Three still in hunt for medals after day one of Cadet Worlds

SOFIA, Bulgaria – The USA will have three athletes still in the hunt for a medal in men’s freestyle at the 2019 Cadet World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, tomorrow as Stevo Poulin and Robert Howard dropped their semifinals matches tonight and Clayton Ulrey was pulled in repechage.

2018 Cadet Pan American champion Poulin lost his match on Monday evening to returning Cadet World champion Rahman Amouzadkhalili of Iran, who proved to be too much power, scoring four takedowns to secure a 12-0 win.

Poulin’s bronze match opponent will be determined after tomorrow morning’s repechage round. He will either face 2019 Cadet European champion Nikolozi Santeladze of Georgia or 2018 U15 Asian champion Yuto Nishiuchi of Japan.

Howard, a 2018 Youth Olympic Games champion, had a close one with two-time Cadet Asian bronze medalist Mahdi Mehrdad Veisi of Iran. Trailing by as much as six points, Howard attempted a big comeback, picking up a takedown and later scoring on exposure, but it was not enough. Howard lost the match, 8-6.

For bronze, Howard will either face Riku Suganuma of Japan or Alin Ciorici of Moldova for bronze. Neither of them have international credentials.

Ulrey, repping the USA at 80 kg, was pulled repechage after 2018 U15 European gold medalist Arlsan Bagaev of Russia gutted his way to a spot in the gold-medal match.

Ulrey will wrestle either 2019 Cadet and Junior Oceania champion Artemios Trepca of Austrailia or 2019 Cadet European bronze medalist Rakhim Magamadov of France.

At 65 kg, Ryan Sokol was eliminated from the tournament as Davit Patsinashvili of Georgia, who Sokol lost to earlier in the day, failed to make the finals. Patsinashvili lost a tough 7-7 match on criteria to 2019 Cadet European silver medalist Dzhabrail Gadzhiev of Azerbaijan.

Repechage begins at 10:30 a.m. local time (3:30 a.m. ET) live on Trackwrestling. Fans can also follow @USAWrestling on Twitter for live updates.

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

LOSS Rahman Amouzadkhalili (Iran), 12-0

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

WIN Norik Harutyunyan (Armenia), 6-3

WIN Ruhan Rasim (Bulgaria), 6-3

LOSS Mahdi Veisi (Iran), 8-6

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