Otto Black wins two bouts, falls in quarters for U.S. Greco-Roman team at U23 World Championships
Share:
by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling
Otto Black tosses Adomas Grigaliunas of Lithuania in the opening round of the 2025 U23 World Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia.
NOVI SAD, Serbia – Otto Black carried the U.S. banner during session one of the 2025 U23 World Championships on Tuesday. He won a pair of matches to make the quarterfinal round before dropping a 1-1 criteria contest to Mohamed Abdelrehim of Egypt.
In the 67 kg quarters, Black was put down in par terre first, which proved to be the deciding factor in the match. He was the aggressor throughout the back half of the match but couldn’t find a score from neutral or top when given the opportunity.
Black, a 2024 U20 World silver medalist, impressed during the prelims with a 7-3 win over Adomas Grigaliunas of Lithuania, followed by a second period pin against Yanis Guendez Nifri of France. He now awaits his repechage fate, needing Abdelrehim to win in tonight’s semifinals.
The other three Greco-Roman group two Americans were shutout in the win column and are not eligible for the repechage—Kenneth Crosby at 55 kg, Aliaksandr Kikiniou at 72 kg and Max Ramberg at 97 kg.
Aydin Rix McElhinney was the lone American in Greco-Roman group one to hit the repechage on Tuesday morning. He was unable to get the critical win, falling 8-0 to three-time age-group World medalist Alexandru Solovei of Moldova at 77 kg.
The tournament continues at 5 p.m. local time on Tuesday with the Greco-Roman group two (55-67-72-97 kg) semifinals, followed by the Greco-Roman group one (63-77-87-130 kg) medal matches at 6 p.m. Novi Sad, Serbia, is located six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time.
Olympian and U.S. Senior World Team member Payton Jacobson is set to wrestle for a bronze medal at 87 kg this evening against two-time age-group World medalist and U23 European bronze medalist Lachin Valiyev of Azerbaijan.
The U23 World Championships are streaming live on FloWrestling.com to the U.S. market. Brackets and updated results can be found on UWW Arena.
Gold – Ziya Babashov (Azerbaijan) vs. Vitalie Eriomenco (Moldova)
Bronze – Servet Angi (Türkiye) vs. Dordzhi Shungurtsikov (UWW)
Bronze – Kuttubek Abdurazakov (Kyrgyzstan) vs. Adham Elsayed (Egypt)
Gold – Temuri Orjonikidze (Georgia) vs. Irfan Mirzoiev (Ukraine)
Bronze – Doniyorkhon Nakibov (Uzbekistan) vs. Alexandru Solovei (Moldova)
Bronze – Levente Levai (Hungary) vs. Jonni Sarkkinen (Finland)
Gold – Gholamreza Farokhisenjani (Iran) vs. Ivan Chmyr (Ukraine)
Bronze – Payton Jacobson (United States) vs. Lachin Valiyev (Azerbaijan)
Bronze – Yassine Ben Labed (Poland) vs. Achiko Bolkvadze (Georgia)
Gold – Fardin Hedayati (Iran) vs. Razmik Kurdyan (Armenia)
Bronze – Laszlo Darabos (Hungary) vs. Saba Chilashvili (Georgia)
Bronze – Aleksandr Melekhov (UWW) vs. Artur Sarkisjan (Czechia)
Elmir Aliyev (Azerbaijan) vs. Armin Shamsipourhaji (Iran)
Alibek Amirov (UWW) vs. Yerassyl Mamyrbekov (Kazakhstan)
Hleb Makaranka (UWW) vs. Anri Khozrevanidze (Georgia)
Mohamed Abdelrehim (Egypt) vs. Attila Jozsa (Hungary)
Iman Mohammadi (Iran) vs. Gaspar Terteryan (Armenia)
Merey Maulitkanov (Kazakhstan) vs. Abror Atabaev (Uzbekistan)
Richard Karelson (Estonia) vs. Yehor Yakushenko (Ukraine)
Maksim Averin (UWW) vs. Iussuf Matsiyev (Kazakhstan)
LOSS Jeremy Peralta Gonzalez (Ecuador), tech. fall, 9-0
LOSS Temuri Orjonikidze (Georgia), 4-1
LOSS Alexandru Solovei (Moldova), tech. fall, 8-0
87 kg – Payton Jacobson (Marquette, Mich./NMU National Training Center/New York AC), bronze medal match
WIN Rohit Bura (India), tech. fall, 8-0
WIN Gabriel Lupasco (Moldova), 7-1
WIN Zaur Shangereev (UWW), 5-3
LOSS Gholamreza Farokhisenjani (Iran), tech. fall, 9-0
VS Lachin Valiyev (Azerbaijan)
WIN Mykhailo Vyshnyvetskyi (Ukraine), 8-1
LOSS Laszlo Darabos (Hungary), tech. fall, 8-0
LOSS Vishvajit More (India), tech. fall, 9-1
WIN Adomas Grigaliunas (Lithuania), 7-3
WIN Yanis Guendez Nifri (France), fall, 5:51
LOSS Mohamed Abdelrehim (Egypt), 1-1
LOSS Danil Grigorev (UWW), 3-0
LOSS Kyo Kitawaki (Japan), tech. fall, 12-1
