U.S. Greco gets first Junior World finalist since 2000 as Severado and Bey go for gold

VIDEO: Junior World Championships interviews

TAMPERE, Finland – The USA hadn’t had a Junior Greco-Roman World finalist since 2000. Today, the Red, White and Blue has two wrestling for World titles at the 2017 Junior World Championships in Tampere, Finland.

Cevion Severado at 50 kg/110 lbs. and Kamal Bey at 74 kg/163 lbs. will compete in the gold-medal matches on Saturday, while Taylor LaMont seeks his second-consecutive Junior World bronze medal at 60 kg/132 lbs.

Saturday’s morning session marked the first time since 1993 that the U.S. Greco-Roman program has put two wrestlers in the Junior World finals.

Severado (St. Peters, Mo./Xtreme RTC), an alternate for the Junior World Team, surprised himself and the rest of the World, blazing past his first three opponents and surrendering only four points to make the 50 kg finals.

“I’m very proud of my performance. I kind of shocked myself a little bit with how I’m wrestling, but I always knew that I could be at this level. Here I am,” Severado said. “I knew I was going to be here today with the big bangers today with Tracy (Hancock), Kamal and LaMont, and I wanted to fit in and not be the odd one out.”

In his first match, the American shut down Israel’s Maksym Vysotskyi, who was seventh at the European Championships and recently took fifth at the Maccabi Games.

With the score knotted at 1-1 after the first, Severado scored on an early-period takedown and added a point with a step out to go up 4-1. With 25 seconds to go, the Missouri native sealed the match with another takedown for a 6-1 win.

His quarterfinals was a fun one, even if it only lasted less than two minutes. With a body lock against Dominick Dudzinksi of Poland, Severado got him to the mat, exposing his back for a 4-0 lead. Seconds later, he threw Dudzinksi on the edge of the mat for four more and an 8-0 tech fall.

Despite trailing at the break of the semifinals against Kensuke Shimizu of Japan, Severado claimed control of the match, rattling off four takedowns en route to a 8-3 win and a spot in the finals.

Tonight, Severado will face 2015 Cadet World champion Poya Marz of Iran for the 50 kg Junior World title. Marz has three wins by decision on the day.

“I still can’t believe it. It’s amazing. It’s a different feeling than any other thing because it’s the highest level I can be right now, and it feels great.”

Bey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids WC) will wrestle for his first Junior World medal in the 63 kg finals, after capturing four wins this morning in the biggest bracket with 32 competitors.

“I see all these U.S. guys with their belts. Women with their belts. I gotta get me a belt. My mom wants one,” Bey said. “I’ve just been really digging in, and I’ve been taking them down one-by-one. Six minutes and patience is all is takes and you get what you want.”

Bey played the game of throws, picking up at least one four-pointer in every match. He barreled through Pikeun Bong of Korea, 9-0, in the first round with a big throw in each period.

Against Karan Mosebach of Germany, Bey grabbed two four-pointers back-to-back for an early 8-1 lead. He followed it up shortly after with a takedown to seal the tech fall.

 He faced 2016 Cadet World silver medalist Nasir Hasanov of Azerbaijan in the quarterfinals. While Bey only won by three points, he was in control for most of the match, holding onto a 6-0 lead at the break. The Azerbaijani got on the board with a four-pointer halfway through the second period. Bey tacked on a step out take the match,7-4.

Becoming the second finalist of the day for the USA, Bey battled Per Oloffsson of Sweden in a bizarre bout. Tied 2-2, Bey through the Swede to his back for four and appeared to pin him; however, the fall was not awarded.

Points went back and forth, with Bey leading 14-7 at the break. Nine seconds into the second period, the Illinois native put a stop to the match with a five-point bomb to send him to the 74 kg finals.

“You got to do what you’ve got to do sometimes, and I pulled that one out. As long as I’m up, you can’t come back. That’s my new rule,” Bey said.

Tonight, Bey faces 2016 Cadet World champion and 2017 Junior Asian champion Akzhol Makhmudov from Kyrgyzstan.

