McHenry, Howard, Teemer, Brooks and Kerkvliet receive draws for 2017 Cadet World Championships

ATHENS, Greece – The final five U.S. men’s freestylers received their draws for the 2017 Cadet World Championships in Athens, Greece.

Headlining the squad is 2016 Cadet World champion Kurt McHenry, who will look to prove himself at a new weight—46 kg/101 lbs. He’ll open against 2017 Cadet Pan American bronze medalist Fotis Papadopoulos of Canada.

Robert Howard will wrestle at 54 kg/119 lbs., drawing 2015 Cadet Asian silver winner Mehdi Eshghivasoukolaei of Iran in the first round.

2016 Cadet freestyle national champ Jacori Teemer will make his World debut at 63 kg/139 lbs., where he will face Georgia’s Giorgi Elbakidze, who finished fifth in the World last year.

Cadet World Team Trials runner-up Aaron Brooks was called on to fill in for an injured Travis Wittlake this week in Athens at 76 kg/167 lbs. A three-time Fargo champion, Brooks will begin the day with Georgia’s Lasha Bairamovi, who placed eighth at this year’s Cadet European Championships.

At 100 kg/220 lbs., Cadet freestyle All-American Daniel Kerkvliet will take on 2017 Cadet European bronze medalist Radu Lefter from Moldova.

With the new two-day format, wrestlers will compete through the semifinals in their first day of competition with repechage and medal matches to be contested the following day.

The preliminary rounds and day-one repechage begin at 10:30 a.m. local time (3:30 a.m. ET), with semifinals beginning at 5:30 p.m. local time (10:30 a.m. ET).

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

2017 CADET WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

at Athens, Greece, Sept. 4-10 (9 hours ahead of ET)

Schedule
Saturday, Sept. 9
9:30 a.m. – Weigh-in
10:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds (Men’s freestyle 46 kg, 54 kg, 63 kg, 76 kg, 100 kg)
10:30 a.m. – Repechage (Men’s freestyle 42 kg, 50 kg, 58 kg, 69 kg, 85 kg)
5:30 p.m. – Semifinals (Men’s freestyle 46 kg, 54 kg, 63 kg, 76 kg, 100 kg)
6 p.m. – Finals (Men’s freestyle 42 kg, 50 kg, 58 kg, 69 kg, 85 kg)

U.S. men’s freestyle draws
46 kg/101 lbs. – Kurt McHenry, Leesburg, Va. (Ranger WC)
vs. Fotis Papadopoulis (Canada), bronze in 2017 Pan Am Championships

54 kg/119 lbs. – Robert Howard, Cranford, N.J. (Bitetto Trained)
vs. Mehdi Eshghivasoukolaei (Iran), silver in 2015 Cadet Asian Championships

63 kg/138 lbs. – Jacori Teemer, Long Beach, N.Y. (Long Beach)
vs. Giorgi Elbakidze (Georgia), bronze in 2016 Cadet European Championships, fifth in 2016 Cadet World Championships

76 kg/167 lbs. – Aaron Brooks, Hagerstown, Md. (Hagerstown)
vs. Lasha Bairamovi (Georgia), eighth in 2016 Cadet World Championships

100 kg/220 lbs. – Daniel Kerkvliet, Inver Grove Heights, Minn. (Pinnacle WC)
vs. Radu Lefter (Moldova), bronze in 2017 Cadet European Championships