Adams crowned U17 Greco-Roman World Champion after perfect performance in Rome
by Ellen Paddock, USA Wrestling
U17 World Champion Joel Adams. Photo by United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan
ROME, Italy – Joel Adams didn’t give up a single point on his way to gold at the U17 World Championships in Rome, outscoring his opponents 36-0 at 65 kg in Greco-Roman.
In the gold-medal match against Aleksandre Rusitashvili of Georgia, Adams tallied three takedowns to win 6-0. He refused to give up a takedown late in the match to keep his record untouched.
The last U17 Greco-Roman World Champion was Cohlton Schultz in 2017 in Athens, Greece.
According to Adams, he is still taking in the victory.
“I don’t think I’ll actually realize I’m a World champ until I wake up in the morning,” Adams said.
Adams rolled through his bracket with dominant wins over Ukraine’s Petro Shafranskyi in the semifinals, Takaku Suzuki of Japan, Saya Brunner of Switzerland and Aleksandre Rusitashvili of Georgia. See scores below.
In June, the World champion won U17 Pan-American titles in freestyle and Greco-Roman. Additionally, he won USMC 16U National titles in freestyle and Greco-Roman in 2021.
Three other Americans have a chance to bring home Greco-Roman medals for Team USA on Wednesday. At 92 kg, Merrill will wrestle for bronze against the winner of Marcell Gyuricza of Hungary and Josip Benko of Croatia. At 60 kg, Fugitt needs to win two matches for a chance at bronze. His first repechage match is against Yussuff Ashrapov of Kazakhstan.
Khosravy will only need to win one bout against the winner of Mihael Lukac of Croatia and Dominik Czuczor of Hungary to advance to the 71 kg bronze match.
Greco-Roman repechage competition begins at 5:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday. Watch all the action live on FloWrestling and follow along on USA Wrestling’s Twitter (@USAWrestling) for live updates.
2022 U17 World Championships
at Rome, Italy | July 25-31
U.S. Greco-Roman results:
45kg: Davis Motyka (Kingston, Pa./XCalibur Athletics) – eliminated
LOSS Ionut Mereuta (Romania), 2-1
48 kg: Christian Castillo (Glendale, Ariz./Thorobred Wrestling Club) – eliminated
LOSS Said Khalilov (Azerbaijan), 4-2
51kg: Elyle Francisco (Anchorage, AK./Anchorage Youth Wrestling Academy) –eliminated
LOSS Peter Totok (Hungary), 12-3
55 kg: Nick Treaster (Newton, Kans./Newton Wrestling Club) – eliminated
LOSS Halil Cinar (Turkey), 7-0
60kg: Zan Fugitt (Nixa, Mo.) – repechage
LOSS Gaspar Terteryan (Armenia), 9-0
vs. Yussuf Ashrapov (Kazakhstan), third at 2022 U17 Asian Championships and 2021 U17 World Championships
65 kg: Joel Adams (Omaha, Neb./The Best Wrestler) – gold
WIN Takaku Suzuki (Japan), 8-0
WIN Saya Brunner (Switzerland), 10-0
WIN Aleksandre Rusitashvili (Georgia), 6-0
WIN Petro Shafranskyi (Ukraine), 6-0
WIN Ahoura Bouveiri (Iran), 6-0
71kg: Arvin Khosravy (Woodland Hills, Calif.) – repechage
WIN Marco Begle (Austria), 9-0
LOSS Anri Putkaradze (Georgia), 10-0
vs. Mihael Lukac (CRO), fifth at 2022 U17 European Championships
-OR-Dominik Czuczor (HUN), eighth at 2022 U17 European Championships
80 kg: Cole Han-Lindemyer (Farmington, Minn./Pinnacle Wrestling Club) – eliminated
LOSS Taizo Yoshida (Japan), 8-4
92kg: Cody Merrill (Ontario, Calif./Daniel Cormier Wrestling Club) – bronze medal match
WIN Arsen Ruslanov (Kyrgyzstan), 9-0
WIN Florin Manolache (Romania), fall
LOSS Darius Kiefer (GER), 11-0
vs. Marcell Gyuricza (HUN), fifth at 2022 U17 European Championships
-OR- Josip Benko (CRO)
110 kg: Koy Hopke (Amery, Wis./Pinnacle Wrestling Club) – eliminated
WIN Maxim Ukraintsev (Kazakhstan), 8-0
LOSS Dmytro Stryzhekozin (Ukraine), 8-0
Schedule (six hours ahead of U.S. EST)
Wednesday, July 27
11:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds (WFS 43, 49, 57, 65, 73 kg), repechage (GR 45, 51, 60, 71, 92 kg)
5 p.m. – Semifinals (WFS 43, 49, 57, 65, 73 kg)
6 p.m. – Finals (GR 45, 51, 60, 71, 92 kg)
Thursday, July 28
11:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds (WFS 40, 46, 53, 61, 69 kg), repechage (WFS 43, 49, 57, 65, 73 kg)
5: p.m. – Semifinals (WFS 40, 46, 53, 61, 69 kg)
6 p.m. – Finals (WFS 43, 49, 57, 65, 73 kg)
Friday, July 29
11:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds (FS 48, 55, 65, 80, 110 kg), repechage (WFS 40, 46, 53, 61, 69 kg)
5 p.m. – Semifinals (FS 48, 55, 65, 80, 110 kg)
6 p.m. – Finals (WFS 40, 46, 53, 61, 69 kg)
Saturday, July 30
11:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds (FS 45, 51, 60, 71, 92 kg), repechage (GR 48, 55, 65, 80, 110 kg)
5 p.m. – Semifinals (FS 45, 51, 60, 71, 92 kg)
6 p.m. – Finals (FS 48, 55, 65, 80, 110 kg)
Sunday, July 31
4:30 p.m. – Repechage (FS 45, 51, 60, 71, 92 kg)
6 p.m. Finals (FS 45, 51, 60, 71, 92 kg)