A strong start for a Team USA Greco-Roman contingent that was comprised of wrestlers from two age divisions eventually translated into a haul of hardware.
Day 2 of the 2025 Sundsvall Wrestling Open began at 10:00am local time from Sundsvall, Sweden (4:00am ET) and streamed live on YouTube.
Youth competitors from the Community Youth Center in Concord, California (all of whom competed in the U15 age group) combined with athletes from Northern Michigan University’s National Training Site and Combat WC in Wisconsin to provide the US with a total of eight medals — three golds, four silvers, and one bronze. So effective were the individual performances of those from NMU and Combat that in final team standings, NMU finished second and Team USA (Combat) came in 3rd — this despite the squads not sending representatives to cover each contested weight category.
U20-U23
When uber-prospect Aidan Squier (82 kg, Combat) packed his gear following action on Saturday, he was 0-1 in the tournament. Squier was still alive for a medal, of course, since Sundsvall observed the Nordic System’s pooled format and he had only participated in one match. On Sunday, Squier had two more. He won them both and the end result was his fourth international gold medal.
In his first match on Sunday, Squier was temporarily mired in a battle against Sebastian Abrant (FIN) before going on a tear that delivered a 15-6 stoppage victory. Because Abrant had previously downed Veeti Kajanne (FIN), by whom the American was decisioned on Saturday, Squier still had a chance at gold in Round 4 opposite Santeri Karppinen (FIN).
It was a match defined by intense in-fighting and near controversy. Karpinnen had a 6-2 lead in the second period that was trimmed to 6-4 following a step-out sequence for Squier. Another close call at the edge was bungled by the officials, causing Combat coach Lucas Steldt to passionately protest the verdict. After the referees conferred, and the scoring was updated, NMU assistant coach Parker Betts had to take Steldt’s place in the corner (“It ended with Lucas almost being escorted out of the building and me sitting in the chair for him,” laughed Betts). Time was short. Just under a minute remained when Squier scored another step-out point. Then after a reset, and with less than :30 on the clock, Squier used an arm-spin attempt that caused Karppinen to react; when he did, Squier pivoted his hips around to face the Finnish wrestler and force him off the line for one more point in what became a clutch 6-6 criteria victory that was accompanied by Sundsvall gold. The tournament title today from the Sundsvall Open is Squier’s second (’23).
Amryn Nutter (63 kg, Combat) had punched his ticked to Sunday’s final thanks to a pair of lopsided wins on Saturday. This morning, his opponent in the gold round was Lauri Perkka (FIN), who had edged Nutter on criteria this past fall. A similar outcome transpired for Nutter in Sundsvall. Perkka held a 2-0 lead late in the second period with the NMU commit working for windows of opportunity. He found one with the clock about to expire. Nutter had a run on a lift attempt and appeared to execute a multi-point variation out of bounds. However — the referee(s) only awarded a step-out point for the effort, and Perkka had managed to survive with the 2-1 nod and the bracket gold.
Although the tournament might not ended how he would have preferred, perhaps no other USA entrant in Sundsvall had as sparkling of a showing as Gunnar Hamre (67 kg, NMU/NTS), who trucked all three of his opponents on Saturday — and enjoyed a significant taste of revenge on Sunday. Hamre had previously lost to Tuuko Peltokangas (FIN) last year at the International MYHI event. The script more than flipped earlier today, as Hamre torched Peltokangas to the tune of an 8-0 VSU. That put him in the final against hardened FIN Nestori Mannila, only this one did not favor Hamre. Mannila prevailed 8-0 to leave Hamre with silver, but the defeat does not tarnish the overall showing.
Former CYC wrestler Jayden Tadeo-Gosal (97 kg, NMU/NTS) went 1-1 yesterday, which meant that he still had hopes for a medal today in Sundsvall. But unfortunately for the promising upper-weight, a loss to Swede Joel Andersson kept him off the medal stand. It was not too different for the duo of Ashton Miess and Will Scherer at 77 kg. The two Combat WC athletes had recorded wins on Saturday but fell short of advancing further this morning.
Finally, Brennan Carey (130 kg, NMU/NTS) is now a two-time Sundsvall Open gold medalist — without having wrestled a match. Sundsvall this year included a suitable amount of participation, except in the 130 kg class for Carey’s age division.
All in all, it was a memorable two days for the NMU delegation as they now prepare for a week of training with their American counterparts.
“I think the overall performance of our guys in this tournament was good,” Betts said on Sunday. “They showed that they are improving on technique in different areas that we’ve been reinforcing in the room, and that’s good to see as a coach. There are a lot of minor adjustments we have to make, but I’m really happy with what the guys showed this weekend and I’m looking forward to a good week of training here in Sundsvall.”
