Yi wins Veterans World Greco-Roman gold, Beauperthuy gets silver, Alcaron and Riggs add bronzes
by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
LOUTRAKI, Greece – The second day of Greco-Roman at the 2023 Veterans World Championships featured competition in Div. C and Div. D on Saturday and the United States captured its second Greco-Roman World champion.
Claiming a gold medal was David Yi of California (62 kg Div. C). Yi won a four-athlete round robin, with a technical fall and two decisions. In his final match, he stopped eventual silver medalist Zhanbolat Abitov of Kazakhstan, 5-2.
Yi won his second medal of the week, after claiming a bronze medal at this weight class in freestyle on Wednesday. He became the second Greco-Roman champion at this year’s Veterans Worlds, joining Eric Mittlestead of California (130 kg Div. E), who won his Greco-Roman title on Friday.
Mittlestead won a five-athlete round robin with a perfect 4-0 record, getting a pin, a technical fall, a decision and an injury default. Included was a 5-0 shutout over eventual silver medalist Asghar Marani of Iran.
Capturing a silver medal with an impressive 4-1 record was Gabe Beaupurthuy of Colorado (130 kg Div. C). Beauperthuy opened with three wins to win Group A, two decisions and an injury default. In the semifinals, he stopped Ivan Matekovic of Croatia, 3-1. In the championship finals, Beauperthuy was edged by Rafal Koszowski of Poland, 7-5.
Claiming bronze medals on Saturday were Ernesto Alarcon of Texas (70 kg Div. D) and Alvin Riggs (100 kg Div. D)
Alarcon opened with a loss to Nariman Kairmanov of Kazakshtan, and when Kairamov reached the finals, Alarcon was pulled back into repechage, where he won his final three bouts. After beating two opponents by technical fall, he powered into a bronze-medal bout, where he shut out Dariusz Proszowski of Poland, 7-0.
Riggs was defeated in his opening match by eventual finalist Zelijko Jovisic of Serbia, 5-4. He rallied in his bronze-medal match with a 9-0 technical fall over Krzysztof Domarus of Poland).
Two U.S. wrestlers qualified for bronze-medal bout and were defeated, finishing fifth in their weight class: Robinson Prebish of Virginia (62 kg Div. D) and Todd Moss of Minnesota (100 kg Div. D).
The United States has won eight medals in Greco-Roman after two days, with four of the five Divisions now contested.
The Greco-Roman competition concludes on Sunday with Greco- competition in Div. A. It is the final day of the six-day Veterans Worlds for this year.
The Veterans World Championships are broadcast live on FloWrestling.
2023 Veterans World Championships
At Loutraki, Greece, October 21
Div. C Greco-Roman champions
62 kg – David Yi (United States)
70 kg – Stepan Matveichuk (Individual Neutral Athlete)
78 kg – Jimmy Samuelsson (Sweden)
88 kg – Emzarios Bentinidis (Greece)
100 kg – Zurab Tsikaridze (Georgia)
130 kg – Rafal Koszowski (Poland)
U.S. Div. C Greco-Roman results
62 kg – David Yi, Folsom, Calif., Gold Medal
WIN Dirk Methfessel (Germany), 7-5
WIN Khurts Janchiv (Mongolia), tech fall 9-0
WIN Zhanbolat Abitov (Kazakhstan), 5-2
78 kg - Rudy James, St. Paul, Minn., 7th place
LOSS Jimmy Samuelsson (Sweden), tech fall 9-1
LOSS Johan Hedberg (Sweden), 5-3
88 kg - Alsandro Turner, Millington, Tenn., 7th place
WIN Nikolaos Panoutsos (Greece), forfeit
LOSS Frederic Calixte (France), tech fall 8-0
100 kg – Jeffrey Schildroth, Montague, Mich., 7th place
LOSS Majid Hekmati (Iran), 6-0
130 kg - Gabe Beauperthuy, Colorado Springs, Colo., Silver Medal
WIN Mihail Nane (Romania), 5-2
WIN Lkhagvasuren Tsogtoo (Mongolia), 3-2
WIN Gyula Papp (Hungary), inj. dft
WIN Ivan Matekovic (Croatia), 3-1
LOSS Rafal Koszowski (Poland), 7-5
Div. D Greco-Roman champions
62 kg – Nurzhan Nurbekov (Kazakhstan)
70 kg – Vasilis Boukis (Greece)
78 kg – Jonathan Molfino (Italy)
88 kg – Pavel Denison (Individual Neutral Athlete)
100 kg – Kourosh Abbasnikoo (Iran)
130 kg – Bahaaldin Karimzadeh (Iran)
U.S. Div. D Greco-Roman results
62 kg – Robinson Prebish, Richmond, Va., 5th place
WIN Francesco Colaianni (Italy), tech fall 9-1
LOSS Nurzhan Nurbekov (Kazakhstan), pin 1:54
LOSS Tero Katajisto (Finland), tech fall 9-0
70 kg - Ernesto Alarcon, Houston, Texas, Bronze medal
LOSS Nariman Kairmanov (Kazakhstan), tech fall 9-0
WIN Douglas Baum (USA), tech fall 9-0
WIN Lars Lind (Sweden), tech fall 8-0
WIN Dariusz Proszowski (Poland), 7-0
70 kg - Douglas Baum, Chicago, Ill., 18th place
LOSS Nariman Kairmanov (Kazakhstan), tech fall 9-0
LOSS Ernesto Alarcon (USA), tech fall 9-0
70 kg - Eric Bluman, Chestnut Hill, Mass., 13th place
LOSS Dariusz Proszowski (Poland), tech fall 10-1
100 kg - William Carr, Maple Grove, Minn., 8th place
LOSS Krzysztof Domarus (Poland), tech fall 11-3
100 kg - Alvin Riggs, Lowell, Ore., Bronze medal
LOSS Zelijko Jovisic (Serbia), 5-4
WIN Krzysztof Domarus (Poland), tech fall 9-0
100 kg – Domenico Lemme, Belleview, Wash., 9th place
LOSS Krzysztof Domarus (Poland), 3-2
100 kg – Todd Moss, Stillwater, Minn., 5th place
WIN Iro Smrke (Croatia), 10-9
LOSS Kourosh Abbasnikoo (Iran), tech fall 8-0
LOSS Tamas Fabian (Hungary), 6-0
130 kg - George Porter, Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., 9th placeLOSS Saleh Al Zriqat (Jordan), inj. dft.