By J.D. Rader (@rader_jd) — The U.S. went a combined 10-12 and brought home just one medal with Bo Nickal’s gold. Despite most likely not getting the results most of them wanted, not all was bad in Budapest. The United States as a whole did not receive many favorable draws.

Get the lowdown on what happened at the Men’s Freestyle U23 World Championships below.

57 kg

The American: Gabriel Townsell, 0-1

Townsell, a senior at Stanford, dropped his opening match to Roberti Dingashvili of Georgia 7-5. Dingashvili scored five of his seven points off of a nice inside trip/throw. The remaining two points were scored on step outs. 

Dingashvili defeated Turkey in the next round, but Townsell was eliminated when the Georgian lost to Alireza Sarlak of Iran 7-5 in the quarterfinals.

Results:

GOLD: Reineri Andreu Ortega (Cuba)

SILVER: Adlan Askarov (Kazakhstan) 

BRONZE: Afgan Khashalov (Azerbaijan)

BRONZE: Alireza Sarlak (Iran)

Reineri Andreu, who won U23s in 2017 and then took seventh last year, actually had his easiest match of the tournament in the finals against 2017 Cadet World bronze medalist and 2019 Junior World bronze medalist Askarov. The Cuban scored a takedown, then locked up a trap arm gut and turned Askarov four times for a 10-0 tech. 

In the semifinals Ortega took out 2019 Russian Nationals champion and World No. 16 Ramiz Gamzatov 8-2. While Gamzatov was a surprise Russian Nats champ, it’s still an obvious showcase as to how good he is. Gamzatov was defeated again in the bronze-medal match, this time 5-2, by 2014 Cadet World silver, 2016 Junior World champion, and 2017 Junior World bronze Khashalov of Azerbijan.

61 kg

The American: Chas Tucker, 0-1

Right out of the gate, Tucker had 2018 Yasar Dogu champion and Senior World fifth-place Mohammadbagher Yakhkeshi of Iran. After scoring two takedowns to go up 4-0, Yakhkeshi rattled off six-straight step outs to win 6-4. 

Tucker’s tournament was ended when two-time Junior World medalist Arsen Harutyunyan of Armenia defeated Yakhkeshi 10-5 in the next round.

Results:

GOLD: Ulukbek Zholdoshbekov (Kyrgyzstan)

SILVER: Ravinder Ravinder (India)

BRONZE: Dinislam Takhtarov (Russia)

BRONZE: Ryutaro Hayama (Japan)

One of the breakout performances of the tournament came from India’s Ravinder at 65 kg. Ravinder tech falled/pinned his way to the finals, including an 11-0 tech fall over this year’s Russian Nationals bronze medalist Dinislam Takhtarov. However, in the finals, Ravinder was defeated by 2016 University World bronze and 2018 U23 fifth-place finisher Ulukbek Zholdoshbekov of Kyrgyzstan 5-3.

65 kg

The American: Jaydin Eierman, 1-1

Eierman, who is taking an Olympic redshirt this year at Missouri, opened his tournament in exciting fashion with a spladle pin over Abolfazi Hajipourmaji of Iran. Hajipourmaji took silver at the Dan Kolov this year and is a tough U23 athlete. 

However, partially at the hands of confusing scoring/officiating that we’ve seen 1,000 times before in wrestling, Eierman lost his second match to Emazar Akmataliev of Kyrgyzstan 13-13. After getting down 9-2 with 1:30 left, Eierman stormed back and then this happened.

65 kg: This is dramatic! Scoreboard was wrong. SHould have been 13-11 Eierman. Refs realized it while action was going, Akmataliev got a takedown. It's 13-13 with 6 seconds left. They gave Akmataliev the criteria. But Eierman had a 4.. Eierman doesnt get his hand raised

— USA Wrestling (@USAWrestling) October 28, 2019

Akmataliev is no slouch. He was Kyrgyzstan’s Senior rep this year at the Asian Championships and defeated Russia in the previous match 16-6. However, he did his semifinals bout 4-3 to Japan, ending Eierman’s tournament with a 1-1 performance.

Results:

GOLD: Turan Bayramov (Azerbijan)

SILVER: Takuma Taniyama (Japan)

BRONZE: Maxim Sacultan (Moldova)

BRONZE: Ihor Nykyforuk (Ukraine)

65 kg isn’t just loaded on the Senior level. This was one of the deeper weight classes at U23s as well. Although gold medal winner Bayramov’s style won’t blow you away (he never scored more than three points in any of his matches), he’s going to cause some problems on the Senior level if he sticks with his current trajectory. Still Junior eligible, Azerbijani won Junior bronze this year, won Youth Olympic Games and Cadet World gold last year, and Cadet World silver in 2017. Watch out.

