Kennedy wins gold, Assad and Woods earn silver medals at Sassari City Matteo Pellicone Memorial

Photo: Patrick Kennedy at the U23 Junior Nationals. (Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

SASSARI, Italy—Three USA wrestlers earned medals at the Sassari City Matteo Pellicone Memorial in Rome, Italy, June 9-10.

Patrick Kennedy, competing at 74 kg, swept his way through the field of five to earn the gold medal. Kennedy started strong with a 10-0 technical fall over Luca Finizio of Italy in the second round. Kennedy continued the streak by defeating Jasmith Phula of Canada by 10-0 technical fall. In the fourth round, Kennedy closed out a 15-9 decision match against Vadym Kurylenko of Ukraine. He captured a gold medal by defeating Venezuela world team member Anthony Montero by 11-1 technical fall.


At 65 kg, Real Woods earned a silver medal in a round robin style competition. In the first round, Woods defeated Spain’s Felipe Ferrusola by 10-0 technical fall. Woods earned another win by technical fall in his second match of the event, besting Ukrainian World team member Yaroslav Hurskyy 12-2. Woods fell short in a close match to Belgium’s Ayub Musaev for the silver medal. Musaev has competed for Belgium at the U20 and U23 world championships.


The tournament was set up as a round robin before dividing into a bracket, as there were two groups of wrestlers at 86 kg. Abe Assad earned a silver medal in the field of seven wrestlers. Assad was dominant in the field, using 10-0 technical falls in his first rounds against Edoardo Bigliani of Italy and Abdourakhman Gaziev of Belgium. In his third-round matchup, Assad pinned William Raffi of Italy to continue to a bracket-style competition. Assad clinched the silver medal with a 10-0 technical fall over Muslim Zhaksylyk of Kazakhstan before dropping a close 3-2 match to Alex Moore of Canada.


All three wrestlers compete collegiately for the University of Iowa.

Sassari City Matteo Pellicone Memorial

At Rome, Italy, June 9-10, 2023

Team Standings (13 teams)

1 – Ukraine

2 – Canada

3 – United States

4 – Belgium

4 – Kazakhstan

Final men’s freestyle results
57 kg

Gold – Andrii Yatsenko (Ukraine)

Silver – Gary Giordimaina (Malta)

61 kg

Gold – Merey Bazarbayev (Kazakhstan)

Silver – Kerymov Kamil (Ukraine)

65 kg

Gold – Ayub Musaev (Belgium)

Silver – Real Woods (United States)

Bronze – Yaroslav Hurskyy (Ukraine)

70 kg

Gold – Ihor Nykyforuk (Ukraine)

Silver – Ivan Kusiak (Ukraine)

Bronze – Stone Lewis (Canada)

74 kg

Gold – Patrick Kennedy (United States)

Silver – Anthony Montero (Venezuela)

Bronze – Vadym Kurylenko (Ukraine)

79 kg

Gold – Krisztian Biro (Romania)

Silver – Denys Pavlov (Ukraine)

Bronze – Iman Mahdavi (UWW)

86 kg

Gold – Alex Moore (Canada)

Silver – Abe Assad (United States)

Bronze – Muslim Zhaksylyk (Kazakhstan)

92 kg

Gold – Denys Sahaliuk (Ukraine)

97 kg

Gold – Murazi Mchedlidze (Ukraine)

Silver – David Mchedlidze (Ukraine)

Bronze – Riley Otto (Canada)

125 kg

Gold – Yurii Idzinskyi (Ukraine)

Silver – Salvatore Alessio Vandi (Italy)

U.S. men's freestyle performances
65 kg – Real Woods (Hawkeye Wrestling Club), silver medal

WIN Felipe Ferrusola (Spain), tech. fall 10-0

WIN Yaroslav Hurskyy (Ukraine), tech. fall 12-2

LOSS Ayub Musaev (Belgium), 4-2

74 kg – Patrick Kennedy (Hawkeye Wrestling Club), gold medal

WIN Luca Finizio (Italy), tech. fall 10-0

WIN Jasmith Phula (Canada), tech. fall 10-0

WIN Vadym Kurylenko (Ukraine), 15-9

WIN Anthony Montero (Venezuela), tech. fall 11-1

86 kg – Abe Assad (Hawkeye Wrestling Club), silver medal

WIN Edoardo Bigliani (Italy), tech. fall 10-0

WIN Abdourakhman Gaziev (Belgium), tech. fall 10-0

WIN William Raffi (Italy), fall 4:29

WIN Muslim Zhaksylyk (Kazakhstan), tech. fall 10-0

LOSS Alex Moore (Canada), 3-2