Will Lewan works a single leg at the 2025 Dan Kolov – Nikola Petrov International.

Will Lewan works a single leg at the 2025 Dan Kolov – Nikola Petrov International.

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Fix, Turner, Lewan, Monday advance to finals at Dan Kolov – Nikola Petrov International

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by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling

VARNA, Bulgaria – Four Americans have moved to the men’s freestyle finals following the first day of wrestling at the 2025 Dan Kolov – Nikola Petrov International.


2021 World silver medalist Daton Fix and 2024 Bill Farrell Memorial International bronze medalist Devan Turner will meet in the 61 kg gold medal match, giving spectators some U.S. versus U.S. flavor to start tomorrow evening’s medal round session at Palace of Culture and Sports in Varna, Bulgaria.


Fix was dominant on his way to the finals with a pair of 10-0 technical fall wins coming against returning silver medalist Yaroslav Hurskyy of Ukraine and Romania’s three-time World Team member Razvan Kovacs. Turner was pushed to a pair of decision wins, 5-2 over Denis Naim of Bulgaria and 4-2 over 2023 U20 European champion Ceyhun Allakhverdiev of Azerbaijan.


Also competing in the 61 kg bracket for Team USA were Michael McGee and Nahshon Garrett. Both men dropped their opener, McGee to Kovacs and Garrett to Allakhverdiev, and were not pulled into the repechage rounds. Garrett was a gold medalist at last week’s Henri Deglane Grand Prix.


2017 U17 World champion Will Lewan posted a solid 2-0 performance on his way to the 70 kg finals. He opened with a 10-0 blanking of two-time U23 European medalist Andrei Svyryd of Ukraine, followed by a 3-1 victory over Bulgaria’s experienced Mihail Georgiev.


Coming off a silver medal win at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix, Yahya Thomas was edged 3-2 by Georgiev in the 70 kg quarterfinals. Due to Lewan’s win over Georgiev in the semifinals, Thomas was eliminated from the tournament. Thomas was a Grand Prix of Spain champion last year and a U20 World Team member in 2019.


Kennedy Monday advanced to his second international final in as many weeks with an impressive day of work in Varna. He pinned Bulgaria’s Bozhidar Dobrev in 2:18 before topping 2019 U17 World runner-up Krisztian Biro of Romania, 9-0. Monday is up against Tornike Tulashvili of Georgia in the 79 kg finals.


Two-time Bill Farrell Memorial International champion Eric Schultz posted a 2-1 record in a five-man round robin bracket at 92 kg. He scored wins over U23 European bronze medalist Radomir Stoyanov of Bulgaria and 2017 U23 World bronze medalist Uri Kalashnikov of Israel. Schultz was pinned by 2023 U17 World champion Sandro Kurashvili of Georgia. His only match tomorrow will be against two-time U20 European medalist Sadig Mustafazade of Azerbaijan. A win against Mustafazade would guarantee Schultz a medal.


The men’s freestyle tournament continues at 10:30 a.m. local time/3:30 a.m. (ET) on Friday with the group two (57-65-74 kg) qualification rounds and group one (61-70-79-92 kg) repechage. The group one medal matches are set for 6 p.m. local time/11 a.m. (ET). In addition to Thursday’s medal match qualifiers, Brandon Courtney, Liam Cronin, Quincy Monday and Elroy Perkin will take the mats for Team USA tomorrow.


A live stream of the Dan Kolov – Nikola Petrov is available for free on the Bulgarian Wrestling Federation YouTube Channel. Complete brackets and updated results are available on UWW Arena.


Daton Fix (United States) vs. Devan Turner (United States)


Will Lewan (United States) vs. Kaloyan Atanasov (Bulgaria)


Kennedy Monday (United States) vs. Tornike Tulashvili (Georgia)


Daton Fix (United States) tech. fall Razvan Kovacs (Romania), 10-0

Devan Turner (United States) dec. Ceyhun Allakhverdiev (Azerbaijan), 4-2


Will Lewan (United States) dec. Mihail Georgiev (Bulgaria), 3-1

Kaloyan Atanasov (Bulgaria) tech. fall Nikolay Momakov (Bulgaria), 10-0


Kennedy Monday (United States) dec. Krisztian Biro (Romania), 9-0

Tornike Tulashvili (Georgia) dec. Nikolay Dimitrov (Bulgaria), 2-1


Round One – Eric Schultz (United States) tech. fall Radomir Stoyanov (Bulgaria), 15-4

Round One – Sadig Mustafazade (Azerbaijan) dec. Uri Kalashnikov (Israel), 7-4

Round Two – Sandro Kurashvili (Georgia) fall Eric Schultz (United States), 1:08

Round Two – Sadig Mustafazade (Azerbaijan) tech. fall Radomir Stoyanov (Bulgaria), 18-6

Round Three – Sandro Kurashvili (Georgia) forfeit Radomir Stoyanov (Bulgaria)

Round Three – Eric Schultz (United States) dec. Uri Kalashnikov (Israel), 12-10


Records after day one: Mustafazade (2-0), Kurashvili (2-0), Schultz (2-1), Kalashnikov (0-2), Stoyanov (0-3)


61 kg – Michael McGee (Bolingbrook, Ill./Atreus WC), eliminated

LOSS Razvan Kovacs (Romania), 4-2


61 kg – Daton Fix (Stillwater, Okla./Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC), gold medal match

WIN Yaroslav Hurskyy (Ukraine), tech. fall, 10-0

WIN Razvan Kovacs (Romania), tech. fall, 10-0

VS Devan Turner (United States)


61 kg – Nahshon Garrett (Bethlehem, Pa./Lehigh Valley WC/Titan Mercury WC), eliminated

LOSS Ceyhun Allakhverdiev (Azerbaijan), tech. fall, 15-5


61 kg – Devan Turner (Bloomington, Ind./Indiana RTC/New York AC), gold medal match

WIN Denis Naim (Bulgaria), 5-2

WIN Ceyhun Allakhverdiev (Azerbaijan), 4-2

VS Daton Fix (United States)


70 kg – Yahya Thomas (Chicago, Ill./New Jersey RTC/Titan Mercury WC), eliminated

LOSS Mihail Georgiev (Bulgaria), 3-2


70 kg – Will Lewan (Ann Arbor, Mich./Cliff Keen WC), gold medal match

WIN Andrei Svyryd (Ukraine), tech. fall, 10-0

WIN Mihail Georgiev (Bulgaria), 3-1

VS Kaloyan Atanasov (Bulgaria)


79 kg – Kennedy Monday (Chapel Hill, N.C./New Jersey RTC/Titan Mercury WC), gold medal match

WIN Bozhidar Dobrev (Bulgaria), fall, 2:18

WIN Krisztian Biro (Romania), 9-0

VS Tornike Tulashvili (Georgia)


92 kg – Eric Schultz (Tinley Park, Ill./Nebraska WTC), 2-1 record in round robin

WIN Radomir Stoyanov (Bulgaria), tech. fall, 15-4

LOSS Sandro Kurashvili (Georgia), fall, 1:08

WIN Uri Kalashnikov (Israel), 12-10

VS Sadig Mustafazade (Azerbaijan)

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