Berreyesa stays solid to advance to Junior World semifinals at 82 kg

TRNAVA, Slovakia – USA’s Andrew Berreyesa advanced to the Junior World Championship semifinals at 82 kg after a solid morning session on Tuesday in Trnava, Slovakia.

Berreyesa, a freshman for Cornell, began the day with a 4-1 win over Simone Fidelbo of Italy, steadily accumulating points and staying strong throughout the bout.

In the quarterfinals, the Nevada native took on Abubakr Alimov of Uzbekistan, who had tallied two top-five finishes at an age-group World Championships.

All scoring came in the first period as Berreyesa scored early with a takedown. He finished out the period with a step out and held on in the second period for a 3-0 victory and a spot in the semifinals.

By earning a trip to the semifinals, Berreyesa has guaranteed himself a chance to wrestle for a medal tomorrow.

Tonight, he will take on Muhutdin Saricicek of Turkey for a bid to the finals. Saricicek finished 13th at the 2017 Junior World Championships in Tampere, Finland.

Awaiting their fate tonight after losing in the first round are Peyton Omania of Michigan State at 67 kg and Chad Porter of Arizona State at 97 kg. Should their victors win tonight, the Americans will be pulled into tomorrow’s repechage.

Not to go without mentioning, six-time age-group World Team member and 2016 Junior World bronze medalist Taylor LaMont wrapped up his final Junior World Championships appearance, going 1-1 on Tuesday morning. LaMont earned a 5-1 win over 2018 Junior Asian champion Galym Kabdunassaro of Kazakhstan, before falling short to Ararat Manucharyan of Armenia in the round of 16. Manucharyan lost his quarterfinal match, ending LaMont's run. 

At 63 kg, Alston Nutter fell in his first-round repechage match on Tuesday morning to 2016 Cadet World bronze medalist Hrachya Poghosyan of Armenia, 8-0, ending Nutter’s 2018 Junior World Championships.

The semifinals are set for 5:15 p.m. local time (11:15 a.m. ET), followed by the medal matches, featuring Kamal Bey and Cohlton Schultz going for bronze, at 6 p.m. local time (12 p.m. ET).

In a rematch of the 2017 Junior World finals, Junior World champ Bey will take on 2016 Cadet World champion and 2017 Junior World runner-up Akzhol Makhmudov of Kyrgyzstan for 77 kg bronze. In their last matchup, Bey defeated Makhmudov, 16-11.

2017 Cadet World champion Schultz will take on Ante Milkovic of Croatia, who is a 2014 Cadet Mediterranean bronze medalist for the 130 kg Junior World bronze.

Fans can watch all of the action live on Trackwrestling.com.

2018 JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

at Trnava, Slovakia

U.S. Greco-Roman results

60 kg: Taylor LaMont (Mapleton, Utah/Sunkist Kids)

WIN Galym Kabdunassaro (Kazakhstan), 5-1

LOSS Ararat Manucharyan (Armenia), 7-3

63 kg: Alston Nutter (Fennimore, Wisc./NMU-OTS/Combat WC)

LOSS Erbol Bakirov (Kyrgyzstan), 10-0

LOSS Hrachya Poghosyan (Armenia), 8-0

67 kg: Peyton Omania (Concord, Calif./CYC)

LOSS Mohamed Ibrahim Elsayed (Egypt), 10-0

72 kg: Tyler Dow (Stoughton, Wisc./Badger RTC)

LOSS Gergely Bak (Hungary), 9-2

82 kg: Andrew Berreyesa (Reno, Nev./New York AC/Finger Lakes WC)

WIN Simone Fidelbo (Italy), 4-1

WIN Abubakr Alimov (Uzbekistan), 3-0

vs. Muhutdin Saricicek (Turkey)

97 kg: Chad Porter (Phoenix, Ariz./Sunkist Kids)

LOSS Ilija Laurynovich (Belarus), 11-0