USA Wins Team Title & Nine Medals - Full U17 Worlds Recap
USA Wins Team Title & Nine Medals - Full U17 Worlds Recap
A full recap for Team USA's men's freestyle squad at the 2022 U17 World Championships.
Team USA men’s freestyle squad finished the U17 World Championships in dominant fashion by winning all four of their medal matches on the final day of competition. Dom Muneretto (45kg), Luke Lilledahl (51kg), and Joe Sealey (71kg) all won gold with Max McEnelly (92kg) earning bronze.
Dom Munaretto closed out his world championships with a 2-0 victory over Azerbaijan’s Bashir Verdiyev in their gold medal match. Luke Lilledahl followed up that performance by controlling Iran’s Mohamad Asadi in a 10-1 decision for gold. Both Munaretto and Lilledahl went 4-0 at the world championships outscoring their opponents 30-2 (Munaretto) and 36-3 (Lilledahl) respectively.
Joe Sealey was by far the most dominant wrestler of the tournament. Sealey capped off his world championship performance with a 12-0 technical superiority victory over Italy’s Raul Caso in the gold medal match. In total, Sealey won all 5 of his matches by technical superiority and outscored his opponents by a combined score of 55-1!
Max McEnelly was the final wrestler to take the mat for Team USA at the world championships and came away victorious for bronze with a close, 2-1 victory over India’s Sahil Jaglan. McEnelly’s only loss of the tournament came in the semis to eventual champ Kamil Kurugliyev (KAZ).
The overall performance by Team USA earned them the team title with 190 total points - outscoring 2nd place India by 64 points. The nine medals and 7 finalists were the most ever for team USA at a U17 World Championships (since 2011) and the 4 golds tied the previous high from 2017.
Full U.S. men’s freestyle results with scoring highlight vidoes:
45 kg: Domenic Munaretto (Barrington, Ill./Toss Em Up Wrestling Academy) - Gold
WIN Ningappa Genannavar (India), 10-0
WIN Arman Harutyunyan (Armenia), 10-0
WIN Amirmohammad Navazi (Iran) 8-2
WIN Bashir Verdiyev (AZE), 2-0
48 kg: Christian Castillo (Glendale, Ariz./Thorobred Wrestling Club) – Silver
WIN Ozgur Caglayan (Turkey), 10-0
WIN Arshia Haddadi (Iran), 8-6
WIN Rassoul Galbouraev (France), FALL
LOSS Vasif Baghirov (AZE), 3-5
51kg: Luke Lilledahl (St. Charles, Mo./Xtreme Training) – Gold
WIN Ben Tarik (Morocco), 12-1
WIN Dimitar Biserkov (Bulgaria), 10-0
WIN Nurdanat Aitanov (Kazakhstan), 4-1
WIN Mohammad Asadi (IRI), 10-1
55 kg: Jax Forrest (Johnstown, Pa.) - Silver
WIN Takuto Osedo (Japan), 12-1
WIN Sandro Hungerbuehler (Switzerland), 10-0
WIN Zalkarbek Tabaldiev (KGZ), 10-6
WIN Vaibhav Patil (IND), 9-7
LOSS Daryn Askerbek (Kazakhstan), 10-11
60 kg: Kyler Larkin (Gilbert, Ariz./Thorobred Wrestling Club) – awaiting repechage
WIN Vladimir Azaryan (Armenia), 5-2
LOSS Taiga Ogino (Japan), 2-1
65 kg: Tyler Kasak (Doylestown, Pa.) - Silver
WIN Akobir Rahimov (Uzbekistan), 7-6
WIN Bogdan Olinyk (Ukraine), fall
WIN Ankit (India), FALL
LOSS llyas Isayev (Azerbaijan), 3-5
71 kg: Joseph Sealey (High Point, N.C./Darkhorse Wrestling) – Gold
WIN Bleonit Bytyci (Kosovo), 10-0
WIN Alisher Zholdasbay (Kazakhstan), 12-1
WIN Aslan Ozturk (Turkey), 10-0
WIN Razmik Yepremyan (Armenia), 11-0
WIN Raul Caso (ITA), 12-0
80 kg: Zack Ryder (Westtown, N.Y. /KD Training Center) – Bronze
LOSS Reza Soleimanian (Iran), 10-0 (Soleimanian made finals)
WIN Slavi Stamenov (Bulgaria), 2-0
WIN Askhab Khajiyev (Kazakhstan), 10-0
WIN Abduloev Muhammadamin (Tajikistan), 8-0
92 kg: Max McEnelly (Waconia, Wis./Waconia Wrestling Club) – bronze
WIN Sherzod Poyonov (Uzbekistan), 11-1
WIN Andriyan Valkanov (Bulgaria), 11-0
LOSS Kamil Kuruglyev (Kazahstan), 2-12
WIN Sahil Jaglin (IND), 2-1
110 kg: Koy Hopke (Amery, Wis./Pinnacle Wrestling Club) – Gold
WIN Ramini Gulitashvili (Georgia), 14-3
WIN Mateusz Pudlowski (Poland), 11-2
WIN Khikmatullo Kurbonov (Uzbekistan), 12-2
WIN Levan Lagvilava (France), 11-6