Bey, Schultz, Koontz, Nutter and Hughes receive draws for 2018 Junior Worlds in Slovakia

TRNAVA, Slovakia – The first five U.S. wrestlers have received their draws for the 2018 Junior World Championships in Trnava, Slovakia, which will begin Monday with Greco-Roman action.

Competing for the U.S. tomorrow is 2017 Junior World champion Kamal Bey at 77 kg, 2017 Cadet World champion Cohlton Schultz at 130 kg, past Cadet World Team member Brady Koontz at 55 kg and first-time World Teamers Alston Nutter at 63 kg and Barret Hughes at 87 kg.

Bey drew Beka Guruli of Georgia, who won bronze at last year’s Cadet Worlds. Guruli has medaled at the last two European Championships, winning gold in 2017 at the Cadet level and bronze this year at the Junior level.

Bey will have a tough road to the finals as three of last year’s four Junior World medalists at 77 kg were drawn onto the same side. 2018 Junior silver medalist was Akzhol Makhmudov of Kyrgyzstan and bronze medalist Nasir Hasanov of Azerbaijan were drawn onto Bey's side.

Bey beat Hasanov in the quarterfinals, 7-4, before deating Makhmudov, 16-11, in an explosive finals last year in Tampere, Finland.

Cadet World champion Schultz will kick off action at heavyweight vs. Lingzhe Meng of China, who has primarily competed at the Senior level in recent years. Meng won silver at the Grand Prix of Hungary in June before finishing seventh at the Asian Games in August.

At the Junior level, Meng has a silver and bronze from the 2015 and 2016 Junior Asian Championships, respectively.

At 55 kg, Ohio State Buckeye Koontz will face off against 2018 U23 European bronze medalist Florin Tita of Romania in the first round. In 2016, Tita was a Junior Balkans champion.

Northern Michigan Olympic Training Site wrestler Nutter drew 2016 Cadet World bronze medalist and 2016 Cadet Asian bronze winner Erbol Bakirov of Kyrgyzstan to begin his tournament at 63 kg.

Oklahoma State’s Hughes will take on Kumar Sunil from India. Sunil’s only international experience is a ninth-place finish at the 2017 Junior World Championships.

There has been a time change in the schedule. The tournament is set to begin Monday at 9:30 a.m. local time (3:30 a.m. ET). Fans can watch the action live on Trackwrestling.com.

2018 JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

at Trnava, Slovakia

U.S. Greco-Roman draws

55 kg: Brady Koontz (Plover, Wisc./Ohio RTC)
vs. Florin Tita (Romania), 2018 U23 European bronze medalist, 2016 Junior Balkans champion

63 kg: Alston Nutter (Fennimore, Wisc./NMU-OTS/Combat WC)
vs. Erbol Bakirov (Kyrgyzstan), 2016 Cadet World bronze medalist, 2016 Cadet Asian bronze medalist

77 kg: Kamal Bey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids)
vs. Beka Guruli (Georgia), 2017 Cadet World bronze medalist, 2018 Junior European bronze medalist, 2017 Cadet European champion

87 kg: Barret Hughes (Coweta, Okla./Titan Mercury WC/Cowboy RTC)
vs. Kumar Sunil (India), Ninth at 2017 Junior Worlds

130 kg: Cohlton Schultz (Parker, Colo./New York AC)
vs. Lingzhe Meng (China), 2018 Grand Prix of Hungary silver medalist, 7th at 2018 Asian Games, 5th at 2017 Asian Indoor Games