70 kg

The American: Alec Pantaleo, 1-1

After defeating 2016 Cadet World silver medalist Stefan Tonu of Moldova, Pantaleo dropped a 9-8 decision to Daud Ibragimov of Azerbaijan. Pantaleo looked sharp, but a counter-attack straight into back-to-back leg laces really hurt him. The Azerbaijani was relatively inactive after that, just scoring with a front head pinch from Pantaleo’s attack. There was little hope for Pantaleo to be pulled back in with 2019 Ibragimov taking on Russian Nationals bronze medalist and current World No. 10 Cherman Valiev in the next round.

Results:

GOLD: Mirza Skhulukhia (Georgia)

SILVER: Cherman Valiev (Russia)

BRONZE: Haruki Seno (Japan)

BRONZE: Daud Ibragimov (Azerbaijan)

In one of the better matches of the tournament, last year’s U23 70 kg bronze medalist, Mirza Skhulukhia of Georgia, took out Valiev by fall. The fall, however, came with one second left as Valiev unsuccessfully attempted a takedown and submitted. Up until the finals, Valiev had outscored his opponents 39-0.

The Azerbaijani that defeated Pantaleo, ended up coming back. He defeated his repechage opponents by fall, tech fall, and 8-6.

74 kg

The American: Brady Berge, 0-2

Brady Berge pulled the eventual champion, 2019 Russian Nationals runner-up and Ali Aliev champion Razambek Zhamalov, in his opening match. Berge wrestled Zhamalov (who is reportedly wrestling with a knee injury) tough, but came up short 5-1. In his first repechage match against India, Berge took a knee to the head and was knocked unconscious. It is unclear at this time just how serious the injury is.

Results:

GOLD: Razambek Zhamalov (Russia)

SILVER: Mohammad Nokhodilarimi (Iran)

BRONZE: Byambadorj Erdene (Mongolia)

BRONZE: Giorgi Sulava (Georgia)

Zhamalov came into this tournament the favorite and took care of business. In the finals, he 2019 Senior Asian Championships bronze medalist Mohammad Nokhodilarimi of Iran 8-1. Zhamalov’s closest match of the tournament came against Berge.

79 kg

The American: Muhamed McBryde, 2-2

Muhamed McBryde, who trains at the Buffalo Wrestling Club RTC, had a solid tournament going 2-2 and finishing in fifth place. He opened with a 5-0 victory of Estonia before dropping a close match to eventual champion and 2016 Junior World bronze medalist Tariel Gaphrindashvili of Georgia. 

In repechage, McBryde defeated Mostafa Sayed of Egypt 4-0 before falling to 2019 U23 European runner-up Ramazan Sari of Turkey 8-3 in the bronze medal match.

Results: 

GOLD: Tariel Gaphrindashvili (Georgia)

SILVER: Abubakr Abakarov (Azerbaijan)

BRONZE: Ramazan Sari (Turkey)

BRONZE: Radik Valiev (Russia)

Going into this tournament, I probably would have picked Radik Valiev of Russia to win. Valiev won European U23s this year and last year, finished top-three at Yarygin in 2018 and 2017, and took silver at Russian Nationals in 2016. However, Abubakr Abakarov of Azerbaijan defeated him 16-6 in the preliminary rounds. 

This wasn’t a huge upset as Abakarov is very credentialed himself. He is a 2016 Cadet World champion, 2018 Junior World silver and Senior Worlds competitor, and 2019 Junior World bronze. Going into the finals, he had three tech falls and an 8-1 decision in the semifinals. However, in the finals, Gaphrindashvili stepped over a gut wrench and pinned Abakarov.

86 kg

The American: Max Dean, 0-1

Max Dean, last year’s NCAA runner-up for Cornell, dropped his first opening match to 2018 Junior World champion Hayato Ishiguro of Japan, 12-2. Dean was eliminated when Ishiguro was defeated by 2016 and 2017 Junior World bronze medalist Gadzhimura Magomedsaidov of Azerbaijan 10-0 in the quarterfinals. 

