Medal hopes dashed for U.S. Greco-Roman group two at U20 World Championships
by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling
AMMAN, JORDAN – It was an unfortunate morning session for the U.S. Greco-Roman bunch. All five wrestlers lost prior to the quarterfinals and will not be eligible to wrestle back for bronze.
Illinois native Braden Stauffenberg went 1-1 in the opening session, this his second trip to an age-group World Championships. He opened with a nice come-from-behind win against Jordan’s Omar Al Daraghmeh, grabbing a pin in 2:40 after nearly being pinned himself. He followed with a tough out against Muhammed Gocmen of Turkey. Stauffenberg was done in by two caution calls for being too physical, something he couldn’t overcome in the 9-0 defeat.
Stauffenberg was the only American in Greco-Roman group two to win a match on Saturday morning at Princess Sumaya Lounge.
It was an unusual outing for U17 World champion Joel Adams as he fell flat in his only match of the day at 67 kg. Adams gave up a passivity and multiple correct throw scores to trail Artur Jeremejev of Estonia at the break, 5-0. Adams was not awarded a chance on top from passivity in the second period. He did manage to press for a takedown in the final moments but ran out of time to add a turn.
A chance at avenging a loss from last year’s U20 World Championships was unsuccessful for Max Black as he fell by 11-0 technical fall to Koto Gomi of Japan at 67 kg. Black trailed 5-0 entering the second period and was hit with an arm spin and four-point lift to seal the match.
U20 Pan-American champion Michael Altomer was stifled in a 4-2 defeat to Senior African bronze medalist Mahmoud Ibrahim of Egypt. Altomer went for a headlock attempt early in the match, was countered and turned to go down 4-0 in the first 40 seconds. He ventured back with a body lock takedown on the edge to end the first period. There were no points scored in a lackluster second period.
Floridian Sawyer Bartelt drew familiar foe Juan Diaz Blanco of Venezuela in his first match at 97 kg. The two met at the U20 Pan-American Championships last month in Santiago, Chile, Diaz Blanco taking gold and Bartelt silver. This time around the match was decided on criteria, 2-2, with the victor remaining the same. Down 2-1 late, Diaz Blanco scored a step out point to steal the match.
Group one Americans Wyatt Voelker (87 kg) and Landon Drury (63 kg) will wrestle for bronze medals tonight in Amman after winning their repechage bouts. Derek Matthews was eliminated from medal contention after losing his repechage match on Saturday morning.
The U20 World Championships continue at 4:45 p.m. local time with the Greco-Roman group two semifinals followed by the group one medal matches. 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
U.S. Greco-Roman Group Two (60-67-72-82-97 kg) Results
60 kg – Max Black (Castle Rock, Colorado/ NMU-National Training Center), eliminated
LOSS Koto Gomi (Japan), tech. fall, 11-0
67 kg – Joel Adams (Omaha, Nebraska/The Best Wrestler), eliminated
LOSS Artur Jeremejev (Estonia), 5-2
72 kg – Braden Stauffenberg (Plano, Illinois/Michigan WC), eliminated
WIN Omar Al Daraghmeh (Jordan), fall, 2:40
LOSS Muhammed Gocmen (Turkey), tech. fall, 9-0
82 kg – Michael Altomer (Stuyvesant, New York/Curby 3-Style Wrestling), eliminated
LOSS Mahmoud Ibrahim (Egypt), 4-2
97 kg – Sawyer Bartelt (Coral Gables, Florida/Gladiator Wrestling), eliminated
LOSS Juan Diaz Blanco (Venezuela), 2-2