USA Greco

Day 1 Semis Set at World Trials: Smooth for Some, Chaos for Others

By 5PM Staff

Posted on April 24, 2025

Photo: Larry Slater

So long as the United States continues to insist on seeding its annual World (or Olympic) Team selection tournaments, the public will be compelled to use the word “upset” to describe any situation in which a lower-seeded wrestler falls to a higher-seeded one. That’s the rule. But to be fair, given what has transpired thus far in several weight categories, the term is apropos, for no other phrasing fits quite as neatly when interpreting such surprising outcomes.

Day 1 of the 2025 US World Team Trials began at 10:00am local time (1:00pm ET) from the Expo at World Market Center-Las Vegas and is streaming live on FLOWrestling.

not all roads lead to gold, athlete and coach devotional

60 kg — Headline Bracket

The string of surprising results calls to order the quarterfinal round in the 60 kilogram bracket, where top-seeded and multi-time World Team representative Dalton Roberts (Army/WCAP) was decisioned 4-2 by ’24 U20 World silver Isaiah Cortez (Daniel Cormier WC). Cortez was one of two U20 medalists from last year to make the semifinal along with Otto Black (NYAC/CTT), who himself turned in an eyebrow-raising effort, as well.

Against Cortez, Roberts held an early 2-0 lead and, as always, stuck to consistently pushing the pace and creating motion. Midway through the first period, Cortez was rung up for passivity but Roberts could not initially gain a turn with his lock — yet he scored a step-out point, anyway, after both athletes reached their feet with Roberts bodying Cortez off the edge. However, later in the period, Cortez managed to swiftly counter Roberts near the boundary for a takedown and a 2-2 criteria lead heading into intermission. In the second period, Roberts sought a chance to snare an arm throw, which led to a scramble out of which Cortez emerged with takedown points to increase his margin to 4-2. The scoring was capped following that sequence, thus ending Roberts’ run of appearing in three-straight World/Olympic Trials finals series and catapulting young Cortez into the top-side semifinal opposite Zane Richards (TMWC/IRTC).

Richards — in the first Senior Greco-Roman tournament of his career — survived a tough opener against Elijah Cortez (Isaiah’s sibling) by a score of 7-3 before coming up big at the expense of the very talented and accomplished Phillip Moomey (NYAC/MWC) via technical superiority.

On the bottom side of the 60 kg bracket, #2 seed/current National Team member Max Black (NYAC/NTS) rolled up David Medina (Southeast RTC) in the round-of-16 but was met with turbulence in the quarterfinal courtesy of Paxton Creese (Minnesota Storm). Black had surged to a 5-0 lead entering the second frame, but Creese chipped back and was still in it with a late passive chance from par terre top. His try at a reverse lift didn’t land with Black holding on for the 5-3 decision. In that side of the chart’s 60 kg semifinal, Black will square off against familiar foe and #3 seed, Randon Miranda (NYAC).

Koontz & Raney at 55 kg; 63 Results

Defending 55 kg World Team member Brady Koontz (TMWC/Dubuque RTC) has had only one match, a pairing against teammate Tyler Klein that ended with the former prevailed by way of tech fall. ’24 U23 World Team member Billy Sullivan (Army/WCAP) had a solid opening match of the tournament against Austin Thiel (Betterman Elite). Thiel was game throughout, but Sullivan’s experience and offensive instincts proved too much for the Coloradan in this one, as Sullivan walked away with a 12-3 VSU.

Koontz and Sullivan advancing is not a surprise in the least. Neither is Jayden Raney (NYAC/IRTC) making a splash in his first Senior event. Raney — U17 World champ last year, and twin brother of ’23 Cadet World gold Jordyn) — went over the very capable Fabian Gutierrez (West Point WC) 11-0. Peter Del Gallo (Southside WC) got past Davian Guanajuato (Southern Illinois RTC) and Kenny Crosby (NMU/NTS), respectively, both of which were strong wins for him to set up two very interesting semifinals in the sport’s lightest weight category.

Multi-time World Team member Ildar Hafizov (63 kg, Army/WCAP) has done his job, and so too has similarly-decorated Ellis Coleman (Army/WCAP) to ensure that both remain on a collision course leading into tomorrow evening’s slate of finals. Hafizov stopped Carson Jackson (Thunder Mountain WC) and Ruben Calderon (Paradigm) in order to make the semifinal. On the bracket’s bottom side, Coleman — who made scratch 63 kg in the morning, the lightest he has been since the ’12 London Olympics — defeated both Jayden Carson (Arkansas RTC) and Ty Lydic (NYAC) via VSU.

Hafizov’s semifinal opponent has been one of the event’s more impressive stories so far — Kaden Ercanbrack (NMU/NTS). Ercanbrack has put it all together early on in this competition and has already achieved his best-ever results in a tournament of this magnitude. The NMU athlete first downed Austin Long (Clinic) before taking out a very solid and experienced wrestler in Savion Haywood (Iguana), with both wins being recorded before the bell.

The man who will be staring down Coleman in the evening session is Riley Lomenick (NYAC). Lomenick — who is huge for 63 — collected a tech fall win over Laturey Villegas (Air Force) but had to bite down for a hard-fought decision against Jace Koelzer (Bear Cave) in the quarters.

