#WrestleSofia

Live Blog: U20 World Championships, Day 6

Saturday, August 20, 2022 - 07:57 By Vinay Siwach

Share this article

SOFIA, Bulgaria (August 20) -- The U20 World Championships are at the business end of the tournament. The final qualification rounds will be held Saturday. The Greco-Roman weight classes in action are 60kg, 67kg, 72kg, 82kg and 97kg.

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

The semifinals for the evening session are set

60kg
Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) vs. Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
SUMIT (IND) vs. Suren AGHAJANYAN (ARM)

67kg
Seyed SOHRABI (IRI) vs. Nika BROLADZE (GEO)
Din KOSHKAR (KAZ) vs. Kanan ABDULLAZADE (AZE)

72kg
Amir ABDI (IRI) vs. Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA)
Gurban GURBANOV (AZE) vs. Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR)

82kg​​​​​​​
Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI) vs. Alperen BERBER (TUR)
Ruslan ABDIIEV (UKR) vs. Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO)

97kg​​​​​​​
Iussuf MATSIYEV (KAZ) vs. Nurmanbet RAIMALY UULU (KGZ)
​​​​​​​Richard KARELSON (EST) vs. Ali ABEDIDARZI (IRI) 

14:20: Din KOSHKAR (KAZ) began his quarterfinal with a takedown against Robert PEREZ (USA) and that proved crucial as he won the bout 3-3 at 67kg

14:05: The quarterfinals at 67kg

Din KOSHKAR (KAZ) vs. Robert PEREZ (USA)
Nestori MANNILA (FIN) vs. Nika BROLADZE (GEO)
Yanis NIFRI (FRA) vs. Seyed SOHRABI (IRI)
Kanan ABDULLAZADE (AZE) vs. Ilyosjon ABDINAZAROV (UZB) 

13:55: Alperen BERBER (TUR) over Mihai GUTU (MDA) at 82kg! Berber allows Gutu to take the passivity but then scores four points including a takedown to win 4-1. 

13:30: At 82kg, Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI) moves into the quarterfinals after beating Shan LIN (TPE), 9-0. He will face  Fares GHALY (EGY) next.

13:05: Returning silver medalist at 67kg Seyed SOHRABI (IRI) beats Abdelrahman OMAR (EGY) 9-0 as he tries for the second straight final at U20 Worlds.

12:40: U20 European champion Richard KARELSON (EST) beats Harutyun KIRAKOSYAN (ARM) 2-0 at 97kg. He is trying to become Estonia's first-ever U20 World Championships medal

12:20: U17 world champion Alperen BERBER (TUR) makes a big comeback after being down against  Ruben GEVORGYAN (ARM). He wins 13-10 at 82kg.

12:05: Marek VRBA (CZE) cannot believe what just happened in the bout against James HOLDER (RSA). The scoreline read 8-0 in Holder's favor after two big throws. But the Czech Republic challenged the final call for a reversal. It was confirmed in the review. Vrba then scored an 18-10 win.

11:52: Din KOSHKAR (KAZ) comes back from a 4-0 deficit to secure an 8-4 win over returning bronze medalist Ankit GULIA (IND). He used a headlock to score a four and held Gulia in danger for 2 minutes 

11:45: At 67kg, Kanan ABDULLAZADE (AZE) with a huge 8-3 win over Alexei HAHLOVSCHI (MDA) in the opening round

11:32: Amir ABDI (IRI) was in some trouble Eito NISHIDA (JPN) scored a takedown but Abdi hangs on for a 4-2 win at 72kg. At the same weight, Gurban GURBANOV (AZE) beats Elsi MARTINEZ (MEX) 9-0

Deepak PUNIA (IND) led 3-0 but Georgios BARBANOS (SWE) hits a four to win 4-4 on criteria.

11:25: The 72kg qualifications will be the first to go on the mat. Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO) begins his day with a 10-1 win over Omer DOGAN (TUR). 

11:00: Welcome to day six of the U20 World Championships in Sofia. The Greco-Roman wrestlers are ready to get the day going with the qualification bouts.

#WrestleNoviSad

Mesenbrink takes steady steps to win U23 Worlds gold

Saturday, October 25, 2025 - 17:22 By Vinay Siwach

Share this article

NOVI SAD, Serbia (October 25) -- Mitchell MESENBRINK (USA) remembers his last year's U23 World Championships campaign. He won a bronze medal, left Tirana a little frustrated and missing his training room in Penn State.

