Lee, Desanto, Carr, Keckeisen earn gold at Zagreb Open, U.S. starts fast with seven men’s freestyle medals
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by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling
Parker Keckeisen hand raise after winning gold at the 2026 Zagreb Open.
ZAGREB, Croatia – A strong statement was made by Team USA on the opening day of the 2026 Zagreb Open, with four of the six men’s freestyle champions crowned on day one belonging to the U.S.
The standout U.S. performance at the first United World Wrestling Ranking Series event on the calendar came from Parker Keckeisen, who won a stacked 86 kg bracket in his first overseas event on the Senior level.
The Panther Wrestling Club product opened his tournament with three wins in the preliminary rounds, highlighted by an 11-0 technical fall over India’s Mukul Dahiya, who was fifth in the World Championships last year. He also took out 2021 U23 World bronze medalist Ali Savadkouhi of Iran in the semifinals, 9-5.
In the championship match, Keckeisen went toe-to-toe with 2024 Olympian and 2023 World silver medalist Vladimeri Gamkrelidze of Georgia, who defeated reigning World champion Zahid Valencia by technical fall earlier in the day. After trading step-out points in the first period, Keckeisen came on strong in the second period with three points—one activity time point, one step out and one lost challenge point—to emerge with a 4-3 decision.
The win gave Keckeisen, a 2024 NCAA champion for Northern Iowa, his second medal at an international event and established him as a serious World Team threat this season. He was runner-up at the Bill Farrell Memorial International held last November and also notched a win over Valencia at RAF 04 held in December.
Valencia rebounded from his loss to Gamkrelidze with a 57-second pin, courtesy of a pancake, against 2024 U17 World champion Abolfazl Shamsipour Hajivand of Iran to finish with a bronze medal.
Three more Americans finished atop the medal stand at Arena Zagreb—Spencer Lee at 57 kg, Austin DeSanto at 61 kg and David Carr at 74 kg.
Lee, a 2024 Olympic silver medalist, earned the gold by way of injury default. He opened the finals against Mexico’s Roman Bravo Young with a quick takedown and turn in the first 32 seconds. Upon the restart, Bravo Young decided to default from the match with an apparent knee injury.
After finishing the day with a 3-1 record in round robin play, DeSanto sat in a three-way tie atop the standings with 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Aman of India and 2024 U20 Asian bronze medalist Reza Momenijoujadeh of Iran. DeSanto won the gold by having more classification points than the other two, a pin over Aman being the deciding factor. He has now won three international gold medals in the past three months.
Carr, who was fifth at last year’s World Championships, earned a signature win on Wednesday evening. He outlasted 2025 World champion Yoshinosuke Aoyagi of Japan, 4-1. Carr held a 2-1 lead late, with all three points on the board coming from activity time. He iced the match with a counter takedown with 15 seconds left in the contest. It is Carr’s second international gold medal of the young 2026 season.
Joining Valencia with bronze medal wins for Team USA were Joey McKenna at 65 kg and Caleb Henson at 70 kg. McKenna pulled away in a 4-1 win over 2022 U20 World bronze medalist Khamzat Arsamerzouev of France. Henson held off 2023 World champion Ismail Musukaev of Hungary, 5-4.
Dropping bronze medal bouts to finish in fifth place were Ian Parker at 70 kg and James Green at 74 kg. Complete day one results for each U.S. athlete can be found below.
The action from Zagreb continues on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. local time / 4:30 a.m. (ET) from Arena Zagreb with the men’s freestyle group two (79-92-97-125 kg) and women’s freestyle group one (50-55 kg) prelims.
A live broadcast of the event is available to the U.S. market through FloWrestling.
Brackets and match-by-match results can be found on UWW Arena.
Gold – Spencer Lee (United States)
Silver – Roman Bravo Young (Mexico)
Bronze – Fuga Sasaki (Japan)
Bronze – Milad Valizadeh (Iran)
5th – Azamat Tuskaev (Serbia)
5th – Atish Todkar (India)
7th – Ankush (India)
8th – Anthony Knox (United States)
9th – Liam Cronin (United States)
10th – Roberti Dingashvili (Georgia)
Gold – Spencer Lee (United States) inj. def. Roman Bravo Young (Mexico), 0:32
Bronze – Fuga Sasaki (Japan) dec. Azamat Tuskaev (Serbia), 4-1
Bronze – Milad Valizadeh (Iran) tech. fall Atish Todkar (India), 10-0
