The first overseas tournament in three years for Dominic Damon (67 kg, Outlaw WC) saw him face off against two tough opponents and resulted in a chance to compete for a medal.
Day 1 of the 2026 Valamar Cup began at 10:00am local time in Porec, Croatia (4:00am ET) and streamed live on the wrestlePorec YouTube channel.
Damon was defeated in the quarterfinal round by one of the 67 kg bracket’s highest-skilled athletes in Rati Khozrevanidze (GEO). Khozrevanidze has been a major prospect for Georgia over the past several years and is beginning to increase his presence on the Senior level. The Georgian then downed Armenian-born Gagik Snjoyan (FRA) in the semifinal, which translated to a match-up between Snjoyan and Damon for bronze.
Damon exhibited a sense of urgency in the bronze round as he eagerly pursued contact — but he also surrendered a pair of step-outs early in the contest. A bodylock position after the reset then went Snjoyan’s way as he collected four points to put Damon in a 6-0 hole. Another restart had Damon nicely off-balance Snjoyan, but the latter countered to swoop around back for the match-ending points.
Damon, 25, was a World Team member as a Cadet (’18) and competed at Thor Masters the next winter while still a high schooler. He went on to enroll at Northern Michigan University, for whom he made the U20 World Team in ’21. His Senior career in the time since has had various stops and starts, and post-graduation he became an assistant coach for NMU’s women’s freestyle program before briefly ascending to the role of interim head coach for the team. Damon is currently the head women’s coach for Davenport University. Prior to Saturday, Damon’s most recent international appearance was at Thor Masters ’23.
Day 2 at Valamar
Three more Americans will take the mat in Croatia on Sunday — ’21 World Team member/Olympic Trials champ Jesse Porter (82 kg, NYAC), Fritz Schierl (82 kg, Minnesota Storm), and U23 National champ Keenan Wyatt (87 kg, Knights RTC). Porter and Schierl — who share a long history with one another — clashed at Thor Masters this past spring and will do so again in the opening round on Sunday. Porter earned a tight nod over Schierl in that event and went on to finish 1st (thus becoming Team USA’s first Thor Masters champ in nine years) while Schierl walked way with bronze. Wyatt will tangle with ’23 U20 World bronze Abdulmasih Abdulmasih (BLR) in his first bout of the tournament.
Wrestling resumes at 10:00am local time in Porec and will stream live once again on wrestlePorec YouTube.
2026 Valamar Cup
September 19-20 — Porec, CRO
TEAM USA RESULTS
67 kg: Dominic Damon (Outlaw WC) — 5th
LOSS Rati Khozrevanidze (GEO) 10-1, TF
LOSS Gagik Snjoyan (FRA) 8-0, TF
TEAM USA DAY 2 DRAWS
82 kg: Jesse Porter (NYAC)
vs. Fritz Schierl (Minnesota Storm)
82 kg: Fritz Schierl (Minnesota Storm)
vs. Jesse Porter (NYAC)
87 kg: Keenan Wyatt (Knights RTC)
vs. Abdulmasih Abdulmasih (BLR)
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