special wrestle-off for the 62 kg slot on the women's world team, Kayla Miracle clinched her second consecutive world finals berth. Going back to August, another world medal seemed like it could be a longshot, as Miracle had to delay her Final X match with Jennifer Rogers and was pushed to the brink in her three-match series. Seeing how Miracle generally had to gut out some wins on Monday, maybe the challenge from Rogers in her wrestle-off was the best thing for Miracle. Miracle's day started off with a 17-6 tech over Xiaojun Luo (China) that was much closer on the mat than it appears on paper. Trailing by a point in the second period, Miracle fended off a leg attack from Luo and locked up a cradle. From there, the rest of the match was all Miracle as things snowballed against Luo. A 6-1 over Azerbaijan's Tetiana Omelchenko set the stage for today's semifinal against Canada's Ana Godinez-Gonzalez. Miracle and Godinez-Gonzalez had met twice previously, with Miracle getting both wins, the most recent of which came at February's Bout at the Ballpark. In this contest, Godinez-Gonzales got off to an early lead with a takedown and a third point following a lost challenge. There was no panic in Miracle as she shot and landed her trademark dump. That maneuver took Godinez-Gonzalez directly to her back where she'd never leave. After a bit of a fight, Miracle secured the fall at 1:37. In the finals, Miracle will meet Japan's Nonoka Ozaki. Ozaki defeated Miracle's 2021 world finals opponent Aisuluu Tynybekova (Krygyzstan), 11-5 to get to the gold medal match. Ozaki, a 2022 U20 World Champion, fell to Tynybekova last year at Senior Worlds, but rebounded to take bronze. Bronze is what the other woman who took the mat for the American team, Jacarra Winchester, will chase tomorrow. Winchester notched a pair of wins, which placed her in the world semifinals. There she met a buzzsaw in Japan's Mayu Mukaida and fell 12-0 in the opening period. Tomorrow's repechage round will sort out Winchester's opponent. Three others will compete for the chance to challenge the 2019 world champion. This will be the fourth consecutive world/Olympic tournament in which Winchester has competed for a medal. She lost in the bronze medal match at the 2018 World Championships and at the 2020 Olympics. In addition to the women's team, Greco-Roman wrestlers Ildar Hafizov (60 kg) and Cohlton Schultz (130 kg) also were in action for the first time. Both were victorious in the opening match, but Schultz was defeated in their second. Hafizov advanced to the quarterfinals and lost, but was pulled into repechage after Zholman Sharshenbekov (Kyrgyzstan) made the finals. He'll need to win two matches to secure his first world medal. If Hafizov can beat Krisztian Kecskemeti (Hungary), he'll challenge Aidos Sultangali (Kazakhstan) for the bronze. 2022 Senior World Championship American Results 60 kg Greco-Roman Qualification: Ildar Hafizov over Dichter Toro Castaneda (Colombia) 9-6 Round of 16: Ildar Hafizov over Michal Tracz (Poland) 7-1 Quarterfinals: Zholman Sharshenbekov (Kyrgyzstan) over Ildar Hafizov Fall :45 130 kg Greco-Roman Qualification: Cohlton Schultz over David Ovasapyan (Armenia) 1-1 Round of 16: Oscar Marvik (Norway) over Cohlton Schultz 5-0 55 kg Women's Freestyle Round of 16: Jacarra Winchester over Otgonjargal Ganbaatar (Mongolia) 8-3 Quarterfinals: Jacarra Winchester over Roksana Zasina (Poland) 4-2 Semifinals: Mayu Mukaida (Japan) over Jacarra Winchester 12-0 62 kg Women's Freestyle Round of 16: Kayla Miracle over Xiaojun Luo (China) 17-6 Quarterfinals: Kayla Miracle over Tetiana Omelchenko (Azerbaijan) 6-1 Semifinals: Kayla Miracle over Ana Godinez-Gonzalez (Canada) Fall 1:37

