Payton Jacobson (87 kg, NYAC/NTS) is inching closer to joining the top echelon of his weight division internationally and his progress in that direction continued on Saturday in Croatia.
Day 2 of the 2026 Grand Prix Zagreb Open began at 10:00am local time from Zagreb, Croatia (4:00am ET) and streamed live in the US on FLOWrestling.
Jacobson — who this past fall earned bronze at the U23 World Championships — began his slate of action in Zagreb with a 3-1 decision over ’20 Olympian Ivan Huklek (CRO) before emerging victorious over Huklek’s countryman Antonio Lukac via technical superiority. In the quarterfinal, ’22 World bronze Tamas Levai (HUN) cut short Jacobson’s quest for gold, but the American bounced back with a bruising VSU at the expense of Maksat Sailau (KAZ) in the repechage round.
The win over Sailau pitted Jacobson against veteran Hungarian upper-weight and ’24 World silver Erik Szilvassy. In what was a close and contentious battle, Jacobson breathlessly worked to create opportunities to score from the feet. The second period saw Szilvassy clinging to a 1-1 criteria lead when Jacobson was awarded the bout’s third passivity call. No point is attached to a third call, though wrestlers are still given the choice to start from par terre top. Jacobson in this case decided to keep the action standing in hopes of compromising an already-weary Szilvassy. However, upon the whistle, Szilvassy was able to collect a step-out point as he dodged an incoming Jacobson at the boundary. The step-out point was inconsequential as far as the scoreboard was concerned (for Jacobson had needed to score down on criteria, as well), but short time remained for him to somehow net a point of his own. And indeed he emptied his reserves as he pursued Szilvassy in earnest, only the Hungarian managed to keep his feet through the remainder, resulting in Jacobson placing a respectable 5th at the year’s first “Ranking Series” event.
Bey & Braunagel
Multi-time World Team member and ’24 Olympian Kamal Bey (77 kg, Army/WCAP) was on the wrong side of a 7-0 decision against recent U23 World bronze Ali Oskou (IRI) in the opening round — but Oskou advanced all the way to the final round, thereby “pulling” Bey back into the tournament for repechage where he suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Egypt’s Yehia Abdelkerim.
’23 World Teamer Zac Braunagel (NYAC/NTS) had several strong moments on Saturday as he garnered a victory in his second match. Hungary’s Istvan Takacs defeated Braunagel in the opening round but, as was the case for both Bey and Jacobson, his vanquisher reached the final. This provided Braunagel with a second chance in the tournament, and it was one of which he nearly took advantage. Braunagel erased a 6-3 deficit against Rahimjon Uzokov (UZB) in the repechage round and eventually earned a 10-6 victory. Braunagel had countered an Uzokov throw attempt to score a crucial land-on-top four when trailing by three points to start the comeback. He also had his moments, did Braunagel, in the second repechage round before ultimately falling to Mukhammadkodir Rasulov (UZB) 6-3.
Day 3
The US will have 12 athletes in the running to close out the tournament on Sunday. Wrestling is scheduled to resume at 4:00am local time/10:00am ET and those in the US can view the event live on FLOWrestling.
Several interesting match-ups are available of which to take note. Two-time World rep Brady Koontz (55 kg, TMWC/Position WC) could face decorated Iranian Poyo Dad Marz (IRI) in the quarterfinal round, provided Dad Marz gets past Serbia’s Sebastian Kolompar. Such a test would be a fun one for Koontz as he looks to regain traction leading up to the World Team Trials.
On the opposite side of the weight class spectrum, all three opening-round bouts at heavyweight for the US should draw particular interest. Two-time U20 World bronze Aden Attao (NYAC) takes on five-time World Champion Riza Kayaalp (TUR) while Courtney Denzel Freeman (Marines) might deliver an entertaining match against Sweden’s Jacob Logaard. Multi-time World Team member Cohlton Schultz (Atreus WC) will greet reigning World silver Dariusz Vitek of Hungary. It was Schultz who downed Vitek in thrilling fashion to capture Cadet gold back in ’17.
Day 3 USA Draws
55: Brady Koontz (TMWC/Position WC)
vs. winner between Poyo Dad Marz (IRI) & Sebastian Kolompar (SRB) — Quarterfinal
60 kg: Max Black (NYAC/NTS)
vs. Yu Shiotani (JPN) — Round-of-16
60 kg: Zane Richards (TMWC/IRTC)
vs. Alisher Ganiev (UZB) — Qualification round
60 kg: Dalton Roberts (Army/WCAP)
vs. Corneliu Rusu (MDA) — Qualification round
72 kg: Benji Peak (NYAC/Position WC)
vs. Almatbek Almnbek (UZB) — Round-of-16
72 kg: Alex Sancho (Army/WCAP)
vs. Krisztofer Klanyi (HUN) — Round-of-16
82 kg: Beka Melelashvili (NYAC)
vs. Antal Vamos (CRO) — Qualification round
82 kg: Jesse Porter (NYAC)
vs. Yuksel Saricicek (TUR) — Qualification round
97 kg: Michial Foy (Army/WCAP)
vs. winner between Matthias Bak (DEN) & Javokhir Shodiyarov (UZB) — Round-of-16
130 kg: Aden Attao (NYAC)
vs. Riza Kayaalp (TUR) — Qualification round
130 kg: Courtney Denzel Freeman (Marines)
vs. Jacob Logaard (SWE) — Qualification round
130 kg: Cohlton Schultz (Atreus WC)
vs. Dariusz Vitek (HUN) — Qualification round
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