McKenna, Lewis, Martinez and Walz receive draws for final day of U23 World Championships in Poland
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by Taylor Miller, USA Wrestling
BYDGOSZCZ, Poland – The final four USA representatives weighed-in and received their draws for Sunday, the last day of U23 World Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
2014 Junior World silver medalist Joey McKenna will compete in his third age-group World Championships, also representing the USA at the 2012 Cadet Worlds.
An All-American for Stanford and now-junior at Ohio State, McKenna will open his tournament at 65 kg/145 lbs. against 2012 Cadet European bronze medalist Patryk Olenczyn of Poland.
Olenczyn is entering his fifth age-group World Championships.
Richie Lewis, a senior at Rutgers, makes his international debut tomorrow, taking on two-time age-group World Team member for Canada, Caleb Rutner.
Two-time NCAA champion and 2017 runner-up Isaiah Martinez, a senior at Illinois, steps on the World stage for the first time tomorrow, wrestling at 74 kg/163 lbs.
He drew 2015 Junior World champion and 2017 Russian Championships silver medalist Gadzhi Nabiev of Russia.
Ty Walz, a three-time All-American and former heavyweight for Virginia Tech, will take on the World at 97 kg/213 lbs. He’ll take on 2016 Junior World silver medalist Erik Thiele from Germany, who is entering his sixth age-group World tournament.
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) on Sunday. 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)
U.S. men’s freestyle draws
65 kg/143 lbs. – Joey McKenna (Towaco, N.J./Titan Mercury/Lehigh Valley WC)
vs. Patryk Olenczyn (Poland), 2012 Cadet European bronze
70 kg/154 lbs. – Richie Lewis (Toms River, N.J./Scarlett Knight WC)
vs. Caleb Rutner (Canada), entering third World Championships
74 kg/163 lbs. – Isaiah Martinez (Lemoore, Calif./Titan Mercury)
vs. Gadzhi Nabiev (Russia), 2015 Junior World champion, 2017 Russian Championships silver
vs. Erik Thiele (Germany), 2016 Junior World silver
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