U.S. receives Greco-Roman draw at U17 World Championships
by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling
Photo: U17 U.S. Greco-Roman World Team member Jordyn Raney pictured at the U.S. Open Championships in Las Vegas. (Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)
ISTANBUL, Turkey – The Greco-Roman draw for the U17 World Championships has been announced by United World Wrestling, establishing the playing field for U.S. medal hopefuls as they slug it out with the World’s best.
The Greco-Roman contingent is the first to hit the mats at Başakşehir Gençlik ve Spor İlçe Müdürlüğü Tesisleri in Istanbul, with its competition scheduled to span July 31 through Aug. 2. Five weight classes will start their tournaments on Monday, with the remaining five weights kicking off on Tuesday. Each weight class will compete over two days, wrestling through the semifinals on day one, followed by repechage and medal matches on day two.
The first crop of Greco-Roman wrestlers to take center stage for the U.S. are Ezekiel Witt at 48 kg, Jordyn Raney at 55 kg, William Greenwood at 65 kg, Adam Waters at 80 kg and Nicholas Sahakian at 110 kg.
Of this bunch, the starkest opening round draw was served to Greenwood. He will face 2022 U15 European champion Yusif Ahmadli of Azerbaijan in the round-of-32. Similarly, Raney stands opposite a continental champion in the round-of-32 in the form of Egypt’s Ahmed Shaban, who won the African Championships at the U17 and U20 levels this year.
Sahakian is positioned nicely in the round-of-16, awaiting the winner of Pawel Janzen of Poland and Daniel Szilagyi of Hungary. Witt is one of three pigtail matches in his bracket where he will take on Armenia’s Edgar Petrosyan for a spot against Turkey’s Abdulsamet Ucar in the round-of-16. Waters opens with Pan-American rival Miguel Angel Vega Salazar of Colombia in the round-of-32.
The remaining five American athletes, who will open their tournaments on Tuesday, are Henry Aslikyan at 45 kg, Hudson Loges at 51 kg, Sam Herring at 60 kg, Arvin Khosravy at 71 kg and Aiden Cooley at 92 kg.
It’ll be demanding right out of the gate for Cooley, who starts his World journey against Serbia’s U17 European bronze medalist Stevan Kojic in the round-of-16. It’s a similar story for Loges, who has drawn Turkmenistan’s Husniddin Ulugbekov in the round-of-16. Ulugbekov finished a respectable fifth place at the U17 Asian Championships last month.
The U.S. and Iran will clash to open things at 45 kg as Aslikyan takes on Alireza Ahmad Amirighasroddashti in the round-of-16. Herring is set to open against Yerdaulet Lassim of Kazakhstan in the round-of-32, with the winner advancing to face Egypt’s Mohamed Ibrahim. Khosravy has drawn Ivan Bialiayeu, who is registered under Individual Neutral Athlete, and is of Belarussian descent.
The U17 World Championships commence each day at 11 a.m. local time in Istanbul, Turkey, which is located seven hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time. Schedule times for the semifinals and medal rounds vary by day. A complete Greco-Roman event schedule is listed below.
A live stream of the event is available to the U.S. audience through FloWrestling.com. Brackets and real-time results are available through UWW Arena.
2023 U17 Greco-Roman World Championships
At Istanbul, Turkey, July 31 – Aug. 2
Quick Links
Live stream: FloWrestling
Brackets: UWW Arena
Event Schedule: UWW
Greco-Roman Event Schedule
Monday, July 31
11:00 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (GR 48-55-65-80-110 kg)
5:15 p.m. – Opening Ceremonies
6:00 p.m. – Semifinals (GR 48-55-65-80-110 kg)
Tuesday, August 1
11:00 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (GR 45-51-60-71-92 kg), Repechage (GR 48-55-65-80-110 kg)
5:00 p.m. - Semifinals (GR 45-51-60-71-92 kg)
6:00 p.m. – Championship Finals (GR 48-55-65-80-110 kg)
Wednesday, August 2
11:00 a.m. –Repechage (GR 45-51-60-71-92 kg)
6:00 p.m. – Championship Finals (GR 45-51-60-71-92 kg)
*Listed times refer to local time in Istanbul, Turkey, which is seven hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time
U.S. Greco-Roman Draw
45 kg – Henry Aslikyan (Panorama City, California/Birmingham Community Charter School)
VS Alireza Ahmad Amirighasroddashti (Iran)
48 kg – Ezekiel Witt (Junction City, Kansas/Manhattan Wrestling)
VS Edgar Petrosyan (Armenia)
51 kg – Hudson Loges (Blair, Nebraska/MWC Wrestling Academy)
VS Husniddin Ulugbekov (Turkmenistan), Fifth at 2023 U17 Asian Championships
55 kg – Jordyn Raney (Sturgis, Kentucky/Union County High School)
VS Ahmed Shaban (Egypt), 2023 U17 and U20 African champion
60 kg – Sam Herring (Sidman, Pennsylvania/Bishop McCort High School)
VS Yerdaulet Lassim (Kazakhstan)
65 kg – William Greenwood (Livermore, Colo./GRIT Athletics WC)
VS Yusif Ahmadli (Azerbaijan), 2022 U15 European champion
71 kg – Arvin Khosravy (Woodland Hills, Calif.)
VS Ivan Bialiayeu (Individual Neutral Athlete)
80 kg – Adam Waters (Stowe, Pennsylvania/Steller Trained Wrestling)
VS Miguel Angel Vega Salazar (Colombia)
92 kg – Aiden Cooley (Allen, Texas/Best Trained Wrestling)
VS Stevan Kojic (Serbia), 2023 U17 European bronze medalist
110 kg – Nicholas Sahakian (Sherman Oaks, California/St. John Bosco High School)
VS Pawel Janzen (Poland) or Daniel Szilagyi (Hungary)