Finals: 50 kg: Mukhtarov (AZE) vs Zurabyan (ARM) 60 kg: McKee (USA) vs Akhmedov (RUS) 74 kg: Hall (USA) vs Shapiev (UZB) 96 kg: Matcharashvili (GEO) vs Musaev (RUS)
Kollin Moore gets Germany in a winnable bronze medal match Iran hangs on to beat Russian Valiev in 74 kg repechage. Was battling a cradle at the buzzer, almost pinned. Helps US in team race.
finals start at 11:30 ET, but I imagine they will start with the two bronze medal bouts and the gold medal bout at 50, then 60, then 74. Could be a bit. Mark Hall is not going to lose to UZB after beating RUS and IRI.
My buddy at VT just posted this. He was solid, ranked as highly as 4th in NCAA his senior season. 2 time PA state champ in HS.
He's talked about it on his podcast and on UFC podcasts countless times. It means more IMO because Joe comes from a competitive taekwondo background and he is a BJJ blackbelt. Rogan is about as bad of a dude as there is. If he wasn't 50 or if the UFC success started 10 years earlier than it did, I imagine he would have competed in MMA. Definitely knows his stuff.
In case anyone is wondering, they are indeed going in order for the medal matches today. McKee up in 6 matches, Hall up in 9, Moore up in 10 or 11.
MARK HALL BABY! Another JR world gold!!! 2 juniors, 3 overall. Hit a mixer and pinned UZB in 42 seconds. Dayum. I believe Hall is both the second ever 2x JR champ and 3x Cadet/JR champ in US history (Spencer Lee)
50kg BRONZE: Kenzhebek Uulu (KGZ) WIN BY FALL Minkailov (RUS) (KGZ was down with 10 seconds left and for some reason RUS stopped wrestling. Oops.) 50kg BRONZE: Narmandakh (MGL) WIN BY DEC Kalzhan (KAZ) 6-2 50kg GOLD: Mukhtarov (AZE) - WIN BY DEC Zurabyan (ARM) 7-5 (Crazy action at end, ARM was down 3, scored 4 VERY late with two head pinches, but stepped out with 1 second left, they only scored one of the head pinches on official review, ARM challenged and it was denied. Closer than score.) 60kg BRONZE: Emamichogae (IRI) WIN BY TF Prizreni (ALB) 10-0 60kg BRONZE: Sakaki (JPN) WIN BY DEC Ravinder (IND) 9-6 60kg GOLD: Akhmedov (RUS) WIN BY FALL McKee (USA) (McKee got worked in a big way. Pinned in under a minute, was down 8-0 at the time. Got hit with a sick fireman's for 4 in there) 74kg BRONZE: Gulia (IND) WIN BY DEC Yamasaki (JPN) 8-5 (JPN gassed badly) 74kg BRONZE: Mottaghinia (IRI) WIN BY TF Kucukyildirim (TUR) 11-0 (This kid is good af and Mark Hall handled him) 74kg GOLD: Hall (USA) WIN BY FALL Shapiev (UZB) 96kg BRONZE: Ciftci (TUR) WIN BY DEC Hovsepyan (ARM) 7-0 96kg BRONZE: Moore (USA) WIN BY TF Matuhin (GER) 11-0 (Opponent was not in the same echelon as Kollin) 96kg GOLD: Musaev (RUS) WIN BY DEC Matcharashvili (GEO) 7-2 (Both guys are going to make an impact at SR level imo) Team Score after Day 1: Russia 30 USA 30
Gold, Silver, and Bronze today is an amazing showing. Unfortunately brackets have been posted and USA has just about the worst draws possible Day 2. Dayton Fix gets returning world champ Khashalov (AZE) in RD2. Khashalov has a rematch with Salim Naim of BUL in round 1, he beat Naim in the Euro Finals...great seeding! Deakin has Novruzov of AZE in rd 2. Novruzov was Euro Silver this year. Zahid gets a rematch with Magomedsaidov of AZE in ROUND FRIGGIN 1. Magomedsaidov has won gold at JR Euros the last two years and won bronze at worlds last year, beating Zahid in a close one along the way. Gable Steveson gets Khasanboy Rakhimov of UZB in rd1. He won the JR Asian championships by fall in 15 seconds. Russia also on his side of the bracket. Yikes. Matchups tomorrow are so bad for USA that it's almost suspicious.
I honestly would rather face these guys in the earlier rounds cause when medals are on the line, even more nefarious shit happens. That 96k Russian must be something. He handled that Georgian who seemingly had his way with Moore.
Moore looked pretty fatigued in that match. He came out and got the first takedown, and there was a borderline call right after that didn't go his way. Didn't look like he had much in the tank afterwards. He works at such a ridiculous pace that he tires his guys out individually, but it can work against you late in tournament settings. But yeah, RUS and GEO at 96 both look legit. RUS was way quicker than GEO and better conditioned.
Zahid just bullied Magomedsaidov for 6 minutes and he didn't like it one bit. USA goes 4-0 in their first four matches, everyone looks great. Fix has returning world champ next.
Fix techs returning world champ Khashalov 10-0 in the first. Khashalov hurt his ankle in his first match but seemed to be moving fine when the match started....the limp became obvious when he went down 6-0 and then significantly exaggerated when he lost. This is Daton's tournament.
Moments after Russia comes back from 0-9 to win 11-9 at 55kg, USA answers when Ryan Deakin comes back from 0-6 to win 6-6.
