Carr, Aiello make finals, McKenna in bronze match at Kunayev D.A. International

TARAZ, Kazakhstan – All three American men’s freestyle athletes in action found a place in the medal rounds at the 2024 Kunayev D.A. International—David Carr and Jonathan Aiello will wrestle for gold, and Joseph McKenna will compete for bronze.

Carr navigated the 74 kg bracket with four impressive victories, including three shutout technical falls. His only match to go to decision was a 3-1 win in the quarterfinals against 2023 Asian silver medalist Zafarbek Otakhonov of Uzbekistan. Carr0 iced his spot in the finals with an 11-0 technical fall over Batbayar Batsukh of Mongolia.

In the gold medal match, Carr is opposite current U20 Asian bronze medalist Yegor Anchugin of Kazakhstan. Anchugin finished a respectable eighth place at this year’s U20 World Championships.

Carr is a past U20 World champion for Team USA and two-time NCAA champion for Iowa State. He recently placed third at the Senior World Team Trials for the non-Olympic weight classes at 79 kg.

Aiello collected the most impressive win of the tournament in his 97 kg semifinal, a 12-9 decision over one of the top young stars in the sport, 2023 World champion Rizabek Aitmukhan of Kazakhstan. Aiello reversed an early 8-0 deficit to outlast Aitmukhan and earn a place in the finals. Aitmukhan was the 2024 U20 and U23 World champion.

2024 Olympian Awusayiman Habila of China will meet Aiello in the gold medal match. Habila is the defending champion at this event.

Aiello is guaranteed his third international medal of 2024. He picked up a silver medal at the Yasar Dogu and bronze medal at the Bill Farrell Memorial International earlier this year. Aiello was a U.S. National Team member in 2022 and is a 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials qualifier.

McKenna, a two-time age-group World medalist and defending Kunayev D.A. champion, was stopped in the semifinals, 8-4, by Adlan Askarov of Kazakhstan. Askarov has earned medals at the Asian Championships, U23 Worlds and U20 Worlds throughout his career.

McKenna finished the day with a 2-1 record, his two wins coming by technical fall. He dropped into the bronze medal match where he will have the chance to gain a second international medal in 2024.

The medal round for Team USA athletes begins at 6 p.m. local time/8 a.m. (ET) on Saturday. Taraz, Kazakhstan, is located 10 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time.

A live stream of the Kunayev D.A. International is available on the Kazakhstan Wrestling YouTube Channel.