wrestleOaxtepec

Canada, Cuba and USA win Junior Men’s Freestyle Titles at #WrestleOaxtepec

By Taylor Miller

OAXTEPEC, Mexico – Four divisions were contested today in the penultimate day of the Cadet and Junior Pan American Championships in Oaxtepec, Mexico. Champions were crowned in the Junior men’s freestyle, Junior women’s freestyle, Cadet women’s freestyle and Cadet Greco-Roman.

This week, the top-eight in the Olympic weights of the Junior divisions will earn bids to the 2021 Junior Pan American Games in Cali, Colombia, in December.

With Junior men’s freestyle starting today, three countries won gold medals, including Osmany DIVERSENT MARTINEZ (CUB) at 57 kg, Carter YOUNG (USA) at 61 kg, Lachlan MCNEIL (CAN) at 65 kg and Cade DEVOS (USA) at 74 kg.

The Junior women’s freestyle and Cadet women’s freestyle tournaments ended today. Winning the Junior titles were Katerina Sheila LANGE (USA) at 65 kg and Lillian FREITAS (USA) at 72 kg. Champions in the Cadet division included Debanhi TAPIA GARCIA (MEX) at 69 kg and Rose CASSIOPPI (USA) at 73 kg.

Cadet Greco-Roman started today with the USA winning each of the weight classes. Earning titles were Bo BASSETT (USA) at 45 kg, Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) at 48 kg, Alan KOEHLER (USA) at 51 kg and Kael LAURIDSEN (USA) at 55 kg.

The tournament wraps up tomorrow, starting at 9 a.m. CT live on uww.org.

En espanol
OAXTEPEC, Mexico – Cuatro divisiones se disputaron hoy en la penúltima dia del Campeonato Panamericano Cadete y Juvenil en Oaxtepec, México. Los campeones se coronaron en estilo libre masculino juvenil, estilo libre femenino juvenil, estilo libre femenino cadete y grecorromano cadete.

Esta semana, los ocho mejores atletas en los pesos olímpicos de las divisiones Junior ganarán candidaturas para los Juegos Panamericanos Junior 2021 en Cali, Colombia, en diciembre.

Con el estilo libre masculino junior a partir de hoy, tres países ganaron medallas de oro, incluido Osmany DIVERSENT MARTINEZ (CUB) en 57 kg, Carter YOUNG (USA) en 61 kg, Lachlan MCNEIL (CAN) en 65 kg y Cade DEVOS (USA) en 74 kg. .

Los torneos de estilo libre femenino junior y estilo libre femenino cadete terminaron hoy. Las ganadoras de los títulos Junior fueron Katerina Sheila LANGE (USA) en 65 kg y Lillian FREITAS (USA) en 72 kg. Los campeones en la división cadete incluyeron a Debanhi TAPIA GARCIA (MEX) en 69 kg y Rose CASSIOPPI (USA) en 73 kg.

El torneo grecorromano cadete comenzó hoy y USA gano cada una de las categorías de peso. Los títulos ganadores fueron Bo BASSETT (USA) en 45 kg, Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) en 48 kg, Alan KOEHLER (USA) en 51 kg y Kael LAURIDSEN (USA) en 55 kg.

El torneo concluye mañana, a partir de las 9 a.m. CT en vivo en uww.org.

JUNIOR WOMEN’S FREESTYLE RESULTS
65 kg
GOLD - Katerina Sheila LANGE (USA)
SILVER - Aylah Mohammed MAYALI (CAN)
BRONZE - Karime Anel MARTINEZ TERAN (MEX)

72 kg
GOLD - Lillian FREITAS (USA)
SILVER - Fernanda MARQUEZ MARTINEZ (MEX)

JUNIOR MEN’S FREESTYLE RESULTS
57 kg
GOLD - Osmany DIVERSENT MARTINEZ (CUB)
SILVER - Ryan MILLER (USA)
BRONZE - Fotis PAPADOPOULOS (CAN)
BRONZE - Diego ZULUAGA CUEVAS (COL)

61 kg
GOLD – Carter YOUNG (USA)
SILVER - Diego OLVERA RODRIGUEZ (MEX)
BRONZE - Bryan DE OLIVEIRA PEREIRA (BRA)
BRONZE - Kevin CARRASCO ARTEAGA (PAN)

65 kg
GOLD - Lachlan MCNEIL (CAN)
SILVER - Angel TINOCO TORRES (PER)
BRONZE - Chance LAMER (USA)
BRONZE - Leandro VALLEJO CABRERA (DOM)

