NEW YORK, NY — In 2024, the Bill Farrell Memorial International is the most international version of this cornerstone event in more than a few years.
With Ukraine, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Albania, Korea, Canada, and Tajikistan all sending athletes to Midtown for this edition of the Farrell, the tournament has brought forth a legitimately authentic brand of the classical style. Ukraine in particular has performed strongly thus far on Friday. Backed by two-time Olympic silver Parvis Nasibov (72 kg) and ’22 European Championships bronze Vladlen Kozliuk (97 kg), Ukraine boasts nine total competitors in this evening’s final round.
The United States is not exactly short on finalists themselves. Peter Del Gallo (55 kg), Joseph Couch (60 kg), Paxton Creese (60 kg), and Courtney Denzel Freeman (130 kg) will all battle for gold when wrestling resumes at 6:00pm ET. Freeman, who is one of the top heavyweights in the country, placed second in this event last year and had won the Grand Prix of Spain the previous summer. In other words, he is familiar with advancing and placing at Senior international events. Freeman is set to face off against three-time Junior World champ and generally well-decorated Zviadi Pataridze of Georgia.
But for Del Gallo, Couch, and Creese, this will be a first-time experience. All three lightweights are among the most promising young athletes who the US has to offer and their performances in this tournament should encourage further growth as they proceed in their careers. Creese has already recorded one of the more impressive victories of the event. In the opening round this morning, the Minnesota Storm representative defeated ’23 Farrell champ Yernar Fidakhmetov of Kazakhstan.
Olympian Joe Rau (97 kg, TMWC) returned to competition for the first time since August and enjoyed a bye to the semifinals — where he was on the end of a 5-3 decision to Mostafa Elders (EGY). Rau had taken a 3-0 lead in the first period following passivity but Elders struck back before the break to inch ahead via criteria. A passive on Rau and another point late in the match are how Elders was able to edge the American. Rau downed Eric Schwark in the consolation bracket and will next face highly-establish Sergey Omelin (UKR) for bronze.
The finals and bronze-medal matches are scheduled for 6:00pm ET and can be viewed live on FLOWrestling (subscription required).
2024 Bill Farrell Memorial Finals Pairings
55 kg: Peter Del Gallo (USA) vs. Marat Garipov (BRA)
60 kg: Joseph Couch (USA) vs. Paxton Creese (USA)
67 kg: Maksym Liu (UKR) vs. Oleksander Hrushyn (UKR)
72 kg: Parviz Nasibov (UKR) vs. Amr Reda Hussen (EGY)
77 kg: Igor Bychkov (UKR) vs. Irfan Mirzoiev (UKR)
82 kg: Volodymyr Yakovliev (UKR) vs. Peter Nagy (HUN)
87 kg: Artur Ovsepyan (UKR) vs. Nurzhan Assan (KAZ)
97 kg: Vladlen Kozliuk (UKR) vs. Mostafa Elders (EGY)
130 kg: Zaviadi Pataridze (GEO) vs. Courtney Denzel Freeman (USA)
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