Six U.S. men’s freestylers look for gold, three seek bronze at Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Event in Egypt
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by Adam Engel, Special to the TheMat.com
Nate Jackson (USA) will meet Kollin Moore (USA) in the 92 kg finals. Photo by Tony Rotundo, Wrestlers Are Warriors.
ALEXANDRIA, Egpyt — Six U.S. men’s freestylers will wrestle for a gold medal while three seek bronze at the Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Event on Sunday.
Vincenzo Joseph (Sunkist Kids) became the first American to reach the finals at 74 kg. He earned two technical falls in his first three matches and beat Israel’s Mitch Finesilver, 8-3, in the semifinals. Joseph sees Iakub Shikhdzhamalov of Romania for gold.
At 92 kg, Nate Jackson (TMWC/ORTC) rolled to the finals. He beat Kazakhstan’s Rizabek Aitmukhan 8-2 in the semifinals and meets fellow American Kollin Moore in the finals. Moore scored a pair of technical falls to reach the gold-medal bout. Last year, Jackson and Moore were Final X runners-up, Jackson at 92 kg and Moore at 97 kg.
Cody Chittum (Hawkeye Wrestling Club) displayed his strong motor with several comeback efforts to make the 70 kg finals. He scored six unanswered points in his quarterfinal against Turkey’s Cuneyt Budak before a back-and-forth 14-9 semifinal win over Ukraine’s Ihor Nykyforuk.
Chittum will meet Ernazar Akmataliev of Kyrgyzstan, a two-time World medalist.
Joey McKenna cruised to the gold medal bout at 65 kg with two bonus point decisions. He beat Puerto Rico’s Sebastian Rivera, 10-2, in the Big Ten filled semifinal. McKenna graduated from Ohio State and Rivera wrestled at Rutgers. McKenna draws Armenia’s Vazgen Tevanyan, a U23 World champion.
At 86 kg, Zahid Valencia (Sunkist Kids) ran through three opponents to reach the finals, with two technical falls and a shutout decision. He stopped Ethan Ramos of Puerto Rico in the semifinals in a 10-0 technical fall. He has drawn Vasyl Mykhailov of Ukraine in the finals.
At 57 kg, Nick Suriano (Sunkist Kids) reached the semifinals before losing to World medalist Suleyman Atli of Turkey, 2-1. Suriano will wrestle Rakhat Kalzhan of Kazakhstan.
Former Iowa Hawkeye Austin DeSanto (Hawkeye Wrestling Club) earned two tech fall wins at 61 kg before a semifinal 10-0 tech fall loss to Ukraine’s Taras Markovych. DeSanto will clash with Shota Phartenadze of Georgia.
Chance Marsteller teched Algeria’s Chems Eddine Fetairia, 11-0, in his 79 kg repechage match. Marsteller will go for bronze against Bolat Sakayev of Kazakhstan.
Tyler Berger (Sunkist Kids/PRTC) became the first American eliminated on Sunday when Armenia’s Arman Andreasyan lost in the 70 kg quarterfinals. He beat Berger, 3-2.
Six other Americans were eliminated when the opponent they lost to didn’t make the finals. Pat Lugo (Hawkeye Wrestling Club) finished 2-1 at 65 kg while Anthony Ashnault (TMWC/NYCRTC) went 1-1 at the same weight. Josh Shields (Sunkist Kids) and Joey Lavallee (TMWC/LVWC) were eliminated at 74 kg. David McFadden (TMWC/PRTC) and Evan Wick (TMWC) also failed to make repechage at 79 kg.
The tournament ends with medal bouts for these weights at 6 p.m. local time Sunday (11 a.m. ET). Each match will be streamed on FloWrestling.
