Ramos crowned Cadet World champion, Facundo and Ferrari win bronze

VIDEO: Cadet World interviews

ZAGREB, Croatia – Matthew Ramos spent his Fourth of July atop the Cadet World podium, listening to the U.S. national anthem after being crowned the best in the world at 51 kg on Wednesday in Zagreb, Croatia.

“I can’t even explain it right now. It’s amazing,” Ramos said. “I wish I got to my offense more, but I don’t even care right now. I’m just so excited…this is just an amazing experience. It’s awesome.”

Ramos took on Kota Takahashi of Japan in the 51 kg finals. At the break, the American was up 2-2 on criteria, thanks to a takedown in the first.

Takahashi scored a takedown early in the second, and shortly after Ramos was hit with a caution-and-one. In the moments following, a scramble ensued and Ramos stepped over, putting the Japanese to his back and getting the fall in 2:40 to become a World champion.

In addition to Ramos, two other wrestlers claimed bronze medals to wrap up USA’s men’s freestyle competition.

Both Alex Facundo and AJ Ferrari overcame deficits late in the match to earn spots on the podium.

At 71 kg, Facundo faced Makhmud Magomedov of Russia, who went into the break with a 5-0 lead over the wrestler from Michigan. Facundo stormed back, rolling through a takedown to grab four points with 50 seconds left. Magomedov scored on a step out to separate himself, but Facundo scrapped his way to a takedown with less than 20 seconds left for a 6-6 win on criteria.

“I was a little frozen at first, but at the end of the first period, I saw that he gets tired easily,” Facundo said. “Coach (Kevin) Jackson said to push the pace and he’ll tire out, so that’s what I did the last period, and I got that win.”

Ferrari won bronze at 92 kg after wrestling his way through the repechage earlier in the day. For the medal, he took on Cadet European silver medalist Johannes Mayer of Germany.

Ferrari led 1-0 at the break with a point from a shot clock. In the second period, Ferrari gave up a point on the shot clock, and within the same second, Mayer scored on a step out. With only four ticks left on the clock, Ferrari scored on a single-leg takedown to win a World bronze medal.

“If I can get to anybody’s legs, then 95 percent of the time I can finish,” Ferrari said. “I immediately got to my fakes and just caught him off guard, got to the single into a double and finished it off.”

Overall the U.S. men’s freestyle squad leaves Croatia with six medals including, one gold, two silver and three bronze. All 10 wrestlers finished in the top 10 and helped the team to a silver-medal finish, taking second behind Iran.

“I think our guys battled really hard,” freestyle World Team coach Kellen Russell said. “Obviously, we had high expectations coming in here. We didn’t meet those expectations, but coming in second with six medalists and one champ, we’re really proud of these guys.”

2018 CADET WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
at Zagreb, Croatia, July 2-8

Final team scores (top 10)
1. Iran – 152
2. USA – 132
3. Russia – 116
4. Azerbaijan – 105
5. Japan – 83
6. Georgia – 82
7. Turkey – 80
8. India – 74
9. Uzbekistan – 56
10. Armenia – 44

Final results
45 kg
GOLD - Rahman AMOUZADKHALILI (IRI)
SILVER - Rafayel HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
BRONZE - Shakhbos KOMILOV (UZB)
BRONZE - Ahmet YUCEL (TUR)

1st: Rahman AMOUZADKHALILI (IRI) dec. Rafayel HARUTYUNYAN (ARM), 5-0
3rd: Shakhbos KOMILOV (UZB) dec. Chance LAMER (USA), 10-2
3rd: Ahmet YUCEL (TUR) TF Thomas FISCHER (SUI), 10-0

48 kg
GOLD - Alihasan AMIRLI (AZE)
SILVER - Richard FIGUEROA (USA)
BRONZE - Giorgi GEGELASHVILI (GEO)
BRONZE - Valerii ANDROSOV (RUS)

