2022 U20 World Championships

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Yankeefan33

Well-known member
Coming off an historic 9-medal performance by the U17 team, the U20 team (formerly Juniors) will be competing next week in Bulgaria. The US is sending a very skilled, if inexperienced, team overseas with the hopes of bringing home plenty more medals. Men's freestyle will be Monday-Wednesday, with matches starting at 4am and semis at 11:45am, with finals right after. Below will be a much longer post with international accolades for wrestlers, along with a couple sentences on each weight, but the short prediction is five medals, with incoming Buckeye Nick Feldman taking home gold.

A yearly reminder that perhaps the best predictor of NCAA success is U20 Worlds success. Between 2014-2019, 22/25 wrestlers who won a medal at Junior Worlds went on to All-American at the D1 level. 40% of them won NCAAs, and three have wrestled at the Olympics. Gold medalists between 2010 and 2019 are as follows: Kyle Snyder, Mark Hall, Spencer Lee, Daton Fix, Mekhi Lewis, David Carr, Mason Parris, Gable Steveson: everybody on that list made at least an NCAA finals, and Fix and Parris can still win a title.
 
 
57kg:
Harutyan Hovhannisyan (Arm)- U20 Euro 2nd
Luka Gvinjilia (Geo)- U20 Euro 3rd
Simone Piroddu (Ita)- U20 Euro 1st, 2018 Cadet 3rd
Merey Bazarbayev (Kaz)- U20 Asian 1st

Wide open bracket here. Piroddu is very interesting, but not a superstar in my opinion. Would say medal chances for USA here, but not sold on Volk’s ability to score at the highest level. Prediction for US- DNP. 1-1 or 0-1

61kg:
Hayk Abrahamyan (Arm)- U20 Euro 3rd
Khamzat Arsamerzouev (Fra)- U20 Euro 2nd, U23 Euro 2nd
Daviti Abdaladze (Geo)- U20 Euro 1st
Yuto Nishiuchi (Jpn)- 2018 Cadet 3rd
Armin Habibzadeh (Iri)- U20 Asian 1st

All the top Euro guys are here, but none have world medals on their resume. This is a weight for the US to take home a medal. Bouzakis is a hammer on top and can really challenge guys with his pace.
Prediction for US- Silver medal!

65kg:
Ziraddin Bayramov (Aze)- 2021 Junior 2nd, 2021 U23 3rd, U23 Euro 1st
Ayub Musaev (Bul)- U20 Euro 2nd, U23 Euro 3rd
Sujeet (Ind)- U20 Asian 1st
Luka Janezashvili (Geo)- U20 Euro 3rd
Yoshinosuke Aoyagi (Jpn)- 2019 Cadet 3rd
Olzhas Olzhakanov (Kaz)- U20 Euro 3rd
Mykyta Zubal (Ukr)- U20 Euro 1st
Umidjon Jalolov (Uzb)- 2018 Cadet 1st, 2018 YOG 1st, 2017 Cadet 2nd

Excellent weight. I love Jalolov, though he hasn’t translated the Cadet skills to Juniors. Bayramov was on the early entry list but was later not listed by UWW, so guessing he is not wrestling. Sujeet had a great Asian tourney, same for Zubal at Euros.
Prediction for US- DNP. 1-1 or 0-1

70kg:
Hayk Papikyan (Arm)- U20 Euro 1st
Muhammad Abdurachmanov (Bul)- U20 Euro 2nd
Hossein Mohammad (Iri)- U20 Asian 1st
Kota Takahashi (Jpn)- 2018 Cadet 2nd
Pavel Andrusca (Mda)- U20 Euro 3rd

Another weight with not a ton of international success. I actually really like Mesenbrink, but I am at a loss for a prediction for him.
Prediction for US- High DNP- 5th or 7th place

74kg:
Dzhabrail Gadzhiev (Aze)- U20 Euro 1st, 2021 Junior 2nd, 2019 Cadet 1st
Erfan Elahi (Iri)- 2021 Junior 1st, 2019 Cadet 2nd
Gheroghi Cara (Mda)- U20 Euro 2nd
Krisztian Biro (Rou)- U23 Euro 2nd, 2019 Cadet 2nd
Alex Facundo (USA)- 2019 Cadet 3rd, 2018 Cadet 3rd

The best two people here are Gadzhiev and Elahi, which is just a rematch from Junior Worlds last year (where Elahi won). The observant viewer will remember Bryce Andonian losing 8-7 in an awesome match last year to Elahi. The US has their own star here with Alex Facundo, who will look to break up the superstar duo.
Prediction for US- Bronze medal!