74 kg
GOLD - Cade DEVOS (USA)
SILVER - Patrik LEDER (CAN)
BRONZE- Orislandy PERDOMO BROOKS (CUB)
BRONZE - Juan Gabriel MARTINEZ (DOM)

CADET WOMEN’S FREESTYLE RESULTS
69 kg
GOLD - Debanhi TAPIA GARCIA (MEX)
SILVER - Margaret GRAHAM (USA)
BRONZE - Nataly OVANDO ROJAS (CHI)

73 kg
GOLD - Rose CASSIOPPI (USA)
SILVER - Karime CORTES RESENDIZ (MEX)
BROZNE - Maria DE ALMEIDA DOS SANTOS (BRA)

CADET GRECO-ROMAN RESULTS
45 kg
GOLD - Bo BASSETT (USA)
SILVER - Roger KANTUN KU (MEX)
BRONZE - Joao AMORIM DE MOURA (BRA)

48 kg
GOLD - Luke LILLEDAHL (USA)
SILVER - Abel SANCHEZ JUAREZ (PER)
BRONZE - Marco GARCIA ALVAREZ (MEX)

51 kg
GOLD - Alan KOEHLER (USA)
SILVER - Yan LANDIM RIBEIRO (BRA)
BRONZE - Pedro TORIBIO TORRES (PER)

55 kg
GOLD - Kael LAURIDSEN (USA)
SILVER - Diego TERRIQUEZ IBARRA (MEX)
BRONZE - Patrick RODRIGUEZ QUINTO (ECU)

#WrestleZagreb

Tazhudinov in search for answers despite bronze medal

By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (September 16) -- A World Championships medal might be a career milestone for most wrestlers, but for Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN), the bronze he won in Zagreb is a prize he hopes to forget.

Coming into the tournament in Zagreb, Tazhudinov was considered as the best wrestler in the world and the favorite to win the gold medal at the 97kg. He had built a reputation of a wrestler who bulldozes anyone who stands in his path, as he did to win the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

But Tazhudinov was anything but an Olympic and world champion in Zagreb.

He almost dropped his quarterfinal match with Mogomed KURBANOV (UWW), needing a front headlock roll to survive. The thrill of victory was short lived, as Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) showed that Tazhudinov is indeed human, winning their semifinal 5-2 to end Tazhudinov's golden run.

"My initial goal was the gold medal," Tazhudinov said. "I wanted to become a two-time world champion. Unfortunately, it didn't happen -- maybe it was meant to be this way. It's very painful to lose."

As he searched for answers for his performance, Tazhudinov said that recent shoulder surgery may have affected his wrestling at the World Championships.

"I was coming back after surgery, after a serious injury," Tazhudinov said. "Maybe that had an effect, I don't even know. It took me a very long time to get myself together. At the beginning, training sessions were very difficult."

Tazhudinov returned from surgery to win two gold medals in a one-month span -- first at the Spain Grand Prix and then at the Budapest Ranking Series in June.

After the semifinal loss to Azarpira, Tazhudinov returned the next night for the bronze-medal bout with 34-year-old Akhmed MAGAMAEV (BUL), which only further put Tazhudinov under the scanner despite winning the match.

Magamaev was on the activity clock when he bodylocked Tazhudinov and slammed him for four points just before the 30 seconds elapsed. Tazhudinov rebounded with a takedown to make it 4-2 at the break.

He began the second period with another takedown to make it 4-4, but Magamaev continued the scramble and both wrestlers were awarded two exposure points each, putting the Bulgarian ahead 6-6 on criteria.

A counter lift to exposure gave Tazhudinov the lead for the first time, 8-6, and as Magamaev tried doing the counter lift, he gave up two as Tazhudinov blocked him. The final scramble, which gave Tazhudinov an 11-10 win, was challenged by Bulgaria. Eventually, it was scored 13-10.

Despite winning the bout, Tazhudinov shook his head as he left the mat, perhaps surprised himself by his lackluster performance.

"Honestly, I don't even know what went wrong," he said. "It means I wasn't well enough prepared. It means I wasn't in my best shape. It means I need to work even more."

Tazhudinov said he had difficulty preparing mentally for the bronze-medal bout after the loss to Azarpira.

"After the semifinal loss, I couldn't motivate myself at all for the bronze-medal match," he said. "I don't even know how I stepped onto the mat. I wasn't mentally ready to wrestle at all, and that's why the match was so difficult.

"But I will not give up -- I'll go home, work on my mistakes, and train even harder to come back stronger."