#panam2018

USA Advances Five to Men’s and Women’s Freestyle Finals in Lima

Saturday, May 5, 2018 - 21:21 By Taylor Miller

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LIMA (May 5) – Three women’s freestylers and two men’s freestylers from the USA will compete for gold medals tonight at the 2018 Pan American Championships in Lima, Peru, on Saturday night.

Highlighting the morning session for the U.S. was three-time World champion Adeline GRAY, who picked up two first-period falls in her first Pan Am Championships appearance. Gray, a 2015 Pan Am Games gold medalist, Mabelkis CAPOTE (CUB), who finished fifth at the U23 World Championships, and Aline DA SILVA FERREIRA (BRA), who is a 2016 World Military champion and a 2014 World silver medalist.

Seeking gold at 76 kg, Gray will face Andrea OLAYA GUTIERREZ (COL) in the finals.

Other women for USA advancing to the finals are Whitney CONDER at 50 kg and Sarah HILDEBRANDT at 53 kg.

In men’s freestyle the U.S. sent 2017 Junior World champion Mark HALL at 79 kg and two-time Greco-Roman Olympian Ben PROVISOR at 92 kg to the finals.

After wrestling Greco on Friday, Provisor got back on the mat for USA, this time in freestyle. In the final round of round-robin action, Provisor will face Esdras LOPEZ PEREZ (MEX). As both are undefeated at the weight, the winner of this matchup will take gold.

Hall only wrestled one match as his first one was a forfeit. He put up a dominant semifinals performance, defeating Santiago MARTINEZ RESTREPO (COL), 10-1.

Waiting for Hall on the other side of the bracket is Ethan RAMOS (PUR), who is a native of the U.S., wrestling for Puerto Rico. Both wrestlers competed in the same weight class on the NCAA collegiate level.

Ramos picked up notable wins over veteran Shawn DAYE FINLAY (CAN), 14-4, and Marcos Rob QUESADA MARTINEZ (PER), who he pinned in one minute.

Cuba put through three women into the finals, including Lienna MONTERO HERRERA at 57 kg, Yaquelin ESTORNELL at 62 kg and 2017 Junior World silver medalist and U23 World bronze winner Yudari SANCHEZ RODRIGUEZ at 68 kg.

At 62 kg, Lais NUNES DE OLIVEIRA (BRA) will battle Estornell for gold. A two-time Pan Am champion, Nunes defeated two-time Olympic bronze medalist Jackeline RENTERIA CASTILLO (COL) in the semifinals with an 11-6 decision.

The finals are set for 7 p.m. ET and can be watched live on unitedworldwrestling.org.

FINALS MATCHUPS

Men’s freestyle

79 kg
GOLD - Ethan Adrian RAMOS (PUR) vs. Mark John HALL II (USA)
BRONZE - Rashji Leonardo MACKEY (BAH) vs. Santiago MARTINEZ RESTREPO (COL)
BRONZE - Shawn Kenneth DAYE FINLEY (CAN) vs. Marcos Roberto QUESADA MARTINEZ (PER)

92 kg
ROUND 5 - Dalton James WEBB (CAN) vs. Kensil Alexander GRAJALES HERNANI (PER)
ROUND 5 - Esdras Carlos LOPEZ PEREZ (MEX) vs. Benjamin Errol PROVISOR (USA)Women’s freestyle

Women’s freestyle

50 kg
GOLD - Whitney CONDER (USA) vs. Carolina CASTILLO HIDALGO (COL)
BRONZE - Jacqueline Del Rocio MOLLOCANA ELENO (ECU) vs. Mariana DIAZ MUNOZ (MEX)
BRONZE - Evelin del Carmen SOSA (ARG) vs. Jade Marie DUFOUR (CAN)

53 kg
GOLD - Luisa Elizabeth VALVERDE MELENDRES (ECU) vs. Sarah Ann HILDEBRANDT (USA)
BRONZE - Kristina Katelyn MCLAREN (CAN) vs. Betzabeth Angelica ARGUELLO VILLEGAS (VEN)
BRONZE - Dannia Stefanny FIGUEROA DUQUE (COL) vs. Lilianet DUANES ANDRES (CUB)