Fedalen & Kikinou: Bracket-Wreckers

More upheaval occurred at 67 and 72 kg.

At 67 kg, shockwaves were confined to the top side of the bracket where ’21 U20 World Team member Richard Fedalen (NYCRTC) stunned ’23 World rep/’21 Pan Am Championships gold Xavier Johnson (Army/WCAP) 9-3. Fedalen owned a 2-1 lead in the first and added a step-out shortly before the break. In the second period, Johnson was awarded two points from a Fedalen caution and inched ahead on the board via criteria. But then an ill-advised attempt on Johnson’s part turned the tide firmly in Fedalen’s favor. He had gone for a front headlock throw — but as he went to pull over the maneuver, Fedalen followed the motion and wrapped around Johnson. The officials distributed two points for the action, and Fedalen quickly parlayed that into a gutwrench for two more points. He was up 7-3 with time a factor and added a spin-behind takedown to effectively ice the proceedings.

The aforementioned Otto Black — who was voted 5PM’s Impact Performer for ’24 — defeated Maddux Khalimsky (NMU/NTS) to get going on Thursday — and in the next round he went on a scoring blitz against Taylor LaMont (West Point WC) that certainly elicited plenty of reactions. LaMont, who is competing for the first time since the ’24 Olympic Trials, went up to 67 for this tournament, the heaviest he has ever weighed-in. He was thought of as a dangerous obstacle for Black, naturally, but he just could not get out of first gear. Black swarmed with a takedown and lift for six points soon after the whistle and hustled for a takedown to close LaMont out inside of a minute. Fedalen versus Black could steal the show in the evening session.

An equally-fun semifinal is available in the same weight category. The return of ’19 Junior World bronze Alston Nutter (Army/WCAP) has been accompanied by two wins. First, Nutter breezed past Issac Chavarria (Western Colorado WC). One round later, Duncan Nelson (Air Force/WCAP) dug in hard and challenged Nutter in each phase but struggled to come up with points as the latter went on to grab a 4-0 decision. Prior to Thursday, Nutter had not competed in nearly two years due to his having joined the Army’s World Class Athletes Program after the ’23 World Team selection season.

Popular David Stepanyan (NYAC/NTS) — who was a World Team Trials finalist in ’21 — dominated in the first two rounds of the tournament. Stepanyan, wearing the #2 seed, scored technical falls over Connor DeBorde (Minnesota Storm) and stablemate Jaxon Bearden to earn a berth against Nutter in the semis.

72 brought to bear one more sizable “upset” when the (younger) Aliaksandr Kikiniou (NYAC) caught and pinned ’23 National champ Justus Scott (Army/WCAP). The match was contentious and exciting up until the ending, and Kikiniou had only just edged ahead on criteria. After the next reset, he unfurled an arm throw, Scott was in a precarious position on his back, and Kikiniou covered for the pin. Waiting for Kikiniou in the 72 kg semifinal will be Peyton Robb (NYAC/Nebraska Wrestling TC), who downed Max Schierl (NMU/NTS) and Bobby Yamashita (Navy) to secure his spot in the later session. Kikiniou and Robb split two thrilling matches back in November at the Bill Farrell Memorial.

Multi-time World Team member and ’20 Olympian Alex Sancho (Army/WCAP) looked sharp and in command against Dylan Straley (Southern Oregon RTC); he then had to regroup and go toe-to-toe with ’21 National champ Alec Ortiz (Minnesota Storm), which could have turned into a shootout. Alas, Sancho stayed in the pocket and did not overextend. Instead, he sailed to an 8-0 VSU and tonight will take on two-time National Teamer Noah Wachsmuth (NYAC).

77 kg

Olympian and multi-time World Teamer Kamal Bey (77 kg, Army/WCAP) would have provided more highlights for videographers and such, except for one problem: he was not on the mat long enough. Bey, who this past winter became a first-time dad, bombed his way past Hunter Harwood (Southern Oregon RTC) and Glenn Rhees (Greater Heights). Neither match eclipsed the :30 mark. Bey will have recent age-group World Team member Aydin Rix-McElhinney (NYAC/NTS) in the semifinal. Rix-McElhinney has been on his game, as well. Following a win over Ethan Barr, he earned a 7-1 decision against fellow top young prospect Arvin Khosravy (West Point WC).

If Bey is successful against Rix-McElhiney, he could be looking at yet another showdown with the elder Aliaksandr Kikiniou (NYAC) — the ’24 World Teamer, Olympic Trials runner-up, and ’09 World bronze medalist. Kikiniou, back down at 77, brandished his classical brand of technique to drum up victories over Dayton Hill (Valley Wrestling) and Patrick Curran (NYAC/NTS).

Nutter returned to action on Thursday — and so did Britton Holmes (Army/WCAP), one of the nation’s hardest and meanest athletes. In ’23, Holmes had suffered a knee tear and underwent surgery and required a lengthy rehab process. He was back on the mat the following December at the Nationals, where his knee was re-injured in a match against Benji Peak (Combat WC). Holmes has won both of his matches on Thursday after defeating TJ Schierl (TMWC/Ohio RTC) and #3 seed Tyler Eischens (NYAC/Tar Heel WC). Holmes will greet Kikiniou in the semifinal.

The semifinal round for Day 1 is scheduled for 4:00pm local time/7:00pm ET and will stream live on FLOWrestling.