Moore picks up silver, Mueller finishes fifth at U23 World Championships

Photo of Kollin Moore by Andy Hamilton, Trackwrestling.com.

BUCHAREST, Romania – The USA wrapped up the first day of men’s freestyle medal matches with two top-five individual finishes and currently stands at fourth place in the team rankings.

For gold at 97 kg, Kollin Moore, a 2017 Junior World bronze medalist, faced Givi Matcharashvili of Georgia in a rematch of the 2017 Junior World semifinals.

Matcharshvili, who is a 2014 Cadet World champion and 2017 Junior World silver medalist, jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead with a takedown and two gut wrenches. The Georgian finished off the bout with a single-leg takedown for a 10-0 win.

Ohio State’s Moore is now a two-time age-group World medalist with his U23 silver medal and Junior bronze medal.

At 57 kg, Jack Mueller fell short of a bronze medal, suffering an 11-9 loss to Wanhao Zhou of China to finish fifth in the world in his World Championships debut.

Mueller fell to an early 5-0 deficit and chipped away at Zhou’s lead until the final whistle. Trailing 6-2 in to begin the second period, Mueller scored four on a chest lock and went on to score a step out and takedown within the final minute, but a four-pointer from Zhou made the lead too much to overcome. Zhou won the bout with an 11-9 decision.

Tomorrow, two Americans, Sean Fausz and Youssif Hemida, will battle for gold at their respective weights. Medal matches begin at 6 p.m. local time (11 a.m. ET) live on Trackwrestling.com.

2018 U23 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
at Bucharest, Romania

U.S. men’s freestyle results

57 kg: Jack Mueller (Dallas, Texas/Cavalier WC) - FIFTH
WIN Darthe Capellan (Canada), 13-3
LOSS Toshihiro Hasewaga (Japan), 9-4
WIN Alireza Sarlak (Iran), 16-15
LOSS Wanhao Zhou (China), 11-9

65 kg: Colton McCrystal (Sergeant Bluff, Iowa/Nebraska WTC) - SEVENTH
WIN Nurgazy Abdurazakov (Kyrgyzstan), fall 5:09
WIN Haji Ali (Bahrain), 14-4
LOSS Morteza Ghiasi Cheka (Iran), 10-0

70 kg: Hayden Hidlay (Lewistown, Pa./Wolfpack WC) - NINTH
WIN Alexander Chaves (Canada), 10-0
LOSS David Baev (Russia), 6-5
LOSS Aidyn Tazhigali (Kazakhstan), 4-4

79 kg: David McFadden (West Milford, N.J./Southeast RTC) - SEVENTH
WIN Muhammet Kucukyildirim (Turkey), 12-4
WIN Uladzislau Yeliseyeu (Belarus), 10-0
LOSS Isa Shapiev (Uzbekistan), 12-9

97 kg: Kollin Moore (Burbank, Ohio/Titan Mercury WC/Ohio RTC) - SILVER
WIN Igor Ovsiannikov (Russia), 6-5
WIN Nishan Randhawa (Canada), 10-0
WIN Yunus Dede (Turkey), 11-1
WIN Magamed Zakariiev (Ukraine), 10-8
LOSS Givi Matcharashvili (Georgia), 10-0