Howard and Poulin advance to Cadet World semifinals in Bulgaria

SOFIA, Bulgaria – Two American men’s freestylers—Stevo Poulin and Robert Howard—advanced to the semifinals of the Cadet World Championships on Monday morning in Sofia, Bulgaria.

To kick off his third World Championships, Howard, a 2018 Youth Olympic Games champion, put together back-to-back decisions to secure a spot in the semifinals at 55 kg and guarantee himself a chance to wrestle for a medal.

In his first bout, Howard used three takedowns against Norik Harutunyan of Armenia for a decisive 6-3 win. Harutunyan was fifth at the 2018 Cadet World Championships.

Similarly, in the quarterfinals, Howard scored another trio of takedowns to defeat 2018 Cadet European bronze medalist and 2017 U15 European silver medalist Ruhan Rasim of Bulgaria.

In tonight’s semifinals, the Penn State commit will take on Mahdi Veisi of Iran, who is a two-time Cadet Asian bronze medalist and was fifth at the 2018 Cadet World Championships.

Veisi advanced to the semis with a pair of tech falls on Monday morning.

2018 Pan American champion Poulin earned a spot in the semifinals at 48 kg with two impressive wins.

To open his tournament, Poulin turned in a fast 10-0 tech fall over 2019 Cadet Asian silver medalist Nurdaulet Bazarbayev from Kazakhstan.

Poulin then came out on top in a back-and-forth quarterfinal against 2019 Cadet European silver medalist Harutyun Hovhannisyan of Armenia.

The American led 4-0 at the break, but a second-period hip toss from Hovhannisyan put him back in the match. Poulin continued fighting and went on to win the bout, 8-7.

In the semifinals, the New York native will take on returning Cadet World champion Rahman Amouzadkhalili of Iran, who won gold at 45 kg in 2018.

Ryan Sokol at 65 kg and Clayton Ulrey at 80 kg will find out tonight whether they will be pulled into repechage.

Sokol was relentless in his first bout, defeating Ionut Vintila of Moldova with a 10-0 tech fall. In his second match, he dropped a 12-0 bout to 2019 Cadet European Championships bronze winner and European Youth Olympic Festival bronze medalist Davit Patsinahsvili of Georgia.

Should Patsinashvili win his semifinal tonight, then Sokol will wrestle in tomorrow’s repechage.

Ulrey was off to a good start in his international debut, winning a gritty 4-4 match in the first round over 2017 U15 European bronze medalist Farid Jabbarov of Azerbaijan and followed it up with a 12-0 tech fall over 2019 Cadet Asian bronze medalist Bekzat Amangali of Kazakhstan.

Ulrey lost his quarterfinal match to 2018 U15 European gold medalist Arslan Bagaev from Russia, 10-0.

Should Bagaev win his semifinal, then Ulrey will compete in the repechage tomorrow.

At 110 kg, Hunter Catka wrapped up his 2019 Cadet World Championships. He lost his first match to Adil Misirci of Turkey. Misirci failed to make the finals, knocking Catka out of the tournament.

The semifinals will take place Monday at 11 a.m. ET live on Trackwrestling.

2019 CADET WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

at Sofia, Bulgaria, July 29-Aug. 4

U.S. men’s freestyle results

48 kg: Stevo Poulin (Ballston Lake, N.Y./Journeymen WC)

WIN Nurdaulet Bazarbayev (Kazakhstan), 10-0

WIN Harutyun Hovhannisyan (Armenia), 8-7

vs. Rahman Amouzadkhalili (Iran)

55 kg: Robert Howard (Cranford, N.J./Titan Mercury WC/Bitetto Trained)

WIN Norik Harutyunyan (Armenia), 6-3

WIN Ruhan Rasim (Bulgaria), 6-3

vs. Mahdi Veisi (Iran)

65 kg: Ryan Sokol (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley WC)

WIN Ionut Vintila (Moldova), 10-0

LOSS Davit Patsinashvili (Georgia), 12-0

80 kg: Clayton Ulrey (Grantville, Pa./TNWC)

WIN Farid Jabbarov (Azerbaijan), 4-4

WIN Bekzat Amangali (Kazakhstan), 12-0

LOSS Arslan Bagaev (Russia), 10-0

110 kg: Hunter Catka (Brookhaven, Pa./Lab Trained)

LOSS Adil Misirci (Turkey), 7-4