Wax, Tsarni Advance to Gold Medal Matches; Deputy, Karenbauer Place Fifth To Wrap Up Day Six at U17 World Championships
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by David Gerhart, USA Wrestling
Rylen Wax works for takedown in the semifinals of the 2026 U17 World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan
BAKU, Azerbaijan – Rylen Wax and Salah Tsarni both shutout their semifinal opponents to win controlled bouts and advance to gold medal matches at the 2026 U17 World Championships at the National Gymnastics Arena.
Wax, who captured the U17 Greco-Roman World title earlier this week, advanced to his second gold medal match of the championships with a 9-0 victory over Mahdi Daerrcheli of Iran. The victory keeps Wax’s hopes for two U17 World titles alive.
In the gold medal match at 45 kg, Wax faces a familiar foe in four-time Pan American medalist Nelson Villafane III of Puerto Rico. Wax and Villafane III met at the 2026 U17 Pan American Championships, where Wax won 9-8 in the men’s freestyle semifinals. Wax also beat Villafane III in the Greco-Roman round robin, 7-5. At the 2025 U15 Pan American Championships, Villafane III won 5-4 over Wax in the gold medal match in men’s freestyle, but Wax won 8-0 for gold in Greco-Roman.
At 92 kg, Tsarni continued his bonus run with an 11-0 technical fall against Saksham of India. Tsarni utilized strong leg attacks throughout the bout to put the match away. Across his four contests on Saturday, he only allowed two points, winning two matches by fall and two by technical fall.
Tsarni battles 2026 U17 European champion Abdurazak Shabanov of Russia in the championship finals on Sunday.
In the medal rounds for men’s freestyle group one (48-51-65-80-110 kg), Kooper Deputy and Chase Karenbauer both placed fifth after falling in bronze medal bouts. In the 48 kg bronze medal match, Deputy suffered an 11-0 loss to 2026 U17 European silver medalist Volodymyr Boiko of Ukraine. Karenbauer lost 8-0 to two-time U15 Asian medalist Prathmesh Patil of India.
For a complete match-by-match breakdown from today’s matches for Team USA, visit our day six match notes.
At the conclusion of the semifinals from men’s freestyle group two (45-51-60-71-92 kg), Camryn Howard was pulled back into the repechage after Reza Shamsipourhajivand moved into the finals at 71 kg. Howard needs two wins to move into the bronze medal match. His first contest comes against Jaloliddin Djalalov of Uzbekistan.
The U.S. currently sits in 10th place in the team standings with 20 points. Iran leads all teams with 75 points after group one, followed closely by Russia with 71 points and Uzbekistan with 70 points.
The 2026 U17 World Championships conclude on Sunday with repechage matches for men’s freestyle group two starting at 4:30 p.m. local time/8:30 a.m. ET. The medal rounds will follow at 6 p.m. local/10 a.m. ET.
Live streams and archived matches are available on FloWrestling in the U.S. market. Brackets and results are hosted on UWW Arena.
For live results and updates from the U17 World Championships, follow along with USA Wrestling’s social channels and TheMat.com.