The U.S. has a third medal opportunity coming from LaMont (Mapleton, Utah/Sunkist Kids WC), who advanced to the Junior World bronze-medal match for the second year in a row, picking up two preliminary wins but falling short in the semifinals at 60 kg/132 lbs.

He opened the tournament with a solid 6-2 win over Maksim Nehoda of Belarus, who was a 2015 Cadet World bronze medalist. LaMont 2-0 at the break and collected a caution-and-two on Nehoda as well as a takedown late in the match to advance to the quarters.

There, he took on Ardit Fazljija of Sweden, who he defeated with a pair of takedowns in the second period for an 8-3 victory.

In the 60 kg/132 lbs. semis, it was a rematch of the 2016 bronze match, which LaMont won, 5-3, but this time the American took a loss to Oleksandr Hrushyn of Ukraine, 6-1. With it being the semifinals, LaMont was sent straight to tonight’s bronze match.

2016 Junior World bronze medalist G’Angelo Hancock was unable to qualify for a medal at 96 kg/211 lbs.

He came out on fire with tech falls in his first two rounds, defeating Damian von Euw of Switzerland, 9-1, before shutting out Kiril Milov of Bulgaria, 10-0. Hancock was stopped short in the quarterfinals against Suleyman Ebray of Turkey in a 4-3 match that was decided in the seconds of the bout.

“It’s the World Championships,” Hancock said. “It’s a big tournament, and things don’t always go your way. I promise I’m going to prove myself in three weeks.”

Next up for Hancock is the 2017 Senior World Championships in Paris, France, where he will represent the U.S. at 98 kg/216 lbs.

The medal matches are set for 6 p.m. local time (11 a.m. ET) Tuesday evening. Live stream and brackets can be found on trackwrestling.com. Viewers must pay to watch the live stream.

JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Aug. 1-6, 2017

Finals matchups
50 kg/110 lbs.
Gold – Cevion Severado (USA) vs. Poya Marz (Iran)
Bronze – Maksym Vysotskyi (Israel) vs. Kenuske Shimizu (Japan)
Bronze – Haifeng Zhang (China) vs. Ilkhom Bakhromov (Uzbekistan)

60 kg/132 lbs.
Gold – Oleksandr Hrushyn (Ukraine) vs. Keramat Abdevali (Iran)
Bronze – Taylor LaMont (USA) vs. Magomed Magomedov (Russia)
Bronze – Hassan Mohamed (Egypt) vs. Manish (India)

74 kg/163 lbs.
Gold – Kamal Bey (USA) vs. Akzhol Makhmudov (Kyrgyzstan)
Bronze – Sajan (India) vs. Ali Ebray (Turkey)
Bronze – Nasir Hasanov (Azerbaijan) vs. Per Olofsson (Sweden)

96 kg/211 lbs.
Gold – Vladen Kozliuk (Ukraine) vs. Artur Sargsian (Russia)
Bronze – Jan Zirn (Germany) vs. Michali Iosifidis (Greece)
Bronze – Arvi Savolainen (Finland) vs. Suleyman Ebray (Turkey)

U.S. Greco-Roman results
50 kg/110 lbs. - Cevion Severado, (St. Peters, Mo./Xtreme RTC)
WIN Maksym Vysotskyi (Israel), 6-1
WIN Dominik Dudzinski (Poland), 8-0
WIN Kensuke Shimizu (Japan), 8-3

60 kg/132 lbs. – Taylor LaMont, (Mapleton, Utah/Sunkist Kids WC)
WIN Maksim Nehoda (Belarus), 6-2
WIN Ardit Fazljija (Sweden), 8-3
LOSS Oleksandr Hrushyn (Ukraine), 6-1

74 kg/163 lbs. – Kamal Bey, (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids WC)
WIN Pikeun Bong (Korea), 9-0
WIN Karan Mosebach (Germany), 10-1
WIN Nasir Hasanov (Azerbaijan), 7-4
WIN Per Albin Olofsson (Sweden), 19-7

96 kg/211 lbs. – G’Angelo Hancock, (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC/Sunkist Kids WC)
WIN Damian Von Euw (Switzerland), 9-1
WIN Kiril Milov (Bulgaria), 10-0
LOSS Suleyman Erbay (Turkey), 4-3