Waters wins bronze to highlight U.S. men's freestyle performance at Golden Grand Prix Final in Baku

Bronze medalist Alan Waters with coaches Jeff Buxton and Kenny Monday at the Golden Grand Prix Final in Baku, Azerbaijan.

BAKU, Azerbaijan – Winning a bronze medal at 61 kg/134 lbs., Alan Waters highlighted what was an otherwise rough outing for the U.S. men’s freestyle contingent at the Golden Grand Prix Final on Thanksgiving Day.

Waters, the lone U.S. medalist on the day, dropped his opening bout to 2014 World bronze medalist Yowlys Bonne Rodriguez of Cuba in a tight one, 6-4. The Missourian battled back to defeat 2011 Cadet World silver medalist Husein Shakhbanau of Belarus in the bronze-medal match, 2-1.

It has been quite the 2016 season for Waters who picked up his second international medal in a month’s time. He also finished with a bronze at the Intercontinental Cup in mid-October. Waters finished in fourth-place at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials while competing at 57 kg/125.5 lbs. and was the Dave Schultz Memorial International champion in January.

The only other American to reach a medal match in Baku was Dusting Kilgore at 97 kg/213 lbs. Kilgore finished in third place at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials and is fresh off of winning the Bill Farrell International.

Similar to Waters, Kilgore fell in his first-round match to a Cuban rival. Three-time World medalist Reineris Salas Perez took out Kilgore by an 11-0 margin. With Salas Perez navigating to the finals, Kilgore entered the repechage where he defeated Roman Bakirov of Azerbaijan, 5-2. Kilgore then surrendered his second technical fall of the day to 2011 Junior World bronze medalist Aslanbek Alborov of Azerbaijan in the bronze bout, 11-0, to wind up in fifth place.

Olympian Frank Molinaro looked solid early against Azerbaijan’s Military World champion Aghahuseyn Mustafayev, leading 2-0 at the break. The tide turned in the second period and Molinaro went down by a 7-2 final. Mustafayev did not reach the finals ending Molinaro’s day. This was Molinaro’s first competition back since finishing in fifth place at the Olympic Games.

Past World Team members Tony Ramos and Zach Rey opened with strong wins over Azerbaijani foes. Ramos edged 2014 Junior World silver medalist Mirjalal Hasan-Zada on criteria, 2-2. Rey also won by a 2-2 tally over 2008 Olympian Ali Isayev. Both men dropped their second-round matches by one point and were eliminated.

Competing at 97 kg, J.T. Felix secured an impressive 5-0 win over 2016 Junior World silver medalist and European bronze medalist Erik Thiele of Germany to start his day. Unfortunately, Felix was ousted from the tournament in his next match by Alborov, 6-2.

Bill Farrell International medalists Austin Trotman and Richard Perry combined to go 1-2 for the U.S. at 86 kg/189 lbs. Trotman lost 8-0 to 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Dato Marsagishvili of Georgia in the first round. Perry made quick work of New Zealand’s Toby Fitzpatrick, 10-0, before falling to Ahmet Bilici of Turkey, 6-2.

Competition from the Golden Grand Prix Final will continue tomorrow with the women’s freestyle tournament. Action will begin in Baku at 10 a.m. local time, which translates to 1 a.m. Eastern Time.

A live stream, brackets and complete match-by-match results for the Golden Grand Prix Final can be found at unitedworldwrestling.org.

Final Results
57 kg/125.5 lbs.
Gold – Giorgi Edisherashvili (Azerbaijan)
Silver – Narlman Israpilov (Russia)
Bronze – Sandeep Tomar (India)
Bronze – Yuki Takahashi (Japan)

61 kg/134 lbs.
Gold – Akhmednabi Gvarzatilov (Azerbaijan)
Silver – Yowlys Bonne Rodriguez (Cuba)
Bronze – Giorgi Revazishvili (Georgia)
Bronze – Alan Waters (United States)

65 kg/143 lbs.
Gold – Magomed Kurbanaliev (Russia)
Silver – Alejandro Valdes Tobier (Cuba)
Bronze – Joshgun Azimov (Azerbaijan)
Bronze – Meisam Nasiri (Iran)

70 kg/154 lbs.
Gold – Israil Kasumov (Russia)
Silver – Gitinomagomed Gadzhiyev (Azerbaijan)
Bronze – Magomedmurad Gadzhiev (Poland)
Bronze – Ilias Bekbulatov (Russia)

74 kg/163 lbs.
Gold – Jabrayil Hasanov (Azerbaijan)
Silver – Avtandil Kentchadze (Georgia)
Bronze – Murad Suleymanov (Azerbaijan)
Bronze – Zhiger Zakirov (Kazakhstan)

86 kg/189 lbs.
Gold – Shamil Kudiiamagomedov (Russia)
Silver – Anzor Urishev (Russia)
Bronze – Dato Marsagishvili (Georgia)
Bronze – Mojtaba Goleij (Iran)

97 kg/213 lbs.
Gold – Abdusalam Gadisov (Russia)
Silver – Reineris Salas Perez (Cuba)
Bronze – Aslanbek Alborov (Azerbaijan)
Bronze – Amir Mohammadi (Iran)

125 kg/275 lbs.
Gold – Geno Petriashvili (Georgia)
Silver – Alen Zasieiev (Ukraine)
Bronze – Baldan Tsyzhipov (Russia)
Bronze – Yadollah Mohebi (Iran)

U.S. men’s freestyle results
57 kg/125.5 lbs. – Tony Ramos, Chapel Hill, N.C. (Sunkist Kids), 10th
WIN Mirjalal Hasan-Zada (Azerbaijan), 2-2
LOSS Reza Atrinagharchi (Iran), 3-2

61 kg/134 lbs. – Alan Waters, Columbia, Mo. (Missouri Wrestling Foundation), Bronze
LOSS Yowlys Bonne Rodriguez (Cuba), 6-4
WIN Husein Shakhbanau (Belarus), 2-1

65 kg/143 lbs. – Frank Molinaro, State College, Pa. (Nittany Lion WC), 10th
LOSS Aghahuseyn Mustafayev (Azerbaijan), 7-2

86 kg/189 lbs. – Austin Trotman, Lincoln, Neb. (Titan Mercury WC)
LOSS Dato Marsagishvili (Georgia), 8-0

86 kg/189 lbs. – Richard Perry, Philadelphia, Pa. (NYAC), 7th
WIN Toby Fitzpatrick (New Zealand), 10-0
LOSS Ahmet Bilici (Turkey), 6-2

97 kg/213 lbs. – Dustin Kilgore, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids), 5th
LOSS Reineris Salas Perez (Cuba), 11-0
WIN Roman Bakirov (Azerbaijan), 5-2
LOSS Aslanbek Alborov (Azerbaijan), 10-0

97 kg/213 lbs. – J.T. Felix, Ann Arbor, Mich. (Titan Mercury WC/Cliff Keen WC), 8th
WIN Erik Thiele (Germany), 5-0
LOSS Aslanbek Alborov (Azerbaijan), 6-2

125 kg/275 lbs. – Zach Rey, Bethlehem, Pa. (Lehigh Valley WC), 9th
WIN Ali Isayev (Azerbaijan), 2-2
LOSS Diaaeldin Abdelmottaleb (Egypt), 5-4