Wyatt Hendrickson takes a lap with the American flag after winning gold at the 2023 U23 World Championships.
O’Toole, Brooks, Hendrickson win gold, Cardenas captures bronze, Trumble in finals
by Savannah Asmann, USA Wrestling
The United States has more than one U23 World Champion in men’s freestyle for the first time in history. Keegan O’Toole, Aaron Brooks and Wyatt Hendrickson are 2023 U23 World Champions. Jacob Cardenas won a bronze medal, and the men’s freestyle team has the opportunity to capture eight World medals in Tirana, Albania.
The second group of men's freestyle athletes saw Isaac Trumble advance to the finals, Doug Zapf earn a spot in the bronze medal match, and Cooper Flynn and Brock Hardy are in repechage.
Keegan O'Toole is a two-time age-group World Champion. In his finals match, O'Toole snagged two first period takedowns to lead 4-1 at the break. He added a takedown in the second period to defeat Imam Ganishov of (Individual Neutral Athlete) in the finals at 74 kg.
At 86 kg, Aaron Brooks was commanding in his finals match, dominating his opponent and winning by 10-0 technical fall. Brooks used three takedowns, one four-point move and tied up a leg lace to end it early. He returns to the top of the podium at an age-group World Championships, a place he knows all too well.
Wyatt Hendrickson became a U23 World Champion after besting Adil Misirci of Turkey in the finals at 125 kg. Hendrickson took a quick lead in the first period before unleashing an explosion on offense in the second period that led to a 13-3 technical fall. Hendrickson medals in just his second trip to an age-group World Championships.
It was a bronze medal for Jacob Cardenas as the United States went four-for-four in medal matches today. Cardenas scored the go-ahead takedown with just 33 seconds left in the contest. He is the second two-time U23 medalist in men’s freestyle for the United States.
Julian Chlebove’s tournament run came to an end in the morning session. Chlebove faced Mezhlum Mezhlumyan of Armenia in his repechage match, falling 11-0. Mezhlumyan is a 2023 U23 European Championships silver medalist.
In group two, Isaac Trumble secured a spot in the finals at 97 kg. Trumble navigated his way through a tough bracket, picking up wins over 2023 European Championships silver medalist Otkay Ciftci of Turkey and six time age-group World Team member Sergey Sargsyan of Armenia. Trumble will face Radu Lefter of Moldova in the finals tomorrow.
Doug Zapf guaranteed himself a spot in the bronze medal match, going 3-1 on the day. Zapf defeated Benedikt Huber of Austria, 2023 U20 European Championships bronze medalist Ion Marcu of Moldova, and Orozobek Toktomambetov of Kyrgyzstan in one of the most thrilling matches of the first session. He fell to Individual Neutral Athlete Inalbek Sheriev in the semifinals and wrestles for a medal tomorrow night.
Two athletes were pulled into repechage: Cooper Flynn (57 kg) and Brock Hardy (65 kg). Flynn picked up a 4-1 decision win in his first match of the day against Poland’s Vasyl Ilnytskyi. In his second match, he fell to two-time age-group World medalist Manvel Khndzrtsyan of Armenia. Khndzrtsyan advanced to the finals, keeping Flynn in the hunt for bronze.
Hardy was strong in his first match against Puerto Rico’s Sammy Alvarez, claiming the win in a fast-paced, high-scoring match. Hardy continued his upward momentum by defeating Ukraine’s Artem Kryvenko by 11-0 technical fall. In the quarterfinals, Hardy dropped a 14-11 decision against Azerbaijan’s Ziraddin Bayramov.
At 79 kg, Dustin Plott fell in a close 2-2 decision to Japan’s Masaki Sato. Sato got on the board early with a takedown, but held strong on defense. Plott was unable to score on an evading Sato, losing the match on criteria.
After the first five weight classes, the United States had a commanding lead in the team race in men’s freestyle with 98 points, followed by Turkey with 67 points and Moldova with 46 points.