1st – Alihasan AMIRLI (AZE) dec. Richard FIGUEROA (USA), 6-1
3rd - Valerii ANDROSOV (RUS) dec. Mykyta ABRAMOV (UKR), 10-8
3rd - Giorgi GEGLASHVILI (GEO) dec. Mahdi VEISI (Iran), 4-2

51 kg                         
GOLD - Matthew RAMOS (USA)
SILVER - Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN)
BRONZE - Seyederfan JAFARIANGELYERDI (IRI)
BRONE - Aman AMAN (IND)

1st: Matthew RAMOS (USA) fall Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN), 2:40
3rd: Seyederfan JAFARIANGELYERDI (IRI) dec. Ioannis MARTIDIS (GRE), 6-0
3rd: Aman AMAN (IND) dec. Adem UZUN (TUR), 9-4

55 kg
GOLD - Jamshidbek MARUFOV (UZB)
SILVER - Hayato FUJITA (JPN)
BRONZE - Simone PIRODDU (ITA)
BRONZE - Abulfaz NASIROV (AZE)

1st - Jamshidbek MARUFOV (UZB) dec. Hayato FUJITA (JPN), 4-3
3rd - Abulfaz NASIROV (AZE) fall Daviti ABDALADZE (GEO), 1:11
3rd - Simone PIRODDU (ITA) dec. Norik HARUTYUNYAN (ARM), 5-3

60 kg
GOLD - Hamza ALACA (TUR)
SILVER - Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
BRONZE - Ravinder RAVINDER (IND)
BRONZE - Aliakbar FAZLIKHALILI (IRI)

1st: Hamza ALACA (TUR) TF Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE), 10-0
3rd: Ravinder RAVINDER (IND) dec. Sabir JAFAROV (AZE), 6-0
3rd: Aliakbar FAZLIKHALILI (IRI) TF Shamil MAMEDOV (RUS), 18-7

65 kg
GOLD - Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE)
SILVER - Inalbek SHERIEV (RUS)
BRONZE - Bekzat ZHALGASSOV (KAZ)
BRONZE - Mohammad KARIMISEIFABAD (IRI)

1st - Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) dec. Inalbek SHERIEV (RUS), 4-1
3rd - Bekzat ZHALGASSOV (KAZ) dec. Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), 8-2
3rd - Mohammad KARIMISEIFABAD (IRI) dec. Narek HARUTYUNYAN (ARM), 10-5

71 kg
GOLD - Bagrati GAGNIDZE (GEO)
SILVER - Baliyan GOURAV (IND)
BRONZE - Alex FACUNDO (USA)
BRONZE - Shinnosuke SUWAMA (JPN)

1st: Bagrati GAGNIDZE (GEO) dec. Baliyan GOURAV (IND), 6-6
3rd: Alex FACUNDO (USA) dec. Makhmud MAGOMEDOV (RUS), 6-6
3rd: Shinnosuke SUWAMA (JPN) dec. Dominik MEZEI (HUN), 6-2

80 kg
GOLD - Dmitrii ELKANOV (RUS)
SILVER - Mohammedreza GHIYASI (IRI)
BRONZE - Milan KORCSOG (HUN)
BRONZE - Abe ASSAD (USA)

1st - Dmitrii ELKANOV (Russia) dec. Mohammedreza GHIYASI (IRI), 7-6
3rd -Milan KORCSOG (HUN) TF Carson Barry Lee (CAN), 11-0
3rd - Abe ASSAD (USA) dec. Sagadulla AGAEV (AZE), 7-6

92 kg
GOLD - Ali Reza ABDOLLAHI (IRI)
SILVER - Omer AGTAS (TUR)
BRONZE - Albert FERRARI (USA)
BRONZE - Alik DZHIGKAEV (RUS)

1st: Ali Reza ABDOLLAHI (IRI) TF Omer AGTAS (TUR), 13-2
3rd: Alik DZHIGKAEV (RUS) dec. Giorgi CHANKSELIANI (GEO), 6-4
3rd: Albert FERRARI (USA) dec. Johannes MAYER (GER), 3-2