With lessons from that tournament and surrounded by his Penn State teammates and coaches, Mesenbrink made sure he did not return home without a medal. The former U20 world champion became U23 world champion after beating Halit OZMUS (TUR), 12-2, in the 74kg final.

Mesenbrink was a leg-attack machine in the final and Ozmus did little to defend those, giving up the final in 2:59, just on the stroke of the break.

"It's just about constantly getting better, technically, and emotionally, too," Mesenbrink said. "If I'm just running in there, trying to grab onto his head, he can get in. So just being able to constantly improve. I think that's a strong testament to the people around me and to the coaches that I have and the teammates that I have at Penn State."

Seven wrestler out of the 10 on the United States Freestyle team are part of the same training center -- the Nittany Lions Wrestling Club, Penn State, which Mesenbrink said made a lot of difference this year.

"It's fun, because last year I came by myself. It was just me at the U23s. So it was fun this year that we had seven out of 10 guys," he said. "Last year, I knew the guys, but it wasn't my teammates, right? Now it's my teammates, the guys that I'm literally in the room with every day. We go over and it's almost like, are we even in Serbia right now? It feels like we're in America, because we got so many guys here."

In Tirana, the American wrestler lost to Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) in the quarterfinals but bounced back to win the bronze medal. But in Novi Sad on Friday, Mesenbrink faced Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) in the semifinals and came out on top 6-4, with a buzzer beating takedown.

The win boasted Mesenbrink's confidence who was close to make the U.S. senior team for World Championships in Zagreb where Takahashi won gold, but lost to David CARR (USA) domestically.

However, that loss made Mesenbrink think about his aims and how he wants to improve his wrestling on the mat.

"I think the big thing of not making the world team, it was just, I got to get better in those specific areas," he said. "That's the most fun part. I thought this is all this is, is a title. This is gonna be fading so quick. So I thought I'm going to go out there and I'm going to work on the things that I've been working on and I've been working really hard since Final X to get those improvements."

Mobin AZIMI (IRI)Mobin AZIMI (IRI) celebrates after winning the 92kg gold medal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

In the only other final of Freestyle, Mobin AZIMI (IRI) earned the first gold medal for Iran after beating Takhir KHANIEV (UWW), 5-3, in the 92kg final. Azimi broken Khaniev down in the final and scored three stepout points to win the gold medal.

RESULTS

74kg
GOLD: Mitchell MESENBRINK (USA) df. Halit OZMUS (TUR), 12-2

BRONZE: Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) df. PARVINDER (IND), 8-2
BRONZE: Manuel WAGIN (GER) df. Magomed KHANIEV (AZE), 8-4

92kg
GOLD: Mobin AZIMI (IRI) df. Takhir KHANIEV (UWW), 5-3

BRONZE: Sherzod POYONOV (UZB) df. Ivan CHORNOHUZ (UKR), 11-1
BRONZE: Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN) df. Ion DEMIAN (MDA), 10-0

Semifinals

57kg
GOLD: Yuta KIKUCHI (JPN) vs. Luke LILLEDAHL (USA)

SF 1: Yuta KIKUCHI (JPN) df. Nodirbek JUMANAZAROV (UZB), 6-1
SF 2: Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) df. Aiandai ONDAR (UWW), 7-1

70kg
GOLD: Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) vs. Sina KHALILI (IRI)

SF 1: Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) df. PJ DUKE (USA), 14-4
SF 2: Sina KHALILI (IRI) df. Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA), 8-2

79kg
GOLD: Ibrahim YAPRAK (TUR) vs. Levi HAINES (USA)

SF 1: Ibrahim YAPRAK (TUR) df. Nikita DMITRIJEVS MAYEUSKI (UWW), 5-2
SF 2: Levi HAINES (USA) df. Davud DAUDOV (UWW), 11-4

125kg
GOLD: Abolfazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI) vs. Khetag KARSANOV (AZE)

SF 1: Abolfazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI) df. Khabib DAVUDGADZHIEV (UWW), 5-0
SF 2: Khetag KARSANOV (AZE) df. Daniel HERRERA (USA), 12-2