Titan Mercury takes down Bimeh Razi 4-3 to win World Wrestling Clubs Cup

Titan Mercury WC on the first-place medal stand at the World Wrestling Clubs Cup. Photo: Lee Schneiderman, Titan Mercury WC.

KHARKIV, Ukraine – The next generation of U.S. stars flexed its muscle in the finals of the World Freestyle Wrestling Clubs Cup to give Titan Mercury Wrestling Club a win over Iran’s highly-touted Bimeh Razi club and the title of best club in the world.


Multiple-time NCAA champions Alex Dieringer, David Taylor and Nick Gwiazdowski all scored crucial wins over tough Iranian opponents to swing the dual in Titan Mercury’s favor.


Dieringer, a three-time NCAA champion for Oklahoma State and 2013 Junior World silver medalist, stormed back from a 4-0 deficit to stun two-time World University champion Reza Afzali, 6-4, at 74 kg/163 lbs. Trailing 4-1 with under one minute remaining, Dieringer broke ahead with a takedown and gutwrench to take a 5-4 lead. A failed challenge from Afzali’s corner secured the 6-4 win for the up-and-coming American.


The win over Afzali gave Dieringer a perfect 4-0 record for the tournament with his first three wins coming by technical fall. In total, Dieringer outscored his opponents by a combined 39-4 margin.


The always entertaining Taylor made good use of his scrambling abilities to take out 2015 World bronze medalist, 2016 Olympian and World No. 8 Alireza Karimimachiani, 12-6. Taylor trailed 2-1 early in the second period prior to executing several funky takedowns and a couple turns to put the match out of reach.


Taylor finished the tournament with a respectable 3-1 record at 86 kg/189 lbs. Now in 2016, the Magic Man owns a third-place finish from the U.S. Olympic Team Trials and a gold medal from the Grand Prix of Spain. He was a two-time NCAA champion and four-time finalist for Penn State.


Dynamic heavyweight Gwiazdoski scored the biggest win of the dual over four-time Asian champion and World No. 9 Parviz Hadi, 3-2. With the 125 kg/275 lbs. match ultimately deciding the dual, Gwiazdowski was not fazed by the pressure. The American executed a lightning-fast low-level in the final minute of the match to overcome a 2-1 deficit and give the tournament title to Titan Mercury.


Gwiazdowski was a two-time NCAA champion and three-time finalist for North Carolina State. This year, he has picked up a silver medal at the Intercontinental Cup and a bronze medal at the Ziolkowski International. He went 2-2 this week in Ukraine.


Also grabbing a victory for Titan Mercury on Thursday was three-time NCAA Division III champion and Ukrainian native Nazar Kulchytskyy at 70 kg/154 lbs. Kulchytskyy won a tough 6-2 bout over Atsamaz Sanakoev of Russia in the championship match.


The four wins from Kulchytskyy, Dieringer, Taylor and Gwiazdowski proved to be enough despite the two Olympic champions on Titan Mercury’s squad not tallying a win.


97 kg/213 lbs. Olympic champion Kyle Snyder suffered his second loss in as many days as he was upset by Iran’s Abbas Tahan, 3-1. Similar to his loss yesterday against Odikadze, Snyder was leading and controlling the match late before giving up points in the final moments to lose in stunning fashion. With Snyder leading 1-1 on criteria, Tahan pushed Snyder out of bounds with two seconds left on the clock to turn defeat into victory.


Georgia’s Olympic champion Vladimer Kinchegashvili held the 61 kg/134 lbs. spot for Titan Mercury all tournament. In the championships match, Kinchegashvili and two-time World medalist Masoud Esmaeilpoor were both disqualified after an on-the-mat altercation. The 61-kg bout was not counted towards the dual meet score.


NCAA champion Nico Megaludis competed well in the 57 kg/121 lbs. bout against Olympic bronze medalist and World champion Hassan Rahimi, but was unable to top his world-class opponent. Rahimi got the win, 5-2. Megaludis finished the tournament with an impressive 3-1 record.


European Games and Golden Grand Prix bronze medalist Atsamaz Sanakoev of Russia won by 11-0 technical fall for Bimeh Razi over Bill Farrell International champion BJ Futrell at 65 kg/143 lbs.


Titan Mercury picked up the club’s first World Wrestling Clubs Cup championship by a final 4-3 score over Bimeh Razi. The previous two years, Bimeh Razi defeated Titan Mercury in the finals of this event.


Not only does Titan Mercury now hold the title of best club in the world, they also earned $25,000 in prize money for winning the tournament.


For complete match-by-match results from the World Freestyle Wrestling Clubs Cup visit http://mywrestling.pro/tournaments/?live&tid=2.

WORLD FREESTYLE WRESTLING CLUBS CUP

Nov. 30 – Dec. 1 at Kharkiv, Ukraine

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

Titan Mercury (USA) 4 – Bimeh Razi (IRI) 3

57 kg/121 lbs. – Hassan Rahimi (BR) dec. Nico Megaludis (TWMW), 5-2

61 kg/134 lbs. – Vladimir Khinchegashvili (TMWC) vs. Masoud Esmaeilpoor, Double DQ

65 kg/143 lbs. – Ilias Bekbulatov (BR) tech. fall BJ Futrell (TMWC), 11-0

70 kg/154 lbs. – Nazar Kulchytskyy (TMWC) dec. Atsamaz Sanakoev (BR), 6-2

74 kg/163 lbs. – Alex Dieringer (TMWC) dec. Afzalipaemami Reza (BR), 6-4

86 kg/189 lbs. – David Taylor (TMWC) dec. Alireza Karimimachiani (BR), 12-6

97 kg/213 lbs. – Abbas Tahan (BR) dec. Kyle Snyder (TMWC), 3-1

125 kg/275 lbs. – Nick Gwiazdowski (TMWC) dec. Parviz Hadi (BR), 3-2

PLACEMENT DUALS

3rd – Zdorovye (UKR) defeats Armenia, 6-2

5th – Champion (GEP) defeats Setaregan (IRI), 7-1

7th – Mongolia defeats Csepeli BC (HUN), 5-3

9th – CSKA (UKR) defeats Istanbul Sanc. (TUR), 5-3