Semenov knocks off Pataridze in U23 World Championships finals

BYDGOSZCZ, Poland – Some of the best Greco-Roman athletes in the world put on a show in the day-two finals of the U23 World Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, on Wednesday night.

In a battle of Junior World bronze medalists, Masuto Kawana of Japan and Sergey Emelin of Russia delivered a high-energy performance in the 59 kg/130 lbs. finals.  

Kawana held a 4-1 lead at the break, but the Russian stormed back, thanks to a pair of headlock throws for four points each. Emelin had taken over the lead; however, a four-pointer on the edge from Kawana late in the match helped the Japanese wrestler to a 15-14 win.

It was Goliath vs. Goliath in the heavyweight final as five-time age-group World champion Zviadi Pataridze of Georgia took on four-time age-group World champion Sergey Semenov of Russia.

Semenov avenged his 2015 Junior World finals loss to Patartidze, taking out the Georgian power in a brute bout. The turning point came early in the second period, when Pataridze was hit with caution and two, giving up his 3-3 lead on criteria. No other points were scored in the match and Semenov took a 5-3 win.

At 66 kg/145 lbs., 2016 Olympic bronze Shmagi Bolkvadze of Georgia picked up two passivity points against 2017 Russian Championships bronze medalist Alen Mirzoian of Russia for a 2-0 victory.

Bolkvadze was also a 2014 Junior World champion and 2013 Junior World silver medalist.

Similarly, the final at 80 kg/176 lbs. was decided by all passivity points as 2015 Junior World silver medalist and 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games bronze medalist Burhan Akbudak of Turkey bested 2015 Senior World silver medalist Lasha Gobadze of Georgia in a 2-1 bout. All points scored were from passivity.

Georgia won the team race with 51 points, beating out second-place Russia by one point. Turkey rounded out the top three with 42 points.

Tomorrow is the start of the women’s freestyle competition. Representing the USA is Dominique Parrish (55 kg), Megan Black (58 kg), Maya Nelson (63 kg) and Rachel Watters (75 kg).

The preliminary rounds begin at 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET), with the medal matches beginning at 6 p.m. (12 p.m. ET) each day. Bydgoszcz is six hours ahead of the U.S. Eastern time zone.

Fans can find live streams and brackets on Trackwrestling.com.

2017 U23 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
at Bydgoszcz, Poland (Six hours ahead of ET)

Greco-Roman final results

59 kg

Gold - Masuto KAWANA (JPN) dec. Sergey EMELIN (RUS), 15-14

Bronze - Aidos SULTANGALI (KAZ) tech. fall Avgustin Boyanov SPASOV (BUL), 8-0

Bronze - Sakit GULIYEV (AZE) tech. fall Przemyslaw PIATEK (POL), 8-0

66 kg

Gold - Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) vs. Alen MIRZOIAN (RUS), 2-0

Bronze - Amin Yavar KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI) dec. Abylaikhan AMZEYEV (KAZ), 5-1

Bronze - Gaoquan ZHANG (CHN) dec. Roman PACURKOWSKI (POL), 2-1

71 kg
Gold - Daniel CATARAGA (MDA) dec. Robert FRITSCH (HUN), 5-0
Bronze - Murat DAG (TUR) dec. Rinat AKHMEDOV (RUS), 2-1
Bronze – Farshad Mirahmad BELFAKEH (IRI) dec. Riccardo Vito ABBRESCIA (ITA), 2-1

75 kg
Gold - Fatih CENGIZ (TUR) dec. Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO), 5-2
Bronze - Esen Asanov (KGZ) dec. Nasir HASANOV (AZE), 1-0
Bronze - Payam Abdeh Saleh BOVEYRI PAYANI (IRI) dec. Miras BARSHYLYKOV (KAZ), 6-2

80 kg

Gold - Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) dec. Lasha GOBADZE (GEO), 2-1

Bronze - Rosian Ognyanov DERMANSKI (BUL) dec. Stanislau SHAFARENKA (BLR), 3-2

Bronze - Andrii ANTONIUK (UKR) dec. Alex Michel BJURBERG KESSIDIS (SWE), 6-1

85 kg
Gold - Erik SZILVASSY (HUN) dec. Ivan HUKLEK (CRO), 4-0
Bronze - Islam ABBASOV (AZE) dec. Gurami KHETSURIANI (GEO), 2-1
Bronze - Toni Heikki Herman METSOMAEKI (FIN) won by injury default Ruslan MAHOMEDOV (UKR)

98 kg
Gold - Aleksandr GOLOVIN (RUS) dec. Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN), 5-3
Bronze - Abudourexiti ALIMUJIANG (CHN) dec. Bopembe Arsen SYCHEV (BLR), 3-0
Bronze - Fatih BASKOY (TUR) dec. Michail IOSIFIDIS (GRE), 4-2

U.S. Greco-Roman results
59 kg/130 lbs. – Dalton Roberts (Fowlerville, Mich./Sunkist Kids)
WIN Zoltan Levai (Slovakia), fall
LOSS Aidos Sultangali (Kazakhstan), 10-4

66 kg/145 lbs. - Alejandro Sancho (Miami, Fla./New York AC)
LOSS Yuri Kankov (Belarus), 7-2

71 kg/145 lbs. – Alex Mossing (Toledo, Ohio/Foxfire WC)
vs. Armen Hakobyan (Armenia), 10-0

75 kg/156 lbs. – Jesse Porter (Albany, N.Y./New York AC)
LOSS Fatih Cengiz (Turkey), 2-1
LOSS Nasir Hasanov (Azerbaijan), 8-0

80 kg/187 lbs. - Kamal Bey (Chicago, Ill./Sunkist Kids)
LOSS Andrii Antoniuk (Ukraine), 9-0

85 kg/187 lbs. – Barrett Stanghill (Philipsburg, Mont./Minnesota Storm)
LOSS Emil Sandahl (Sweden), 2-0

98 kg/216 lbs. – Blake Smith (Peoria, Ariz./NMU-OTS)
LOSS Kukuri Kirtskhalia (Georgia), 10-4

130 kg/286 lbs. - G’Angelo Hancock (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids/New York AC)
WIN Leonard Berei (Romania), 10-5
LOSS Abdellatif Mohamed (Egypt), 8-0

130 kg

Gold - Sergey SEMENOV (RUS) dec. Zviadi PATARIDZE (GEO), 5-3

Bronze - Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU) dec. Amin Mohammadzaman MIRZAZADEH (IRI), 3-1

Bronze - Jello KRAHMER (GER) dec. Arata SONODA (JPN), 3-1