McGowan wins Cadet World title, Facundo claims second-straight bronze

SOFIA, Bulgaria – Marc-Anthony McGowan became a freestyle Cadet World champion, winning the 45 kg bracket, and Alex Facundo picked up his second-straight World bronze medal at 71 kg on Wednesday evening in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Like his other wins throughout the tournament, McGowan had to grind out the victory over 2019 Cadet Asian champion Ali Arab Firouzjaie of Iran.

McGowan took a 1-0 lead into the break, when Firouzjaie failed to score on the shot clock. In the second period, despite multiple shot attempts from the American, McGowan was put on the shot clock and unable to score, giving Firouzjaie a 1-1 lead on criteria.

In the final 10 seconds of the bout, McGowan executed a snap down to get to a takedown for a 3-1 victory.

Facundo turned in an exciting performance in the 71 kg bronze-medal match against 2019 Cadet European silver medalist and 2018 U15 European bronze medalist Davit Kutchuashvili of Georgia.

From a Georgian first-period takedown, Facundo trailed 2-0 late in the match but hit a sweet duck under with 45 seconds left. Kutchuashvili’s corner challenged but it failed, resulting in another point for Facundo. With a couple of seconds left, Facundo scored another takedown to ice the match and win 5-2.

It was his second World bronze medal in a row as he won bronze at 71 at the 2018 Cadet World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia.

Overall, the USA collected two medals and finished fifth as a team.

The tournament continues Thursday with the second day of women’s freestyle action at 3:30 a.m. ET live on Trackwrestling. Follow @USAWrestling on Twitter for live updates.

2019 CADET WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

at Sofia, Bulgaria, July 29-Aug. 4

Team standings
1. Russia – 168
2. Iran – 166
3. India – 106
4. Japan – 83
5. USA – 78
6. Uzbekistan – 68
7. Azerbaijan – 66
8. Ukraine – 59
9. Turkey – 58
10. Georgia – 54

Finals matchups
45 kg
GOLD - Marc-Anthony MCGOWAN (USA) dec. Ali Mehran ARAB FIROUZJAEI (IRI), 3-1
BRONZE - Tolga OZBEK (TUR) dec. Suraj Sanju ANNIKERI (IND), 8-6
BRONZE - Murad HAGVERDIYEV (AZE) dec. Vladislav NIKANDROV (KGZ), 10-8

51 kg
GOLD - Mukhamed KHANIEV (RUS) dec. Zhakhongir AKHMAJANOV (KAZ), 10-5
BRONZE - Ato MARUYAMA (JPN) dec. Sunil SUNIL (IND), 3-2
BRONZE - Mykyta ABRAMOV (UKR) dec. Ali Abolfazl GHOLI ZADEGAN KOLOUKHI (IRI), 5-3

60 kg
GOLD - Arip ABDULAEV (RUS) dec. Erfan Mohammad ELAHI (IRI), 9-6
BRONZE - Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) df. Farhad KARIMLI (AZE), injury default
BRONZE - Viktor TASHOHLO (UKR) dec. Daviti ABDALADZE (GEO), 5-2

71 kg
GOLD - Soslan TIGIEV (RUS) dec. Krisztian BIRO (ROU), 13-11
BRONZE - Abolfazl VALIPOURKHATIR (IRI) dec. Kevin MAKOTA STROEM (SWE), 7-2
BRONZE - Alexander Joseph FACUNDO (USA) dec. Davit KUTCHUASHVILI (GEO), 5-2

92 kg
GOLD - Soheyl YOUSEFI SANGANI (IRI) dec. Zagid KARIMOV (RUS), 3-1
BRONZE - Bekzat TAZHI (KAZ) df. Gkivi BLIATZE (GRE), fall
BRONZE - Lyova GEVORGYAN (ARM) dec. Monu DAHIYA (IND), 7-4

Men’s freestyle results
45 kg: Marc-Anthony McGowan (Tampa, Fla./BLR) – GOLD
WIN Suraj Annikeri (India), 7-2
WIN Edik Harutyunyan (Armenia), 5-3
WIN Tolga Ozbek (Turkey), 2-2
WIN Ali Arab Firouzjaie (Iran), 3-1

51 kg: Richard Figueroa (Sanger, Calif./Sunkist Kids/Monster Garage) – 16th
LOSS Ato Maruyama (Japan), 10-0

60 kg: Jesse Mendez (Crown Point, Ind./Bulldog Premier WC) - NINTH
WIN Osama Abdellattif (Egypt), fall 1:22
LOSS Farhad Karimli (Azerbaijan), 8-1

71 kg: Alex Facundo (Davison, Mich./Team Donahue) - BRONZE
WIN Shokhrukh Juraev (Uzbekistan), 9-0
LOSS Soslan Tigiev (Russia), 5-4
WIN Francesco Masotti (Italy), 11-0
WIN Vijay Vijay (India), 2-2
vs. Davit Kutchuashvili (Georgia)

92 kg: Kyle Haas (Maize, Kan./Kansas-USA Wrestling) – EIGHTH
WIN Er Hurilebate (China), 12-0
LOSS Bekzat Tazhi (Kazakhstan), 6-5