Land, Perez and Mikesell repechage hopes alive after first Greco session in Bulgaria

Photo of Robert Perez by Kadir Caliskan, UWW.

SOFIA, Bulgaria – Three U.S. Greco-Roman wrestlers await their repechage fate tonight at the 2019 Cadet World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Hoping to be pulled into tomorrow’s repechage is Cory Land at 45 kg, Robert Perez III at 65 kg and Braxton Mikesell at 110 kg.

Land won his first bout at 45 kg, dominating Berat Keskin of Turkey in the first period with an 8-0 victory.

Land scored quickly on an arm throw, followed by a gut wrench for an early 6-0 lead. Moments later, Land scored a takedown on a go-behind to end the match in a tech fall.

In the quarterfinals, Land fell to 2018 U15 Cadet Asian silver medalist Rupin Rupin of India, 6-1.

Should Rupin win his semifinal match against Ziya Babashov of Azerbaijan, he will pull Land back into repechage.

At 65 kg, Robert Perez III advanced to the quarterfinals, using three takedowns and a tilt to defeat Kristjian Bosnjak of Croatia in the first round. Bosnjak took fifth at the 2018 Cadet Balkan Championships.

In the quarters, Perez was shut down by 2019 Cadet Asian bronze medalist Sheraz Ochilov of Tajikistan, 6-0.

Should Ochilov win his semifinal match against 2019 Cadet Asian champion Hojat Hassan Rezaei of Iran, he will pull Perez back into repechage.

Mikesell, who wrestled at 110 kg, dropped his opening match to 2019 Cadet European champion Mate Gokadze from Georgia. It was a hard-fought match from both sides with Mikesell scoring a takedown in the first period, but it was not enough as he fell to Gokadze, 4-2.

Should Gokadze win his semifinal match against Ramzek Kurdyan of Armenia, he will pull Mikesell back into repechage. Kurdyan was fifth at 2019 Cadet European Championships.

Conor Knopick at 55 kg and Tate Picklo at 80 kg were eliminated from the tournament on Friday morning.

Knopick lost his first bout to 2018 U15 European champion Oliver Skrzypczak of Poland, 13-4. Skrzypczak lost in the quarterfinals, wrapping up Knopick’s tournament.

To open his tournament, Picklo dominated 2018 Cadet Nordic freestyle bronze medalist Robyn Paulberg of Estonia, 8-0, but lost his next bout to two-time Cadet Nordic medalist Jonni Sarkkinen of Finland.

Sarkkinen failed to make the finals, ending Picklo’s tournament.

The semifinals will take place at 5:30 p.m. local time (10:30 a.m. ET) live on Trackwrestling.com.

2019 CADET WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

at Sofia, Bulgaria, July 28-Aug. 4

U.S. Greco-Roman results

48 kg: Cory Land (Moody, Ala./Ironclad WC)
WIN Berat Keskin (Turkey), 8-0
LOSS Rupin Rupin (India), 6-1

55 kg: Conor Knopick (Omaha, Neb./MWC Wrestling Academy)
LOSS Oliver Skrzypczak (Poland), 13-4

65 kg: Robert Perez III (Long Beach, Calif./American Born Grappler)
WIN Kristjian Bosnjak (Croatia), 8-0
LOSS Sheraz Ochilov (Tajikistan), 6-0

80 kg: Tate Picklo (Mustang, Okla./Matrix Grappling)
WIN Robyn Paulberg (Estonia), 8-0
LOSS Jonni Sarkkinen (Finland), 8-4

110 kg: Braxton Mikesell (Spokane, Wash./Central Valley WC)
LOSS Mate Gokadze (Georgia), 4-2