Results:

GOLD: Kamran Ghasempour (Iran)

SILVER: Gadzimurad Magomedsaidov (Azerbaijan)

BRONZE: Hayoto Ishiguro (Japan)

BRONZE: Osman Gocen (Turkey)

When you win a U23 World title, you’re good, but Kamran Ghasempour of Iran is REALLY good. Now back-to-back 86 kg U23 World Champion Ghasempour was also this year’s Senior Asian Championship gold medalist. If he weren’t behind Yazdani Charati, he most likely would have been their rep this year at Senior Worlds.

Ghasempour’s closest match came in the semis against Osman Gocen of Turkey. Gocen is the Turk who beat Downey for bronze earlier this summer at Yasar Dogu.

92 kg

The American: Bo Nickal, 4-0 GOLD

Bo Nickal didn’t just win a U23 World title — he dominated his way to one. The former Penn State wrestler went 12-2 over 2016 Junior World champ/2018 U23 bronze medalist Hossein Shahbazigazvar of Iran, first period pin over Takumi Tanizaki of Japan, 9-1 over last year’s 92 kg U23 World champion Shamil Zubairov of Azerbaijan, and 12-2 over 2018 Russian Nationals champion and 2019 U23 European champion Batyrbek Tsakulov of Russia.

Results:

GOLD: Bo Nickal (USA)

SILVER: Batyrbek Tsakulov (Russia)

BRONZE: Hossein Shahbazigazvar (Iran)

BRONZE: Yonger Bastida Pomares (Cuba)

In order to repeat his bronze performance from last year, Shahbazigazvar prevented Zubairov from medaling in back-to-back years by defeating him 5-1 in the bronze medal match.

97 kg

The American: Chase Singletary, 0-1

Chase Singletary was another American to have a not so favorable draw. Right off the bat, the Ohio State Buckeye had Dzianis Khramiankov of Belarus who took silver at 2015 Junior Worlds, bronze at 2016 Junior Worlds, and silver at 2017 U23 Worlds. Singletary was defeated 16-6.

After winning his next match, Khramiankov was defeated by 2017 U23 World champion, 2018 Yasar Dogu runner-up, and eventual champion Mojitaba Goleij of Iran 8-2, ending Singletary’s tournament.

Results:

GOLD: Mojtaba Goleij (Iran)

SILVER: Shamil Musaev (Russia)

BRONZE: Dzianis Khramiankov (Belarus)

BRONZE: Danylo Stasiuk (Ukraine)

Goleji did not have an easy road to the gold medal. After taking out his opening-round opponent, he defeated last year’s U23 97 kg champion Givi Matcharashvili of Georgia, who also has other several age-level medals to his name. Then, he defeated the aforementioned Khramiankov in the semifinals. Lastly, the Iranian took out 2017 Junior world champion, 2019 Russian Nationals bronze, 2019 Ivan Yarygin champion, and current World No. 18, Shamil Musaev of Russia. Goleji earned every bit of his second U23 World gold medal.

125 kg

The American: Daniel Greg Kerkvliet, 2-2

Daniel Greg Kerkvliet dominated his first two opponents, winning 10-0 and by pin, before being stopped by two-time U23 European bronze medalist Vitali Geoloev of Russia in the semifinals 10-0.

The Ohio State freshman’s bronze medal match ended in controversy when it seemed as though Kerkvliet had won, but a challenge from Mongolia overturned a call and gave Mongolia the victory on criteria 4-4. Lkhagvager Munkhtur of Mongolia scored on a step out with seven seconds left, but Kerkvliet was still winning. However, after Munkhtur was unable to score in the final seconds, his corner threw the challenge brick. The officials changed their original call to a caution and one for Munkhtur, giving him the lead on criteria. They put seven seconds back up on the clock, but Kerkvliet was unable to score.

Results:

GOLD: Amir Hosse Zare (Iran)

SILVER: Vitalii Goloev (Russia)

BRONZE: Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur (Mongolia)

BRONZE: Yusup Batirmurzaev (Kazakhstan)

Amir Hosse Zare of Iran had the most dominating tournament of any men’s freestyler. He outscored his opponents 49-7, with all seven points coming in a 17-7 victory over 2019 U23 Asian Championship gold medalist Yusup Batirmurzaev of Kazakhstan. Zare is now a Cadet World champion, Youth Olympic Games silver medalist, Junior silver medalist, and U23 World champion.

Country Medal Count

Official Final Team Scores

1. Russia - 145

2. Iran - 139

3. Azerbaijan - 111

4. Georgia - 109

5. Mongolia - 70

6. Japan - 65

7. Kazakhstan - 65

8. Turkey - 60

9. Ukraine - 58

10. USA - 57