All four Americans are in the semis today. Zahid Valencia won his semi and will wrestle for gold later this morning. Going to be neck and neck in the team race.
Ryan F'ing Deakin is in the Junior World Finals! He'll likely get David Baev so that's an uphill climb to say the least, but amazing tournament for him either way. USA rollin.
Now Daton Fix techs an Iranian in 32 seconds with a series of trap arm guts (the best in country) to make the finals. USA will face Russia in the finals 55, 66, and 84. USA faces Russia in the semis at 120. Those four matches decide the team race which is currently tied.
Gable absolutely gassed. Scoreboard showing 20-10 Steveson but Russia challenges and I think they will win this one.
And the challenge is denied, Gable Steveson advances to the finals! ALL FOUR americans make the finals!!!! SEVEN medals for Team USA Juniors, incredible.
Team USA has not a won the junior championship as a team since 1984. 1984 was also the year of the LA Olympics that the Soviet Union, Iran, Cuba, East Germany, etc boycotted. They boycotted the JR championship as well. USA won by default basically. I don't think an age level team has ever straight up beaten the best in the world. USA only needs to win 2 of their last four matches. Daton Fix would seem to be a favorite. Ryan Deakin is a huge underdog. Zahid is probably a coin flip or maybe even a slight favorite the way he is wrestling. Gable should be a big favorite.
Agree...3/4 should happen. But I will settle for 2 and the team title. Zahid needs to prove to me he can grind out an elite world class win on the highest stage.
Daton Fix is a world champion!!!! He wins 12-1 over Russia in the finals, the stepout he gave up in the finals was the only point he gave up the entire tournament, dominating his opponents by a score of 53-1. He's good. Also showed off the best trap-arm gut in the country. He scored with it at least once in every match. US wins one of the next three and they are team champs.
David Baev techs Ryan Deakin 10-0 in 1:50. Nothing to be ashamed about there, Baev finished third at Russian Nationals this year. He's going to be making huge international impacts soon enough. Outstanding performance by Deakin to win Silver.
Naiphonov upends Zahid Valencia 7-5 in a close battle. Russia got a controversial caution and 2 (again). I thought it was bad but maybe I missed something. Need Gable to win his match now.
Honestly, it's always something with Zahid. Incredibly talented but he just always seems to come up a bit short in these types of matches. His talent is damn near peerless but something is just missing with him. Lazy to say it's a mental edge or whatnot but who knows. Still a great tourney for him.
Maybe, it seems like he's lost some big matches, but today is a big win for Zahid. He worked an outstanding wrestler in Magomedsaidov who has two consecutive JR world bronzes and two consecutive JR Euro golds (not to mention he beat Zahid last year). Also won a U23 championship. Russians are always tough and Zahid was right there with him. Not worried about Zahid's future, he is a star and a JR World Silver is a tremendous accomplishment.
lol at this officiating. Ref stops action to correct the frozen shotclock timer, but the match clock keeps ticking while action is stopped and 10 seconds run off. Never corrected. Then at the end Russia flees, ref stops action, but no caution. Russia wins and the team race falls on Gable's capable shoulders.
World has to be thinking....first Snyder...now, who this kid with 2 last names. Gable is going to win an Olympic gold medal at some point. He has the best odds out of all the young kids IMO.
There might be something to this... In the Hall match, even allowing for Hall getting away with stalling for 5 minutes straight, he seemed kind of 'blocked' and not willing to stay on his offense. Then, after the TD was correctly reversed for the headgear gear grab he immediately went into panic mode desperation(still like 40 seconds left at that point). Against someone as good as Hall that's never going to work. His offense is good, that he should be able to get to it if he's working freely. Sometimes in the biggest matches he does seem to slow down or freeze just that little bit. Might just be early and he's getting used to that championship level though
The craziest thing about Gable...the kid is still eligible for cadets! He didn't wrestle cadets this year because the heaviest weight class is 100kg and he can't make it anymore. When he went to weigh in yesterday officials almost didn't let him wrestle because his birth date is 2000 and he's only 17. He's eligible to wrestle in this tournament in 2018, 2019, and 2020. Obviously he won't be doing that because I'm pretty sure he has higher aspirations but it's crazy to think about. I would not be surprised if he goes after the senior team spot as soon as next year. If there's an overlap between trials like there was this year, they could maybe grant him a wrestle off if he doesn't make the senior team. Soon enough though, that spot will be his. I need to see Gable-Gwiz like I need air to breathe. Speaking of future studs--we also have two 2-time junior golds that have a cadet gold to their name as well. The guard is changing. Mark Hall may not be the USA rep for 2020, but I'd bet right now that if 55kg is an olympic weight class that Daton Fix or Spencer Lee will be in Tokyo manning that spot.
Jake Ryan is sitting this year for OSU due to chronic elbow injuries, Dayton Racer is no longer transferring in. That leaves a hole at 157 for OSU that I believe will be occupied by Micah Jordan.
Classes start in 2.5 weeks at OSU and PSU, a week later at Lehigh. Scuttlebutt is that we'll have a resolution on McKenna in the next few days. Wouldn't be surprised if Dayton Racer not coming to OSU is related to McKenna's decision.
Schwabby turned 40. Saw his wife post this on FB. Lots of big time wrestlers in it if you can recognize them. (I don't expect anyone to watch the full vid)