2024 Olympian Payton Jacobson (87 kg, NYAC/NTS) surged to the semifinal round on Monday before ultimately coming up short of advancing to tomorrow’s gold-medal round while Aydin Rix-McElhinney (77 kg, Northern Colorado WC) fell in his first bout to a familiar opponent, and it was one he had defeated in thrilling fashion less than a month ago. However, like Jacobson, Rix-McElhinney will have another opportunity to perhaps depart from this tournament brandishing a medal.
Day 1 of the 2025 U23 World Championships began at 10:00am local time (4:00am ET) from Novi Sad, Serbia and streamed live on FLOWrestling.
The United States sent four athletes to the mat on Monday — and though there is indeed hope, there was also heartbreak.
Jacobson
For Jacobson — who is currently the top upper-weight in the US — the tournament started with a searing run that put on display the toughness, talent, and drive which have accompanied his development. He blitzed Rohit Bura from India by way of technical superiority in the qualification round and then earned a 7-1 decision over Gabriel Lupasco (MDA) to make the quarterfinal against Russian Zaur Shangereev. Jacobson was trailing 3-0 in the second period when passivity was called on Shangereev, which provided to the American perhaps his best chance to come away victorious if he could find a way to take advantage of par terre. And he did. Thanks to both a hardcore second-effort and immense power upon execution, Jacobson lifted Shagereev for a big four points in what eventually became a 5-1 win and a trip to the semifinal round.
Reigning Senior World champ Gholamreza Farokhisenjani (IRI) was the next assignment. Jacobson worked intently in the ties through the preamble as Farokhisenjani chose a more taut posture. Nothing was doing on-the-feet, but just as Jacobson had a seam from a short drag, he was dinged for passivity. Farokhisenjani quickly pursued a trap-arm gut on Jacobson’s left side and soon rotated his lock the requisite number of times to end matters early. Jacobson was naturally exasperated upon the bout’s conclusion but there is more wrestling on his horizon. In tomorrow’s evening session, Jacobson will battle for bronze against one of three potential opponents: Lachin Valiyev (AZE), Murodjon Alimjanov (UZB — Valiyev and Alimjanov meet in the first repechage round), or Leon Rivalta (ITA).
Rix-McElhinney, Attao, & Ercanbrack
Rix-McElhinney drew Temuri Orjonikidze (GEO) in the qualification round — which for those who follow this sport in the US, should have piqued interest. Just last month at the Valamar Cup in Croatia, Rix-McElhiney engineered an impressive comeback against Orjonkidze in a match that he later won by a score of 7-6. Today, the result went in the other direction, as Orjonikidze prevailed 4-1 — though the Georgian subsequently advanced all the way to the bracket final, thus “pulling” Rix-McElhinney into the 77 kg repechage. The American will first greet Alexandru Solovei (MDA); if successful, he will then contest Swede Karl Baff with a win against Baff putting him the bronze round opposed by Doniyorkhon Nakibov (UZB).
Two-time U20 World bronze medalist Aden Attao (130 kg, NYAC) delivered arguably the most impressive US win on Day 1 as he trucked ’22 U20 World gold/’23 U23 silver Mikhailo Vyshnyvetskyi (UKR) 8-1. It was Vyshnyvetskyi who derailed Attao’s run in the ’22 U20 World Championships and since that time the Ukrainian has become quite a formidable Senior competitor. Soo too has Attao, and such a resounding victory seemed to suggest that momentum was on his side. Plus, another shot at a “get-back” was available in the proceeding match in the form of Laszlo Darabos (HUN), who had defeated Attao last year at the U20 Worlds prior to Attao finishing with his second bronze.
But early into the bout, Darabos was hulking in on Attao and the pair wound up jousting near the edge. Attao then appeared to flash a pressure-release in order to either engage an attempt or simply clear space, but the action instead resulted in Attao becoming off-balanced and Darabos scampering behind for takedown points. The Hungarian was next able to achieve his lock and convert three turns to secure victory. Darabos was ousted by Fardi Hedeyati (IRI) in the semifinal, which eliminated Attao from re-entering the event through the repechage.
It was a World-level debut for Kaden Ercanbrack (63 kg, NMU/NTS) and it did not go how he would have preferred. Ercanbrack collided with two-time Pan-Am Games bronze Jeremy Peralta Gonzalez (ECU) and was defeated 9-0. Peralta Gonzalez, one of the continent’s best young lightweights, was himself downed by Servet Angi (TUR) the following round, thus eliminating Ercanbrack from the tournament.
Day 2
Four more Americans will begin their tournaments on Tuesday: Kenny Crosby (55 kg, NMU/NTS), ’24 U20 World silver Otto Black (67 kg, NYAC/NTS), Aliaksandr Kikiniou Jr. (72 kg, NYAC), and Max Ramberg (97 kg, Viking WC). As was the case with Ercanbrack, this will also be a first-time experience for Crosby, Kikiniou, and Ramberg. Their draws, along with the schedule for Day 2, are included below.
55 kg: Kenny Crosby (NMU/NTS)
vs. winner between Denis Mihai (ROU) and Vishvajit Ramchandra More (IND) — round-of-16
67 kg: Otto Black (NYAC/NTS)
vs. Adomas Grigaliunus (LTU) — qualification round
72 kg: Aliaksandr Kikiniou Jr. (NYAC)
vs. Danil Grigorev (UWW) — qualification round
97 kg: Max Ramberg (Viking WC)
vs. Kiyo Kitawaki (JPN) — qualification round
Both the opening-round bouts for the four US athletes and the repechage round for Rix-McElhinney are scheduled to begin at 10:00am local time (4:00am ET). The medal rounds are slated to start at 6:00pm local time (12:00pm ET). All rounds of the tournament can be viewed live in the US on FLOWrestling (subscription required).
2025 U23 World Championships
October 20-23 — Novi Sad, SRB
TEAM USA DAY 1 RESULTS
63 kg: Kaden Ercanbrack (NMU/NTS)
LOSS Jeremy Peralta Gonzalez (ECU) 9-0, TF
77 kg: Aydin Rix-McElhinney (Northern Colorado WC)
LOSS Temuri Orjonikidze (GEO) 4-1
vs. Alexandru Solovei (MDA) — repechage (Day 2)
87 kg: Payton Jacobson (NYAC/NTS)
WON Rohit Bura (IND) 8-0, TF
WON Gabriel Lupasco (MDA) 8-1
WON Zaur Shangereev (UWW) 5-1
LOSS Gholamreza Farokhisenjani (IRI) 9-0, TF
vs. either Lachin Valiyev (AZE), Murodjon Alimjanov (UZB), or Leon Rivalta (ITA) — bronze-medal round
130 kg: Aden Attao (NYAC)
WON Mikhailo Vyshnyvetskyi (UKR) 8-1
LOSS Laszlo Darabos (HUN) 9-0, TF
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