IBRAHIM MOUSTAFA RANKING EVENT
At Alexandria, Egypt, Feb. 26
U.S. MEN’S FREESTYLE PERFORMANCE
57 kg: Nick Suriano (Sunkist Kids), in bronze-medal bout
WIN Nodirjon Safarov (Uzbekistan), 10-4
WIN Liu Minghu (China), 2-1
WIN Beka Bujiashvili (Georgia), 2-1
LOSS Suleyman Atli (Turkey), 9-3
Bronze medal bout – Vs. Rakhat Kalzhan (Kazakhstan)
61 kg: Austin DeSanto (HWC), in bronze-medal bout
WIN Mahmoud Shorbaby (Egypt), 10-0, 0:48
WIN Ulukbek Zholdoshbekov (Kyrgyzstan), 17-1, 2:04
LOSS Taras Markovych (Ukraine), 10-0, 2:31
Bronze Medal Bout - Shota Phartenadze (Georgia)
65 kg: Pat Lugo (HWC), eliminated
WIN Sanzhar Mukhtar (Kazakhstan), 10-3
WIN Eduard Grigorev (Poland), 5-1
LOSS Umidjon Jalolov (Uzbekistan), 5-2
65 kg: Anthony Ashnault (TMWC/NYCRTC), eliminated
WIN Shaohua Yuan (China), 8-7
LOSS Umidjon Jalolov (Uzbekistan), 2-0
65 kg: Joey McKenna (TMWC/PRTC), in gold-medal finals
WIN Zohier Iftene (Algeria), fall, 0:52
WIN Timur Aitkulov (Kazakhstan), 11-0, 1:23
WIN Erik Arushanian (Ukraine), 8-2
WIN Sebastian Rivera (Puerto Rico), 10-2
Gold Medal - Vazgen Tevanyan (Armenia)
70 kg: Cody Chittum (HWC), in gold-medal finals
WIN Agudamu Agudamu (China), 11-0, 3:12
WIN Cuneyt Budak (Turkey), 6-3
WIN Ihor Nykyforuk (Ukraine), 14-9
Gold Medal Match - Ernazar Akmataliev (Kyrgyzstan)
70 kg: Tyler Berger (Sunkist Kids/PRTC), eliminated
LOSS Arman Andreasyan (Armenia), 3-2
74 kg: Vincenzo Joseph (Sunkist Kids), in gold-medal finals
WIN Luis Isabel Barrios Rochez (Honduras), 12-0, 2:10
WIN Anthony Valencia Gomez (Mexico), 12-5
WIN Semen Radulov (Ukraine), 11-0, 5:58
WIN Mitch Finesilver (Israel), 8-3
Gold Medal Match - Iakub Shikhdzhamalov (Romania)
74 kg: Josh Shields (Sunkist Kids), eliminated
LOSS Mitch Finesilver (Israel), 10-2
74 kg: Joey Lavallee (TMWC/LVWC), eliminated
WIN Nuerlanbieke Wurenibai (China), 10-0, 1:36
LOSS Sagar Jaglan (India), 26-14, 5:03
79 kg: Chance Marsteller (TMWC/NYRTC), in bronze-medal bout
WIN Bibarys Nuryllauly (Kazakhstan), 10-0, 3:59
LOSS Amirhossein Morteza Gholi Kavousi (Iran), 5-2
WIN Chems Eddine Fetairia (Algeria), 11-0, 1:26
Bronze Medal Bout - Bolat Sakayev (Kazakhstan)
79 kg: David McFadden (TMWC/PRTC), eliminated
WIN Nasser Sayed (Egypt), 9-6
LOSS Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (Uzbekistan), 10-1
79 kg: Evan Wick (TMWC), eliminated
WIN Evsem Shvelidze (Georgia), 14-4, 4:46
WIN Sofiane Padiou Belmir (MAR), 11-0, 2:55
LOSS Bolat Sakayev (Kazakhstan), 8-6
86 kg: Zahid Valencia (Sunkist Kids), in gold-medal final
WIN Sebastian Jerzierzanski (Poland), 12-0, 0:54
WIN Bobur Islomov (Uzbekistan), 7-0
WIN Ethan Ramos (PUR), 10-0, 1:38
Gold Medal match – Vs. Vasyl Mykhailov (Ukraine)
92 kg: Kollin Moore (TMWC/ORTC), in gold-medal finals
WIN Miriani Maisuradze (Georgia), 12-2, 1:09
WIN Khaled Masoud Ismail Elmoatamadawi (Egypt), 11-1, 2:51
Gold Medal Bout – Vs. Nate Jackson (USA)
92 kg: Nate Jackson (NYAC/NJRTC), in gold-medal finals
WIN Feyzullah Akturk (Turkey), 5-2
WIN Pruthviraj Babasaheb Patil (India), 10-0, 2:04
WIN Rizabek Aitmukhan (Kazakhstan), 8-2
Gold Medal Bout – Vs. Kollin Moore (USA)
