Elor wins third-straight U20 World title, sixth overall World gold; U.S. women finish in third place
by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling
AMMAN, JORDAN – The queen stays queen for another year as the legend of Amit Elor continues to grow. She thoroughly dominated the 72 kg field at the 2023 U20 World Championships, capping her spectacular run with an 11-0 win over past U17 world champion Bukrenaz Sert of Turkey in the gold medal match.
Elor charged in right off the whistle, pressuring Sert into an errant headlock attempt, which Elor countered with ease. She added a second takedown from the front headlock position, and wrapped things up, quite literally, with a rapid leg lace sequence to end the match. The unstoppable American finished her run in Amman without surrendering a single point to the opposition.
The win gives Elor her seventh overall World medal across all age divisions, six of which are gold. She was the Senior World champion last summer in Belgrade, Serbia, and will look to replicate that feat next month. She is also a U23 World champion, three-time U20 World champion and a U17 World Champion. Here’s the kicker—Elor is only 19 years old.
Coming up just shy of back-to-back U20 World medals was 19-year-old California product Katie Gomez at 53 kg. She was defeated by fellow 2022 U20 World bronze medalist Gultakin Shirinova of Azerbaijan, 9-4, in a tightly contested bronze medal match.
Gomez, a U.S. Open champion and Final X runner-up this year, was the aggressor throughout the bout, but it played into Shirinova’s defensive strategy. She converted on two takedowns and held a 4-2 lead with a little over one minute left on the clock. While looking to ice the match with a third takedown, Gomez was countered to her back, giving up multiple sets of exposure points and the match.
The remaining three Americans in the second group of women’s freestyle were eliminated on Thursday, finishing outside of the medal rounds. U20 World bronze medalist and U.S. Open champion Adaugo Nwachukwu ended up in seventh place at 62 kg. 2019 U17 World silver medalist Cristelle Rodriguez and Missouri native Maddie Kubicki finished outside of the top ten in their weight categories.
After leading the pack at the conclusion of the first five weight categories, the U.S. women dropped to third place in the team standings behind India and Japan. This marks the first time India has won a World Championships team title at any age level in women’s wrestling.
The U20 World Championships continue at 10 a.m. local time with Greco-Roman preliminaries and repechage. Amman, Jordan, is in the GMT +3 time zone, which is seven hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time.
Those in the U.S. can watch all the action live on FloWrestling.com. Brackets and updated results will be provided by United World Wrestling on uww.org and the UWW mobile app.
2023 U20 World Championships
At Amman, Jordan, August 14-20
Team Standings
1. India, 140
2. Japan, 129
3. United States, 118
4. Ukraine, 90
5. Hungary, 65
6. China, 52
7. Turkey, 48
8. Romania, 41
9. Poland, 32
10. Italy, 31
Women’s Freestyle Group Two (53-57-62-65-72 kg) Results
53 kg
Gold – Antim Antim (India)
Silver – Mariia Yefremova (Ukraine)
Bronze – Gultakin Shirinova (Azerbaijan)
Bronze – Xuejing Liang (China)
5th – Katie Gomez (United States)
5th – Polina Lukina (Individual Neutral Athlete)
7th – Nagisa Harada (Japan)
8th – Carla Jaume Soler (Spain)
9th – Altyn Shagayeva (Kazakhstan)
10th – Khrystyna Basych (Slovakia)
Gold – Antim Antim (India) dec. Mariia Yefremova (Ukraine), 4-0