The United States begins women’s freestyle action tomorrow in Tirana, Albania, at the 2023 U23 World Championships. The first five weights to be contested are 50 kg, 55 kg, 59 kg, 68 kg and 76 kg. Action begins with repechage for men’s freestyle and qualification rounds for women’s freestyle.
2023 U23 World Championships
At Tirana, Albania, October 23-29
Group One Men’s Freestyle Results
61 kg
Gold - Bashir Magomedov (Individual Neutral Athlete)
Silver - Assylzhan Yessengeldi (Kazakhstan)
Bronze - Mezhlum Mezhlumyan (Armenia)
Bronze - Taiyrbek Zhumshbek Uulu (Kyrgyzstan)
5th - Ivan Hramyka (Individul Neutral Athlete)
5th - Akash Dahiya (UWW)
7th - Julian Chlebove (United States)
8th - Emre Kural Ural (Turkey)
9th - Nika Zakashvili (Georgia)
10th - Jeyhun Allahverdiyev (Azerbaijan)
Gold – Magomedov dec. Yessengeldi, 4-0
Bronze – Mezhulmyan tech fall Hramyka, 11-0
Bronze – Zhumashbek Uulu dec. Dahiya, 7-0
74 kg
Gold - Keegan O’Toole (United States)
Silver - Imam Ganishov (Individual Neutral Athlete)
Bronze - Hikaru Takata (Japan)
Bronze - Naveen Naveen (UWW)
5th - Sonny James Santiago (Puerto Rico)
5th - Vasile Diacon (Moldova)
7th - Ibrahim Metehan Yaprak (Turkey)
8th - Muhammad Aburachmanov (Belgium)
9th - Vadym Kurylenko (Ukraine)
10th - Hayk Papikyan (Armenia)
Gold – O’Toole dec. Ganishov, 6-1
Bronze – Takata tech fall Santiago, 11-0
Bronze – Naveen dec. Diacon, 7-7
86 kg
Gold – Aaron Brooks (United States)
Silver - Tatsuya Shirai (Japan)
Bronze - Arslan Bagaev (Individual Neutral Athlete)
Bronze - Joshua Morodion (Germany)
5th - Ivan Ichizli (Moldova)
5th - Benjamin Greil (Austria)
7th - Ismail Kucuksolak (Turkey)
8th - Ilya Khamtsou (Individual Neutral Athlete) -
9th - Daviti Koguashvili (Georgia)
10th - Oleksandr Mamrosh (Ukraine)
Gold – Brooks tech fall Shirai, 10-0
Bronze – Bagaev dec. Ichizli, 6-1
Bronze – Morodion dec. Greil, 9-2
92 kg
Gold - Muhammed Gimri (Turkey)
Silver - Ion Demian (Moldova)
Bronze - Jacob Cardenas (United States)
Bronze - Abduljalil Shabanov (Azerbaijan)
5th - Pruthviraj Patil (UWW)
5th - Andro Margishvili (Georgia)
7th - Abdul Kareem Abuidaij (Jordan)
8th - Adlan Viskhanov (France)
9th - Alan Bagaev (Individual Neutral Athlete)
10th - Yaraslau Iadkouski (Individual Neutral Athlete)
Gold – Gimri dec. Demian, 4-3
Bronze – Cardenas dec. Patil, 4-3
Bronze – Shabanov dec. Margishvili, 14-11
125 kg
Gold – Wyatt Hendrickson (United States)
Silver - Adil Misirci (Turkey)
Bronze - Azamat Khosonov (Greece)
Bronze - Vakhit Galayev (Azerbaijan)
5th - Abdulla Kurbanov (Individual Neutral Athlete)
5th - Kumar Anirudh (UWW)
7th - Volodymyr Kochanov (Ukraine)
