When the United States takes the mat on Saturday morning at the Worlds, there will be five athletes instead of three gunning for medals.
The semifinal round on Day 2 of the 2025 World Championships began at 4:30pm local time from Zagreb, Croatia (10:30am ET) and streamed live on FLOWrestling.
On Friday, both Max Black (60 kg, NYAC/NTS) and ’20 Olympian Alex Sancho (72 kg, Army/WCAP) were defeated in their qualification-round bouts. Black was decisioned by two-time World bronze Aidos Sultangali (KAZ) whereas Sancho was blanked by Ibrahim Ghanem of France. But earlier today, both vanquishers of the US tandem made the finals in their respective brackets. Sultangali won a lopsided decision over Amiran Shavadze (GEO) at 60 kg; and Ghanem iced young Merey Maulitkanov (KAZ) in the 72 kg semifinal round. This means that both Black and Sancho will compete tomorrow morning in the repechage round, a journey that for them could end with bronze medals.
Black will first need to get past ’23 U23 World bronze Melkamu Fetene of Israel. Fetene is a fast-rising young athlete who has begun performing well on the Senior level. Should Black win his first match, he will then face Olympic bronze medalist Ri Se-Ung (PRK) before squaring off against Shavadze with bronze on the line.
As for Sancho, he begins with Gor Khachatryan (ARM), and a win that round of the repechage would put him up against ’22 U23 World Champion Seyed Sohrabi (IRI). Should Sancho down Sohrabi, Maulitkanov will be waiting in the bronze-medal match.
Wrestling for Black and Sancho resumes on Saturday morning at 10:30am local time (4:30am ET) and they will join the three Americans who will be making their first appearances of the tournament.
Day 3
The three USA Greco-Roman competitors scheduled to compete on Saturday are ’12 Olympian/multi-time World Team member Ellis Coleman (63 kg, Army/WCAP), ’19 U20 World bronze Alston Nutter (67 kg, Army/WCAP), and ’24 Olympian Payton Jacobson (87 kg, NYAC/NTS). Below are their draws as well as the schedule for Day 3 (each round of the tournament can be viewed live in the US on FLOWrestling).
63 kg: Ellis Coleman (Army/WCAP)
vs. Moamen Mohamed (EGY) — qualification round
67 kg: Alston Nutter (Army/WCAP)
vs. Dominik Etlinger (CRO) — qualification round
87 kg: Payton Jacobson (NYAC/NTS)
vs. Karan Kamboj (IND) — qualification round
Remaining Tournament Schedule
Saturday, September 20 (DAY 3 — 63, 67, & 87 kg)
10:30am — Qualification rounds/repechage for Day 2 weights
4:45pm — Semifinals
6:00pm — Finals/bronze rounds for Day 2 weights
Sunday, September 21 (DAY 4)
4:30pm — Repechage for Day 3 weights
6:00pm — Finals/bronze rounds for Day 3 weights
2025 World Championships
September 18-21 — Zagreb, CRO
TEAM USA DAY 2 RESULTS
60 kg: Max Black (NYAC/NTS)
LOSS Aidos Sultangali (KAZ) 7-1
vs. Melkamu Fetene (ISR) — repechage, Saturday morning
72 kg: Alex Sancho (Army/WCAP)
LOSS Ibrahim Ghanem (FRA) 4-0
vs. Gor Khachatryan (ARM) — repechage, Saturday morning
77 kg: Kamal Bey (Army/WCAP) — repechage
WON Mateusz Bernatek (POL) 11-2, TF
LOSS Ahmet Yilmaz (TUR) 4-2
97 kg: Michial Foy (Army/WCAP)
WON Mindaugas Venckaitis (LTU) 4-0
LOSS Giorgi Melia (GEO) 9-0, TF
TEAM USA DAY 1 RESULTS
55 kg: Jayden Raney (NYAC)
WON Koryun Sahradyan (UKR) 2-1
WON Sajjad Albidhan (IRQ) via fall
LOSS Eldaniz Azizli (AZE) 5-1
77 kg: Kamal Bey (Army/WCAP)
LOSS Malkhas Amoyan (ARM) 2-1
WON Mateusz Bernatek (POL) 11-2, TF
LOSS Ahmet Yilmaz (TUR) 4-2
82 kg: Beka Melelashvili (NYAC)
LOSS Shahin Badaghi Mofrad (QAT) 6-4
130 kg: Cohlton Schultz (Atreus WC)
LOSS Sergey Semenov (UWW) 5-2
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