Fix in search of bronze on last day of Junior World Championships

Daton Fix (USA) scores a takedown on Naim (BUL) in the 55 kg repechage. Photo: Justin Hoch, JHoch.com.

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MACON, France – U.S. men’s freestyler Daton Fix has qualified for the 55 kg/121 lbs. bronze medal match on the final day of Junior World competition at Le Spot Arena in France.


The highly anticipated opener between 2015 Cadet World bronze medalist Fix and 2014 Junior World champion Khasankhusein Badrudinov of Russia lived up to the billing. Unfortunately for the American, he found himself on the wrong side of the scoreboard in the first round thriller, 9-6.


The bout was tied 1-1 entering the second frame before Badrudinov locked up a pinch headlock and rolled Fix through three times. After an unsuccessful challenge, Fix found himself down by seven points with two minutes remaining in the bout. Fix rallied to score a takedown and a turn, but was unable to overcome the deficit.


“[Fix] lost a tough match against a real scrappy and great competitor in the Russian,” U.S. coach Jamill Kelly said. “I think he got a little bit more concerned about what the Russian was going to do instead of just sticking to what he’s good at. In just a couple situations where he’s usually confident he was a little passive.”


Badrudinov navigated to the finals of the 55 kg bracket, pulling Fix into the repechage. Fix downed both Carthe Capellan of Canada and Mikyay Naim of Bulgaia by 10-0 scores to secure his place in the bronze match against two-time Cadet World champion Andriy Yatsenko of Ukraine. Yatsenko was runner-up at the Senior European Championships this year.


“It should be a great, entertaining match. Two guys, Daton and [Yatsenko], who like to score points and like to really wrestle and open up. As long as he goes out there with that mindset of scoring points I think it will be a good outcome,” said Kelly.


Also competing on Sunday for the U.S. were top prospects Zahid Valencia, Alec Pantaleo and Jordan Wood. All three were unable to wrestle themselves into a medal match.


Valencia was dominant in his first two matches at 84 kg/185 lbs., picking up technical fall wins over Mark Markarian of Ukraine and Meki Simonia of Georgia. In the quarterfinals, Valencia dropped a tough 5-4 decision to Junior European champion Gadzhimurad Magomedsaidov in a match that came down to the final seconds.


“I wrestled really good my first two matches, left it all out there. I feel like I could have done more in my third match. Just a couple close calls that could have gone either way, but I’ll be back and I’ll be better,” said Valencia.


Pantaleo, a NCAA All-American for Michigan, went 1-1 on the day at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. In his opener, Pantaleo pancaked Junior European bronze medalist Giorgi Sulava of Georgia for the fall in 1:03. The American was wrapped up in a brutal gutwrench by Vikas of India in his next outing to lose by technical fall, 12-1.


“The first match, that’s pretty much what I expected to do. I’ve been working really hard, you know. The second match, you know, I just got a little frustrated. The kid kept really good pressure, and I just made a mistake, man. I knew my gutwrench defense wasn’t’ all that great, and he just exposed my weakness,” said Pantaleo.


It was a short lived tournament for 2014 Cadet World silver medalist Wood as he dropped his first round match at 120 kg/264.5 lbs. to past Junior World bronze medalist Kamil Kosciolek of Poland, 6-2.


“I didn’t wrestle bad, but I didn’t convert on any of my shots,” Wood said following the competition. “I was in on his leg a lot. I could have gotten there at will, and I only finished one shot. I just wasn’t completely in tune, and I feel that I could have beaten him.”


The Junior World Championships will conclude today at 12 p.m. (ET) with the men’s freestyle medal matches at 55 kg, 66 kg, 84 kg and 120 kg.


Flowrestling is providing a live stream of the Junior World Championships at flowrestling.org. Viewers must purchase a FloPro membership to watch the competition live. 


For complete brackets and match-by-match results visit unitedworldwrestling.org.

2016 JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Aug. 30 – Sept. 4 in Macon, France

Finals Matchups
55 kg/121 lbs.

Gold – Afgan Khashalov (Azerbaijan) vs. Khasanhuesin Badrudinov (Russia)

Bronze – Andriy Yatsenko (Ukraine) vs. Daton Fix (United States)

Bronze – Takumi Tashiro (Japan) vs. Gulomjon Abdullaev (Uzbekistan)

66 kg/145.5 lbs.

Gold – Akhmed Usmanov (Russia) vs. Enes Uslu (Turkey)

Bronze – Vikas (India) vs. Yuhi Fujinami (Japan)

Bronze – Orkhan Abasov (Azerbaijan) vs. Valentin Sanfratello (France)

84 kg/185 lbs.

Gold – Arsen-Ali Musalaliev (Russia) vs. Osman Gocen (Turkey)

Bronze – Gadzhimurad Magomedsaidov (Azerbaijan) vs. Krzysztof Sadowik (Poland)

Bronze – Dzianis Khramiankou (Belarus) vs. Majid Muratov (Uzbekistan)

120 kg/264.5 lbs.

Gold – Umar Israilov (Azerbaijan) vs. Kazbek Khubulov (Russia)

Bronze – Kamil Kosciolek (Poland) vs. Amir Amiri (Iran)

Bronze – Huseyin Civelek (Turkey) vs. Mihaly Nagy (Hungary)

U.S. men’s freestyle results

55 kg/121 lbs. – Daton Fix, Sand Springs, Okla. (Team BIG)

LOSS Khasankhusein Badrudinov (Russia), 9-6

WIN Darthe Capellan (Canada), 10-0

WIN Mikyay Naim (Bulgaria), 10-0


66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Alec Pantaleo, Canton, Mich. (Michigan RTC)

WIN Giorgi Sulava (Georgia), Fall 1:03

LOSS Vikas (India), 12-1


84 kg/185 lbs. – Zahid Valencia, Pico Rivera, Calif. (Sunkist Kids)

WIN Mark Markarian (Ukraine), 11-1

WIN Meki Simonia (Georgia), 13-2

LOSS Gadzhimurad Magomedsaidov (Azerbaijan), 5-4


120 kg/264.5 lbs. – Jordan Wood, Gilbertsville, Pa. (Lehigh Valley WC)

LOSS Kamil Kosciolek (Poland), 6-2