79kg:
Mushegh Mkrtchyan (Arm)- U20 Euro 1st
Radomir Stoyanov (Bul)- U20 Euro 3rd
Otari Adeishvili (Geo)- U20 Euro 2nd
Sobhan Yari (Iri)- U20 Asian 1st
Mukhammad Abdullaev (Kgz)- 2021 Junior 3rd

Nobody with much international experience here, and some wrestlers from non-traditional powers as well. This usually bodes well for Team USA’s chances, but I’m not sure how Thompson will do. Maybe the one weight/wrestler that I could be totally wrong on this week.
Prediction: DNP. 0-1 or 1-1.

86kg:
Sabuhi Amiraslanov (Aze)- U20 Euro 3rd
Rakhim Magamadov (Fra)- U20 Euro 1st, 2021 Junior 2nd, 2019 Cadet 3rd
Aref Ranjbari (Iri)- U20 Asian 1st
Daviti Koguashvili (Geo)- U20 Euro 2nd, U23 Euro 3rd
Nazar Dod (Ukr)- U20 Euro 3rd

Magamadov of France is a really good wrestler with some serious experience already, check him out if yall get a chance. I think, like 79kg, this is a weaker weight for Team USA.
Prediction: High DNP. 5th or 7th

92kg:
Andro Margishvili (Geo)- U20 Euro 2nd
Adlan Viskhanov(Fra)- U20 Euro 3rd
Denis Sahaliuk (Urk)- U20 Euro 3rd
Amirhossein Firouzpour (Iri)- 2021 U23 3rd, 2021 Junior 1st, 2019 Cadet 1st
Ion Demian (Mda)- U20 Euro 1st

There’s one star here, and then we have an open weight. Firouzpour has a U23 bronze already to go with last year’s championship in this tourney. I fully expect him to repeat that title. I love Jaxon Smith and am really high on his chances here. I think his style and scrambling really causes problems for guys, especially at the international level.
Prediction: Bronze Medal!

97kg:
Luka Khutchua (Geo)- U20 Euro 3rd
Amirali Azarpira (Iri)- 2021 U23 1st
Georgian Tripon (Rou)- U20 Euro 3rd
Rifat Gidak (Tur)- 2021 Cadet 1st

Another upper weight, another Iranian freak of nature. Azarpira won U23 gold last year and is the favorite here, believe he teched U23 bronze Jay Aiello last year in the semis. Keuter is a great candidate to take a bronze here, and perhaps silver with a good draw.
Prediction: Bronze Medal!

125kg:
Lyova Gevorgyan (Arm)- U20 Euro 1st, 2021 Junior 2nd, 2019 Cadet 3rd
Georgi Ivanov (Bul)- U20 Euro 3rd
Merab Suleimanashvili (Geo)- U20 Euro 2nd
Amirreza Masoumi (Iri)- 2021 Cadet 1st
Bekzat Tazhi (Kaz)- 2019 Cadet 3rd
Adil Misirci (Tur)- U20 Euro 3rd

An excellent weight with lots of good guys. Gevorgyan was second here in 2021 and Masoumi won Cadet gold last year (over USA’s Jim Mullen). All four Euro medalists are here as well. This is my bold prediction though- we have the best guy. I’m so high on Nick Feldman its crazy, and I see this going his way.
Prediction: Gold Medal!
 
