Beka Melelashvili’s bronze leads U.S. Greco-Roman contingent on day one of 69th Wladyslaw Pytlasinski Memorial
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by Zack Chavez, USA Wrestling
Beka Melelashvili has his hand raised at the Wrestling Ranking Series Polyak & Janos & Istvan Memorial in Budapest, Hungary
WARSAW, Poland – Beka Melelashvili secured a bronze medal on day one of the 69th Wladyslaw Pytlasinski Memorial Wednesday during Greco-Roman competition in Warsaw, Poland. The U.S. closed the day with three wrestlers finishing in the top 10 of their respective weight classes—Melelashvili in third at 87 kg, Benji Peak in seventh at 72 kg and George Sikes in 10th at 82 kg.
Melelashvili jumped out to a quick start, scoring all five of his points in the opening period of his 5-3 win over Ivan Khmyr of Ukraine in round one. He then made quick work of Waltteri Latvala of Finland in round two, disposing of him with an 11-2 technical fall. After a round-three bye, Melelashvili was tested in round four against Gevorg Tadevosyan of Armenia. Tadevosyan took a 5-3 lead one minute into the second period and held on for the rest of the match.
In the lone U.S. medal match, Melelashvili faced his second Ukrainian opponent, Mykyta Alieksieiev. Although Alieksieiev jumped to a 4-3 lead in the opening minute, Melelashvili found his rhythm and began scoring at will, moving ahead 11-4 with 41 seconds left in the period. Alieksieiev countered to trim his deficit to 11-6, but Melelashvili quickly responded with a counter of his own, resulting in a pin over his Ukrainian foe at the 2:28 mark.
Peak found himself in an offensive battle in round one against Amantur Ismailov of Kyrgyzstan, a match that ultimately went to Ismailov, 8-7. Peak rebounded in round two, earning a 9-0 victory over his fellow countryman, Brett Back. In round three, he squared off against Henrik Dahlen of Sweden and used a pair of second-period points to take the lead before securing a 2-1 decision. Peak concluded his day in round four, dropping a 1-1 criteria decision to Krisztian Vancza of Hungary.
Sikes earned his top-10 placement after finishing his day with a 1-2 record, which included a 9-0 loss to Samvel Grigoryan in round one, a 7-3 win over Oskar Lubera of Poland in round two and a 3-0 loss to Vikke Tarkkio of Finland in round four.
Greco-Roman competition concludes on Thursday with the 55 kg, 60 kg, 63 kg and 67 kg brackets. There will be eight U.S. wrestlers competing in Thursday’s Greco-Roman slate, including three 2026 World Team members—Dalton Roberts, Xavier Johnson and Otto Black.
Women’s freestyle will kick off the Poland Open on Thursday, with two weight classes in action. Sage Mortimer and Mariah Anderson will hit the mats at 50 kg, while Sydney Petzinger and Alisha Paradise will compete at 53 kg.
Thursday’s schedule begins at 10:30 a.m., with qualification rounds, repechage, semifinals and medal matches contested throughout the day in the Greco-Roman and women’s freestyle divisions.
A complete list of Wednesday’s Greco-Roman results is below. Brackets and results, along with live streams, are available on SportZona. All listed times are local to Warsaw, Poland, which is six hours ahead of the U.S. Eastern Time Zone.
Gold – Saeid Esmaeili Leivesi (Iran)
Silver – Parviz Nasibov (Ukraine)
Bronze – Krisztian Vancza (Hungary)
Bronze – Dmytro Vasyliev (Ukraine)
5th – Gaspar Terteryan (Armenia)
5th – Amantur Ismailov (Kyrgyzstan)
7th – Benji Peak (United States)
8th – Petar Gornyashki (Bulgaria)
9th – Piotr Stolarczyk (Poland)
10th – Henrik Dahlen (Sweden)
Gold – Saeid Esmaeili Leivesi (Iran) tech. fall Parviz Nasibov (Ukraine), 8-0
Bronze – Dmytro Vasyliev (Ukraine) dec. Amantur Ismailov (Kyrgyzstan), 3-1
Bronze – Krisztian Vancza (Hungary) dec. Gaspar Terteryan (Armenia), 5-5
Gold – Andrii Kulyk (Ukraine)
Silver – Irfan Mirzoiev (Ukraine)
Bronze – Aleksa Ilic (Serbia)
Bronze – Robert Fritsch (Hungary)
5th – Oleh Khalilov (Ukraine)
5th – Karl Baff (Sweden)
7th – Yryskeldi Maksatbek Uulu (Kyrgyzstan)
8th – Stoyan Kubatov (Bulgaria)
9th – Levente Levai (Hungary)
10th – Adam Strandner (Sweden)
Gold – Andrii Kulyk (Ukraine) fall Irfan Mirzoiev (Ukraine), 3:29
