Max Gallagher works a leg lace at the U23 World Championships.
Match Notes: U23 World Championships Day Seven
by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling
The 2024 U23 World Championships conclude on Sunday from Feti Borova Sports Hall in Tirana, Albania. The final session of the event features men's group two (57-65-70-79-97 kg) repechage and medal matches. Updates and results from each Team USA match can be found below.
Brackets: UWW Arena
Live Stream: FloWrestling
Event Schedule #
Sunday, October 27
4 p.m. – Repechage (MFS 57-65-70-79-97 kg)
6 p.m. – Medal matches (MFS 57-65-70-79-97 kg)
* All times listed local to Tirana, Albania (GMT+2), which is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time.
U.S. Men’s Freestyle Results (Group Two)
57 kg – Max Gallagher (Blue Point, N.Y./Pennsylvania RTC), 5th place
WIN Daniil Yushkouski (Individual Neutral Athlete), tech. fall, 10-0
LOSS Abdymalik Karachov (Kyrgyzstan), 1-1
WIN Qingkan Xie (China), 3-1
LOSS Ali Momenijoujadeh (Iran), 8-0
65 kg – Joshua Saunders (St. Louis, Mo./Spartan Combat RTC/Titan Mercury WC), 18th place
LOSS Kumar Mohit (India), 9-2
70 kg – John Wiley (Mustang, Okla./Oklahoma RTC), 11th place
WIN Davit Patsinashvili (Georgia), 5-4
LOSS Tigran Ghazaryan (Armenia), 5-3
79 kg – Patrick Kennedy (West Concord, Minn./Hawkeye WC), 7th place
WIN Mukhammad Abdullaev (Kyrgyzstan), tech. fall, 11-0
WIN Umar Mavlaev (Switzerland), fall, 2:49
LOSS Masaki Sato (Japan), 8-6
97 kg – Massoma Endene (Waverly, Iowa/Burg Training Center), 7th place
LOSS Mahdi Hajiloueian Morafah (Iran), 10-6
WIN Aslan Abakarov (Azerbaijan), 7-7
LOSS Ivan Prymachenko (Ukraine), 2-2
Match Notes
57 kg Bronze Medal Match – Ali Momenijoujadeh (Iran) dec. Max Gallagher (United States), 8-0
A double leg for Momenijoujadeh sticks off Gallagher’s forward pressure, called four. Momenijoujadeh connects on the double leg again, this time only for two. He adds an ankle pick before the buzzer in the first period to take an 8-0 lead over Gallagher to the break. No points on the board for either man in the second period. Gallagher falls, 8-0.
97 kg Repechage – Ivan Prymachenko (Ukraine) dec. Massoma Endene (United States), 2-2
A deep single leg for Prymachenko, who cuts the corner, and Endene works some magic to get out of it without giving up any points. Endene drives in with an over-under, does a nice job keeping back to the center, and gets a step out to take the 1-0 lead which holds until the break. A Single leg for Endene gets deep but is countered well by Prymachenko. Prymachenko with a re-shot and steps out before he can finish the takedown. Endene leads it 2-0. A head outside single converts for Prymachenko with two minutes to go and he takes the lead 2-2. Single leg for Prymachenko into a seat belt, Endene works out of it to a front headlock, no score. Endene can’t find the late-match heroics a second time in a row and falls on criteria 2-2.
97 kg Repechage – Massoma Endene (United States) dec. Aslan Abakarov (Azerbaijan), 7-7
An outside double leg attempt for Endene is countered with a chest wrap by Abakarov. It’s called two points for Abakarov, close to being a four. Endene forces a step out after the double leg sequence to make it 2-1 Abakarov early. Endene drives a hook, forces Abakarov into a bad shot and is able to go-behind for a takedown to take a 3-2 lead into the break. A shot from Abakarov is stopped, go-behind for Endene to take a 5-2 lead with just over two minutes to go. Abakarov drives Endene off the mat and it’s called grounded. Snapdown, go-behind into a gutwrench for Abakarov to take a 6-5 lead on Endene with 1:26 to go in the match. Abakarov taking a cold spray timeout to catch his breath. Endene shoots a head outside single, Abakarov counters with a crotch lift that is scored two as they go out of bounds to take an 8-5 lead. The U.S. corner is challenging the call and wins to bring the score back down to 6-5 with 57 seconds left. Abakarov adds a step out point to go up 7-5. Single leg for Abakarov, Endene tries to go-behind, catapults over the top in desperation and is able to get it with 7 seconds on the clock to get the win on criteria, 7-7.
57 kg Repechage – Max Gallagher (United States) dec. Qingkan Xie (China), 3-1
A single leg attempt from China is countered nicely by Gallagher in the first 30 seconds. Gallagher is put on the shot clock at the 4:28 mark in the first period, it expires, and Xie takes a 1-0 lead. Xie shoots Gallagher off the mat with 21 seconds left in the period but it’s called grounded. It’ll be 1-0 Xie at the break. Gallagher gets in deep on a single leg and Xie is able to fend it off. He comes back with a single leg to the opposite side and lands the takedown to go up 2-1. Xie is put on the shot clock with 2:06 to go. The shot clock expires, and another point is on the board for Gallagher. Most of the shot clock was spent with Gallagher in a front headlock position. Xie is visibly frustrated in the final minute that he can’t score. Gallagher takes the match, 3-1.