Jayden Raney (55 kg, NYAC) couldn’t be more impressive through the first two rounds of action in Zagreb as he has advanced to the quarterfinal round. Meanwhile, established stars such as Kamal Bey (77 kg, Army/WCAP), ’24 U23 World silver Beka Melelashvili (82 kg, NYAC), and Cohlton Schultz (130 kg, Atreus WC) each had suitably-difficult opponents and put forth strong efforts — but found themselves exiting from the championship sides of their respective brackets.
Day 1 of the 2025 World Championships began at 10:30am local time from Zagreb, Croatia (4:30am ET) and is streaming live on FLOWrestling.
Raney, U17 World Champion last year, started off the qualification round against well-traveled Ukrainian Koryun Sahradyan and emerged victorious in a 2-1 nailbiter that would normally be construed as an upset if it were not for the American’s considerable talent. Raney held strong with a passive lead when the bout reached its waning stages to collect his first win at a Senior Worlds, which in turn put him in the round-of-16 opposite Sajjad Albidhan (IRQ). Raney actually trailed Albidhan 3-1 entering the second period but the floodgates opened soon enough.
After doggedly pursuing a takedown with an arm drag — and following one turn from a gutwrench — Raney proceeded to run three consecutive folkstyle arm bars, the last of which resulted in Abidhan succumbing via pin. It was a jolting string of techniques from top for Raney, who will now face multi-time World Champion Eldaniz Azizli (AZE) in the quarterfinal round.
Kamal, Melelashvili, & Schultz
Bey had in front of him one of the most difficult assignments the 77 kg bracket had to offer — recent World champ/multi-time medalist/Olympic bronze Malkhas Amoyan of Armenia. Bey appeared in fantastic shape and had his moments, but Amoyan dodged and deflected a cascade of late attempts from Bey to eek by with a 2-1 nod. Amoyan received the first-period passivity/par terre chance and was unsuccessful in garnering an offensive score; the passives flipped in the second period and likewise Bey could not negotiate additional points. As the bout wore on, the officials deemed Bey passive for a second time; and though Amoyan easily elevated his lock, Bey contorted out of a danger to earn the reset. A last-gasp “flying squirrel” from Bey at the buzzer incited a challenge from the US corner; upon review, no points were awarded and Amoyan advanced to the next round where he decimated ’17 World silver Mateusz Bernatek (POL). Amoyan will face Ahmet Yilmaz (TUR) in the quarterfinal and needs two more wins for Bey to become eligible for repechage.
Victory was seemingly within Melelashvili’s grasp against Shahin Badaghi Mofrad (QAT) until a curious exchange midway through the conclusive frame. Melelashvili was behind by a point heading into the break; but not long into Period 2, he executed a nice headlock to pick up four points. Badaghi Mofrad reversed quickly to get a point back and the score was 4-2 for the US. However, after the next reset, Badaghi Mofrad scampered behind for a takedown and followed with a correct throw out of bounds to retake the lead at 6-4. Melelashvili put in serious work to try and generate scores through the remainder but the deficit was not erased. Badaghi Mofrad was edged by ’22 U23 World gold Gurban Gurbanov (AZE) in the next round to eliminate Melelashvili from contention for bronze by way of the repechage system.
Schultz, like Bey, was called upon to battle one of his weight category’s premier competitors, ’18 World Champion/two-time Olympic bronze Sergey Semenov (UWW/RUS). It was from par terre where Semenov made an impact. Schultz was dinged for passive in the first period and Semenov converted two turns for a 5-0 lead. On the back-end of the second gutwrench, Schultz did manage to step over and grab a reversal point. He then clamped a front headlock as Semenov was prone and pasted to the tarp. The front headlock did not yield points and a restart was ordered.
Semenov himself was cited for passivity in the second period to make the score 5-2 in his favor. Schultz, now down by three, once again wrangled a front headlock — only this time, Semenov quickly climbed to his feet whilst working Schultz’s hands before fully escaping. Schultz did an admirable job of trying to navigate the ties and perhaps compel a sequence from which to work, but there was no further scoring in the bout and Semenov prevailed 5-2. In the next round, Matti Kusomanen (FIN) delivered a surprise by defeating the Russian, which ended Schultz’s chance to potentially re-enter the bracket in tomorrow’s repechage.
Raney versus Azizli will commence shortly. That match, as well as each and every round of the ’25 World Championships, can be viewed on FLOWrestling (subscription required).
2025 World Championships
September 18-21 — Zagreb, CRO
TEAM USA DAY 1 RESULTS
55 kg: Jayden Raney (NYAC)
WON Koryun Sahradyan (UKR) 2-1
WON Sajjad Albidhan (IRQ) via fall
vs. Eldaniz Azizli (AZE) — quarterfinal
77 kg: Kamal Bey (Army/WCAP)
LOSS Malkhas Amoyan (ARM) 2-1
82 kg: Beka Melelashvili (NYAC)
LOSS Shahin Badaghi Mofrad (QAT) 6-4
130 kg: Cohlton Schultz (Atreus WC)
LOSS Sergey Semenov (UWW) 5-2
Listen to “5PM57: Kamal Bey and David Stepanyan” on Spreaker.
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