From left, Zain Retherford, Jordan Burroughs, David Taylor, Hayden Zillmer (photos courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Another year, another world championship. Even without the inclusion of returning World/Olympic champions Russia, the competition in Belgrade will be excellent with headlining matchups brewing between 2021 Olympic medalists #2 Ravi Kumar (IND) and #3 Thomas Gilman at 57 KG and #1 Hassan Yazdani Charati (IRI) and #2 David Taylor (USA) at 86 KG in a rematch of the world finals won by Yazdani that avenged his Olympic finals loss to Taylor. Day one of the World championships for men's freestyle will see competition from athletes at the 70, 79, 86, and 125 kilogram weight classes. Read below to figure out who are the favorites, who's got the chance to medal, and who are the dark horses that could break through. 70 KG Title Contenders Ilyas Bekbulatov (UZB) - 4x 65 KG Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix Champion (2013, 2015, 2017, 2018), 2015 65 KG Russian Nationals champion, 2017 65 KG European champion, 2018 65 KG European championships runner-up, 2020 70 KG Asian champion, 2015 65 KG European Games bronze medalist, 2019 70 KG Dan Kolov champion. Key Wins: #2 (65) Haji Aliyev (2018 Indian Pro Wrestling League), #7 Anzor Zakuev (2021 Russian Pro League, 2019 70 KG Dan Kolov finals), #6 (74) David Baev (2021 Russian Pro League finals), Soslan Ramonov (2015 65 KG Russian Nationals finals), #7 Cherman Valiev (2017 65 KG Yarygin finals), #3 Viktor Rassadin (2019 70 KG Dan Kolov), Akhmed Chakaev (2018 65 KG Yarygin finals), #19 Zurab Iakobishvili (2017 65 KG European Championships), Magomed Kurbanaliev (2015 65 KG Russian Nationals finals), Brent Metcalf (2013 & 2015 65 KG Yarygin finals). Key Losses: Togrul Asgarov (2015 65 KG European Games), #11 Ernazar Akmataliev (2021 65 KG Asian OG Qualifier semifinals), Julian Gergenov (2019 65 KG Russian Nationals), #2 (65) Haji Aliyev (2018 65 KG European championships finals) For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

87 kg world champion Zurabi Datunashvili of host Serbia (photo courtesy of Kadir Caliskan/UWW) 55 kg Greco-Roman Gold Medal Match: Eldaniz Azizli (Azerbaijan) over Nugzari Tsurtsumia (Georgia) 8-0 Bronze Medal Match: Yu Shiotani (Japan) over Max Nowry (USA) 7-0 Bronze Medal Match: Jasurbek Ortikboev (Uzbekistan) over Amangali Bekbolatov (Kazakhstan) 9-5 72 kg Greco-Roman Gold Medal Match: Ali Feizollah Arsalan (Serbia) over Ulvi Ganizade (Azerbaijan) 7-4 Bronze Medal Match: Andrii Kulyk (Ukraine) over Ibrahim Ghanem (Iran) 4-3 Bronze Medal Match: Selcuk Can (Turkey) over Ibragim Magomedov (Kazakhstan) 3-3 77 kg Greco-Roman Gold Medal Match: Akzhol Makhmudov (Kyrgyzstan) over Zoltan Levai (Hungary) 8-0 Bronze Medal Match: Malkhas Amoyan (Armenia) over Viktor Nemes (Serbia) 7-1 Bronze Medal Match: Yunus Basar (Turkey) over Hyeonwoo Kim (Korea) 4-1 87 kg Greco-Roman Gold Medal Match: Zurabi Datunashvili (Serbia) over Turpal Bisultanov (Denmark) 6-2 Bronze Medal Match: David Losonczi (Hungary) over Alex Kessidis (Sweden) 6-2 Bronze Medal Match: Ali Cengiz (Turkey) over Naser Ghasem Alizadeh (Iran) 7-1

2021 World silver medalist Kayla Miracle (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 60 kg Greco-Roman 130kg Greco-Roman 55 kg Women's Freestyle 62kg Women's Freestyle

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

63kg World Team Member Sam Jones (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) 63kg 67kg 82kg 97kg