U15-CYC
Both Sam Briggs (41 kg) and Harris Nurakhunov (48 kg) will return to California with souvenirs from Sundsvall. Briggs triumphed in his first two bouts on Sunday, one a 14-1 VSU and the next a win via fall. In the final, Dennis Bjerkeli (SWE) defeated Briggs to cap the youth’s Scandinavian debut with a silver.
The pools had not been completed prior to yesterday’s recap and Nurakhunov had already advanced to the final round against Melvin Torstensson (SWE), a match in which Nurakhunov would be defeated by way of fall. But — for a first Sundsvall appearance it was an encouraging one. Nurakhunov (whose brother Timur also competed this weekend) finished with a 2-1 record, both wins being recorded as technical superiorities.
Christian Arvizu (57 kg) won twice on Saturday to put himself in the medal chase this morning. In Round 3, Viggo Petersen (SWE) defeated Arvizu, sending the CYC rep into the bronze round where a loss to Jon Nilas Furumark (SWE) put him one win short of a medal.
2025 Sundsvall Wrestling Open
January 25-26 — Sundsvall, SWE
TEAM USA DAY FULL RESULTS
U15
34 kg: Timur Nurakhunov (CYC) — 5th
WON Willie Wermelin (SWE) 16-4, TF
LOSS Charlie Wolfgang (SWE) 15-6, TF
LOSS Colin Van Beetzen (SWE) via fall
41 kg: Sam Briggs (CYC) — SILVER
WON Arien Ahmadi Hajikosh (SWE) via fall
WON Melvin Svarling (SWE) 24-12, TF
WON Abduallah Azrak (SWE) 14-1, TF
WON Sohail Noorzaay (SWE) via fall
LOSS Dennis Bjerkeli (SWE) via fall
48 kg: Harris Nurakhunov (CYC) — SILVER
WON Vilgot Gerzen (SWE) 14-0, TF
WON Rafael Kopman (SWE) 12-0, TF
LOSS Melvin Torstensson (SWE) via fall
52 kg: Lincoln Miller (CYC) — 5th
LOSS Mikhael Lebid (SWE) via fall
LOSS Ekrem Yarar (NOR) via fall
57 kg: Christian Arvizu (CYC) — 4th
WON Matias Lissantti (SWE) 10-5
WON Edvin Nordin (SWE) 14-0, TF
LOSS Viggo Petersen (SWE) 12-0, TF
LOSS Jon Nilas Furumark (SWE) 18-4, TF
U20-U23
60 kg: Gabriel Brown (NMU/NTS) — GOLD
WON Otto Huuhtanen (FIN) 8-0, TF
WON Zet Flink (SWE) 10-1, TF
63 kg: Amryn Nutter (Combat WC) — SILVER
WON Matias Arpinen (FIN) 9-0, TF
WON Leo Ljungvist (SWE) 11-1, TF
LOSS Lauri Perkka (FIN) 2-1
67 kg: Gunnar Hamre (NMU/NTS) — SILVER
WON Max Siirila (SWE) 8-0, TF
WON Albin Jonsson (SWE) 8-0, TF
WON Sergio Ilies (SWE) 9-0, TF
WON Tuuka Peltokangas (FIN) 8-0, TF
LOSS Nestori Mannila (FIN) 8-0, TF
77 kg: Ashton Miess (Combat WC) — 5th
WON Calle Zetterkvist (SWE) 9-0, TF
LOSS Vikke Tarrkio (FIN) 8-2
LOSS Severi Maenpaa (FIN) 13-4, TF
77 kg: Will Scherer (Combat WC) — 6th
WON Joel Skoggvist (SWE) 8-0, TF
LOSS Miro Leinonen (FIN) 8-0, TF
LOSS Luka Kajanne (FIN) 3-1
82 kg: Michael Higgins (NMU/NTS) — 6th
LOSS Santeri Karppinen (FIN) 8-0, TF
LOSS Elmer Capelle (SWE) 10-1, TF
82 kg: Aidan Squier (Combat WC) — GOLD
LOSS Veeti Kajanne (FIN) 9-5
WON Sebastian Abrant (FIN) 15-6, TF
WON Santeri Karppinen (FIN) 6-6 (criteria)
87 kg: Mason Parsons (NMU/NTS) — BRONZE
LOSS Johan Garbell (SWE) 13-10
LOSS Pauli Perkio (FIN) via fall
97 kg: Jayden Tadeo-Gosal (NMU/NTS) — 5th
WON Abdolla Akaev (SWE) via fall
LOSS Aapo Viitala (FIN) 8-0, TF
LOSS Joel Andersson (SWE) 10-1, TF
130 kg: Brennan Carey (NMU/NTS) — GOLD
Listen to “5PM57: Kamal Bey and David Stepanyan” on Spreaker.
Listen to “5PM56: Rich Carlson and Spencer Woods” on Spreaker.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE FIVE POINT MOVE PODCAST
iTunes | Stitcher | Spreaker | Google Play Music
