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Humphrey wins Veterans World Greco-Roman gold to become double champion; Dombkowski adds bronze as Team USA is third in Greco-Roman
by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Reece Humphrey with the American flag flashes the number two in celebration of his Veterans World double title. Photo courtesy of Chris Brown.
LOUTRAKI, Greece – Reece Humphrey of Dayton, N.J. won the Div. A gold medal at 70 kg at the Veterans World Championships on Sunday, becoming a rare double champion at the Veterans level.
Humphrey had also won the Div. A gold medal in men’s freestyle on Thursday. He joins longtime U.S. veterans star Shirzad Ahmadi as a double champion, as Ahmadi won a gold medal in both styles in 2015.
Humphrey was dominant in the gold-medal finals, scoring an 8-0 technical fall over Gevorg Tonoian of Russia to secure his second gold medal of the week.
Humphrey powered through his half-bracket to reach the finals, with two technical falls and a pin. He defeated his older brother Jordin Humphrey of the USA by an 8-0 technical fall in the semifinals. He also had a first-round 8-0 technical fall over Bagirs Bogdanovs of Latvia in the first round, and a pin in 2:58 over Mohammed Moradi of Iran in the quarterfinals. Humphrey outscored his four opponent 30-2 during the tournament.
By winning the Greco-Roman title, Humphrey becomes the 12th U.S. Veterans wrestler to win a Greco-Roman title, joined this year by David Yi of Folsom, Calif. (Div. B, 62 kg) and Octavius Bellamy of Bollingbrook, Ill. (Div. C, 88 kg). They join a short list of Veterans Greco-Roman champions which also includes Chris Brown (2014, 2016), Ronald Hughes (2004), Valentin Kalika (2009), Gregg Stensgard (2012), Mohammed Taheri (2013), Shirzad Ahmadi (2015), Michael Tuck (2015), Steve Barkman (2015) and Hedj Nelson (2017).
Humphrey was a three-time U.S. Senior World Team member and a two-time University World medalist in men’s freestyle. As a high school star from Indiana, Humphrey won a Junior Nationals title in Greco-Roman.
This is only the second time the USA has had three Greco-Roman gold medalists during the same year, matching the 2015 output by Ahmadi, Tuck and Barkman.
The USA has now won eight Veterans World titles this year, with Humphrey, Bellamy and Yi joined by freestyle wrestlers Dan Chaid (Div. E, 130 kg), Rob Prebish of Richmond, Va. (Div. C, 62 kg), Stephen Horton of Cibolo, Texas (Div. D, 70 kg), Jon Banko of New Kensington, Pa. (Div. D, 78 kg) and Reese Humphrey of of Dayton, N.J. (Div. A 70 kg), and Greco-Roman wrestlers.
Adding a bronze medal in Div. A at 130 kg was Ronald Dombkowski II of Waterford, Pa., who won a tight 1-1 criteria decision in his bronze-medal match over Frederick Oulevey of Switzerland). Dombkowski opened with a forfeit win over Semih Turgut of Turkey, then lost to eventual silver medalist Mahdi Ahmad Noori of Iran, 2-0, which put him in the bronze-medal round.
Two U.S. wrestlers lost bronze medal matches to place fifth, Jordin Humphrey of Crestline, Calif. (Div. A, 70 kg) and James Medeiros II of Granada Hills, Calif. (Div. A 88 kg).
With the two medals won on Sunday, the USA finished with nine Greco-Roman Veterans World medals. That placed the USA third in the final team standings behind champion Russia and runner-up Iran.
Add in the 20 medals that the USA won in freestyle, and Team USA is coming home from Greece with a total of 29 medals. The U.S. Veterans men’s freestyle team won the team title, giving the nation a top-three finish in both styles.