Penn State's 197 lb national champion Max Dean (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Worlds week is here and I predict an easy ten gold medals for the US of A in men's freestyle. Don't even worry about waking up in the middle of the night for the opening rounds. All the gold medal matches take place midday. But if you do decide on the graveyard shift, I admire you. The worst thing about Worlds besides repechage is the brutal start times. My offer to UWW is this. If America wins ten golds in MFS then the next ten World Championships take place on American soil, so I can watch at a normal time. If they don't, I'll never miss or be a day late with a mailbag again. Deal? Great. Let's get to the questions. What possible individual matchup throughout the NCAA season are you most excited to see? What weight class has the most intrigue for you? Wiems19 Well, that's easy. Beard-Dean is the match that I think everyone is looking forward to seeing. We've seen this story play out before at Penn State with Bubba Jenkins and David Taylor. Well, I haven't seen it because I wasn't paying attention back then, but you know what I mean. Finding good storylines in wrestling can be tough at times but a stud losing his spot and then leaving and getting a chance to prove his old team wrong is about as good as it gets. Throw in the match happening as the 928th Lehigh-PSU dual in history and it should have the makings of a fun event. 141 is the weight class I'm most interested in. No returning champs! Can Cole Matthews build on what he started last year and get Keith Gavin his first champ? How does the Black and Gold fit Real Woods? How does Sammy Alvarez, who at one point was going to overtime with RBY, look after settling into a new weight class? Same goes for Beau Bartlett. Does CJ Composto have a ceiling or does he "Slay" the entire weight class? Remember, he already has a win over the top-ranked Matthews. Andrew Alirez, besides being the coolest wrestler west of the Mississippi, is also very dangerous. Last year, Ryan Jack pushed Jaydin Eierman to the brink and nearly got a pin. Just a very intriguing weight class that will be fun to see shake out over the course of the season. Who has the best haircut in wrestling and why is it Gerrit Nijenhuis? Jkos11 I admit he makes the mullet work, but that doesn't mean it's ok. Frankly, I don't understand why kids are bringing back this relic of a hairstyle. I lived through the legit mullet years and I thought we buried it for good in 1992 with the rise of grunge. If you're going to bring back this fashion then do it right. Get the denim jacket. Get the stone-washed jeans. Get a damn Camaro! Do you need cassette tapes? I still have some in the closet somewhere. You don't half-ass the style of my youth. It's full-ass or no-ass at all. I suggest you start sewing that giant KISS Army patch on the back of your jacket pronto. If collegiate wrestling awarded a Jagger trophy as they do with the Dan Hodge, what would its criteria be and who would you expect to be the frontrunner for it this season? Ben Kenobi  I'm still working on this one but you will get an answer before the season starts Alright you Jagoffs, it's Saturday so go get some chores done so you can enjoy all the wrestling and football this afternoon and tomorrow. Until next week, take it sleazy.

World Semifinalist Max Nowry (photo courtesy of Kadir Caliskan/UWW) The 2022 Senior World Championships got underway from Belgrade, Serbia this morning as the Greco-Roman portion of the tournament started competition at four weights. Alan Vera, at 87 kg, was the first American to take the mat, as just the second match on Mat D. Vera got on the scoreboard first with a point for passivity in the opening period; however, he could not capitalize on the par terre position that followed and held a 1-0 lead going into the break. His opponent, Haitao Qian (China), benefitted from a passivity call in the second period and was able to take advantage of situation with a four-point gut wrench. That 5-1 lead turned out to be insurmountable for Vera, though he did add two points for a takedown late in the second period. Ultimately, it wasn't enough and Qian went on to win 5-3. Just a few minutes after Vera hit the mat, the second American of the event, Benji Peak, was in action at 72 kg against Hungary's Robert Fritsch. Like Vera, Peak got on the scoreboard first with a passivity point. Also like Vera, Peak wasn't able to convert the par terre advantage into any additional points. In the second period, Fritsch scored a takedown after an arm drag, during some heavy hand fighting. He would later add an additional point via step out. Despite a late charge from Peak, Fritsch was able to hang out for the 3-1 victory. After a four-year absence, Kamal Bey was back on the raised stage at the World Championships, taking on 2017 world champion Viktor Nemes (Serbia). Nemes got the scoring started with a point for passivity on Bey in the opening period. Nemes appeared to be ready to add to the lead as he pulled the American up to his feet and looked for a throw. Bey was able to turn the position into an advantageous one for himself and attempted his own throw. Though it didn't register with the judges, it made the best out of a potentially dangerous predicament. Just before the buzzer at the end of the second period, Nemes added to his lead with a step-out point. In period two, Nemes was working with an underhook near the boundary and was able to obtain a bodylock. Bey chose to limit damage and conceded a takedown, rather than give up a four or five point throw. That extended the Serbian's lead to 4-0, which is where the match would end. It was the wrestler who took the mat last that would end up with the most success on the day. 55 kg veteran Max Nowry advanced to the semifinals after notching falls in each of his first two matches. Nowry trailed 3-1 in the second period against his opening opponent Arjun Halakurki (India) when he hit a four-point arm throw. Eventually, he maneuvered the Indian onto his back for a fall. In the quarterfinals, Nowry gained the upperhand after a passive call on Germany's Fabian Schmitt. In par terre, Nowry was able to get a set of exposure points, but kept Schmitt from rolling onto his stomach. After a prolonged fight, Nowry was able to sink in a deep half nelson and got the fall. Nowry will have the top-seed, Eldaniz Azizli (Azerbaijan), a 2018 world champion and two-time world bronze medalist in the semis. 2022 Senior World Championship Results 55 kg Greco-Roman Round of 16: Max Nowry over Arjun Halakurki (India) Fall 5:02 Quarterfinals: Max Nowry over Fabian Schmitt (Germany) 4:58 72 kg Greco-Roman Qualification Round: Robert Fritsch (Hungary) over Benji Peak 3-1 77 kg Greco-Roman Round of 32: Viktor Nemes (Serbia) over Kamal Bey 4-0 87 kg Greco-Roman Qualification Round: Haitao Qian (China) over Alan Vera 5-3