Rix McElhinney claims silver, Nelson bronze in Greco-Roman at Valamar Cup
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by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling
Aydin Rix McElhinney hand raise at the 2025 U23 Nationals in Geneva, Ohio.
POREC, Croatia – The U.S. earned a pair of Greco-Roman medals in a strong showing at the second annual Valamar Cup. 2025 U23 World Team member Aydin Rix McElhinney secured a silver medal at 77 kg and 2025 Senior National Team member Duncan Nelson wound up with bronze at 67 kg.
Rix McElhinney posted a 3-2 record on the day with his two losses coming to the same opponent, Kevin Kupi of Albania. Kubi took the group play match 10-0, but Rix McElhinney made sound adjustments for the gold medal round to narrow the gap in a 4-2 final. Rix McElhinney earned decision wins over Dominik Botos of Hungary, Zalan Toplak of Hungary and Temuri Orjonikidze of Georgia. The win over Orjonikidze, who was fifth at the 2024 U23 Worlds and a U20 European bronze medalist, stands out.
Nelson went 1-2 in a tough four-man round-robin bracket with a medal clinching win over Latvia’s Stanislavs Verdinss coming by 9-0 technical fall. Nelson battled to decision losses against 2024 Olympian Nestor Almanza Truyol of Chile and 2023 U23 World silver medalist Romeo Beridze of Georgia.
2025 U23 World Team members Kenneth Crosby and Rhett Peak fell outside of medal placement. Crosby took an injury default in his opening match to Koba Karumidze of Georgia at 55 kg. Peak went 1-1 against opponents from China at 60 kg. He earned 3-3 criteria win over Zyue Xi before falling 9-0 to Haifeng Zhang.
An archived live stream of the event can be found on the wrestlePorec YouTube channel.
55 kg – Kenneth Crosby (Colorado Springs, Colo./NMU-National Training Center), eliminated
LOSS Koba Karumidze (Georgia), inj. def.
60 kg – Rhett Peak (Tulsa, Okla./New York AC), eliminated
WIN Zyue Xi (China), 3-3
LOSS Haifeng Zhang (China), tech. fall, 9-0
67 kg – Duncan Nelson (Lombard, Ill./Air Force WCAP), bronze medal
LOSS Nestor Almanza Truyol (Chile), 4-2
LOSS Romeo Beridze (Georgia), 6-1
WIN Stanislavs Verdinss (Latvia), tech. fall, 9-0
77 kg – Aydin Rix McElhinney (South Berwick, Maine/Northern Colorado WC), silver medal
WIN Dominik Botos (Hungary), 5-1
WIN Zalan Toplak (Hungary), 7-1
LOSS Kevin Kupi (Albania), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Temuri Orjonikidze (Georgia), 7-6
LOSS Kevin Kupi (Albania), 4-2