8th - Nicolae Stratulat (Moldova)
9th - Georgi Velev (Bulgaria)
10th - Khachatur Khachatryan (Armenia)
Gold – Hendrickson tech fall Misirci, 13-3
Bronze – Khosonov dec. Kurbanov, 5-4
Bronze – Galayev tech fall Anirudh, 10-0
U.S. Group One Men's Freestyle Results
61 kg – Julian Chlebove (Northampton, Pa./Sunkist Kids WC), 7th place
WIN Antonio Margiotta, tech. fall 11-0
LOSS Bashir Magomedov (AIN), tech. fall 14-3
LOSS Mezhlum Mezhlumyan (Armenia), tech. fall 11-0
74 kg – Keegan O’Toole (Hartland, Wis./Tiger Style WC), Gold Medal
WIN Vadim Kurylenko (Ukraine), tech. fall 10-0
WIN Krisztian Biro (Romania), tech. fall, 12-2
WIN Hikaru Takata (Japan), dec. 10-1
WIN Sonny Santiago (Puerto Rico), pin 3:32
WIN Imam Ganishov (AIN), dec. 6-1
86 kg – Aaron Brooks (Hagerstown, Md./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC), Gold Medal
WIN Ismail Kucuksol (Turkey), dec. 7-1
WIN Owen Martin (Canada), tech. fall 10-0
WIN Ivan Ichizli (Moldova), dec. 7-1
WIN Arslan Bagaev (AIN), dec. 5-4
WIN Tatsuya Shirai (Japan), tech. fall 10-0
92 kg – Jacob Cardenas (Kearny, N.J./Spartan Combat RTC/Titan Mercury WC), Bronze Medal
WIN Alan Bagaev (AIN), dec. 4-3
LOSS Muhammed Gimri (Turkey), dec. 10-1
WIN Satoshi Miura (Japan), dec. 6-0
WIN Pruthviraj Patil (UWW), dec. 4-3
125 kg – Wyatt Hendrickson (Newton, Kan./Air Force RTC), Gold Medal
WIN Abdulla Kurbanov (AIN), pin 5:15
WIN Nicolae Stratulat (Moldova), tech. fall 14-1
WIN Azamat Khosonov (Greece), dec. 4-2
WIN Adil Misirci (Turkey), tech. fall 13-3
Team Standings after first five weight classes
1. United States, 98 points
2 Turkey, 67 points
3 Moldova, 46 points
4 UWW, 45 points
5 Japan, 15 points
U.S. Group Two Men's Freestyle Results
57 kg – Cooper Flynn (Seymour, Tenn./Southeast RTC/Titan Mercury WC), in repechage
WIN Vasyl Ilnytskyi (Poland), dec. 4-1
LOSS Manvel Khndzrtsyan (Armenia), tech. fall 11-0
65 kg – Brock Hardy (Brigham City, Utah/Nebraska WTC), in repechage
WIN Sammy Alvarez (Puerto Rico), dec. 12-7
WIN Artem Kryvenko (Ukraine), tech. fall 11-0
LOSS Ziraddin Bayramov (Azerbaijan), dec. 14-11
70 kg – Doug Zapf (Downingtown, Pa., Pennsylvania RTC), in bronze medal match
WIN Benedikt Huber (Austria), tech. fall 12-1
WIN Ion Marcu (Moldova), dec. 7-0
WIN Orozobek Toktomambetov (Kyrgyzstan), dec. 3-3
LOSS Inalbek Sheriev (AIN), dec. 9-2
79 kg – Dustin Plott (Tuttle, Okla./Cowboy RTC), eliminated
LOSS Masaki Sato (Japan), dec. 2-2
97 kg – Isaac Trumble (Springfield, Neb./Wolfpack, WC/Titan Mercury WC), in finals
WIN Ito Hibiki (Japan), dec. 13-4
WIN Oktay Ciftci (Turkey), tech. fall 11-0
WIN Sergey Sargsyan (Armenia), tech. fall 11-0