57 kg
GOLD - Lianna de la Caridad MONTERO HERRERA (CUB) vs. Alejandra ROMERO BONILLA (MEX)
BRONZE - Yessica Coraima OVIEDO PEREZ (DOM) vs. Alexandria Rebekkah TOWN (CAN)
BRONZE - Nes Marie RODRIGUEZ TIRADO (PUR) vs. Michaela Hope BECK (USA)

62 kg
GOLD - Lais NUNES DE OLIVEIRA (BRA) vs. Yaquelin ESTORNELL ELIZASTIGUE (CUB)
BRONZE - Kayla Colleen Kiyoko MIRACLE (USA) vs. Linda MORAIS (CAN)
BRONZE - Karla Johanna CAMPOS GONZALEZ (ECU) vs. Jackeline RENTERIA CASTILLO (COL)

68 kg
GOLD - Soleymi Antonieta CARABALLO HERNANDEZ (VEN) vs. Yudari SANCHEZ RODRIGUEZ (CUB)
BRONZE - Yanet Ursula SOVERO NINO (PER) vs. Temitope Lydia OGUNJIMI (CAN)
BRONZE - Diana Paulina MIRANDA GONZALES (MEX) vs. Leonela Aleyda AYOVI PARRAGA (ECU)

76 kg
GOLD - Adeline Maria GRAY (USA) vs. Andrea Carolina OLAYA GUTIERREZ (COL)
BRONZE - Andrimar Daniela LAZARO DIAZ (VEN) vs. Gracelynn DOOGAN (CAN)
Mabelkis CAPOTE PEREZ (CUB) vs. Aline DA SILVA FERREIRA (BRA)

#WrestleSamokov

Kyrgyzstan, Moldova earn chance to end U20 World title drought

Sunday, August 17, 2025 - 18:58 By Vinay Siwach

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SAMOKOV, Bulgaria (August 17) -- Kyrgyzstan and Moldova earned a chance to end their gold-medal drought at the U20 World Championships.

On the first day of the 2025 World U20 Championships in Samokov, four Freestyle weight classes were in action. Adilet AKYLBEKOV (KGZ) was the surprised finalist at 74kg and will try to become Kyrgyzstan's first gold medal at the U20 World Championships in 20 years. He will take on European U23 champion Ismail KHANIEV (UWW) in the final.

At 70kg, Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA) earned the final and will now try to become Moldova's first U20 world champ in Freestyle since 1999. He will take on returning bronze medalist PJ DUKE (USA) in the gold-medal bout.

The 125kg weight class will see an all-Asian final as Asian U20 champion Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ) earned a shot for the world title against Abolfazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI), a wrestler over whom Kassimbek has a 3-0 head-to-head record.

Two returning bronze medalists, Duke and Justin RADEMACHER (USA), upgrade their bronze medals from last year and earn themselves a chance to win gold on Monday at 70kg and 97kg respectively.

Akylbekov, who had finished at 17th at 79kg last year, had a dream run on Sunday and ended one for Raul CASO (ITA) in the semifinals. Caso had posted two last-second victories, however, he failed to repeat those heroics in the semifinal against Akylbekov.

Caso was 3-2 and went attack-mode in the final 15 seconds. He almost scored a takedown over Akylbekov who managed to sneak out and then Caso jumped over to take control for a takedown. However, the Kyrgyz wrestler stood up to avoid giving up any points. Italy challenged for two points but lost that on review, giving one more point to Akylbekov.

While Caso was leaving it late in his wins, Akylbekov was contrastingly dominating them. He defeated Nicholas HOOPER (CAN), 12-0, in the opening bout, blanked Titas PIJORAITIS (LTU), 10-0 and then handed Dosszhan KUL GAIYP (KAZ) a 6-1 loss.

Ismail KHANIEV (UWW)Ismail KHANIEV (UWW) defeated Kanata YAMAGUCHI (JPN), 7-3, in the semifinal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

He will now face Khaniev, who earned himself his first world medal at any level. Khaniev defeated Kanata YAMAGUCHI (JPN), 7-3, in a very close semifinal than the scoreline suggests.

Khaniev led 3-3 on criteria but Yamaguchi constantly threatened to score in the final 25 seconds. He hit a double-leg attack and planted Khaniev, who somehow managed to not land in danger. In a counter, Khaniev exposed Yamaguchi for two points and took a 5-3 lead. Yamaguchi tried a desperate throw in the final 15 seconds but Khaniev blocked it for two more points to win.

