Three U.S. Greco-Roman athletes in wrestlebacks at Junior Worlds in China

ee U.S. Greco-Roman athletes remain alive in the wrestle-back rounds after the first session of competition at the Junior World Championships, held at the Chinese Agriculture University Gymnasium on Tuesday.

Competing in the evening wrestlebacks will be Tyler Cox (Gillette, Wyo./Camel Kids) at 50 kg/110 lbs., Chad Hemerson (Monterey, Calif./USOEC) at 74 kg/163 lbs. and Robbie Smith (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 96 kg/211.5 lbs.

“It was a pretty good session. We lost just one guy,” said U.S. coach Isaac Ramaswamy. “Tyler Cox made it to the semis, where he had a strong opponent. Two of the others got pulled back in by tough opponents. We have three of the four still in, going for a medal.”

Cox went the farthest of the U.S. wrestlers in the session, reaching the semifinals, where he was pinned by Iran’s Reza Asadpour in 33 seconds. Asadpour hit a hip toss on Cox, and was able to put him away in the first period.

Cox had two strong wins to qualify for the semifinals, dominating Carlo Van Wyck of South Africa by technical fall, 7-0, 6-0, then defeating a talented Donior Islamov of Moldova, 1-5, 5-2, 3-0 in the quarterfinals. Cox hit a nice headlock in the second period against Islamov.

Cox will face the winner of the first wrestleback match between Edgar Pogosian of Poland and Arsen Eraliev of Kyrgyzstan.

Hemerson also won his first two bouts, a preliminary round 5-2, 2-2 defeat of Hiroto Uesako of Japan, then a second round victory over H. Kamtsoris of Greece, 2-2, 1-1, 6-0. In both matches, Hemerson hit a number of front headlocks for exposure at key points in the match.

In the quarterfinals, Hemerson was defeated by Elvin Mursaliyev of Azerbaijan, 0-3, 0-2. Mursaliyev reached the gold-medal match, which makes Hemerson eligible for the wrestlebacks.

Hemerson will face the winner of the opening wrestleback bout between Robert Pap of Romania and Xin Xiowei of China.

Smith opened with a technical fall over Tsukiaki Natakani of Japan, 7-0, 6-0. He was defeated in a hard-fought second round match by Davod Gilnirang of Iran, 1-3, 1-4. When Gilnirang reached the finals, Smith was drawn back into the tournament.

Smith competes in the opening wrestleback round against Rait Thomberg of Estonia. Smith is wrestling in his third Junior World Championships, and placed ninth at last year’s Junior World meet in Guatemala.

The only U.S. wrestler eliminated was Jake Swenson, Moroni, Utah (Sunkist Kids/USOEC) at 60 kg/132 lbs. Swenson opened with a solid victory over Manuel Almeida of Portugal, 2-5, 4-3, 5-0, but was beaten by China’s Xiao Bo, 1-1, 1-4 in his second match. Xiao was defeated in the quarterfinals, knocking Swenson out of the tournament.

The U.S. had a great start to the day, winning all of their first-round bouts.

U.S. matches at Junior World Championships
Tuesday morning session

50 kg/110 lbs. – Tyler Cox, Gillette, Wyo. (Camel Kids)
WIN Carlo Van Wyck (South Africa), tech. fall, 7-0, 6-0
WIN Donior Islamov (Moldova), 1-5, 5-2, 3-0
LOSS Reza Asadpour (Iran) pin 0:33

60 kg/132 lbs.- Jake Swenson, Moroni, Utah (Sunkist Kids/USOEC)
WIN Manuel Almeida (Portugal), 2-5, 4-3, 5-0
LOSS Xiao Bo (China), 1-1, 1-4

74 kg/163 lbs. – Chad Hemerson, Monterey, Calif. (USOEC)
WIN Hiroto Uesako (Japan), 5-2, 2-2
WIN H. Kamtsoris (Greece), 2-2, 1-1, 6-0
LOSS Elvin Mursaliyev (Azerbaijan), 0-3, 0-2

96 kg/211.5 lbs. – Robbie Smith, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC)
WIN Tsukiaki Natakani (Japan) tech fall, 7-0, 6-0
LOSS Davod Gilnirang (Iran), 1-3, 1-4

ee U.S. Greco-Roman athletes remain alive in the wrestle-back rounds after the first session of competition at the Junior World Championships, held at the Chinese Agriculture University Gymnasium on Tuesday.