Gold – Austin DeSanto (United States)
Silver – Aman (India)
Bronze – Reza Momenijoujadeh (Iran)
4th – Giorgi Goniashvili (Georgia)
5th – Ali Aburumaila (Palestine)
Round robin records: DeSanto (3-1), Aman (3-1), Momenijoujadeh (3-1), Goniashvili (1-3), Aburumaila (0-4)
Gold – Sujeet (India)
Silver – Peyman Nemati (Iran)
Bronze – Joey McKenna (United States)
Bronze – Nika Zakashvili (Georgia)
5th – Gamzatgadzhi Khalidov (Hungary)
5th – Khamzat Arsamerzouev (France)
7th – Zoltan Mizsei (Hungary)
8th – Takara Suda (Japan)
Gold – Sujeet (India) dec. Peyman Nemati (Iran), 3-0
Bronze – Joey McKenna (United States) dec. Khamzat Arsamerzouev (France), 4-1
Bronze – Nika Zakashvili (Georgia) dec. Gamzatgadzhi Khalidov (Hungary), 11-6
Gold – Sina Khalili (Iran)
Silver – Akaki Kemertelidze (Georgia)
Bronze – Abhimanyou (India)
Bronze – Caleb Henson (United States)
5th – Ian Parker (United States)
5th – Ismail Musukaev (Hungary)
7th – Tyler Kasak (United States)
8th – Ebrahim Elahichouran (Iran)
9th – Patryk Olenczyn (Poland)
10th – Muhammad Abdurachmanov (Belgium)
Gold – Sina Khalili (Iran) tech. fall Akaki Kemertelidze (Georgia), 10-0
Bronze – Abhimanyou (India) dec. Ian Parker (United States), 6-3
Bronze – Caleb Henson (United States) dec. Ismail Musukaev (Hungary), 5-4
Gold – David Carr (United States)
Silver – Yoshinosuke Aoyagi (Japan)
Bronze – Seyfulla Itaev (France)
Bronze – Aliakbar Fazlikhalili (Iran)
5th – James Green (United States)
5th – Giorgi Elbakidze (Georgia)
7th – Jarrett Jacques (United States)
8th – Kamil Rybicki (Poland)
9th – Farhad Nourikhorjestan (UWW)
10th – Benjamin Dobler (Hungary)
Gold – David Carr (United States) dec. Yoshinosuke Aoyagi (Japan), 4-1
Bronze – Seyfulla Itaev (France) fall James Green (United States), 3:38
Bronze – Aliakbar Fazlikhalili (Iran) tech. fall Giorgi Elbakidze (Georgia), 10-0
Gold – Parker Keckeisen (United States)
Silver – Vladimeri Gamkrelidze (Georgia)
Bronze – Zahid Valencia (United States)
Bronze – Ali Savadkouhi (Iran)
5th – Abolfazl Shamsipour Hajivand (Iran)
5th – Mukul Dahiya (India)
7th – Georgios Kougioumtsidis (Greece)
8th – Gabriel McDuffie (Sierra Leone)
9th – Simon Marchl (Austria)
10th – Connor Church (Canada)
Gold – Parker Keckeisen (United States) dec. Vladimeri Gamkrelidze (Georgia), 4-3
Bronze – Zahid Valencia (United States) fall Abolfazl Shamsipour Hajivand (Iran), 0:57
Bronze – Ali Savadkouhi (Iran) dec. Mukul Dahiya (India), 6-5
57 kg – Liam Cronin (Lincoln, Neb./Nebraska Wrestling Training Center/Titan Mercury WC), 9th place
LOSS Milad Valizadeh (Iran), 9-3
57 kg – Anthony Knox (Freehold, N.J.), 8th place
LOSS Roman Bravo Young (Mexico), tech. fall, 12-2
LOSS Atish Todkar (India), 14-6
WIN Azamat Tuskaev (Serbia), 4-0
WIN Fuga Sasaki (Japan), 10-2
WIN Roman Bravo Young (Mexico), inj. def., 0:32
LOSS Reza Momenijoujadeh (Iran), 11-11
WIN Ali Aburumaila (Palestine), forfeit
WIN Giorgi Goniashvili (Georgia), tech. fall, 12-2
WIN Aman (India), fall, 2:36
WIN Takara Suda (Japan), 7-0
LOSS Sujeet (India), tech. fall, 11-0
WIN Khamzat Arsamerzouev (France), 4-1
WIN Ebrahim Elahichouran (Iran), 5-5
WIN Muhammad Abdurachmanov (Belgium), tech. fall, 11-1
LOSS Akaki Kemertelidze (Georgia), 6-4
WIN Ismail Musukaev (Hungary), 5-4
70 kg – Ian Parker (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Panther Wrestling Club RTC/Titan Mercury WC), 5th place
LOSS Sina Khalili (Iran), 9-3
WIN Patryk Olenczyn (Poland), tech. fall, 14-2
LOSS Abhimanyou (India), 6-3
70 kg – Tyler Kasak (Lemont, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC), 7th place
WIN Alexander Seiwald (Austria), tech. fall, 11-0
LOSS Abhimanyou (India), tech. fall, 10-0
74 kg – Jarrett Jacques (Columbia, Mo./Tiger Style WC), 7th place
WIN Alfred Daniel (Sierra Leone), tech. fall, 11-0
LOSS David Carr (United States), 9-2
LOSS Aliakbar Fazlikhalili (Iran), 8-7
WIN Aliakbar Fazlikhalili (Iran), fall, 5:47
WIN Jarrett Jacques (United States), 9-2
WIN Giorgi Elbakidze (Georgia), tech. fall, 12-1
WIN Yoshinosuke Aoyagi (Japan), 4-1
74 kg – James Green (Lincoln, Neb./Nebraska Wrestling Training Center/Titan Mercury WC), 5th place
LOSS Yoshinosuke Aoyagi (Japan), 6-1
WIN Kamil Rybicki (Poland), tech. fall, 10-0
LOSS Seyfulla Itaev (France), fall, 3:38
WIN Sandeep Mann (India), tech. fall, 11-0
LOSS Vladimeri Gamkrelidze (Georgia), tech. fall, 11-0
WIN Abolfazl Shamsipour Hajivand (Iran), fall, 0:57
WIN Mukul Dahiya (India), tech. fall, 11-0
WIN Gabriel McDuffie (Sierra Leone), fall, 1:04
WIN Ali Savadkouhi (Iran), 9-5
WIN Vladimeri Gamkrelidze (Georgia), 4-3
