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UPDATE: Titan Mercury WC beats Ukraine II in semifinals, to face Razi of Iran in finals of World Clubs Cup

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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling

Image of Kyle Snyder scoring a takedown in the first-round dual meet against Andriy Vlasov of Ukraine courtesy of Titan Mercury WC.

KHARKIV, Ukraine – Led by technical fall wins from Alex Dieringer at 74 kg and David Taylor at 86 kg, the Titan Mercury WC won its semifinal match against the Zd club of Ukraine by criteria to advance to the finals of the Freestyle World Clubs Cup on Wednesday.

The dual meet ended with a 4-4 tie, but Titan Mercury secured the victory by outscoring the Ukrainian club team in classification points, 17-15.

The dual meet started with a tight 4-4 criteria win at 57 kg by Nico Megaludis over Petro Bileichuk, 4-4. The Ukrainian club won the next three matches, and led the dual meet team score 3-1 after four bouts.

Dieringer rallied with a 10-0 technical fall over Giya Chikhladze, and Taylor won a wide open 19-6 technical fall over Bohdan Hrytsay. The team score was 3-3 after eight matches, and the USA club had a 13-11 edge on classification points.

2016 Olympic champion and 2015 World champion Kyle Snyder extended Titan Mercury’s lead to 4-3 with a clutch 6-3 win over Murazi Mchedlidze. Although past World silver medalist Alen Zasieiev defeated Titan Mercury’s Nick Gwiazdowski at heavyweight, 4-2, he needed a fall or technical fall to give Ukraine the victory.

Titan Mercury advances to the finals against a tough Razi club team from Iran, which scored an impressive 8-0 shutout over Armenia in the semifinals.

It is the third straight year that Titan Mercury has been in the finals of the Freestyle World Clubs Cup, after taking second the first two years of the event when it was hosted in Iran. Razi’s team features some top stars from Iran’s national team, including World medalists Hassan Rahimi (57 kg) and Massoud Esmailpoorjouybari (61 kg) and Alireza Karimimachiani (86 kg), plus two guest stars from Russia, Ilyas Bekbulatov (65 kg) and Atsamaz Sanakoev (70 kg).

Earlier in the day, won both of its Pool A matches to advance to the semifinals,

Titan Mercury dominated its first match, scoring a 7-1 victory over Ukraine’s CSKA club. Leading the domination was 2015 World champion and 2016 Olympic champion Kyle Snyder, who pinned Andriy Vlasov at 97 kg. Scoring technical fall wins for Titan Mercury were B.J. Futrell over Oleksiy Boruta at 65 kg and Alex Dieringer over Ruslan Rychko at 74 kg.

In the second match, Titan Mercury was led by Penn State alumni, as Nico Megaludis opened with a technical fall win over Beka Buyiashvili, 12-2 at 57 kg and David Taylor pinned Nika Kentchadze at 86 kg/189 lbs. on the way to a 5-3 victory over the Champion club of Georgia. Earning his second technical fall of the day was Dieringer, who stopped Avtandil Kentchadze, 13-0 at 74 kg.

In a highly anticipated matchup, Georgia’s Elizbar Odikadze scored a 2-2 criteria decision over Kyle Snyder at 96 kg. It was a rematch of the 2016 Olympics semifinal match won by Snyder. Odikadze ended up fifth in the weight class in Rio, while Snyder went on to capture the Olympic gold medal.

Going upbeaten with 3-0 records on day 1 were Megaludis and Dieringer.

Results are available online on a website covering the event, which is
http://mywrestling.pro/tournaments/?protocols&tid=2

There is prize money for the top three teams, with $25,000 going to the first-place team, $15,000 to the second-place team and $10,000 for the third-place team.

The Titan Mercury WC is providing extensive coverage of the event through its media platforms, including
Titan Mercury Twitter 
Titan Mercury Facebook

FREESTYLE WORLD CLUBS CUP
At Kharkiv, Ukraine

SEMIFINALS – TITAN MERCURY (USA) 4, UKRAINE (Zd) 4
USA wins criteria, classification points

57 kg/121 lbs. - Nico Megaludis (TWMW) dec. Petro Bileichuk (Zd), 4-4
61 kg/134 lbs. - Vasyl Shuptar (Zd) dec. Vladimir Khinchegashvili (TMWC), 4-2
65 kg/143 lbs. - Andrii Kviatkovskii (Zd) dec. BJ Futrell (TMWC), 8-4
70 kg/154 lbs. - Semyon Radulov (Zd) dec. Nazar Kulchytskyy (TMWC), 5-0
74 kg/163 lbs. - Alex Dieringer (TMWC) tech. fall Giya Chikhladze (Zd), 10-0
86 kg/189 lbs. - David Taylor (TMWC) tech. fall Bohdan Hrytsay (Zd), 19-6
97 kg/213 lbs. - Kyle Snyder (TMWC) dec. Murazi Mchedlidze (Zd), 6-3
125 kg/275 lbs. - Alen Zasieiev (Zd) dec. Nick Gwiazdowski (TMWC), 4-2
Classification Points – Titan Mercury 17, Zd 15

