Ahmadi adds to legacy with 13th gold on last day of Veterans Freestyle Worlds

13-time Veterans World champion Shirzad Ahmadi shoots a single leg against Viktor Chirkov (Russia) at the 2016 Veterans Worlds. Photo: Robbert Wijtman, CSC Photography.

WALBRZYCH, Poland – On the final day of action at the 2016 Veterans Freestyle World Championships the U.S. picked up three medals with Veterans legend Shirzad Ahmadi taking on another World gold to his resume.

Ahmadi went unscathed through the Div. G 63 kg bracket, picking up two wins in a three-man round-robin to claim his 13th gold medal at the Veterans World Championships. He defeated silver medalist Viktor Chirkov of Russia by technical fall, 12-2.

The 67-year-old Coventry, Conn. native is the only American in history to win gold in both freestyle and Greco-Roman at the Veterans Worlds, a feat he accomplished in 2015.

Relative newcomer Rudolph James earned a silver medal at 76 kg in Div. A on Sunday. The 2016 U.S. Veterans Nationals champion won two tight matches over Feodor Dandan of Ukraine and Umar Murzabekov of Russia before falling to Martin Runcak of Slovakia in the finals, 4-1.

2014 Veterans World champion Kenneth Peters finished with a bronze medal at 76 kg in Div. G.
He posted a 1-2 record in a four-man round-robin bracket, scoring a pin over Nikolay Yaroshenko of Russia to take the bronze.

The U.S. finished in third place as a team with 19 total medals won. Nine Americans finished atop the podium, while five wrestlers finished with silver and five earning a bronze.

Complete results and archived matches from the Veterans World Championships are being provided by United World Wrestling at www.unitedworldwrestling.org.

2016 VETERANS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Oct. 7-9 in Walbrzych, Poland

Final Results
Div. A
58 kg/127.8 lbs.
Gold – Hidemasa Okada (Japan)
Silver – Gerhard Van Der Merwe (South Africa)
Bronze – Adam Zakrzewski (Poland)

63 kg/138.8 lbs.
Gold – Arthouros Kalpatsanidis (Greece)
Silver – Donawan Davel (South Africa)
Bronze – Miguel Casqueiro Suarez (Spain)

69 kg/152 lbs.
Gold – Aslan Kaitov (Russia)
Silver – Wojciech Bernardelli (Poland)
Bronze – Bulent Hikmet (Turkey)
Bronze – Gankhuyag Dorlig (Mongolia)

76 kg/167.5 lbs.
Gold – Martin Runcak (Slovakia)
Silver – Rudolph James (United States)
Bronze – Enkhbayar Sharaa (Mongolia)
Bronze – Umar Murzabekov (Russia)

85 kg/187.4 lbs.
Gold – Dmitrii Darmodekhin (Russia)
Silver – Eduard Krasnov (Russia)
Bronze – Juraj Dancak (Slovakia)
Bronze – Ioseb Khutsishvili (Georgia)

97 kg/213.8 lbs.
Gold – Ali Darakhshanifara (Finland)
Silver – Krzysztof Czerczak (Poland)
Bronze – Cem Ozden (Turkey)

130 kg/286.6 lbs.
Gold – Duane Van Staden (South Africa)
Silver – Leif Bengtsson (Sweden)
Bronze – Adam Krolak (Poland)

Div. G
58 kg/127.8 lbs.
Gold – Constantin (Romania)
Silver – Fedot Solovev (Russia)
Bronze – Vasilii Pakhomov (Russia)

63 kg/138.8 lbs.
Gold – Shirzad Ahmadi (United States)
Silver – Viktor Chirkov (Russia)
Bronze – Andrzej Stolarski (Poland)

69 kg/152 lbs.
Gold – Viktor Tonkikh (Russia)
Silver – Karib Ashuraliev (Russia)
Bronze – Veikko Timo (Finland)

76 kg/167.5 lbs.
Gold – Diego Rossi (Italy)
Silver – Anatolii Bilanenko (Ukraine)
Bronze – Kenneth Peters (United States)

85 kg/187.4 lbs.
Gold – Magomed Badrudinov (Russia)
Silver – Izzettin Soysal (Turkey)
Bronze – Mario Domnowsky (Germany)

97 kg/213.8 lbs.
Gold – Artur Sammet (Germany)
Silver – Stasys Saduikis (Lithuania)
Bronze – Mehmet Uzunoglu (Turkey)

130 kg/286.6 lbs.
Gold – Ludovic Ambrus (Romania)
Silver – Nikolai Shemarov (Russia)
Bronze – Vasyl Skliaruk (Ukraine)

U.S. Men’s Freestyle Results
Div. A
76 kg/167.5 lbs. – Rudolph James, St. Paul, Minn., Silver
WIN Feodor Dandan (Ukraine), 5-3
WIN Umar Murzabekov (Russia), 6-1
LOSS Martin Runcak (Slovakia), 4-1

85 kg/187.4 lbs. – Joseph Lim, Alexandria, Va. 
LOSS Cem Ozden (Turkey), 8-3
LOSS Krzysztof Czerczak (Poland), 10-0
LOSS Alfred Schutte (South Africa), Fall
LOSS Ali Darakhshanifara (Finland), Fall

Div. G
63 kg/138.8 lbs. – Shirzad Ahmadi, Coventry, Conn., Gold
WIN Viktor Chirkov (Russia), 12-2
WIN Andrzej Stolarski (Poland), Forfeit

76 kg/167.5 lbs. – Kenneth Peters, Elmhurst, Ill., Bronze
WIN Nikolay Yaroshenko (Russia), Fall
LOSS Anatolii Bilanenko (Ukraine), Fall
LOSS Diego Rossi (Italy), Injury Default