Lee, Blaze Ruiz win golds at Ziolkowski Memorial in Poland; Arujau gets silver, Turner & Hamiti add bronze

WARSAW, Poland – All six U.S. men’s freestyle wrestlers competing on the final day of the Waclaw Ziolkowski Memorial on Sunday came home with a medal, with three golds, a silver and two bronzes.

Claiming individual titles for the USA were Brayton Lee (70 kg), Joey Blaze (74 kg) and Simon Ruiz (79 kg).

Lee, a 2025 U.S. Open All-American, won Group B of his weight class, with victories over Jeon Jin Su of Korea, 4-1 and 2019 European bronze medalist Vasyl Shuptar of Ukraine, 5-0. He finished off the victory with a 4-2 win over Oleksey Boruta of Ukraine, a 2018 U23 European champion.

Blaze, a 2025 NCAA runner-up for Purdue who is No. 4 on the national men’s freestyle ladder, defeated Mykyta Morhun of Ukraine, 6-2 in the finals. He opened with a 4-2 win in the quarterfinals over Ivan Kusyak of Ukraine, then pinned Otari Bagauri of Georgia in the semifinals.

Ruiz, a 2025 U.S. Open All-American, opened with an 11-1 technical fall over Codei Khawaja of Serbia, then won his next three matches by decision to claim the title. He beat Otari Adeishvili of Georgia, 7-4 in the quarterfinals, stopped Umar Mavlaev of Switzerland, 8-1 in the semifinals, then edged two-time World bronze medalist Vasyl Mykhailov of Ukraine, 7-6 in the finals.

2023 World champion and 2024 World bronze medalist Vito Arujau captured a silver medal at 61 kg. Arujau opened with a 9-6 win over Andrii Dzhelep of Ukraine, then beat Devan Turner of the USA, 2-0. He was edged in the finals by 2022 U23 World bronze medalist Kamil Kerymov of Ukraine, 5-4

Winning bronze medals were Turner, plus 2025-26 Senior National Team member DJ Hamiti (79 kg).

Turner rebounded from his loss to Arujau to beat Oleksey Boruta of Ukraine, 4-2 in the bronze-medal bout.

Hamiti, a 2025 NCAA champion for Oklahoma State, lost his first match, then powered to three straight wins to reach the podium. Hamiti beat 2025 European U23 bronze medalist Umar Mavlaev of Switzerland, 9-4 in the bronze-medal round.

All seven U.S. men’s freestyle wrestlers entered in the event won a medal. On Saturday, Dustin Plott claimed a bronze medal at 92 kg. The USA was third in the team standings. 

34^th WACLAW ZIOLKOWSKI MEMORIAL

At Warsaw, Poland

Men’s freestyle results

57 kg

Gold - Nikoloz Botchorishvili (Georgia)      

Silver - Garette Saunders (Canada)

Bronze - Vladyslav Abramov (Ukraine)

Bronze - Thomas Epp (Switzerland)

5th - Salah Eddine Kateb (Algeria)

5th - Peter Cude (Costa Rica)         

61 kg

Gold - Kamil Kerymov (Ukraine)  

Silver - Vitali Arujau (USA)

Bronze - Devan Turner (USA)

Bronze - Andrii Dzhelep (Ukraine)

5^th - Nils Leutert (Switzerland)

5^th - Oussama Laribi (Algeria)

7^th - Rafał Szewc (Poland)

8^th - Mykyta Abramov (Ukraine)

9^th - Dario Dittrich (Germany)

65 kg

Gold - Peiman Biabani (Canada)

Silver - Junsik Yun (Korea)

Bronze - Andrii Biliichuk (Ukraine)

Bronze - Mykyta Honcharov (Ukraine)

5^th - Krzysztof Bieńkowski (Poland)             

5^th - Nico Megerle (Germany)

7^th - Dmytro Mykhniuk (Ukraine)

8^th - Ayub Muratovitch Musaev (Belgium)

9^th - Zoltan Mizsei (Hungary)

10^th - Daniel Kulczyński (Poland)

70 kg

Gold - Brayton Lee (USA)

Silver - Oleksiy Boruta (Ukraine)   

Bronze - Vasyl Shuptar (Ukraine)   

Bronze - Jin Su Jeon (Korea)

5^th - Kevin Henkel (Germany)        

5^th - Zelimkhan Mutsukhaev (Poland)

74 kg

Gold - Joey Blaze (USA)

Silver - Mykyta Morhun (Ukraine)

Bronze - Otari Bagauri (Georgia)

Bronze - Kamil Rybicki (Poland)

5^th - Ivan Kusyak (Ukraine)

5^th - Szymon Wojtkowski (Poland)

7^th/8^th -   Saad Bouguerra (Algeria)

7^th/8^th - Fabian Niedźwiedzki (Poland)          

79 kg

Gold - Simon Ruiz (USA)

Silver - Vasyl Mykhailov (Ukraine)

Bronze - Otari Adeishvili  (Georgia)

Bronze - Dean C Hamiti, Jr. (USA)

5^th - Aleksandre Meladze (Georgia)

5^th - Umar Mavlaev (Switzerland)

7^th - Abdelkader Ikkal (Algeria)

8^th - Kimi Kaeppeli (Switzerland)

9^th - Mateusz Pędzicki (Poland)

10^th - Pouria Taherkjani (Georgia)

U.S. men’s freestyle results

61 kg: Devan Turner, Bloomington, Ind. (Indiana RTC), bronze medal

WIN Mykyta Abramov (Ukraine), 3-2

LOSS Vito Arujau (USA), 2-0

WIN Nils Neutert (Switzerland), pin

61 kg: Vito Arujau, Ithaca, N.Y. (Spartan Combat RTC/TMWC), silver medal

WIN Andrii Dzhelep (Ukraine), 9-6

WIN Devan Turner (USA), 2-0

LOSS Kamil Kerymov (Ukraine), 5-4

70 kg: Brayton Lee, Louisville, Ky. (Knights RTC), gold medal

WIN Jeon Jin Su (Korea), 4-1

WIN Vasyl Shuptar (Ukraine), 5-0

WIN Oleksey Boruta (Ukraine), 4-2

74 kg: Joey Blaze, Perrysburg, Ohio (Boilermaker RTC), gold medal

WIN Ivan Kusyak (Ukraine), 4-2

WIN Otari Bagauri (Georgia), pin

WIN Mykyta Morhun (Ukraine), 6-2

79 kg: DJ Hamiti, Stillwater, Okla. (Cowboy RTC/TMWC), bronze medal

LOSS Vasyl Mykhailov (Ukraine), tech fall 10-0

WIN Codei Khawaja (Serbia), tech fall 10-0

WIN Pouria Taherkhani (Germany), 2-0

WIN Umar Mavlaev (Switzerland), 9-4

79 kg: Simon Ruiz, Wavely, Tenn. (Spartan Combat RTC/TMWC), gold medal

WIN Codei Khawaja (Serbia), tech fall 11-1

WIN Otari Adeishvili (Georgia), 7-4

WIN Umar Mavlaev (Switzerland), 8-1

WIN Vasyl Mykhailov (Ukraine), 7-6