SEMIFINALS –RAZI (IRI) 8, ARMENIA 0
57 kg/121 lbs. – Hassan Rahimi (Razi) dec. Narek Hovhannisyan (Armenia), 6-3
61 kg/134 lbs. – Massoud Esmailpoorjouybari (Razi) tech. fall Garig Barseghyan (Armenia), 12-2
65 kg/143 lbs. –Ilyas Bekbulatov (Razi) tech. fall Narek Sirunyan (Armenia), 10-0
70 kg/154 lbs. – Atsamaz Sanakoev (Razi) tech. fall Valter Margaryan (Armenia), 12-0
74 kg/163 lbs. – Bahman Teymouri (Razi) tech. fall Suren Khachatryan (Armenia), 11-0
86 kg/189 lbs. – Alireza Karimimachiani (Razi) dec. Vahe Tamrazyan (Armenia), 12-6
97 kg/213 lbs. – Abbas Tahan (Razi) tech. fall Samir Atyan (Armenia), 10-0
125 kg/275 lbs. – Parviz Hadi (Razi) tech. fall Andranik Galstyan (Armenia), 10-0
Classification Points – Razi 30, Armenia 3

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH – Titan Mercury (USA) vs. Razi (Iran)
THIRD PLACE MATCH – Zd (UKR) vs. Armenia

USA POOL A MATCHES

ROUND 3 - TITAN MERCURY WC (USA) 5, GEORGIA (Champion club) 3
57 kg/121 lbs. - Nico Megaludis (TMWC) tech. fall Beka Buyiashvili (Champion), 12-2
61 kg/134 lbs. - Vladimir Khinchegashvili (TMWC) dec. Shota Phartenadze (Champion), 10-8
65 kg/143 lbs. - BJ Futrell (TMWC) dec. Levan Kelekhsashvili (Champion), 4-1
70 kg/154 lbs. - Aleksandre Yatchvadze (Champion) dec. Nazar Kulchytskyy (TMWC), 3-1
74 kg/163 lbs. - Alex Dieringer (TMWC) tech. fall Avtandil Kentchadze (Champion), 13-0
86 kg/189 lbs. - David Taylor (TMWC) pin Nodar Egadze (Champion)
97 kg/213 lbs. - Elizbar Odikadze (Champion) dec. Kyle Snyder (TMWC), 2-2
125 kg/27 lbs. - Giorgi Meshvildishvili (Champion) dec. Nick Gwiazdowski (TMWC), 5-2
Classification points – Titan Mercury 22, Champion 12

ROUND 2 - TITAN MERCURY WC (USA) 7, UKRAINE (CSKA) 1
57 kg/121 lbs. - Nico Megaludis (TMWC) dec. Taras Markovich (CSKA), 9-0
61 kg/134 lbs. - Vladimir Khinchegashvili (TMWC) dec. Ivan Bileychuk (CSKA), 8-0
65 kg/143 lbs. - BJ Futrell (TMWC) tech. fall Oleksiy Boruta (CSKA), 10-0
70 kg/154 lbs. - Nazar Kulchytskyy (TMWC) dec. Vasyl Mikhailov (CSKA), 10-5
74 kg/163 lbs. - Alex Dieringer (TMWC) tech. fall Ruslan Rychko (CSKA), 10-0
86 kg/189 lbs. - Dmytro Rochniak (CSKA) dec. David Taylor (TMWC), 6-2
97 kg/213 lbs. - Kyle Snyder (TMWC) pin Andriy Vlasov (CSKA)
125 kg/27 lbs. - Nick Gwiazdowski (TMWC) dec. Oleksandr Khotsyanovskii (CSKA), 2-1
Classification Points: TMWC 26, CSKA 5

USA had a bye in round 1

Other Pool A Matches
Georgia 5, Ukraine (CSKA) 3 (20-12 Class. Pts.)
Pool Standings – 1. USA (Titan Mercury), 2. Georgia, 3. Ukraine (CSKA)

Pool B Matches
Ukraine (Zd) 8, Mongolia 0 (29-3 Class. Pts.)
Ukraine (Zd) 8, Belarus 0 (33-3 Class. Pts.)
Mongolia 5, Belarus 3
Pool Standings – 1. Ukraine (Zd), 2. Mongolia, 3. Belarus

Pool C Matches
Iran (Razi) 8, Hungary (Csepeli) 0 (31-1 Class. Pts.
Iran (Razi) 8, Kyrgyzstan 0 (30-0 Class. Pts.)
Hungary (Csepeli) 6, Kyrgyzstan 2
Pool Standings – 1. Iran (Razi), 2. Hungary (Csepeli), 3. Kyrgyzstan

Pool D Matches
Armenia 5, Iran (Setaregan) 3 (22-13 Class. Pts.)
Turkey (Istanbul Sanc.) 4, Iran (Setaregan) 4 (17-17 Class. Pts.)
Armenia 5, Turkey (Istanbul Sanc.) 3
Pool Standings – 1. Armenia, 2. Iran (Setaregan), 3. Turkey (Istanbul Sanc.)


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