Bronze – Gultakin Shirinova (Azerbaijan) dec. Katie Gomez (United States), 9-4
Bronze – Xuejing Liang (China) dec. Polina Lukina (Individual Neutral Athlete), 7-4
57 kg
Gold – Alina Filipovych (Ukraine)
Silver – Ichika Arai (Japan)
Bronze – Gerda Terek (Hungary)
Bronze – Reena Reena (India)
5th – Gabriela Cross (Canada)
5th – Shugyla Omirbek (Kazakhstan)
7th – Louji Yassin (Egypt)
8th – Petra Mrackova (Czech Republic)
9th – Tatiana Ileva (Individual Neutral Athlete)
10th – Volha Hardzei (Individual Neutral Athlete)
Gold – Alina Filipovych (Ukraine) dec. Ichika Arai (Japan), 5-3
Bronze – Gerda Terek (Hungary) tech. fall Gabriela Cross (Canada), 12-Bronze – Reena Reena (India) dec. Shugyla Omirbek (Kazakhstan), 9-4
62 kg
Gold – Savita Savita (India)
Silver – Astrid Montero Chirinos (Venezuela)
Bronze – Suzu Sasaki (Japan)
Bronze – Melanie Jimenez Villalba (Mexico)
5th – Iris Thiebaux (France)
5th – Iryna Bodnar (Ukraine)
7th – Adaugo Nwachukwu (United States)
8th – Shuyue Wei (China)
9th – Selvi Ilyasoglu (turkey)
10th – Yana Tretsiak (Individual Neutral Athlete)
Gold – Savita Savita (India) tech. fall Astrid Montero Chirinos (Venezuela), 10-0
Bronze – Suzu Sasaki (Japan) tech. fall Melanie Jimenez Villalba (Mexico), 10-0
Bronze – Melanie Jimenez Villalba (Mexico) dec. Iryna Bodnar (Ukraine), 3-3
65 kg
Gold – Eniko Elekes (Hungary)
Silver – Antim Antim (India)
Bronze – Maria Pantiru (Romania)
Bronze – Kseniya Tsiarenia (Individual Neutral Athlete)
5th – Ekaterina Koshkina (Individual Neutral Athlete)
5th – Khadija Jlassi (Tunisia)
7th – Momoko Kitade (Japan)
8th – Alicja Nowosad (Poland)
9th – Nikoleta Barmpa (Greece)
10th – Gerda Barth (Germany)
Gold – Eniko Elekes (Hungary) dec. Antim Antim (India), 9-2
Bronze – Maria Pantiru (Romania) tech. fall Ekaterina Koshkina (Individual Neutral Athlete), 14-4
Bronze – Kseniya Tsiarenia (Individual Neutral Athlete) fall Khadija Jlassi (Tunisia), 5:43
72 kg
Gold – Amit Elor (United States)
Silver – Bukrenaz Sert (Turkey)
Bronze – Harshita Harshita (India)
Bronze – Yuka Fujikura (Japan)
5th – Emilia Creciun (Moldova)
5th – Patrycja Cuber (Poland)
7th – Iryna Zablotska (Ukraine)
8th – Milla Andelic (Croatia)
9th – Kaiyrkul Sharshebaeva (Kyrgyzstan)
10th – Vanesa Georgieva (Bulgaria)
Gold – Amit Elor (United States) tech. fall Bukrenaz Sert (Turkey), 11-0
Bronze – Harshita Harshita (India) fall Emilia Creciun (Moldova), 3:34
Bronze – Yuka Fujikura (Japan) tech. fall Patrycja Cuber (Poland), 10-0
U.S. Women’s Freestyle Group Two (53-57-62-65-72 kg) Results
53 kg – Katie Gomez (Van Nuys, California/Sunkist Kids WC), 5th
WIN Carla Jaume Soler (Spain), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Altyn Shagayeva (Kazakhstan), tech. fall, 10-0
LOSS Mariia Yefremova (Ukraine), fall, 1:11
LOSS Gultakin Shirinova (Azerbaijan), 9-4
57 kg – Cristelle Rodriguez (Fresno, California/Titan Mercury WC), 12th
LOSS Volha Hardzei (Individual Neutral Athlete), 8-6
62 kg – Adaugo Nwachukwu (San Jose, California/Titan Mercury WC), 7th
WIN Ana Maria Cretu (Moldova), fall, 4:01
LOSS Melanie Jimenez Villalba (Mexico), 9-7
65 kg – Maddie Kubicki (Kansas City, Missouri/Victory Wrestling), 15th
LOSS Kseniya Tsiarenia (Individual Neutral Athlete), fall, 4:00
72 kg – Amit Elor (Walnut Creek, California/Titan Mercury WC), gold medal
WIN Shamshiyabanu Tastanbek (Kazakhstan), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Patrycja Cuber (Poland), fall, 1:40
WIN Yuka Fujikura (Japan), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Bukrenaz Sert (Turkey), tech. fall, 11-0