Finalist Richie Lewis secures first U23 World medal for USA, three others to wrestle for bronze

VIDEO: U23 World Championships interviews

BYDGOSZCZ, Poland – International newcomer Richie Lewis will go down as the first American to ever win a U23 World medal, securing a spot in the 70 kg/156 lbs. finals of the inaugural U23 World Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, on Sunday afternoon.

The three other USA representatives, Joey McKenna, Isaiah Martinez and Ty Walz, will all wrestle for bronze in Sunday night’s finals.

Lewis (Toms River, N.J./Scarlett Knight WC) won four matches in the first session, showing no hesitation against some of the world’s best.

The Rutgers senior and two-time NJCAA All-American got out to a fast start, collecting technical falls in his first two matches.

In his tournament opener, Lewis defeated Caleb Rutner of Canada, a two-time age-group World Team member. Lewis chased down a single leg for a takedown and followed it with a gut wrench. Moments later, the New Jersey product took down the Canadian again and rolled right into a leg lace for an 8-0 lead. He finished it off with a final takedown to move on.

He took on Surkoh Rashytkahanau of Belarus in the second round. Lewis led 2-1 after the first period and broke away in the second period, scoring a four-pointer on the edge and then grabbing a step-out point. Lewis sealed the deal with a takedown and exposure to move on to the quarterfinals with an 11-1 win.

There, he faced 2016 U23 European bronze medalist Muhammet Akdeniz of Turkey. Lewis started with an early four-pointer and built on it, creating an insurmountable lead for the Turk. Despite a relentless performance from Akdeniz, the American outlasted his opponent for a 14-7 win.

The semifinals pitted Lewis against Kazakhstan’s Zulfikar Makhamatov.

Lewis held a 1-0 lead at the break, but Makhamatov took over with a takedown. The second period saw Lewis score a takedown and a four pointer for the eventual 7-2 decision to send the American to the finals.

Tonight, Lewis will face Kumar Vinod of India in the gold-medal match.

McKenna (Towaco, N.J./Titan Mercury/Lehigh Valley WC) will go for bronze at 65 kg/143 lbs.

His first match lasted only seconds as the 2014 Junior World silver medalist picked up the first win for USA men’s freestyle at the event. McKenna defeated 2012 Cadet European bronze medalist Patryk Olenczyn of Poland with an 11-0 technical fall.

McKenna scored quickly with a feet-to-back four-pointer on the edge. He wrapped up the bout moments later with a takedown and two gut wrenches. Poland challenged the four-point move but lost the challenge, resulting in another point for McKenna and the win.

In the second round, McKenna, a New Jersey native, battled two-time World Military gold medalist Nachyin Kuular of Russia.

Kuular overpowered the NCAA All-American, wrapping up a 10-0 technical fall with 10 seconds left in the bout.

The Russian went on to advance to the finals, bringing McKenna back into the repechage. There, he picked up wins over 2016 Junior Balkans champion Maxim Sacultan of Moldova, 9-6, and 2015 Cadet Asian champion Tulga Tumur-ochir of Mongolia, 6-1.

McKenna will face Heorhi Kaliyeu of Belarus for bronze.

Two-time NCAA champion Isaiah Martinez wrestled tough against 2015 Junior World champion Gadzhi Nabiev of Russia in his first bout at 74 kg/163 lbs.

Nabiev jumped out to an early 4-0 lead with a pair of takedowns but Martinez stalked his way back into the match. The two exchanged takedowns to start the second period and Martinez inched in closer on the World champion with a step out. In the final 10 seconds, Martinez scored a takedown but it was not enough as the American fell, 6-5, in his World debut.

Nabiev went on to secure a spot in the finals, pulling Martinez back into the tournament.

On the backside, Martinez grabbed two dominant tech fall wins against Andrius Mazeika of Lithuania, 13-2, and Yerkebulan Tileu of Kazakhstan, 11-0.

