Johnson wins Greco-Roman bronze medal at Grand Prix of Spain

MADRID, Spain - Clay Johnson (Birmingham, Alabama/NMU-NTS) won a bronze medal at 77 kg at the Grand Prix of Spain on Friday.

Johnson, a sophomore with the Greco-Roman wrestling program at Northern Michigan, finished with an 0-2 record in a three-athlete round robin at his weight class. Johnson dropped a pair of technical falls to opponents from Spain, Marcos Sanchez-Silva Mejias and Antonio Carmona Marin.

His Northern Michigan teammate Mason Parsons (Chappells, S.C./NMU-NTS), finished sixth at 82 kg. He lost two matches in Group B, falling to Mohamed Amin Mainich Housni of Spain and Damian Von Euw of Switzerland and was not eligible to advance to the semifinals.

Johnson and Parsons were the only U.S. entries in Greco-Roman. Based upon Johnson’s bronze medal, the USA placed sixth in the team standings.

The competition continues on Saturday with the women’s freestyle division. Four U.S. women will compete. Their draws will be posted in a different article.

Session times for the tournament will be at 10:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. local time each day. Madrid is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time zone.

The Spain Wrestling Federation will provide a live stream of the competition on YouTube.

GRAND PRIX OF SPAIN

At Madrid, Spain, July 4-6

Greco-Roman medalists

55 kg

Gold – Arsen Zhuma (Kazakhstan)

60 kg

Gold – Salamat Muratuly (Kazakhstan)

Silver – Yonaiker Martinez (Venezuela)

Bronze – Daniel Bobillo Vigil (Spain)

63 kg

Gold – Aser Ebro Rodriguez (Spain)

Silver – David Diaz Sanchez (Spain)

67 kg

Gold – Diego Esteche Gomez (Spain)

Silver – Alejandro Esteche Gomez (Spain)

Bronze – Hector Alcantara Pineda (Spain)

72 kg

Gold – Yussuf Ashrapov (Kazakhstan)

Silver – Azamat Zhuban (Kazakhstan)

Bronze – Aker Schmid (Austria)

77 kg

Gold – Marcos Sanchez-Silva Mejias (Spain)

Silver – Antonio Carmona Marin (Spain)

Bronze – Clay Johnston (United States)

82 kg

Gold – Nuraualet Rakhman (Kazakhstan)

Silver – Junior Gustavo Benitez Ortiz (Spain)

Bronze – Jose Angel Teso Soba (Spain)

87 kg

Gold – Damian Von Euw (Switzerland)

Silver – Brayan Ruiz (Venezuela)

Bronze – Baglan Kuanyshi (Kazakhstan)

97 kg

Gold – Daniel Gastl (Austria)

Silver – Nurassyl Amanaly (Kazakhstan)

Bronze – Juan Diaz (Venezuela)

130 kg

Gold – Luis Talavera (Venezuela)

U.S. Greco-Roman results

77 kg: Clay Johnston, Birmingham, Alabama (NMU-NTS), bronze medal

LOSS Marcos Sanchez-Silva Mejias (Spain), tech fall, 8-0

LOSS Antonio Carmona Marin (Spain), tech fall, 8-0

82 kg: Mason Parsons, Chappells, S.C. (NMU-NTS), 6th place

LOSS Mohamed Amin Mainich Housni (Spain), 11-2

LOSS Damian Von Euw (Switzerland), tech fall, 8-0

Greco-Roman Team Standings

1.  Spain, 164

2. Kazakhstan, 135

3. Venezuela, 80

4. Austria, 40

5. Switzerland, 25

6. United States, 24

7. Portugal 10

8. Congo, 8