Nickal knocks off reigning World champion to secure spot in U23 World finals

BUDAPEST, Hungary – Bo Nickal landed a spot in the U23 World Championships finals at 92 kg with a dominant win in the semifinals on Tuesday night in Budapest, Hungary.

A three-time NCAA champion and 2019 Hodge Trophy recipient, Nickal went 3-0 on the day. It was his first international competition since 2013.

To advance to the semifinals, Nickal recorded a comeback technical fall and a first-period pin. In the semis, he faced 2018 U23 World champion Shamil Zubairov of Azerbaijan.

Nickal made it look easy, rattling off four takedowns against the champ to walk away with a decisive 9-1 win.

In Wednesday night’s gold-medal match, Nickal will face Batyrbek Tsakulov of Russia, who was seventh at 2018 Senior World Championships.

At 125 kg, Daniel Greg Kerkvliet fell short in his semifinal, losing to two-time U23 European medalist Vitali Goloev in a 10-0 tech fall.

Kerkvliet, who went 2-1 on the day, will compete for the bronze medal tomorrow night. His opponent will be determined after Wednesday afternoon’s repechage matches.

There will be one American wrestling in tomorrow’s repechage as Brady Berge remains alive in the hunt for a medal at 74 kg.

Berge, a 2019 Junior World bronze medalist, lost in the first round to 2018 Junior World runner-up Razambek Zhamalov of Russia. Zhamalov eventually advanced to the finals, pulling Berge back into repechage.

Tomorrow, Berge will face 2018 Cadet World silver medalist Baliyan Gourav of India in his first repechage match. The American will need to win two matches to earn the right to wrestle for bronze.

At 86 kg, Max Dean was eliminated from the tournament as his victor, Hayato Ishiguro of Japan, lost in the semifinals on Tuesday evening.

Action begins at 10:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. ET) live on Trackwrestling.com. Follow @USAWrestling on Twitter for live updates.

2019 U23 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
at Budapest, Hungary (Oct. 28-Nov. 3)

U.S. men’s freestyle results
61 kg: Chas Tucker (Worcester, Mass./Finger Lakes WC/ Titan Mercury WC) – eliminated
LOSS Mohammadbagher Yakhkeshi (Iran), 6-4

74 kg: Brady Berge (Mantorville, Minn./Nittany Lion WC) - repechage
LOSS Razambek Zhamalov (Russia), 5-1
vs. Baliyan Gourav (IND)

86 kg: Max Dean (Lowell, Mich./Finger Lakes WC/ Titan Mercury WC) - eliminated
LOSS Hayato Ishiguro (Japan), 12-2

92 kg: Bo Nickal (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC) - finals
WIN Hossein Shahbazigazvar (Iran), 12-2
WIN Takumi Tanizaki (Japan), fall 1:13
WIN Shamil Zubairov (Azerbaijan), 9-1
vs. Batyrbek Tsakulov (Russia)

125 kg: Daniel Greg Kerkvliet (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Ohio RTC/ Titan Mercury WC) – bronze match
WIN Lior Altshuler (Israel), 10-0
WIN Salim Ercan (Turkey), fall 2:34
LOSS Vitali Goloev (Russia), 10-0
vs. opponent to be determined