James, Porter win Veterans World freestyle titles on Wednesday; Yi and Tadelman add bronze medals
by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
LOUTRAKI, Greece – The United States added two more men’s freestyle gold medals at the 2023 Veterans World Championships on Wednesday, with competition was held in Group C and Group D.
Claiming individual gold medals today for Team USA were Rudy James (78 kg Div. C) and George Porter of Florida (Div. D 130 kg). Both have been previous Veterans World Champions.
James went a perfect 4-0 in his five-athlete round robin, scoring two technical falls, a decision and a win by forfeit. Among his victories was a 5-3 win over eventual silver medalist Anis Gharbi of France.
Porter powered his way through his bracket, winning three matches and outscoring his opponents 17-2 along the way. His gold medal victory was a dominant 10-0 technical fall over Saleh Mohammad Al Zriqat of Jordan.
The United States added a pair of bronze medalists on Wednesday, David Yi of California (62 kg Div. C) and Marc Tadelman of Illinois (70 kg Div. D).
Yi added another medal to his Veterans World collection, with both of his victories today coming by technical fall. In his bronze-medal bout, Tadelman racked up a 16-5 technical fall over Dirk Methfessel of Germany.
Tadelman won four of his five matches on the day, opening with a pin and a technical fall. After losing to Antonino Calandra of Italy, who pulled Tadelman back into repechage, he won his final two bouts. His 3-0 victory over Jevgenijs Boiko of Latvia in the bronze-medal round put him on the podium.
The USA had five more wrestlers qualify for a bronze-medal match, who lost their final bout and finished fifth: Thomas Donahue of Ohio (70 kg Div. C), Gabe Beauperthuy of Colorado (130 kg Div. C), Hector Ramirez of California (130 kg Div. C), Robinson Prebish of Virginia (62 kg Div. D) and Greg Donohue of Ohio (62 kg Div. D).
The USA has now won 11 men’s freestyle medals at the Veterans Worlds over two days. Joining James and Porter as World champions were Ben VomBaur of Colorado (62 kg Div. B) and Eric Mittlestead of California (130 kg Div. E).
The men’s freestyle competition concludes on Thursday with Div. A competition. The Veterans World Championships are broadcast live on FloWrestling.
2023 Veterans World Championships
At Loutraki, Greece, October 18
Div. C freestyle champions
62 kg – Jaanek Lips (Estonia)
70 kg – Reza Akbarpour Bahnamiri (Iran)
78 kg – Rudy James (United States)
88 kg - Emzarios Bentinidis (Greece)
100 kg – Henrich Pietrik (Slovakia)
130 kg – Mustafa Basdemir (Turkey)
U.S. Div. C freestyle results
62 kg – David Yi, Folsom, Calif., Bronze Medal
WIN Yosuke Kobayashi (Japan), tech fall 10-0
LOSS Jaanek Lips (Estonia), tech fall 14-2
WIN Dirk Methfessel (Germany), tech fall 16-5
70 kg - William Anderson, Danville, Calif., 8th place
WIN Vakhtang Naiashvili (Georgia), 7-6
LOSS Thomas Donahue (USA), 9-3
70 kg - Thomas Donahue, Bethel, Ohio, 5th place
WIN Sabyrzhan Zholdayev (Kazakhstan), 7-0
WIN William Anderson (USA), 9-3
LOSS Reza Akbarpour Bahnamiri (Iran), 5-0
LOSS Markus Mair (Germany), 5-5
70 kg - Dennis Wymer, Mouth of Wilson, Va., 15th place
LOSS Stefan Ammann (Switzerland0, 4-0
78 kg - Rudy James, St. Paul, Minn., Gold Medal
WIN Mirash Pali (Albania), forfeit
WIN Anis Gharbi (France), 5-3
WIN Andreas Kleiousis (Greece), tech fall 12-2
WIN Pavel Timonov (Bulgaria), tech fall 11-0
88 kg - Alsandro Turner, Millington, Tenn., 8th place
WIN Mohammed Aljrameez (Saudi Arabia), pin 1:28
LOSS Emzarios Bentinidis (Greece), tech fall 10-0
LOSS Osama Elshorbagy (Egypt), pin 1:44
130 kg - Gabe Beauperthuy, Colorado Springs, Colo., 5th place
WIN Avraam Papadopoulos (Greece), inj. dft. 3:50
LOSS Lkhagvasuren Tsogtoo (Mongolia), 3-1
LOSS Aydin Halimoglu (Turkey), 5-3
130 kg - Hector Ramirez, Norwalk, Calif., 5th place
LOSS Mustafa Basdemir (Turkey), 4-0LOSS Mustafa Bayram (Turkey), 5-0
Div. D freestyle champions
62 kg – Remzi Osman (Bulgaria)
70 kg – Sayat Yesbatyrov (Kazakhstan)
78 kg – Mohmmadkazem Narimani Kenari (Iran)
88 kg – Ali Ghassemi Sabour (Iran)
100 kg – Igors Samusonokss (Latvia)
130 kg – George Porter (United States)
U.S. Div. D freestyle results
62 kg – Robinson Prebish, Richmond, Va., 5th place
WIN Baatarsuren Gendendorj (Mongolia), tech fall 10-0
LOSS Remzi Osman (Bulgaria), pin 3:28
LOSS Satoshi Izumida (Japan), pin 1:16
62 kg – Greg Donahue, Magnolia, Ohio, 5th place
WIN Tero Katajisto (Finland), pin 1:35
WIN Taha Ramadhan Taha (Iraq), forfeit
LOSS Marin Hamoza (Moldova), 4-1
LOSS Shogo Morimoto (Japan), pin 1:16
70 kg - Ernesto Alarcon, Houston, Texas, 9th place
WIN Andrew Patrick (South Africa), 7-2
LOSS Jevgenijs Boiko (Latvia), tech fall 10-0
70 kg - Douglas Baum, Chicago, Ill., 17th place
LOSS Albert Mamsurov (Individual Neutral Athlete), 4-0
70 kg - Eric Bluman, Chestnut Hill, Mass., 21st place
LOSS Sayat Yesbatyrov (Kazakhstan), tech fall 11-0
70 kg - Marc Tadelman, Glenview, Ill., Bronze Medal
WIN Wolfgang Graf (Austria), pin 3:05
WIN Amarildo Borici (Italy), tech fall 10-0
LOSS Antonino Calandra (Italy), 8-0
WIN Albert Mamsurov (Individual Neutral Athlete), 11-8
WIN Jevgenijs Boiko (Latvia), 3-0
78 kg - Brett Rainey, Laramie, Wyo., 11th place
LOSS Dirk Stastny (Germany), pin 0:54
100 kg - William Carr, Maple Grove, Minn., 13th place
LOSS Chynarbek Izabekov (Kyrgyzstan), tech fall 10-0
100 kg - Alvin Riggs, Lowell, Ore., 8th place
WIN Musa Ozdemir (Turkey), pin 2:51
LOSS Chynarbek Izabekov (Kyrgyzstan), 9-0
130 kg - George Porter, Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., Gold Medal
WIN Ankhbayar Tsendee (Mongolia), 4-2
WIN Janos Szlavik (Hungary), 3-0
WIN Saleh Mohammad Al Zriqat (Jordan), tech fall 10-0