Bey and Schultz advance to Junior World semifinals on first day in Slovakia

TRNAVA, Slovakia – 2017 Junior World champion Kamal Bey and 2017 Cadet World champion Cohlton Schultz got Team USA off to an exceptional start, advancing to their respective semifinals in Greco-Roman competition at the 2018 Junior World Championships in Trnava, Slovakia.

Bey was explosive as always and put on a show for the entire arena with insane throws in all three of his morning-session matches at 77 kg.

The reigning World champ began the morning with a 9-1 win over 2017 Cadet World bronze medalist Beka Guruli of Georgia, thanks to a chest wrap four-pointer and a huge five-point throw to finish it off.

In round two, Bey took on 2018 Junior Mediterranean bronze medalist Konstantino Vachlas of Greece. The bout only lasted 15 seconds as Bey hit a duck under and flattened his opponent for the fall.

To move onto the semifinals, the U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete finished off 2018 Junior European silver medalist Zahari Zashev of Bulgaria with back to back throws and a confirmed fall at the 2:47 mark.

In tonight’s semis, Bey will face off against 2015 Cadet European champion Islam Opiev of Russia. Opiev, who took 26th at last year’s Junior World Championships, knocked off 2017 Junior World runner-up Akzhol Makhmudov of Kyrgystan, 1-1, in the quarterfinals.

Schultz was equally as impressive in the first half of the day, recording pins in both of his matches at 130 kg.

To open his tournament, Schultz defeated Grand Prix of Hungary silver medalist Lingzhe Meng of China. Schultz trailed 4-3 halfway in the second period. Down in par terre, Schultz stepped over Meng and got the fall in 4:50.

To secure a spot in the semifinals, Schultz took down a Goliath named Oleg Agakhanov of Russia, who won the 2018 Junior European Championships. Early in the match, Schultz whipped Agakhanov to his back and was awarded the fall at 1:19.

Tonight, Schultz will battle Junior European bronze winner David Ovasapyan of Armenia.

The other three Americans, Brady Koontz at 55 kg, Alston Nutter at 63 kg and Barret Hughes at 87 kg, dropped their opening matches.

Nutter still has a chance to be pulled back into repechage as his first-round opponent, Erbol Bakirov of Kyrgyzstan, advanced to the semifinals. Should Bakirov win tonight, Nutter will wrestle in repechage tomorrow.

Koontz’s and Hughes’ tournaments ended when their victors failed to reach the finals.

The semifinals are scheduled for Monday night at 6 p.m. local time (12 p.m. ET) and can be watched live on Trackwrestling.org.

2018 JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

at Trnava, Slovakia

U.S. Greco-Roman draws

55 kg: Brady Koontz (Plover, Wisc./Ohio RTC)
LOSS Florin Tita (Romania), 7-6

63 kg: Alston Nutter (Fennimore, Wisc./NMU-OTS/Combat WC)
LOSS Erbol Bakirov (Kyrgyzstan), 10-0

77 kg: Kamal Bey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids)
WIN Beka Guruli (Georgia), 9-1
WIN Konstantino Vachlas (Greece), fall 0:15
WIN Zahari Zashev (Bulgaria), fall 2:47
vs. Islam Opeiv (Russia)

87 kg: Barret Hughes (Coweta, Okla./Titan Mercury WC/Cowboy RTC)
LOSS Kumar Sunil (India), 11-0

130 kg: Cohlton Schultz (Parker, Colo./New York AC)
WIN Lingzhe Meng (China), fall 4:50
WIN Oleg Agakhanov (Russia), fall 1:19
vs. David Ovasapyan (Armenia)