2026 U17 World Championships
At Baku, Azerbaijan, August 1
Reference Links
Men’s Freestyle Results
Team Standings (After Group One)
1. Iran, 75
2. Russia, 71
3. Uzbekistan, 70
4. India, 60
5. Kazakhstan, 47
6. Ukraine, 31
7. Türkiye, 29
8. Colombia, 25
9. Hungary, 24
10. United States, 20
Weight Class Rankings (Group One)
48 kg
Gold – Bakdaulet Agabek (Kazakhstan)
Silver – Aaryan (India)
Bronze – Volodymyr Boiko (Ukraine)
Bronze – Farrukh Makhmudov (Uzbekistan)
5th – Kooper Deputy (United States)
5th – Muslikhiddin Khodzhiev (Tajikistan)
7th – Batin Nanis (Türkiye)
8th – Kirill Kondrashov (Russia)
9th – Huseyn Rzazade (Azerbaijan)
10th – Zurab Dotiashvili (Georgia)
Gold – Bakdaulet Agabek (Kazakhstan) tech. fall Aaryan (India), 10-0
Bronze – Volodymyr Boiko (Ukraine) tech. fall Kooper Deputy (United States), 11-0
Bronze – Farrukh Makhmudov (Uzbekistan) fall Muslikhiddin Khodzhiev (Tajikistan), 1:16
55 kg
Gold – Jovanni Tovar (Colombia)
Silver – Jakhongir Tulkunov (Uzbekistan)
Bronze – Arman Elahichoran (Iran)
Bronze – Prathmesh Patil (India)
5th – Davit Baleyan (Armenia)
5th – Chase Karenbauer (United States)
7th – Mukhammadiasin Izzatillaev (Kyrgyzstan)
8th – Saba Mindiashvili (Georgia)
9th – Kyryl Shumeiko (Hungary)
10th – Temirlan Murat (Kazakhstan)
Gold – Jovanni Tovar (Colombia) tech. fall Jakhongir Tulkunov (Uzbekistan), 11-0
Bronze – Arman Elahichoran (Iran) dec. Davit Baleyan (Armenia), 5-2
Bronze – Prathmesh Patil (India) dec. Chase Karenbauer (United States), 8-0
65 kg
Gold – Magomed Ibragimov (Russia)
Silver – Shokhiddin Aliev (Uzbekistan)
Bronze – Sam Arshadghasabsaraei (Iran)
Bronze – Jovani Solis (Puerto Rico)
5th – Zamir Daniyar (Kazakhstan)
5th – Krishan (India)
7th – Tymur Abumislimov (Ukraine)
8th – Enkhmunkh Sainkhuu (Mongolia)
9th – Petko Sarakostov (Bulgaria)
10th – Sacha Aubert (France)
Gold – Magomed Ibragimov (Russia) fall Shokhiddin Aliev (Uzbekistan), 4-0
Bronze – Sam Arshadghasabsaraei (Iran) dec. Zamir Daniyar (Kazakhstan), 9-0
Bronze – Jovani Solis (Puerto Rico) fall Krishan (India), 3:56
80 kg
Gold – Amirali Ferasati (Iran)
Silver – Zeteny Tugyi (Hungary)
Bronze – Kantemir Elmesov (Russia)
Bronze – Volkan Bilgin (Türkiye)
5th – Takahiro Hagino (Japan)
5th – Yassin Ezzat (Egypt)
7th – Ayubjon Bozorzoda (Tajikistan)
8th – Salakhuddin Abdulaiev (Ukraine)
9th – Nihad Suleymanli (Azerbaijan)
10th – Alii Zakirzhanov (Kyrgyzstan)
Gold – Amirali Ferasati (Iran) tech. fall Zeteny Tugyi (Hungary), 10-0
Bronze – Kantemir Elmesov (Russia) dec. Takahiro Hagino (Japan), 9-7
Bronze – Volkan Bilgin (Türkiye) tech. fall Yassin Ezzat (Egypt), 11-1
110 kg
Gold – Magomed Omarov (Russia)
Silver – Amirhossein Esmali Yousefabad (Iran)
Bronze – Arush Rana (India)
Bronze – Behruz Ashirov (Uzbekistan)
5th – Sagyndyk Temirgaly (Kazakhstan)
5th – Murtaz Bagdavadze (Georgia)
7th – Stefan Stefanov (Bulgaria)
8th – Yigit Aktas (Türkiye)
9th – Hanto Hayashi (Japan)
10th – Valerii Pichuhin (Ukraine)
Gold – Magomed Omarov (Russia) dec. Amirhossein Esmali Yousefabad (Iran), 7-4
Bronze – Arush Rana (India) dec. Sagyndyk Temirgaly (Kazakhstan), 9-1