Bracket were posted this morning. Quick reaction on Monday's weights:

57kg: Rough draw- gets winner of Iran and Italy, both of which would be favored.
65kg: Couple heavy hitters in a row for Cornella- Kazakhstan, then Bulgaria, then Iran. India/Azerbaijan down on the bottom, while Uzbekistan is the opposite quarter from Cornella on his side of the bracket.
70kg: Mesenbrink opens with Belgium, who has a U20 Euro silver medal to his name. Krgygzstan awaits after that, then Iran in the quarters. Could be one and done, could be a nice little run to the finals, who knows!
79kg: Iran round one for Thompson- yikes. Armenia and Krgygzstan on opposite side is a plus, but tough R1 for sure.
97kg: Great draw for Kueter. Gets Moldova R1 with probably India R2. Iran, Romania, and Turkey on the opposite side. Georgia in the semis probably, but should be a winnable match for Ben.
 
An excellent morning for Team USA, putting four in the semis with some outstanding matches and clutch wins.

57kg: Jore Volk had the takedown of the day, scoring two with two seconds left vs Iran in the quarters. In fact, it was ruled no TD before a challenge (I actually still don't think it was a TD to be honest, but sometimes you get lucky). Nice 7-2 win in the quarters to move onto the semis vs Georgia/Kazakhstan.

65kg: Vince Cornella had his own clutch win as well, scoring two TDs in the last 30 seconds in the quarters to beat Iran. He will face Jalolov of Uzbekistan, who has looked great today.

70kg: Mitch Mesenbrink is bringing the scoring and scrambling today, winning twice by quick tech before a 9-7 victory over Iran in the quarters. He will face Armenia in the semis.

79kg: Brayden Thompson dropped his opener 6-1 to Iran. He will need Iran to keep winning to be pulled back in.

97kg: Ben Kueter won both his matches handily and will face an excellent Georgian in the semis.
 
MPhillips said:
Our boys pushed the pace and the Iranians folded under the pressure. It was a fun watch. Team USA looked excellent.
Click to expand...
That's what we do! ??. Conditioning and gas tanks seems to be the stronger thing USA is known for internationally for a a couple decades... they definitely showed that this morning! Love all the offense.
 
TheFan1 said:
Conditioning and gas tanks seems to be the stronger thing USA is known for internationally for a a couple decades
Click to expand...
Yes it is. ?

Semis
Volk-USA vs Gvingilia-Georgia
Cornella-USA vs Jalolov-Uzbekistan
Mesenbrink-USA vs Papikyan-Armenia
Kueter-USA vs Khutchua-Georgia

Repechage
Thompson-USA
 
Bracket preview for tomorrow's matches:

61kg: Bouzakis opens with Uzbekistan, with wins leading towards Turkey and Iran. Think Bouzakis should be in any of those matches- don't see anyone in the bracket miles better than him.

74kg: To be the man, you gotta beat the man. Facundo gets reigning champ Elahi in R1, India if he wins. Andonian had Elahi R1 last year, lost, then came back for bronze. I'm predicting an identical route for the Penn State commit.

86kg: Berge gets Armenia round 1, with Hungary and Ukraine awaiting in his quarter. Really don't know what to expect here- it's a winnable quarter, but Berge will have to bring his A-game.

92kg: Tough one for Smith- opens with Euro champ Armenia in R1, Euro silver from Georgia in R2. I really don't see him getting past both of those guys, but if he does he should waltz to the finals.

125kg: Feldman gets (probably) Georgia in the quarters then the clear favorite Iran in the semis. That's the de facto finals in my opinion, and Feldman will be an underdog for sure, but the US has been wrestling great so who knows!
 
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Another good morning. Bouzakis is fun to watch. Out of the gate he looks like it's not gonna go well... then he just sticks them ?‍♂️.. Yankee's "hammer on top" in preview is an understatement.
 
Another interesting morning for Team USA, with not as much success as last night but still plenty good wrestling.

Repechage: Brayden Thompson dropped his first repechage match 2-1 and will leave with an 0-2 record. Nothing to be disappointed in, if I were him. Think he was a little outmatched by the top guys but hung tough and fought hard.

61kg: Bouzakis was down twice in his first two matches before utilizing strong top wrestling and getting two pins. He dropped his quarters match with Iran 13-11, however, after a fun back and forth match.

74kg: It's never fun when a US wrestler goes 0-1, but Alex Facundo got the bad draw and that's his result. 5-4 loss to Elahi (who I think we will see at Senior worlds sooner rather than later), who then goes on to lose to India's next star Jaglan in the quarters.

