Wednesday saw the end of the Men’s Freestyle tournament at the Cadet World Championships and what a fun tournament it was.
The USA had one of its best overall team performance in recent years taking 2nd as a team and finally beating Russia. India outlasted the United States and won by 4 points to take 1st place. The United States had 2 world champions, 3 world silver medalists and 1 Bronze medalist. In total the US was in half of the tournaments finals and some members of the team had completely dominated their weights.
Let’s breakdown how each weight went for Team USA.
45 KG
I think that this was an eye opening performance that USA wrestling and its fans were looking for at Cadet World’s and it came from 14 year old Bo Bassett from Pennsylvania. Oh and for my PA High School Wrestling fans reading this get used to his name because he’s going to Bishop McCort. Bassett, who will be wrestling in Greco-Roman in just a couple of days, wrestled 4 matches and they didn’t go the distance. Bassett took on Khelaia in his first match and it was entertaining. Bassett was the aggressor and all the points were scored off of counters by Khelaia. Then Bassett scored rattled off 10 straight points and picked up the fall after that. In his second match he took on Isparov of Azerbaijan and it went a lot like the first with Bassett getting the second period fall after trailing at a point. In the Semi-Finals Bassett teched Iskandarov of Uzbekistan. Iskandarov opened up with a takedown but then it was all Bassett. Bassett had 2 4 point moves and a couple takedown in less than a minute to earn the tech fall in 1:25 by a score of 13-2. The finals for Bassett was the exclamation point as he took on the Russian Ashinov. Bassett again was the aggressor and gave up an early takedown but then it was all Bassett. Bassett rattled off 3 takedown and a brutal arm bar to a half and put Ashinov right on his back to earn Gold.
48 KG
Here we saw the United States, second medal of 6 as Luke Lilledahl took home silver. Lilledahl went 3-1 in the tournament before losing in the finals to Aman from India. Lilledahl first took out a Russian in his opening match as he collected an early lead and held on for a 9-7 victory. In his Quarterfinal match he cruised through taking an early lead and stuck with it winning 8-1. He then advanced to the Semi’s taking on Aitanov from Kazakhstan. This was a tough match as Lilledahl fell behind early 3-0 but rattled off 2 takedown including a takedown with 25 seconds left to advance to the finals. Aman mostly controlled this bout but at a point it was 3-2 before Aman took Lilledahl late in the 2nd period to seal the deal.
51 KG
Nate Jesuroga is our third medalist as he took home the Bronze Medal. Jesuroga opened his first match against Dogan from Turkey where Jesuroga took an early lead. Headed to the final minute Dogan was leading on criteria so it was on Jesuroga to be the aggressor and he did just that. Jesuroga got a takedown in the last 7 seconds to move onto the Quarters. Then in the Quarters he ran into Jumanazarov of Uzbekistan who had his number. It was a second period tech fall. With Jumanazarov making it to the finals so Jesuroga got a second chance in the repechage. Jesuroga won by forfeit in his first match and faced Buniatyan from Armenia. Buniatyan took the lead early but then late in the first period Jesuroga took charge and didn’t look back. Jesuroga took the Bronze Medal match 6-2.
55 KG
This weight was fairly deep and Spencer Moore got up against a good wrestler in his first match. Moore took on Avetisyan of Armenia in his first and only match of the tournament and failed to score. Avetisyan was in control first most of the matchup but it was only 2-0 with 30 seconds left. With Mpore fighting for a takedown his aggressiveness didn’t pay off with Avetisyan getting a takedown and exposure to make it 6-0 and end Moore’s tournament.
60 KG
60 KG saw another early exit as Beau Mantanona lost his first match as he took on Ibrahimov of Azerbaijan. At the end of the first period Ibrahimov took a 2-0 lead and took a 4-0 lead into the final minute of the second period. Mantanona scored 2 push outs and it was 4-2 with 10 seconds left and Ibrahimov scored another 2 at the end of the match and took the bout 6-2.