Bronze – Behruz Ashirov (Uzbekistan) dec. Murtaz Bagdavadze (Georgia), 3-2
Gold Medal Match Pairing (Group Two)
45 kg – Rylen Wax (United States) vs. Nelson Villafane III (Puerto Rico)
51 kg – Benyamin Ashofteh Mayvan (Iran) vs. Ibrahim Hasanov (Azerbaijan)
60 kg – Sergei Karmrian (Russia) vs. Sitender (India)
71 kg – Reza Shamsipourhajivand (Iran) vs. Bohdan Kvantaliani (Georgia)
92 kg – Salah Tsarni (United States) vs. Abdurazak Shabanov (Russia)
Semifinal Results (Group Two)
45 kg
Rylen Wax (United States) dec. Mahdi Damercheli (Iran), 9-0
Nelson Villafane III (Puerto Rico) tech. fall Luka Dotiashvili (Georgia), 10-0
51 kg
Benyamin Ashofteh Mayvan (Iran) dec. William Soto (Puerto Rico), 5-4
Ibrahim Hasanov (Azerbaijan) dec. Islam Kurakhmaev (Russia), 10-6
60 kg
Sergei Karmrian (Russia) dec. Mykyta Kuzmenko (Ukraine), 2-2
Sitender (India) fall Davit Mdzevashvili (Georgia), 3:47
71 kg
Reza Shamsipourhajivand (Iran) tech. fall Mekan Hudayberenov (Turkmenistan), 13-2
Bohdan Kvantaliani (Georgia) dec. Mokhmad Baisultanov (Russia), 10-9
92 kg
Salah Tsarni (United States) tech. fall Saksham (India), 11-0
Abdurazak Shabanov (Russia) tech. fall Nuradin Mustafaev (Georgia), 11-0
U.S. Men’s Freestyle Results
Group One
48 kg – Kooper Deputy (New Paris, Pa./Orchard WC), 5th place
WIN Bogdan Sapojnic (Germany), tech. fall, 12-0
LOSS Aaryan (India), 10-7
WIN Huseyn Rzazade (Azerbaijan), tech. fall, 12-1
LOSS Volodymyr Boiko (Ukraine), tech. fall, 11-0
55 kg – Chase Karenbauer (Mercer, Pa./Bad Karma WC), 5th place
WIN Valentin Deleanu (Moldova), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Kyosuke Ikeda (Japan), 6-4
WIN Mukhammadiasin Izzatillaev (Kyrgyzstan), 11-4
LOSS Jovanni Tovar (Colombia), tech. fall, 10-0
LOSS Prathmesh Patil (India), 8-0
65 kg – Arseni Kikiniou (Escondido, Calif./Poway Wrestling), 15th place
WIN Bidzina Jintcharadze (Georgia), 7-0
LOSS Jovani Solis (Puerto Rico), 6-1
80 kg – Jayden O’Farrill (State College, Pa./M2 Training Center), 16th place
LOSS Ayubjon Bozorzoda (Tajikistan), 8-6
110 kg – Peter Mocco (Parkland, Fla./ATT/Mocco Wrestling Academy), 20th place
LOSS Murtaz Bagdavadze (Georgia), 3-0
Group Two
45 kg – Rylen Wax (Chillicothe, Ohio/Beast Mode Wrestling), gold medal match
WIN Hanumant Jadhav (India), tech. fall, 14-3
WIN Aryn Zhanat (Kazakhstan), 8-6
WIN Mahdi Daerrcheli (Iran), 9-0
VS Nelson Villafane III (Puerto Rico)
51 kg – Evan Restivo (State College, Pa./M2 Training Center), eliminated
LOSS Said Nabiev (Tajikistan), tech. fall, 12-1
60 kg – Jojo Burke (Park Ridge, N.J.), eliminated
LOSS Shota Fujiwara (Japan), 10-6
71 kg – Camryn Howard (Bellport, N.Y./KD Training Center), repechage
WIN Georgo Both (Slovakia), tech. fall. 12-1
LOSS Reza Shamsipourhajivand (Iran), 8-1
VS Jaloliddin Djalalov (Uzbekistan)
92 kg – Salah Tsarni (Montgomery Village, Md./Blairstown WC), gold medal match
WIN Artem Zalvovskyi (Ukraine), tech. fall, 11-0
WIN Mohammad Isazadeh (Iran), fall, 3:48
WIN Shu Yoshida (Japan), fall, 0:55
WIN Saksham (India), tech. fall, 11-0
VS Abdurazak Shabanov (Russia)
