UPDATE: Kasser wins gold as nine Americans get freestyle medals at Veterans Worlds in Greece

Video capture of James Kasser winning the gold medal at 63 kg in Div. D at the Veterans World Championships in Greece.


ATHENS, Greece – James Kasser of Lewis Center, Ohio claimed a gold medal at 63 kg in Div. D, the top U.S. performance in men’s freestyle on the second day of the Veterans World Championships on Wednesday.


Kasser won his fourth career Veterans World title, to go along with gold medals in both 2010, 2011 and 2013.


Kasser defeated Sergei Nogovitsyn of Russia, 8-7 in the gold-medal match. He also scored a semifinal win over Mykhaylo Nylypyuk of Ukraine, 10-2.


He becomes the second U.S. gold medalist at the Veterans Worlds this year so far, joining Antonio Peraza of Shoreham, N.Y., who won a gold medal at 85 kg in Div. F on Tuesday.


“I'm thrilled to hear our national anthem. This is my fourth world freestyle championships. I trained harder for this one than I ever have before. I'm battered, bruised and will need stitches in my right eye but I'm a World Champion,” said Kasser.


On the day, Team USA won eight men’s freestyle medals.


Claiming a silver medal at 76 kg in Div. D was Bill Newton of San Jose, Calif., who finished with a 3-1 record. He opened with three straight wins, stopping Thorsten Wietzke of Germany, 5-1, Vladislav Egorov of Russia, 5-2 and Aghil Heidari of Iran, 5-2. He was defeated in the finals by Ghasem Jahari Sefid of Iran, 3-13.


Six Americans won bronze medals on Wednesday were:

• Steve Horton of Cibolo, Texas, 69 kg in Div. C

• Kevin Pine of Las Vegas, Nev., 85 kg in Div. C

• Phillip Pine of Elma, Wash., 97 kg in Div. C

• Samuel Thomas of Huntington Station, N.Y., 130 kg in Div. C

• Victor Aybar of Manchester, Md., 58 kg in Div. D

• Petros Petrosyan of Los Alamitos, Calif., 85 kg in Div. D


In the first two days of competition, the United States has won 19 medals.


Competition continues on Thursday with men’s freestyle in Div. A and Div. G, and in women’s freestyle in Div. A.


United World Wrestling will host a live webstream from the Veterans World Championships all week, along with complete results updates at:
https://unitedworldwrestling.org/event/world-championship-13

VETERANS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Athens, Greece

Freestyle champions


Men’s Division C

58 kg – Osman Redzhep (Bulgaria)

63 kg – Shuji Matsuo (Japan)

69 kg – Hamidreza Kenari (Iran)

76 kg – Marat Urusov (Russia)

85 kg – Chynarbek Izabekov (Kyrgyzstan)

97 kg – Habiballah Sarivi (Iran)

130 kg – John Detlef (Germany)


Men’s Division D

58 kg – Zhora Vohannisyan (Armenia)

63 kg – James Kasser (USA)

69 kg – Zakiy Bikbulatov (Russia)

76 kg – Ghasem Jahari (Iran)

85 kg – Asadallah Sheikhreihani (Iran)

97 kg – Christopher Sutton (South Africa)

130 kg – Erol Yildirim (Turkey)


Women’s Div. A

69 kg – Caroline Agnesdotter (Sweden)

U.S. men’s freestyle performances


Div. C


58 kg – Michael Tuck, Smithville, Mo., 4th

LOSS Osman Remzi Redzhep (Bulgaria), 2-1

WIN Seiji Uematsu (Japan), pin

WIN Azim Hemmati (Iran), tech. fall 10-0

LOSS Zoltan Tamas (Austria), 8-10


69 kg – Steve Horton, Cibolo, Texas, bronze medal

WIN Stefan Bittman (Germany), 5-3

LOSS Mansour Haghigh Doust (Iran), 7-0

WIN Mustafa Akkaya (Turkey), tech. fall, 0-11

WIN Lorenzo Carigri (Italy), 2-0


76 kg – Jon Banko, Pittsburgh, Pa., 7th

WIN Nikolai Tupolev (Russia), 6-3

LOSS Evgeny Lisitsa (Russia), pin


85 kg – Rodney Fisher, Lewisburg, W.Va., 7th

WIN Azat Sheroyan (Armenia)