Tonight for bronze, Martinez will take on 2017 U23 European champion and Golden Grand Prix runner-up Avtandil Kentchadze of Georgia.

After waiting several hours to wrestle his first match, Ty Walz wrestled back-to-back matches within 20 minutes of each other.

In his opening bout, Walz knocked off last year’s Junior World silver medalist Erik Thiele of Germany with an impressive 8-1 decision.

Thiele scored first on a passivity point, but Walz rattled off four unanswered takedowns to pick up a win in his first World tournament.

The three-time All-American for Virginia Tech went up against Dziani Khramiankou of Belarus in the quarterfinals. It was a back-and-forth bout that had Walz trailing 4-0 at the break. With every point the Belarusian scored in the second period, Walz answered, tallying points on a pair of takedowns and a penalty. The American’s comeback bid fell short, and Khramiankou escaped with a 7-6 win.  

Walz needed only one win in the repechage to head to the bronze-medal match. He defeated Aleksander Wojtachnio of Poland with a decisive 10-3 win.

Tonight, he’ll go up against David Mchedlidze of Ukraine.

The medal matches start at 6 p.m. local time (12 p.m. ET) on Sunday night in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Fans can watch live on trackwrestling.com.

2017 U23 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

at Bydgoszcz, Poland (Six hours ahead of ET)

Finals matchups
65 kg
Gold - Bajrang BAJRANG (IND) vs. Nachyn Sergeevitch KUULAR (RUS)
Bronze - Joseph Christopher MC KENNA (USA) vs. Heorhi KALIYEU (BLR)
Bronze - Haydar YAVUZ (TUR) vs. Yones Aliakbar EMAMICHOGHAEI (IRI)

70 kg
Gold - Kumar Omprakash VINOD (IND) vs. Richard Anthony LEWIS (USA)
Bronze - Muhammet AKDENIZ (TUR) vs. Zulfikar MAKHAMATOV (KAZ)
Bronze - Mirza SKHULUKHIA (GEO) vs. Nobuyoshi TAKOJIMA (JPN)

74 kg
Gold - Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK) vs. Gadzhi NABIEV (RUS)
Bronze - Isaiah Alexander MARTINEZ (USA) vs. Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO)
Bronze - Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR) vs. Engin Rashid ISMAIL (BUL)

97 kg
Gold - Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (BLR) vs. Mojtaba Mohammadshafie GOLEIJ (IRI)
Bronze - Ty Ryan Jack WALZ (USA) vs. Chaoqiang YANG (CHN)
Bronze - Rasul MAGOMEDOV (RUS) vs. Murazi MCHEDLIDZE (UKR)

U.S. men’s freestyle results
65 kg/143 lbs. – Joey McKenna (Towaco, N.J./Titan Mercury/Lehigh Valley WC)
WIN Patryk Olenczyn (Poland), 11-0
LOSS Nachyin Kuular (Russia), 10-0
WIN Maxim Sacultan (Moldova), 9-6
WIN Tulga Tumur-ochir (Mongolia), 6-1

70 kg/154 lbs. – Richie Lewis (Toms River, N.J./Scarlett Knight WC)
WIN Caleb Rutner (Canada), 10-0
WIN Surkoh Rashytkahanau (Belarus), 11-1
WIN Muhammet Akdeniz (Turkey), 14-7
WIN Zulfikar Makhamatov (Kazakhstan), 7-2

74 kg/163 lbs. – Isaiah Martinez (Lemoore, Calif./Titan Mercury)
LOSS Gadzhi Nabiev (Russia), 6-5
WIN Andrius Mazeika (Lithuania), 13-2
WIN Yerkebulan Tileu (Kazakhstan), 11-0

97 kg/213 lbs. – Ty Walz (Cleveland, Ohio/Titan Mercury/Southeast RTC)
WIN Erik Thiele (Germany), 8-1
LOSS Dziani Khramiankou (Belarus), 7-6
WIN Aleksander Wojtachnio (Poland), 10-3