Bronze – Aleksa Ilic (Serbia) dec. Karl Baff (Sweden), 5-1
Bronze – Robert Fritsch (Hungary) dec. Oleh Khalilov (Ukraine), 5-1
Gold – Samvel Grigoryan (Armenia)
Silver – Antal Vamos (Serbia)
Bronze – Alexander Johansson (Sweden)
Bronze – Mykyta Politayiev (Ukraine)
5th – Aik Mnatsakanian (Bulgaria)
5th – Zoltan Levai (Hungary)
7th – Vikke Tarkkio (Finland)
8th – Ognjen Jakovljevic (Serbia)
9th – Seimur Mamedov (Ukraine)
10th – George Sikes (United States)
Gold – Samvel Grigoryan (Armenia) dec. Antal Vamos (Serbia), 7-0
Bronze – Mykyta Politayiev (Ukraine) med. forfeit Zoltan Levai (Hungary)
Bronze – Alexander Johansson (Sweden) dec. Aik Mnatsakanian (Bulgaria), 4-0
Gold – Asan Zhanyshov (Kyrgyzstan)
Silver – Gevorg Tadevosyan (Armenia)
Bronze – Yaroslav Filchakov (Ukraine)
Bronze – Beka Melelashvili (United States)
5th – Aleksandar Stjepanetic (Sweden)
5th – Mykyta Alieksieiev (Ukraine)
7th – Marcel Sterkenburg (Netherlands)
8th – Tamas Levai (Hungary)
9th – Szymon Szymonowicz (Poland)
10th – Istvan Takacs (Hungary)
Gold – Asan Zhanyshov (Kyrgyzstan) dec. Gevorg Tadevosyan (Armenia), 6-0
Bronze – Yaroslav Filchakov (Ukraine) tech. fall Aleksandar Stjepanetic (Sweden), 8-0
Bronze – Beka Melelashvili (United States) fall Mykyta Alieksieiev (Ukraine), 2:28
Gold – Richard Karelson (Estonia)
Silver – Uros Krstin (Serbia)
Bronze – Arvi Savolainen (Finland)
Bronze – Hamza Sertcanli (Sweden)
5th – Anton Vieweg (Germany)
5th – Gerard Kurniczak (Poland)
7th – Darius Kiefer (Germany)
8th – Vladlen Kozliuk (Ukraine)
9th – Uzur Dzhuzupberkov (Kyrgyzstan)
10th – Wojciech Iwanowski (Poland)
Gold – Richard Karelson (Estonia) dec. Uros Krstin (Serbia), 3-0
Bronze – Arvi Savolainen (Finland) dec. Anton Vieweg (Germany), 5-1
Bronze – Hamza Sertcanli (Sweden) forfeit Gerard Kurniczak (Poland)
Gold – Franz Richter (Germany)
Silver – Mantas Knystautas (Lithuania)
Bronze – Elias Kuosmanen (Finland)
Bronze – Michailo Vyshnyvetskyi (Ukraine)
5th – Romas Fridrikas (Lithuania)
5th – Patrick Neumaier (Germany)
7th – Murat Botoev (Kyrgyzstan)
8th – Artur Sarkisjan (Czech Republic)
9th – Heiki Nabi (Estonia)
10th – Marcel Elias (Poland)
Gold – Franz Richter (Germany) dec. Mantas Knystautas (Lithuania), 3-1
Bronze – Michailo Vyshnyvetskyi (Ukraine) fall Romas Fridrikas (Lithuania), 1:16
Bronze – Elias Kuosmanen (Finland) dec. Patrick Neumaier (Germany), 1-1
72 kg – Benji Peak (Colorado Springs, Colo./Position Wrestling/New York AC), 7th place
LOSS Amantur Ismailov (Kyrgyzstan), dec., 8-7
WIN Brett Back (United States), tech. fall, 9-0
WIN Henrik Dahlen (Sweden), dec., 2-1
LOSS Krisztian Vancza (Hungary), dec., 1-1
72 kg – Brett Back (Rudolph, Wis./Position Wrestling), 15th place
LOSS Gaspar Terteryan (Armenia), tech. fall, 8-0
LOSS Benji Peak (United States), tech. fall, 9-0
77 kg – Britton Holmes (Colorado Springs, Colo./Army WCAP), 17th place
LOSS Ludvig Gunheim-Hatland (Norway), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Eduardo Bernal Molina (Chile), tech. fall, 9-0
LOSS Robert Fritsch (Hungary), dec., 5-0
82 kg – Jesse Porter (Ballston Lake, N.Y./New York AC), 18th place
LOSS Ognjen Jakovljevic (Serbia), dec., 6-0
LOSS Oskar Lubera (Poland), dec., 2-0
82 kg – George Sikes (Fort Pierce, Fla./New York AC), 10th place
LOSS Samvel Grigoryan (Armenia), tech. fall, 9-0
WIN Oskar Lubera (Poland), dec., 7-3
LOSS Vikke Tarkkio (Finland), dec., 3-0
87 kg – Beka Melelashvili (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC), bronze medal
WIN Ivan Khmyr (Ukraine), dec., 5-3
WIN Waltteri Latvala (Finland), tech. fall, 11-2
LOSS Gevorg Tadevosyan (Armenia), dec., 5-3
WIN Mykyta Alieksieiev (Ukraine), fall, 2:28
87 kg – Payton Jacobson (Marquette, Mich./New York AC), 11th place
WIN Edvin Kin (Estonia), tech. fall, 11-0
LOSS Yaroslav Filchakov (Ukraine), dec., 3-1
LOSS Szymon Szymonowicz (Poland), dec., 3-1
87 kg – Keenan Wyatt (Gardendale, Ala./Knights RTC), 17th place
LOSS Waltteri Latvala (Finland), tech. fall, 8-0
LOSS Ivan Khmyr (Ukraine), dec., 4-0
97 kg – Tim Young (Colorado Springs, Colo./Army WCAP), 11th place
WIN Ibrahim Fallatah (Saudi Arabia), dec., 6-4
LOSS Gerard Kurniczak (Poland), dec., 6-1
LOSS Vladlen Kozliuk (Ukraine), tech. fall, 8-0
