Amine and Valencia Claim Silver, McKenna Collects Bronze at Stepan Sargsyan Cup; Olejnik Wrestles For Gold on Sunday
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by David Gerhart, USA Wrestling
Zahid Valencia competing at the 26th Stepan Sargsyan Cup in Yerevan, Armenia
YEREVAN, Armenia – Cameron Amine and Zahid Valencia both suffered close defeats in gold medal matches on Saturday at the 26th Stepan Sargsyan Cup at Dynamo Sports Hall.
Joey McKenna went 2-0 to win bronze, and Izzak Olejnik started his run for gold on Saturday with three victories to move into the championship match at 79 kg.
In the gold medal match at 86 kg, 2025 World champion Valencia got off to a flying start and grabbed an 8-2 lead over two-time age-group Asian medalist Askhab Khajiyev of Kazakhstan. Khajiyev chipped away at his deficit and tied the match at 11 points each with 12 seconds left in the bout.
After a lost U.S. challenge, with Khajiyev holding criteria, the score favored Khajiyev, 12-11. On the final restart, Valencia looked to score a quick takedown, and he got behind Khajiyev, but Khajiyev held his quadpod over the final seconds of the match to keep Valencia off the board and steal a 12-11 decision.
Amine’s gold-medal match at 74 kg was the opposite of Valencia's high-scoring affair, and no takedowns were scored in the match. Facing two-time age-group World medalist Imam Ganishov of Russia, Ganishov grabbed a 3-0 lead with a pair of step-outs and a passivity point. Amine got on the scoreboard with 31 seconds to go after the activity clock ran out on Ganishov. Amine could not score in the final seconds of the contest and dropped a 3-1 affair.
Starting the day in the repechage round, two-time age-group World medalist McKenna rolled to a 29-second, 10-0 technical fall over two-time age-group European medalist Hayko Gasparyan of Armenia. Then in the bronze medal match, after falling behind 1-0 on a step-out, McKenna took over and rattled off 10-straight points to win 10-1 for bronze against Rifat Saibotalov of Kazakhstan.
Taking part in the second group of the men’s freestyle competition in Armenia, Olejnik collected three wins to move into Sunday’s gold medal round. Olejnik’s opening match at 79 kg went down to the wire, where a step-out with 29 seconds left gave him a 3-2 victory over Dias Sagdatov of Kazakhstan. Taking on age-group European medalist Ion Marcu of Moldova in the quarterfinals, Olejnik pitched the shutout and earned a 5-0 victory.
In his final match of the day, Olejnik upended age-group World medalist Hrayr Alikhanyan of host Armenia, 9-5. The gold medal match at 79 kg features Olejnik battling Gadzhimurad Alikhmaev of Russia, who won silver at the 2020 Russian Championships.
The final day of the Stepan Sargsyan Cup begins at 11 a.m. local time with repechage bouts. Medal matches for group two (61-70-79-92-125 kg) are set to begin at noon on Sunday.
Live and archived streams from the 26th Stepan Sargsyan Cup are available on the Armen Garamyan YouTube Channel.
2026 Stepan Sargsyan Cup
At Yerevan, Armenia, September 12
Reference Links
Weight Class Rankings (Group One)
57 kg
Gold – Manvel Khndrycyan (Armenia)
Silver – Aryan Tsiutryn (Belarus)
Bronze – Dzimchuk Batamunkuyeu (Belarus)
Bronze – Luka Gvinjilia (Georgia)
5th – Amir Chamzyn (Russia)
5th – Ion Bulgaru (Moldova)
7th – Ashot Gyulnazaryan (Armenia)
8th – Arsen Markarian (Ukraine)
9th – Killian Delaney (United States)
Gold – Manvel Khndrcyan (Armenia) dec. Aryan Tsiutryn (Belarus), 8-6
Bronze – Dzimchuk Batamunkuyeu (Belarus) dec. Amir Chamzyn (Russia), 8-6
Bronze – Luka Gvinjilia (Georgia) dec. Ion Bulgaru (Moldova), 5-4
65 kg
Gold – Abasgadzhi Magomedov (Russia)
Silver – Ossimzhan Dastanbek (Kazakhstan)
Bronze – Adil Ospanov (Kazakhstan)
Bronze – Joey McKenna (United States)
5th – Aren Hayrapetyan (Armenia)
5th – Rifat Saibotalov (Kazakhstan)