VETERANS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Loutraki, Greece, October 23
Div. A Greco-Roman medalists (ages 35-40)
62 kg
Gold - Mostafa Hassan Abdelaal Mohamed (Iran)
Silver - Daniyar Ray (Kazakhstan)
Bronze - Jarkko Ilari Wester (Sweden)
70 kg
Gold - Reece Humphrey (USA)
Silver - Gevorg Tonoian (Russia)
Bronze - Mohammad Nosratollah Moradi (Iran)
Bronze - Azamat Satybaldiyev (Kazakhstan)
78 kg
Gold - Arzu Pirmetov (Russia)
Silver - Vitali Murashka (Belarus)
Bronze - Eric Buisson (France)
Bronze - Dumitru Popov (Moldova)
88 kg
Gold - Saber Saleh Bali Tabar (Iran)
Silver - Valeriy Golubkov (Russia)
Bronze - Andrey Samokhin (Kazakhstan)
Bronze - Robin Alexander Liljegren (Sweden)
100 kg
Gold - Zsolt Dajka (Hungary)
Silver - Guglielmo Cecca (Guglielmo)
Bronze - Ilias Boukis (Greece)
Bronze - Vladimir Pshenichnyy (Russia)
130 kg
Gold - Saleh Moustafa Mohamed Omara (Egypt)
Silver - Mahdi Ahmad Noori (Iran)
Bronze - Ronald John Dombkowski II (USA)
Bronze - Zaza Shavadze (Georgia)
U.S. Div. A Greco-Roman results (ages 35-40)
70 kg – Jordin Humphrey, Crestline, Calif., 5th place
WIN Eric Richter (Germany), 7-1
WIN Sahib Rzayev (Azerbaijan), tech. fall 9-0
LOSS Reece Humphrey (USA), tech. fall 8-0
LOSS Mohammed Nosratollah Moradi (Iran), tech. fall 8-0
70 kg – Reece Humphrey, Dayton, N.J., gold medal
WIN Bagirs Bogdanovs (Latvia), tech. fall 8-0
WIN Mohammed Nosratollah Moradi (Iran), pin 2:58
WIN Jordin Humphrey (USA), tech. fall 8-0
WIN Gevorg Tonoian (Russia), tech. fall 8-0
88 kg – James Medeiros II, Granada Hills, Calif., 5th place
WIN Dmitry Pakhomov (Russia), 4-1
WIN Vangel Vangelov (Bulgaria), 4-1
LOSS Valeriy Golubkov (Russi), 2-2
LOSS Robin Siljegren (Sweden), tech. fall 9-0
100 kg – Marko Bojkovic, Westmont, Ill., dnp/17th
WIN Ilias Boukis (Greece), pin 0:52
130 kg – Ronald Dombkowski II, Waterford, Pa., bronze medal
WIN Semih Turgut (Turkey), forfeit
LOSS Mahdi Ahmad Noori (Iran), 2-0
WIN Frederick Oulevey (Switzerland), 1-1
LOUTRAKI, Greece – Reece Humphrey of Dayton, N.J. won the Div. A gold medal at 70 kg at the Veterans World Championships on Sunday, becoming a rare double champion at the Veterans level.
Humphrey had also won the Div. A gold medal in men’s freestyle on Thursday. He joins longtime U.S. veterans star Shirzad Ahmadi as a double champion, as Ahmadi won a gold medal in both styles in 2015.
Humphrey was dominant in the gold-medal finals, scoring an 8-0 technical fall over Gevorg Tonoian of Russia to secure his second gold medal of the week.
Humphrey powered through his half-bracket to reach the finals, with two technical falls and a pin. He defeated his older brother Jordin Humphrey of the USA by an 8-0 technical fall in the semifinals. He also had a first-round 8-0 technical fall over Bagirs Bogdanovs of Latvia in the first round, and a pin in 2:58 over Mohammed Moradi of Iran in the quarterfinals. Humphrey outscored his four opponent 30-2 during the tournament.
By winning the Greco-Roman title, Humphrey becomes the 12th U.S. Veterans wrestler to win a Greco-Roman title, joined this year by David Yi of Folsom, Calif. (Div. B, 62 kg) and Octavius Bellamy of Bollingbrook, Ill. (Div. C, 88 kg). They join a short list of Veterans Greco-Roman champions which also includes Chris Brown (2014, 2016), Ronald Hughes (2004), Valentin Kalika (2009), Gregg Stensgard (2012), Mohammed Taheri (2013), Shirzad Ahmadi (2015), Michael Tuck (2015), Steve Barkman (2015) and Hedj Nelson (2017).
Humphrey was a three-time U.S. Senior World Team member and a two-time University World medalist in men’s freestyle. As a high school star from Indiana, Humphrey won a Junior Nationals title in Greco-Roman.
This is only the second time the USA has had three Greco-Roman gold medalists during the same year, matching the 2015 output by Ahmadi, Tuck and Barkman.
