After Max Black (60 kg, NMU/NTS) walked away with silver on Saturday, the United States entered action at the Druskininkai U23 tournament on Sunday with the possibility of adding two golds and a bronze to their tally. The gold medals did not happen, though the Americans certainly competed well and do have solid hardware to show for it.
Day 2 of the 2024 Druskininkai Cup in Druskininkai, Lithuania began at 10:30am local time (3:30am ET) and streamed live on YouTube.
When wrestling concluded yesterday, multi-time age-group World rep Robert Perez III (67 kg, NYAC) and Beka Melelashvili (82 kg, NYAC) had both earned spots in their respective bracket finals, while Jonathan Gurule (63 kg, NYAC/NTS) had assured himself an opportunity to battle for bronze. All three Americans had difficult match-ups awaiting them this morning, which is good. It is precisely why they had signed up for this tournament with which to begin.
Perez on Saturday had pinned Anton Nesterenko (UKR) in the first round ahead of collecting a 4-3 decision against Nestori Mannila of Finland. In the final on Sunday, he was called upon to battle Niklas Ohlen, a top young Swedish athlete with whom many of his American contemporaries are familiar due to a litany of joint training opportunities over the years.
Ohlen benefited from the passivity/par terre in the first period and the position made all the difference in this particular contest. From top, Ohlen used his lock to rotate one gutwrench; he then re-adjusted and executed a four-point lift off the boundary to go up 7-0. Perez dug into the trenches hard after that, and started having moments of success in generating purposeful pressure. But when passivity went Perez’s way in the second frame, he could not get a handle on Ohlen. Perez had a reverse lock, to which the Swede responded by bounding out of the hold; Perez had another opportunity from the position, and a front headlock attempt was stymied in similar fashion by Ohlen. Perez feverishly pursued potentially-advantageous tie-ups through the remainder but Ohlen was unscathed en-route to a 7-1 nod that was accompanied by gold.
A fitful test for Melelashvili arrived in the form of reigning U23 World Champion/multi-time age-group medalist Alexandrin Gutu (MDA). A contrast in approaches unfolded. Melelashvili was keen to observe a more patient tempo based largely on securing and advancing tie-ups; Gutu, recognized throughout the sport for his output, churned with aggression and relied on energetic leg drives to do his bidding. The latter’s tactics paid off early in the first as Gutu managed to gather a step-out point after dashing for a body attack.
Melelashvili’s own way of doing business had an effect. Still in the first period, he was moving station-to-station, varying between a hold on Gutu’s far wrist and threading a right underhook and feeling for two-on-one’s. In one instance, the former Georgian competitor appeared close to reaching around and behind Gutu for a takedown attempt, but the window abruptly closed on account of Gutu’s athleticism. Melelashvili was next awarded a passivity point and par terre top, though Moldova held firm to avoid surrendering follow-up points.
The explosiveness of Gutu was responsible for the last score of the match. Not long into the second period, Melelashvili briefly locked over the top of Gutu’s head; Gutu countered by simply lowering his level and furiously leg-driving Melelashvili off the edge for his second step-out point. There was no further scoring and Melelashvili had to settle for silver, which represents the first medal earned for him as an American Greco-Roman athlete.
Gurule 5th
Gurule fell behind Vasyl Myshanych (UKR) 7-0 in the first period before staging a spirited comeback. Myshanych had received a chance from top par terre along with a passivity point and proceeded to lock an elbow-deep gutwrench. Despite the lock’s integrity, Gurule had appeared to be defending adequately; Myshanych, however, whether incidental or otherwise, intertwined his inside leg around Gurule’s, thus aiding him in achieving a rotation. He was able to turn Gurule twice more and, when the reset was ordered, he was only a point away from ending matters early.
But early in the second frame, Gurule had his say.
With Myshanych pressuring forth, Gurule timed and executed a dynamic headlock that delivered four points; but before he could settle into position, Myshanych reversed to grab a point in return, rendering the score 8-4. The Ukrainian then gutted Gurule once to expand his margin to 10-4. Gurule defended through the remainder of the par terre. Myshanych was himself dinged for passive shortly thereafter, giving the Northern Michigan athlete an opportunity to surge back into the match. A try at a crash gut was the call for Gurule, but Myshanych could not be budged and the 10-5 decision, in conjunction with bronze, eventually went to him.
Three Other USA Medalists
As mentioned, Black, who had finished action on Saturday with a 2-2 record, earned silver at 60 kilograms. He was not the only US placewinner in the weight category. Billy Sullivan (Army/WCAP), who himself had wrestled brilliantly in spots yesterday, was awarded with bronze. Sullivan and Black both defeated Maxim Sarmanov (MDA); Black fell to Mykola Havrychkin (URK) whereas Sullivan edged Havrychkin 5-3. The difference between the pair on the podium was Black’s defeat of Sullivan in Round 2.
“Muscle” Mike Altomer (87 kg, Curby 3-Style) also exits the Druskininkai Cup with a bronze medal. Altomer faced tough opposition on Saturday but had pounded out Niko Hyninnen (FIN) via fall. In his last match of the tournament, Altomer was decisioned by Islam Aliev, who competes for Poland.
The delegation of Americans in Druskininkai will spend the next week participating in a multi-national training camp. As is often the case, the camp was the main attraction for the US contingent due to the status of those who made the trip. Sullivan (at 55 kg), Black, Gurule, Perez, Scott, and Melelashvili are all on the ’24 USA U23 World Team that competes this coming October in Albania.
2024 Druskininkai Cup
August 17-18 — Druskininkai, LTU
TEAM USA FULL RESULTS
60 kg: Max Black (NMU/NTS) — SILVER
WON Maxim Sarmanov (MDA) 10-2, TF
LOSS Mykola Havrychkin (UKR) 3-1
WON Billy Sullivan (Army/WCAP) 8-0, TF
LOSS Olivier Skrzypczak (POL) 9-0, TF
60 kg: Billy Sullivan (Army/WCAP) — BRONZE
WON Maxim Sarmanov (MDA) 10-2, TF
LOSS Max Black (NMU/NTS) 8-0, TF
LOSS Olivier Skrzypczak (POL) 4-0
WON Mykola Havrychkin (UKR) 5-3
63 kg: Jonathan Gurule (NYAC/NTS) — 5th
WON Bohdan Hrushyn (UKR) 3-3 (criteria)
LOSS Mairbek Salimov (POL) 13-4, TF
LOSS Vasyl Myshanych (UKR) 10-5
67 kg: Robert Perez III (NYAC) — SILVER
WON Anton Nesterenko (UKR) via fall
WON Nestori Mannila (FIN) 4-3
LOSS Niklas Ohlen (SWE) 7-1
72 kg: Justus Scott (Army/WCAP) — 9th
LOSS Oleg Khalilov (UKR) 9-0, TF
LOSS Luka Malobabic (CRO) via fall
82 kg: Beka Melelashvili (NYAC) — SILVER
WON Alexander Gustavsson (SWE) 10-0, TF
LOSS Alexander Johansson (SWE) 1-1 (criteria)
LOSS Alexandrin Gutu (MDA) 2-1
87 kg: Mike Altomer (Curby 3-Style) — BRONZE
LOSS Adam Gardziola (POL) 9-0, TF
LOSS Vladyslav Diahilev (UKR) 8-0, TF
WON Niko Hyninnen (FIN) via fall
LOSS Islam Aliev (POL) 5-3
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