Team USA wraps up Cadet World Championships, earning one silver medalist and two fifth-place finishers in Greco-Roman
by Mike Willis, USA Wrestling
Feature photo of Cadet World silver medalist courtesy of ringerspiegel.ch /Gerhard Remus
Budapest, Hungary – Team USA wrapped up their competition at the Cadet World Championships this evening, earning one silver medalist and two fifth-place finishers. The tournament finishes Greco-Roman action tomorrow, but the U.S. does not have any competitors remaining in the brackets.
In the 55 kg finals, Cory Land fell to Russia’s Valerii Mangutov, 8-0. Mangutov executed a four-point lift in the first period and a go-behind into a gut wrench for two turns in the second period to clinch the title.
Land wrestled a phenomenal tournament leading up to the gold medal match. In his opening bout, he earned a 10-0 technical fall over Berati Inac of Turkey, a 2021 Cadet European bronze medalist. He followed it up with a thrilling victory over Sweden’s Adam Silverin, 9-6. In the semifinals, he blanked Zhantoro Mirazaliev of Kyrgyzstan, 5-0.
This was Land’s second trip to Cadet Worlds, after failing to reach the podium and finishing eighth in 2019.
At 48 kg, Otto Black dropped a tight 4-2 battle to Cadet European champion Ruslan Nurullayev of Azerbaijan. All of the match’s scoring came in the first period. Nurullayev countered a headlock attempt for two points and then added another two points with a lift on the edge of the mat. Black got on the board with a go-behind, but was unable to surpass Nurullayev’s lead.
Black, who initially finished runner-up at the Cadet World Team Trials, also compiled an impressive tournament, earning an opening round pin over U15 European gold medalist Yuri Karapetyan of Armenia. He also defeated Hungary’s Peter Totok in a 4-0 quarterfinal shutout.
Jim Mullen was the last wrestler to compete for Team USA, dropping a heartbreaker in the 110 kg bronze medal match. Mullen initially took a 5-0 lead over Czechia’s Artur Sarkisjan, on the strength of a passivity point and two turns from par terre. However, Sarkisjan came back to throw Mullen for four points on the edge of the mat, securing the fall with ten seconds remaining in the first period.
For Mullen, who already earned a silver medal in men’s freestyle earlier this week, this was only the second Greco-Roman tournament he ever competed in. The first was the Cadet Greco-Roman World Team Trials.
Tomorrow’s repechage begins at 9:00 a.m. EST. The tournament concludes with the medal round at 11:00 a.m. EST. Both rounds stream live on FloWrestling.
2021 Cadet World Championships
at Budapest, Hungary, July 19-25
U.S. Greco-Roman results
45 kg: Bo Bassett (Windber, Pa.)
LOSS Ruslan Lukiaev (Russia), 8-0
48 kg: Otto Black (Castle Rock, Colo.) - FIFTH
WIN Yuri Karapetyan (Armenia),
WIN Peter Totok (Hungary), 4-0
LOSS Servet Angi (Turkey), 5-5
LOSS Ruslan Nurullayev (Azerbaijan), 4-2
51 kg: Kaedyn Williams (Lancaster, Pa.)
WIN Abolfazi Shahraki Niya (Iran), 6-3
LOSS Kuvonchbek Yakhshiboev (Uzbekistan), 8-0
55 kg: Cory Land (Moody, Ala.) – SILVER
WIN Berati Inac (Turkey), 10-0
WIN Adam Silverin (Sweden), 9-6
WIN Zhantoro Mirazaliev (Kyrgyzstan), 5-0
LOSS Valerii Mangutov (Russia), 8-0
60 kg: Brock Bobzien (Poway, Calif.)
LOSS Bagdat Sabaz, 10-1 (Kazakhstan)
65 kg: Jadon Skellenger (Meridian, Idaho)
WIN Rokas Cepauskas (Lithuania), 9-0
WIN Ashot Poghosyan (Bulgaria), 8-0
LOSS Ankit Guli (India), 14-6
71 kg: Braden Stauffenberg (Plano, Ill.)
LOSS Ruslan Nurullayev (Azerbaijan), 9-0
80 kg: Ryder Rogotzke (Lakeland, Minn.)
WIN Mihael Salajec (Croatia), FALL, 1:28
LOSS Joju Samadov (Azerbaijan), 11-4
92 kg: Nathan Wemstrom (Buffalo Grove, Ill.),
LOSS Rasmus Liisma (Estonia), 3-1
110 kg: James Mullen (Harrington Park, N.J.)
LOSS Nikita Ovsjanikov (Germany), 7-2
WIN Lyova Sargsyan (Armenia), Fall 1:06
LOSS Artur Sarkisjan (Czechia), FALL 1:50