Competing in the evening wrestlebacks will be Tyler Cox (Gillette, Wyo./Camel Kids) at 50 kg/110 lbs., Chad Hemerson (Monterey, Calif./USOEC) at 74 kg/163 lbs. and Robbie Smith (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 96 kg/211.5 lbs.

“It was a pretty good session. We lost just one guy,” said U.S. coach Isaac Ramaswamy. “Tyler Cox made it to the semis, where he had a strong opponent. Two of the others got pulled back in by tough opponents. We have three of the four still in, going for a medal.”

Cox went the farthest of the U.S. wrestlers in the session, reaching the semifinals, where he was pinned by Iran’s Reza Asadpour in 33 seconds. Asadpour hit a hip toss on Cox, and was able to put him away in the first period.

Cox had two strong wins to qualify for the semifinals, dominating Carlo Van Wyck of South Africa by technical fall, 7-0, 6-0, then defeating a talented Donior Islamov of Moldova, 1-5, 5-2, 3-0 in the quarterfinals. Cox hit a nice headlock in the second period against Islamov.

Cox will face the winner of the first wrestleback match between Edgar Pogosian of Poland and Arsen Eraliev of Kyrgyzstan.

Hemerson also won his first two bouts, a preliminary round 5-2, 2-2 defeat of Hiroto Uesako of Japan, then a second round victory over H. Kamtsoris of Greece, 2-2, 1-1, 6-0. In both matches, Hemerson hit a number of front headlocks for exposure at key points in the match.

In the quarterfinals, Hemerson was defeated by Elvin Mursaliyev of Azerbaijan, 0-3, 0-2. Mursaliyev reached the gold-medal match, which makes Hemerson eligible for the wrestlebacks.

Hemerson will face the winner of the opening wrestleback bout between Robert Pap of Romania and Xin Xiowei of China.

Smith opened with a technical fall over Tsukiaki Natakani of Japan, 7-0, 6-0. He was defeated in a hard-fought second round match by Davod Gilnirang of Iran, 1-3, 1-4. When Gilnirang reached the finals, Smith was drawn back into the tournament.

Smith competes in the opening wrestleback round against Rait Thomberg of Estonia. Smith is wrestling in his third Junior World Championships, and placed ninth at last year’s Junior World meet in Guatemala.

The only U.S. wrestler eliminated was Jake Swenson, Moroni, Utah (Sunkist Kids/USOEC) at 60 kg/132 lbs. Swenson opened with a solid victory over Manuel Almeida of Portugal, 2-5, 4-3, 5-0, but was beaten by China’s Xiao Bo, 1-1, 1-4 in his second match. Xiao was defeated in the quarterfinals, knocking Swenson out of the tournament.

The U.S. had a great start to the day, winning all of their first-round bouts.

U.S. matches at Junior World Championships
Tuesday morning session

50 kg/110 lbs. – Tyler Cox, Gillette, Wyo. (Camel Kids)
WIN Carlo Van Wyck (South Africa), tech. fall, 7-0, 6-0
WIN Donior Islamov (Moldova), 1-5, 5-2, 3-0
LOSS Reza Asadpour (Iran) pin 0:33

60 kg/132 lbs.- Jake Swenson, Moroni, Utah (Sunkist Kids/USOEC)
WIN Manuel Almeida (Portugal), 2-5, 4-3, 5-0
LOSS Xiao Bo (China), 1-1, 1-4

74 kg/163 lbs. – Chad Hemerson, Monterey, Calif. (USOEC)
WIN Hiroto Uesako (Japan), 5-2, 2-2
WIN H. Kamtsoris (Greece), 2-2, 1-1, 6-0
LOSS Elvin Mursaliyev (Azerbaijan), 0-3, 0-2

96 kg/211.5 lbs. – Robbie Smith, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC)
WIN Tsukiaki Natakani (Japan) tech fall, 7-0, 6-0
LOSS Davod Gilnirang (Iran), 1-3, 1-4
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