The USA has now won eight Veterans World titles this year, with Humphrey, Bellamy and Yi joined by freestyle wrestlers Dan Chaid (Div. E, 130 kg), Rob Prebish of Richmond, Va. (Div. C, 62 kg), Stephen Horton of Cibolo, Texas (Div. D, 70 kg), Jon Banko of New Kensington, Pa. (Div. D, 78 kg) and Reese Humphrey of of Dayton, N.J. (Div. A 70 kg), and Greco-Roman wrestlers.
Adding a bronze medal in Div. A at 130 kg was Ronald Dombkowski II of Waterford, Pa., who won a tight 1-1 criteria decision in his bronze-medal match over Frederick Oulevey of Switzerland). Dombkowski opened with a forfeit win over Semih Turgut of Turkey, then lost to eventual silver medalist Mahdi Ahmad Noori of Iran, 2-0, which put him in the bronze-medal round.
Two U.S. wrestlers lost bronze medal matches to place fifth, Jordin Humphrey of Crestline, Calif. (Div. A, 70 kg) and James Medeiros II of Granada Hills, Calif. (Div. A 88 kg).
With the two medals won on Sunday, the USA finished with nine Greco-Roman Veterans World medals. That placed the USA third in the final team standings behind champion Russia and runner-up Iran.
Add in the 20 medals that the USA won in freestyle, and Team USA is coming home from Greece with a total of 29 medals. The U.S. Veterans men’s freestyle team won the team title, giving the nation a top-three finish in both styles.
VETERANS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Loutraki, Greece, October 23
Div. A Greco-Roman medalists (ages 35-40)
62 kg
Gold - Mostafa Hassan Abdelaal Mohamed (Iran)
Silver - Daniyar Ray (Kazakhstan)
Bronze - Jarkko Ilari Wester (Sweden)
70 kg
Gold - Reece Humphrey (USA)
Silver - Gevorg Tonoian (Russia)
Bronze - Mohammad Nosratollah Moradi (Iran)
Bronze - Azamat Satybaldiyev (Kazakhstan)
78 kg
Gold - Arzu Pirmetov (Russia)
Silver - Vitali Murashka (Belarus)
Bronze - Eric Buisson (France)
Bronze - Dumitru Popov (Moldova)
88 kg
Gold - Saber Saleh Bali Tabar (Iran)
Silver - Valeriy Golubkov (Russia)
Bronze - Andrey Samokhin (Kazakhstan)
Bronze - Robin Alexander Liljegren (Sweden)
100 kg
Gold - Zsolt Dajka (Hungary)
Silver - Guglielmo Cecca (Guglielmo)
Bronze - Ilias Boukis (Greece)
Bronze - Vladimir Pshenichnyy (Russia)
130 kg
Gold - Saleh Moustafa Mohamed Omara (Egypt)
Silver - Mahdi Ahmad Noori (Iran)
Bronze - Ronald John Dombkowski II (USA)
Bronze - Zaza Shavadze (Georgia)
U.S. Div. A Greco-Roman results (ages 35-40)
70 kg – Jordin Humphrey, Crestline, Calif., 5th place
WIN Eric Richter (Germany), 7-1
WIN Sahib Rzayev (Azerbaijan), tech. fall 9-0
LOSS Reece Humphrey (USA), tech. fall 8-0
LOSS Mohammed Nosratollah Moradi (Iran), tech. fall 8-0
70 kg – Reece Humphrey, Dayton, N.J., gold medal
WIN Bagirs Bogdanovs (Latvia), tech. fall 8-0
WIN Mohammed Nosratollah Moradi (Iran), pin 2:58
WIN Jordin Humphrey (USA), tech. fall 8-0
WIN Gevorg Tonoian (Russia), tech. fall 8-0
88 kg – James Medeiros II, Granada Hills, Calif., 5th place
WIN Dmitry Pakhomov (Russia), 4-1
WIN Vangel Vangelov (Bulgaria), 4-1
LOSS Valeriy Golubkov (Russi), 2-2
LOSS Robin Siljegren (Sweden), tech. fall 9-0
100 kg – Marko Bojkovic, Westmont, Ill., dnp/17th
WIN Ilias Boukis (Greece), pin 0:52
130 kg – Ronald Dombkowski II, Waterford, Pa., bronze medal
WIN Semih Turgut (Turkey), forfeit
LOSS Mahdi Ahmad Noori (Iran), 2-0
WIN Frederick Oulevey (Switzerland), 1-1