Freshly-minted U23 World bronze medalist Payton Jacobson (87 kg, NYAC/NTS) wasn’t the only star of the show for Team USA on Tuesday.
The rapid progression of gifted Otto Black‘s (67 kg, NYAC/NTS) career continued today in Serbia and it was best-witnessed in a facet of the sport that, while critical, is often overlooked by casual observers.
Day 2 of the 2025 U23 World Championships began at 10:00am local time from Novi Sad, Serbia (4:00am ET) and streamed live on FLOWrestling.
Black — a World runner-up on the U20 level in ’24 — was victorious in his first two bouts today before being edged 1-1 in the quarterfinal round by Egypt’s Mohamed Abdelkerim. Abdelkerim went on to advance to the final, thereby providing Black with an opportunity in the repechage bracket tomorrow. Should Black prevail in two consecutive matches, he will earn a World bronze medal.
But that is just part of the story.
The other part is how Black won his two matches on Tuesday, as well as how he held up against Abdelkerim.
In the qualification round, Black met Adomas Grigaliunas (LTU) and it was this contest that kickstarted the narrative. Period 1 saw Black receive the bout’s first passivity/par terre chance and rake a pair of gutwrenches for a 5-0 lead. Later in the frame, he added a takedown to go up 7-0, a seemingly-comfortable margin.
Of course, par terre is the equalizer, and Grigaliunas was awarded passivity/par terre in the second period. As the Lithuanian tried to gather his lock, Black patiently felt for where the clasp was, moved when it was prudent, and stayed pasted when that was what the position demanded. Sure enough, he defended the attempts from Grigaliunas and returned standing leading 7-1. Grigaliunas did net his own takedown with less than a minute remaining (and could not score from top), but Black cruised to the finish line for the 7-3 triumph.
The second round pitted Black against noted tough competitor Yani Guendez Nifri of France, and it was a similar story — in a sense. Black took the first par terre but could not gain a turn. In the second period, Guendez Nifri was the beneficiary of a passivity call and, again, Black brilliantly stymied the top wrestler’s attempts at a score. He remained disciplined, composed, and sufficiently-active from bottom to force a reset whilst holding a tenuous 1-1 advantage. But he would eventually add a bevy of offensive points and then some. Black scored a takedown and step-out to expand his lead to 4-1. Then with time running out, and with his opponent in desperation mode, Black countered an attack and covered Guendez Nifri for more points, though the scoreboard was soon rendered irrelevant. Black had the France representative on his back and the signal for the fall arrived in short succession.
It was a tight battle in the quarterfinal for Black opposite Abdelkerim. Neither wrestler were able to break through on-the-feet and it was Egypt who was put on top in the first period. For the third match in a row (and fourth time overall), Black’s defense withstood various threats from a top opponent. The passives flipped in the second period, thus giving Black a window to do damage in par terre. But, Abdelkerim himself was poised and prepared, and Black was unable to make a dent. He emptied his tank in the race to the finish, lasering looks at plausible entries, but Abdelkerim remained upright through the remainder to move on via criteria.
As noted, Abdelkerim emerged from the semifinal (by injury default over Atilla Jozsa of Hungary), which means that Black has a pathway to bronze if he can defeat the winner between William Reenberg (DEN) and Bagdat Sabaz (KAZ). Should that occur, Black will face Jozsa in the bronze-medal round tomorrow evening.
Rix-McElhinney & 3 More Debuts
Three Americans were making their World-level debuts on Tuesday: Kenny Crosby (55 kg, NMU/NTS), Aliaksandr Kikiniou Jr. (72 kg, NYAC), and Max Ramberg (97 kg, Viking WC). All three were on the receiving end of tough outcomes. Crosby was defeated 9-1 by Vishvajit Ramchandra More (IND), Kikiniou fell 3-0 to Danil Grigorev (UWW), and Ramberg was downed by Kiyo Kitawaki (JPN). None the US athletes’ opponents advanced to their respective bracket finals, hence all were eliminated.
Aydin Rix-McElhinney (77 kg, Northern Colorado WC) had been clipped on Monday by eventual silver Temuri Orjonikidze (GEO) and found himself in the repechage round Tuesday morning against Alexandru Solovei (MDA). Solovei capitalized in the first period to walk away the 8-0 winner.
2025 U23 World Championships
October 20-23 — Novi Sad, SRB
TEAM USA DAY 2 RESULTS
55 kg: Kenny Crosby (NMU/NTS)
LOSS Vishvajit Ramchandra More (IND) 9-1, TF
67 kg: Otto Black (NYAC/NTS)
WON Adomas Grigaliunas (LTU) 7-3
WON Yanis Guendez Nifri (FRA) via fall
LOSS Mohamed Abdelkerim (EGY) 1-1 (criteria)
vs. winner between William Reenberg (DEN) & Bagdat Sabaz (KAZ) — repechage Weds.
72 kg: Aliaksandr Kikiniou Jr. (NYAC)
LOSS Danil Grigorev (UWW) 3-0
97 kg: Max Ramberg (Viking WC)
LOSS Kiyo Kitawaki (JPN) 12-1, TF
TEAM USA DAY 2 RESULTS
63 kg: Kaden Ercanbrack (NMU/NTS) — 23rd
LOSS Jeremy Peralta Gonzalez (ECU) 9-0, TF
77 kg: Aydin Rix-McElhinney (Northern Colorado WC) — 22nd
LOSS Temuri Orjonikidze (GEO) 4-1
LOSS Alexandru Solovei (MDA) 8-0, TF
87 kg: Payton Jacobson (NYAC/NTS) — BRONZE
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
WON Lachin Valiyev (AZE) 5-3
130 kg: Aden Attao (NYAC) — 11th
WON Mikhailo Vyshnyvetskyi (UKR) 8-1
LOSS Laszlo Darabos (HUN) 9-0, TF
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