7th – Nurbolat Abdulayev (Kazakhstan)
8th – Hayko Abrahamyan (Armenia)
9th – Tigran Ghazaryan (Armenia)
10th – Adi Serikuly (Kazakhstan)
Gold – Abasgadzhi Magomedov (Russia) tech. fall Ossimzhan Dastanbek (Kazakhstan), 10-0
Bronze – Adil Ospanov (Kazakhstan) dec. Aren Hayrapetyan (Armenia), 8-4
Bronze – Joey McKenna (United States) dec. Rifat Saibotalov (Kazakhstan), 10-1
74 kg
Gold – Imam Ganishov (Russia)
Silver – Cameron Amine (United States)
Bronze – Narek Harutyunyan (Armenia)
Bronze – Darkhan Yessengali (Kazakhstan)
5th – Kamil Rybicki (Poland)
5th – Murat Dzhakupov (Kazakhstan)
7th – Vladimir Azaryan (Armenia)
8th – Nikita Dmitrijevs (Belarus)
9th – Szymon Wojtkowski (Poland)
10th – Zhassulan Bexultanov (Kazakhstan)
Gold – Imam Ganishov (Russia) dec. Cameron Amine (United States), 3-1
Bronze – Narek Harutyunyan (Armenia) fall Kamil Rybicki (Poland), 3:26
Bronze – Darkhan Yessengali (Kazakhstan) dec. Murat Dzhakupov (Kazakhstan),3-1
86 kg
Gold – Askhab Khajiyev (Kazakhstan)
Silver – Zahid Valencia (United States)
Bronze – Razmik Epremyan (Armenia)
Bronze – Rustem Myrzagaliyev (Kazakhstan)
5th – Magzhan Zhanyrbay (Kazakhstan)
5th – Alan Tigiyev (Bulgaria)
7th – Train Capatina (Moldova)
8th – Radomir Stoyanov (Bulgaria)
9th – Laurentiu Marcu (Moldova)
10th – Bolat Sakayev (Kazakhstan)
Gold – Askhab Khajiyev (Kazakhstan) dec. Zahid Valencia (United States), 12-11
Bronze – Razmik Epremyan (Armenia) dec. Magzhan Zhanyrbay (Kazakhstan), 6-2
Bronze – Rustem Myrzagaliyev (Kazakhstan) dec. Alan Tigiyev (Bulgaria), 10-7
97 kg
Gold – Konstantine Petriashvili (Georgia)
Silver – Uvladislav Kazlou (Belarus)
Bronze – Shamil Tambiev (Russia)
Bronze – Aliaksandr Hushtyn (Belarus)
5th – Gurgen Simonyan (Armenia)
5th – Martin Simonyan (Armenia)
7th – Abdimanap Baigenzheyev (Kazakhstan)
8th – Andriyan Valkanov (Bulgaria)
9th – Magomedghadzhi Magomedov (Russia)
10th – Filip Szucki (Poland)
Gold – Konstantine Petriashvili (Georgia) tech. fall Uvladislav Kazlou (Belarus), 10-0
Bronze – Shamil Tambiev (Russia) dec. Gurgen Simonyan (Armenia), 6-4
Bronze – Aliaksandr Hushtyn (Belarus) dec. Martin Simonyan (Armenia), 5-0
Gold Medal Match Pairings (Group Two)
61 kg – Meirambek Kartbay (Kazakhstan) vs. Sargis Begoyan (Armenia)
70 kg – Vazgen Tevanyan (Armenia) vs. Ibragim Ibragimov (Russia)
79 kg – Izzak Olejnik (United States) vs. Gadzhimurad Alikhmaev (Russia)
92 kg – Magomed Ramazanov (Bulgaria) vs. Amanula Gadzhimagome (Russia)
125 kg – Merab Suleymanashvili (Georgia) vs. Siyra Mohsen (Germany)
U.S. Men’s Freestyle Results (Group One)
57 kg – Killian Delaney (West Chester, Pa./Lehigh Valley Wrestling RTC), 9th place
LOSS Amir Chamzyn (Russia), tech. fall, 11-0
65 kg – Joey McKenna (Stillwater, Okla./Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC), bronze medal
WIN Vasile Marcu (Moldova), tech. fall, 10-0
LOSS Abasgadzhi Magomedov (Russia), 8-0
WIN Hayko Gasparyan (Armenia), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Rifat Saibotalov (Kazakhstan), 10-1
74 kg – Cameron Amine (Stillwater, Okla./Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC), silver medal
WIN Darkhan Yessengali (Kazakhstan), 5-1
WIN Kaloyan Atanasov (Bulgaria), tech. fall, 11-0
WIN Murat Dzhakupov (Kazakhstan), 2-1
LOSS Imam Ganishov (Russia), 3-1
86 kg – Zahid Valencia (Stillwater, Okla./Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC), silver medal
WIN Tornike Tulashvili (Georgia), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Rustem Myrzagaliyev (Kazakhstan), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Alan Tigiev (Bulgaria), tech. fall, 10-0
LOSS Askhab Khajiyev (Kazakhstan), 12-11
U.S. Men’s Freestyle Results (Group Two)
79 kg – Izzak Olejnik (Bakersfield, Calif./Cowboy RTC), gold medal match
WIN Dias Sagdatov (Kazakhstan), 3-2
WIN Ion Marcu (Moldova), 5-0
WIN Hrayr Alikhanyan (Armenia), 9-5
VS Gadzhimurad Alikhmaev (Russia)
