USA Greco

Hannah Brings Heat in World Repechage But Falls Short

By 5PM Staff

Posted on August 4, 2019

Photo: Sam Janicki

Tyler Hannah (92 kg, Combat) had a long road ahead of him if he were to earn bronze at the 2019 Cadet World Championships — and his effort this morning demonstrated that he was up for the task.

Sunday’s repechage round at the 2019 Cadet World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria began at 4:00pm local time (9:00am ET) and aired live on Trackwrestling.

It was going to take two wins in the repechage to get to the medal round beginning with 2019 Cadet Asian Championships gold Saeid Karimizadeh (IRI). Wisconsinite Hannah, who yesterday was tech’ed by eventual World runner-up Muhammad Evloev (RUS) in a bout that was actually closer than the score indicated, strolled onto the mat seemingly boasting a suitable degree of self-assuredness. And he was ready once the whistle blew, barreling into Karimizadeh. That set the early tone. Karimizadeh eased his way into the tie-ups while Hannah looked to gain a strong enough position from which to work. He moved Karimizadeh towards the line soon enough and coaxed the Iranian out for a point. After the reset, Karimizadeh answered back by ushering Hannah out of bounds, and then once more before the end of the period.

Down 2-1, Hannah came out for the second with confidence. He just needed one chance, one game-changing sequence. Although the tie-ups were about even and the pace steady, it was Hannah who the officials deemed to be passive, giving Karimizadeh another point. From par terre top, Karimizadeh locked for a gutwrench and rolled Hannah for a 5-2 lead. Back on the feet and with not much time to spare, the American started hustling. Hannah searched for a handle he could work with even though Karimizadeh wasn’t about to put himself at risk. There were no glaring windows for Hannah to exploit before time expired, thus resulting in decision win for Karimizadeh and Hannah’s exit from the tournament.

Karimizadeh was later defeated in the second repechage round by bronze winner Richard Karelson of Estonia.

They were only two matches but it was still quite the ride for Hannah, who took second at the Cadet Trials in June to Kyle Hass but was placed on the Team when the latter opted to focus on freestyle. In the end, this experience will serve Hannah well. Earlier this year, the 2018 Fargo champ medaled at a tournament in the Czech Republic and is currently identified as a promising candidate for a full-time career.

Notes:

Overall, the Team USA Cadets finished the 2019 World Championships with a combined record of 5-12.
All five of the US victories were achieved via tech fall.
Iran won the tournament with 148 points. Azerbaijan (123) and Russia (99) finished second and third, respectively.
The last time the US left the Cadet World Championships without a medalist was in 2016.