Earlier in the day, Khaniev avenged his European U20 Championships loss to Manuel WAGIN (GER) with a technical superiority win after he had beaten returning silver medalist Ladrion LOCKETT (USA).

Duke had his first big challenge of the day in the semifinals against former world U17 champion Erfan ELAHI (IRI) at 70kg. Duke scored a takedown while Elahi had a point for stepout and Duke's passivity. Duke's two-point scoring move gave him the criteria.

However, Elahi somehow thought he has the criteria and did not think of attacking in the final 30 seconds. When the bout was over, Elahi celebrated as if he had won only to realize that he has lost 2-2.

Duke will look to win his first a world title before wrestling at the senior World Championships later in September. He will take on Gaidarli for the gold-medal after the Moldovan won his semifinal 7-4 against Nurlan AGHAZADA (AZE).

Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA)Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA) reached the 70kg final in Samokov. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Gaidarli became the first Moldovan Freestyle wrestler to reach the final at U20 Worlds since 2019 after a stunningly good run in Samokov. He defeated European U20 champion Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO), 13-3, avenging his loss from Carole, Italy.

In the semifinals, he scored three takedowns in the second period against Aghazada to win 7-4, bettering his 18th-place finish from last year and earning a chance to end the gold-medal drought for Moldova.

Returning bronze medalist at 97kg Rademacher defeated European U20 champion Konstantine PETRIASHVILI (GEO) in the semifinals and will now try to win gold. Rademacher led 4-3 at the break extended his lead with a takedown for two points to start the second period, add another go-behind and single-leg to takedown to lead 10-3.

Petriashvili got an attack for two points but Rademacher was relentless in his wrestling and scored three more takedowns to win 16-5.

Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW)Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW) survived to win 11-9 against VISHAL (IND) in the 97kg semifinal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

For the gold medal, he will face Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW) who survived, with some help, for an 11-9 win over VISHAL (IND) who had Magomedov in all sorts of trouble. Magomedov led 10-4 when Vishal mounted a comeback against an absolutely broken Magomedov. He scored a takedown and Magomedov was cautioned for a singlet-pull foul which made it 10-7.

As the bout was restart in par terre, India challenged for two more points but the referee had blown the whistle before control from Vishal. That challenge gave enough breathing time to Magomedov to managed to hang on to his lead and win 11-9.

Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ)Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ) celebrates after winning his 125kg semifinal against Cole MIRASOLA (USA). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Kassimbek had a very dominant semifinal as he defeated Cole MIRASOLA (USA), 11-0, inside the first period. He had two excellent counter takedowns and then locked up Mirasola's legs around his head and turns him twice. He finished things with a double-leg takedown.

Kassimbek has lost to two World U17 Championships finals before but he will have a good chance to win his first world title. He will take on Mohammad Nezhad, a wrestler he has defeated three times before.

The Iranian denied former world U17 champion Yusif DURSUNOV (AZE) after a 1-1 victory in the semifinal. Mohmmad Nezhad got the one point for passivity in the second period which gave him the criteria.

Mohammad Nezhad lost to Kassimbek for the first time in 2023 Asian U17 Championships final, 8-1, then at the same tournament in 2024, 2-2 in the semifinals. His third loss to Kassimbek came in the semifinals of the 2024 World U17 Championships, 4-3.

RESULTS

70kg
GOLD: PJ DUKE (USA) vs. Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA) 

SF 1: Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA) df. Nurlan AGHAZADA (AZE), 7-4
SF 2: PJ DUKE (USA) df. Ebrahim ELAHI (IRI), 2-2

74kg
GOLD: Ismail KHANIEV (UWW) vs. Adilet AKYLBEKOV (KGZ)

SF 1: Adilet AKYLBEKOV (KGZ) df. Raul CASO (ITA), 4-2
SF 2: Ismail KHANIEV (UWW) df. Kanata YAMAGUCHI (JPN), 7-3

97kg
GOLD: Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW) vs. Justin RADEMACHER (USA)

SF 1: Justin RADEMACHER (USA) df. Konstantine PETRIASHVILI (GEO), 16-5
SF 2: Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW) df. VISHAL (IND), 11-9

125kg
GOLD: Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ) vs. Abolfazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI)

SF 1: Abolfazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI) df. Yusif DURSUNOV (AZE), 1-1
SF 2: Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ) df. Cole MIRASOLA (USA), 11-0