65 KG
At 65 KG we have our second Cadet World Champion in Meyer Shapiro as he was in control in most of his matches. He recorded 2 falls and a tech fall on his way to gold. Shapiro recorded his first fall in his first match against Yusov of Ukraine. It took Shapiro 1:40 to pin Yusov as he got a takedown right to Yusov’s back and it was all over. Then in the Quarters he took on Zaverbekov from Russia and if we are honest, this should’ve been the matchup for the finals. Shapiro jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead and it looked like a rout but Zavurbekov scored 2 takedown and it was 5-4 At the end of the first period. Zavurbekov then took a 6-5 lead 20 seconds into the second period and held that lead until the last 30 seconds as Shapiro got a takedown and 1 to win 8-6. In the Semi-Finals Shapiro teched Novruzov of Azerbaijan 10-0 in the first period. The dominance continued in the finals but there was a hiccup. Gogritchiani of Georgia was his opponent and 30 seconds into the second period he took a 4-1 lead with a takedown to Shapiro’s back. Shortly after Shapiro rattled off 7 unanswered points and in the final seconds got the fall.
71 KG
Levi Haines only had two matches in this tourney and he went 1-1. Haines in his first match took on Karimov of Uzbekistan and it started out with Karimov taking a 4-0 lead 30 seconds into the bout but with 2 seconds to go Haines got a takedown to the back and tied it up 4-4 and lead by criteria into the break. Haines took that momentum into the second period and led 10-4 before he picked up his fall 54 seconds into the second period. In Haines last match he took on Dogan from Turkey. At the break Dogan had the lead on a push out. Haines got a push out point of his own and it was 1-1 till it hit the 44 second mark when Haines got 2 for exposure but Dogan quickly got 2 exposure for himself and it was 3-3 with Dogan winning by criteria and to seal it Dogan got a step out point with 7 seconds left to end Haines tournament, 4-3.
80 KG
The fourth United States finalist came at this weight and that was James Rowley. Rowley took on the Russian Malachdibirov in his first match and Rowley fell behind early trailing 6-0 before Rowley took down Malachdibirov with 8 seconds left in the first period. A minute into the second period Rowley recorded a takedown and 25 seconds later Rowley got a 4 point move and it was 8-6. After some last ditch attempts from Malachdibirov, Rowley scored 2 with 2 seconds left and took the match 10-6. Rowley took on Mamrosh of yUkraine in the Quarters where he jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the first period. Then 30 seconds into the second period Rowley extended his lead to 8-2 and held on despite some great effort from Mamrosh and advance to the Semi’s winning 8-6. Now to the Semi’s where Rowley took on Niccolini of Italy and this was actually tight headed into the break with Rowley leading 2-0. Rowley then opened the floodgates scoring the next 10 out of 12 points and advance to the finals with a 12-2 tech fall. Rowley faced a red hot Jaglan from India in the finals. This was a very competitive match and the outcome was determined by 4 push out points all for Jaglan as Jaglan took the gold 4-0.
92 KG
Future Minnesota Gopher Gavin Nelson wrestled for team USA at 92 KG. Nelson took on Alhefeiti of UAE in the finals and there isn’t much to say because it only lasted 20 seconds. Nelson got a quick takedown and put Alhefeiti on his back and Nelson won by fall in 20 seconds. Next up was Tripon of Romania in the Quarters and not a lot was done here. Nelson got 2 push out points in this one to advance to the Semis. In the Semi-Finals, Nelson ran into Russian Dzhioev and it was all Dzhioev in this one. Nelson lost the Semi-Final match 8-0 and head to the Bronze Medal match. Nelson again ran into a tough match in Kurugliyev of Kazakhstan and it was all Kurugliyev in this winning 4-0.
110 KG
The final wrestler for the US was Jim Mullen and was another finalist for Team USA. Mullen’s first match was against Sahil of India and it came down to criteria. It started out all Mullen as he took an 8-1 lead into the second period. Sahil scored 7 straight points but it wasn’t enough to win on criteria so Mullen moves on. Next up was Gellen from Hubgaryand this was all Mullen. Mullen advances to the Semi-Finals with a 6-1 win. In the Semis Mullen faced Kussainov from Kazakhstan and went mostly like his Quarterfinal match. Mullen held a 1-0 lead into the second period and scored 6 in the second period and surrendered 1 point late to go to the finals winning 7-1. Mullen in the finals took on Masoumi Valadi of Iran and he was on fire. 8 points were scored by Masoumi Valadi in the first 30 seconds and all was needed was a takedown and got that with 25 Seco ds left in the first period to take the gold.