110 kg
GOLD - Amir ZARE (IRI)
SILVER - Daniel KERKVLIET (USA)
BRONZE - Stoyan YORDANOV (BUL)
BRONZE - Sergei KOZYREV (RUS)

1st - Amir ZARE (IRI) dec. Daniel KERKVLIET (USA), 7-4
3rd - Stoyan YORDANOV (BUL) dec. Islam ABUEV (AZE), 3-3
3rd - Sergei KOZYREV (RUS) TF Kumar ANIRUDH (IND), 10-0

U.S. men’s freestyle results
45 kg/99 lbs. – Chance Lamer, Corvallis, Ore. (Orange Crush WC) - FIFTH
WIN Pavel Sagdy (Russia), fall 3:59
WIN Shusei Yamashita (Japan), 12-3
LOSS Rafayel Harutyunyan (Armenia), 10-0
LOSS Shakhbos Komilov (Uzbekistan), 10-2

48 kg/106 lbs. – Richard Figueroa, Sanger, Calif. (Sunkist Kids/Monster Garage) – SILVER
WIN Xiaolong Ye (China), fall 0:54
WIN Valerii Androsov (Russia), 10-0
WIN Mykyta Abramov (Ukraine), 10-4
LOSS Alihasan Amirli (Azerbaijan), 6-1

51 kg/112 lbs. – Matthew Ramos Lockport, Ill. (Colt Wrestling) - GOLD
WIN Ioannis Martidis (Greece), 5-3
WIN Dashtseren Purvee (Mongolia), 10-5
WIN Seyedfran Jafariangelyerd (Iran), 2-2
WIN Kota Takahashi (Japan), fall 2:40

55 kg/121 lbs. – Robert Howard, Cranford, N.J. (Titan Mercury/Bitetto Trained) - NINTH
WIN Aliaksei Kukharchyk (Belarus), 14-3
LOSS Simone Piroddu (Italy), 9-3

60 kg/132 lbs. – Joshua Saunders, St. Louis, Mo. (Titan Mercury) - TENTH
WIN Benedikt Huber (Austria), 10-0
LOSS Ravinder Ravinder (India), 6-1

65 kg/143 lbs. – Carson Manville, Shakopee, Minn. (Banditos WC) - EIGHTH
WIN Deividas Peciulis (Lithuania) , 13-2
LOSS Masaki Sato (Japan), 11-0

71 kg/157 lbs. – Alex Facundo, Davison, Mich. (Team Donahue) - BRONZE
WIN Damian Korbus (Poland), 16-6
WIN Vadym Kurylenko (Ukraine), 9-3
LOSS Baliyan Gourav (India), 6-5
WIN Makhmud MAGOMEDOV (RUS), 6-6

80 kg/176 lbs. – Abe Assad, Carol Stream, Ill. (Izzy Style WC) - BRONZE
WIN Medet Biliciturk (Turkey), 2-1
LOSS Mohammadreza Ghiyasi (Iran), 10-0
WIN Batmagnai Enkhtuvshin (Mongolia), 10-4
WIN Joshua Morodion (Germany), 12-0
WIN Sagadulla Agaev (Azerbaijan), 7-6

92 kg/202 lbs. – Albert “AJ” Ferrari, Allen, Texas (Best Trained WC) - BRONZE
WIN Banzragch Munkhbat (Mongolia), forfeit
LOSS Alireza Abdollahi (Iran), 2-0 
WIN Yunis Gafurov (KAZ), 8-2
WIN Monu Dahiya (India), 8-1
WIN Johannes Mayer (Germany), 3-2

110 kg/242 lbs. – Daniel “Greg” Kerkvliet, Inver Grove, Minn. (Titan Mercury/Pinnacle) - SILVER
WIN Filip Jires (Czech Republic), 10-0
WIN Vasyl Sova (Ukraine), 10-0
WIN Kumar Anirudh (India), 10-0
WIN Sergey Kozyrev (Russia), 2-2
LOSS Amir Zare (Iran), 7-4