86kg: Bennett Berge looked great, using an ankle pick and leg lace combo to rack up three tech falls. He will face Turkey in the semis.

92kg: Jaxon Smith went 1-1, getting teched by Georgia following a nice 8-1 win against Moldova. Smith used some nice short offense (and a beautiful duck under at the end of the 1st period) to win his first match before being overpowered by the Georgian (who has an outstanding gut wrench for a 20 year old, by the way). He will await the semis match between Georgia and Armenia.

125kg: Only one match for Feldman this morning, which he won 5-1. Was noticeably smaller than his opponent from Bulgaria but was able to counter that with speed and some crafty edge wrestling. Big one against Iran's star Masoumi very soon.

Overall, not a bad morning. Definitely expected more out of Bouzakis and Facundo, but many really good wrestlers don't medal at Junior worlds. Looking forward to today- three gold medal matches, a bronze match, and two more semis.
 
- Bennett Berge left his opponent on the mat looking like Ben Askren after a knee to the face. Was down 5-0 at the break, got five straight step-outs and two TDs to win 9-7. He will face France (Magamadov was 2nd at Juniors last year) in the finals, where he is a pretty big underdog in my opinion.
- Yeah Masoumi is the best men's U20 wrestler in the world ? He handles Nick Feldman and it looked like they were in different weight classes; two TDs, five step outs and a couple fleeing the mat call (which were kinda ridiculous, Feldman was just outmatched) leads to an 11-1 tech. Feldman will await the winner of repechage between
- Both US wrestlers were pulled back into repechage. Bouzakis will face Ukraine, with the winner for bronze against France. Jaxon Smith will face Germany, with Armenia awaiting in the finals.
 
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Okay help me here. Maybe i am behind

4 guys going for gold. 57, 70 , 86 and 97
2 going for bronze. 65 and 125
61 Bouzakis and 92 Smith need one more win to get in for bronze.

No weight classes are done? Half of the finals today and half tomorrow?

There is Mat A and Mat B. I only see two guys assigned a mat at this time.
57 Volk mat B
65 Cornella mat B
 
MitSulHer said:
Okay help me here. Maybe i am behind

4 guys going for gold. 57, 70 , 86 and 97
2 going for bronze. 65 and 125
61 Bouzakis and 92 Smith need one more win to get in for bronze.

No weight classes are done? Half of the finals today and half tomorrow?

There is Mat A and Mat B. I only see two guys assigned a mat at this time.
57 Volk mat B
65 Cornella mat B
Click to expand...
Yep that's right. Finals are starting right now. Volk, Cornella, Mesenbrink, Kueter today. Bouzakis and Smith tomorrow at 4am. Feldman, Berge (and Bouzakis/Smith if they win) tomorrow around 11am
 
Volk looked great in the first period and just enough in the second period. Pretty exciting match for a 3-2 i thought.

He looked very fast and in great shape. Which i believe you (or maybe MPhillips) mentioned earlier for the USA guys, being in shape.
 
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Jore Volk U20 World Champ!! Stifles Kazakhstan 3-2, getting an early step out and a takedown and holding off the opponent late in the match. That's the best I've seen Volk ever wrestle. Strong offense, stingy defense, jumped up many Big Boards the last two days.
 
Ugh Cornella loses the bronze match 6-6. Late scramble at the end resulted in a challenge from Japan, which gave both wrestlers two points and Cornella one for a reversal. I thought it was the right call, but still a tough situation. Greta tourney from Cornella, something to build on for sure.
 
Yankeefan33 said:
Ugh Cornella loses the bronze match 6-6. Late scramble at the end resulted in a challenge from Japan, which gave both wrestlers two points and Cornella one for a reversal. I thought it was the right call, but still a tough situation. Greta tourney from Cornella, something to build on for sure.
Click to expand...
Right call but hard to watch. Good match. The Japanese wrestler was pretty gassed at the end but had just enough i guess.
 
Mitch Mesenbrink walks away with a silver medal after losing to Azerbaijan in the finals 13-7. Was a really hard fought match, Azerbaijan had some great offense and was able to get to shots with regularity. Greta tourney for Mitch, really liked his all-around style and ability this week.
 
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