Bey qualifies for bronze medal match at World Olympic Games Qualifier

Watch: World Olympic Games Qualifier Interviews

ISTANBUL, Turkey – It was two up, two down for American Greco-Roman standout Kamal Bey during Friday morning’s repechage round at the World Olympic Games Qualifier. Bey has advanced to the bronze medal match at 77 kg and is two wins away from earning a Paris Olympic berth.

After battling the stop-and-go Istanbul traffic that delayed the start of the tournament by 15 minutes, Bey hit the mat for his first wrestle-back against Individual Neutral Athlete Tsimur Berdyieu from Belarus, who has wrestled for a medal at the Senior World Championships on two occasions.

Bey opened the scoring right out of the gate by pushing through a Russian tie, scoring a takedown out-of-bounds in the first 30 seconds of the contest. The American got his chance on top toward the end of the first period but was unable to score. While defending from par terre in the second period, Bey reversed Berdyieu to his back, all but locking up the match. He put the finishing touches on his Belarussian opponent by executing a four-point high dive with two seconds left, securing a 9-1 technical fall.

Up next for the three-time U.S. World Team member and Olympic Trials champion was Sweden’s U23 World medalist Per Albin Olofsson. Notably, Bey defeated Olofsson 19-7 in the semifinals of the 2017 U20 World Championships on his path to the gold medal.

The action between Bey and Olofsson was stagnant for the first five minutes of the bout. Bey was awarded a passivity point and his chance on top in the first period, unable to score. Olofsson did the same in the second period. While trailing 1-1 on criteria with 40 seconds left, Bey launched a headlock for four points to take command of the match. He countered a last-ditch throw from Olofsson as time expired to ice it, 7-1.

Bey has advanced to the bronze medal match where he will face 2024 European bronze medalist Iuri Lomadze of Georgia. Lomadze went 3-1 yesterday in Istanbul, making the semifinals where he was upended by Individual Neutral Athlete from Russia Sergei Kutuzov, 5-2. Kutuzov defeated Bey in the opening round by technical fall, 8-0.

The Greco-Roman bronze medal matches are scheduled for 4:45 p.m. local time/9:45 a.m. (ET). If Bey takes care of business, he will enter a bronze medal playoff against either Rui Liu of China or Zoltan Levai of Hungary with the final 77 kg Olympic quota on the line. The true bronze matches are set for 8:30 p.m. local time/1:30 p.m. (ET).

The U.S. audience can watch Bey finish his run at the World Olympic Games Qualifier live on Flowrestling.com. Brackets and real-time results will be available on UWW Arena.

For more information about the World Olympic Games Qualifier please visit the official event website at uww.org. USA Wrestling will provide complete coverage of the event on TheMat.com and its social media platforms. Join the conversation using #WrestleIstanbul.