LOSS Kevin Pine (USA), 12-0


85 kg – Kevin Pine, Las Vegas, Nev., bronze medal

WIN Ahmadreza Sarlak (Iran), 7-0

WIN Rodney Fisher (USA), 12-0

LOSS Reza Salehi (Iran), 2-8

WIN Elyas Rouhi (Iran), tech. fall 10-0


85 kg – Eric Wayne Cluck, Cumming, Ga., 9th

LOSS Georgii Petrov (Russia), 2-5


85 kg – Robert Kelsoe, Corona, Calif., dnp/11th

LOSS Reza Salehi (Iran), pin

LOSS Elyas Rouhi (Iran), 1-8


97 kg – Phillip Pine, Elma, Wash., bronze medal

WIN Matthys Johanne De Beer (South Africa) injury default

LOSS Habiballah Khaj Sarivi (Iran), 6-12


130 kg – Samuel Thomas, Huntington Station, N.Y., bronze medal

WIN Ardeshir Poorhekmat (Iran), pin

WIN Jurie Hendrik Reichel (South Africa), pin

LOSS Hossein Kazemi (Iran), 1-10

WIN Anuar Uxumbaev (Kazakhstan)


Div. D


58 kg – Victor Aybar, Manchester, Md., bronze medal

WIN Samoldin Hosseini (Iran)

LOSS Susumu Hashiura (Japan), tech. fall 0-10

WIN Victor Ilyenko (Russia), default


63 kg – James Kasser, Lewis Center, Ohio, gold medal

WIN Mykhaylo Nylypyuk (Ukraine), 10-2

WIN Sergei Nogovitsyn (Russia), 8-7


76 kg – Bill Newton, San Jose, Calif., silver medal

WIN Thorsten Wietzke (Germany), 5-1

WIN Vladislav Egorov (Russia), 5-2

WIN Aghil Heidari (Iran), 5-2

LOSS Ghasem Jahari Sefid (Iran), tech. fall 3-13


85 kg – John Hanrahan, Alpharetta, Ga., 7th

WIN Pesiridis Theodoros (Greece), pin

LOSS Jose Betancourt (Puerto Rico), tech fall 0-10

WIN Ahmet Ozbay (Turkey), tech. fall 12-0

LOSS Russell Schenk (USA), 6-8


85 kg – Michael Dean Gordon, Marina Del Rey, Calif., dnp/20th

LOSS Petros Petrosyan (USA), pin


85 kg – Petros Petrosyan, Los Alamitos, Calif., bronze medal

WIN Dimitris Anthanasiadis (Greece), pin

WIN Michael Dean (USA), pin

WIN Reza Najafian (Iran), 10-6

LOSS Jose Betancourt (Puerto Rico), pin

WIN Russell Schenk (USA), pin


85 kg – Russell Schenk, Winter Haven, Fla., 5th

WIN Bruce Irwin (Great Britain), 14-4

WIN Aslan Kesaev (Russia), 11-4

LOSS Jose Betancourt (Puerto Rico), pin

WIN John Hanrahan (USA), 8-6

LOSS Petros Petrosyan (USA), pin


97 kg – Daniel Studenic, Alpharetta, Ga., dnp/13th

LOSS Radislav Navazhap (Russia), tech. fall 0-10


130 kg – Steven Goss, Bay City, Mich., dnp

LOSS Istvan Foldesi (Hungary), tech. fall, 0-10


130 kg – Brian Jones, Los Angeles, Calif., 9th

LOSS Rovshan Ismayilkhanli (Azerbaijan), pin