USA Greco

OSLO DAY 3: ‘Wildman Sam’, Omania, & Vera Given Early Exits

By 5PM Staff

Posted on October 9, 2021

Sammy Jones -- Photo: Alec Ortiz/House 8 Graphics

Later today, G’Angelo Hancock (97 kg, Sunkist) will attempt to become a World bronze medalist when he takes on Peter Oehler of Germany. However Hancock fares against Oehler, his match will mark the end of Team USA Greco’s performance at Oslo 2021.

Day 3 of the 2021 World Championships began at 10:30am local time from Oslo, Norway (4:30am ET) and aired live in the US on FLOWrestling.

The last three, or as USA Wrestling is putting it “Group 3”, were all provided early exits from the tournament. Neither “Wildman” Sammy Jones (63 kg, NYAC), ‘19 Junior bronze Peyton Omania (67 kg, CYC/NYAC), or Alan Vera (87 kg, NYAC) had prior Senior World experience prior to Saturday, but the trio came in as skilled and respected contenders nonetheless.

It just wasn’t their day. And now they will return home and regroup for the next push in the spring.

Jones kicked off his bout with Deniz Menekee (GER) by delivering hard contact to Menekee’s left ear. Soon after, the hand-fight started developing. Menekse showcased a preference for Jones’ wrists, while Jones was busy trying to slide in underhooks. The only output favorable towards Menekse was limited to backing Jones to the boundary, which forced the NMU grad to dance back inside, lest he risk a step-out point.

Passivity on Germany was next. Jones needed a couple of adjustments but, eventually, he found a lock, backstepped, and arched. Menekse contorted just enough but two points were still the appropriate call. With a little over :30 to go in the first, Jones used an off-balance to spin behind for an apparent takedown. Instead, the referee doled out an “Attention” on Jones, claiming leg involvement.

Despite Jones’ work-rate failing to slow, he was still rung up for passivity following the first minute of action in the second period. This is when it all fell apart. From top, Menekse locked reverse head-and-arm and torqued Jones to his back. It did not take long. The fall was recorded in short order, and Jones could do little else other than sit for a moment to contemplate the drastic turn of events.

Meneske was defeated by eventual gold Meysam Dahlkani (IRI) in the proceeding round, thus eliminating Jones from the tournament.

Omania

Omania had earned his Junior World bronze in ‘19. Hasrat Jafarov (AZE) won Junior gold this past season. A solid match-up it seemed on paper, and might be on another day. But on Saturday, the result was one-sided.

Not that Omania wasn’t invested. He was moving, shucking, and on the prowl. The difference was that Jafarov’s base would not be compromised. Each time Omania looked to switch his feet, alter his angle, or wrest a new tie (or, in one instance, try to wham a headlock), Jafarov patiently checked off the hands or pushed/prodded for a reset. These were not offensive measures, but it was clear that Jafarov did not want to be caught reaching or leaning.

Omania did manage to laser a quick headlock try early in the first period but Hasrat Jafarov (AZE) stayed on his feet before earning the first passivity/par terre chance, which led to a cavalcade of points that ended their qualification-round match-up. (Photo: Alec Ortiz/House 8 Graphics)

The referee chose to put Omania down first. Jafarov, with little hesitation, swam his lock underneath and hoisted. An adjustment at the hip later, he then turned his lock inside and brought Omania down for immediate exposure. Four points for Azerbaijan. Upon landing, Jafarov re-cinched and executed a side lift. Four more, and there went the match. Omania’s corner challenged out of formality, the call was upheld, and Jafarov walked away the 10-0 winner.

Olympic Champion Mohammadreza Geraie (IRI) got past Jafarov in the quarterfinal to nullify Omania’s chance for a potential bronze through the repechage round.

Vera

Vera might not have had his “A-game” opposite ‘21 Junior Euro gold Turpal Bisultanov (DEN), but the manner in which his lone contest in Oslo ended was certainly questionable.

Curiously, Vera met the considerably shorter Bisultanov on even-ground, which is to say lowered his posture in the ties, thereby hawking over the top. Bisultanov was not so much as feigning interest in scoring attacks from the feet, but the mechanics, perhaps, gave way to the perception of passivity. Bisutanov benefited from the call, and to the tarp they went.

On the whistle, Bisultanov’s lock did not initially appear promising. But he fixed the issue, digging and digging before stepping to lift and coming down for a turn. With more time to work, Bisultanov went back to his lift again, and Vera adequately defended by stepping over the attempt on the boundary — except, a stoppage. Bisultanov had previously motioned to the referee that one of Vera’s legs interrupted the maneuver, and this time they called it once the action had stopped. Two caution points for Denmark put Vera in a deep 6-0 hole (for another point was added due to being out of bounds).

Vera (blue) did not have enough time to get in a groove against Turpal Bisultanov (DEN) in the 87-kilogram qualification round, though Bisultanov did enjoy an allotment of time to work from top. Eventually, a leg foul on Vera from par terre bottom resulted in Bisultanov holding a 6-0 lead. One gutwrench later, the match was stopped in the Dane’s favor. (Photo: Alec Ortiz/House 8 Graphics)

They reset one more time from par terre, and Bisultanov achieved one more turn to end the match. After the final exposure, Vera lied on the mat for an extra few moments, no doubt despondent regarding the outcome and methodology.

As mentioned at the top, Hancock will compete for World bronze later this afternoon with the medal round scheduled to begin at 6:00pm local time (12:00pm ET) on FLOWrestling.