SARAJEVO (August 29) – Yianni DIAKOMIHALIS (USA) made his first wrestling trip overseas an “amazing” adventure while Russia raked in three gold medals on the opening day of freestyle events at the Cadet Wrestling World Championships.

Diakomihalis sliced through five opponents with his sudden quickness and precision counters at Sports Hall Amel Beckovic in Sarajevo and secured the 58kg crown with a 6-3 triumph over Jintaro MOTOYAMA (JPN).

The young New Yorker, however, dismissed any suggestions that his victories were easy, “All these guys are great and they are excellent wrestlers.  The Russian as really tough and the Japanese was a finalist at the world championships.” 

“This is my first time to compete overseas and it was amazing,” said Diakomihalis. “I can go home now to focus on some tough high school tournaments coming up. And then, I want to try and make the team again next year to defend my title.”

Meanwhile, Russia dominated the opening day of freestyle wrestling with three champions and a bronze medal.

Ivan OKONESHNIKOV (42kg) opened with a fall, catching Amir Mohammad YAZDANICHERATI (IRI) on his back after a failed throw attempt in the second period.

Slavik NANIEV (69kg) flipped European bronze medalist Ismail ABDULLAYEV (AZE) to his back to cap a 13-0 technical fall and David-Soslan LAVOEV (85kg) forged a 5-2 win over on Asian bronze medal winner Khasanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB) in the evening’s finale. 

Russia’s bronze medal was snared by Petr KONSTANTINOV (50kg) with an 8-2 win over Almaz SMANBEKOV (KGZ).

Meanwhile, returning world champion Efan AEINI (IRI), after scoring 61 points in the morning session, could not conjure up the points he needed to subdue 2014 Asia champion Anil ANIL (IND) in the 50kg final.

Anil opened with a quick body tackle and gut wrench for a 6-0 lead less than 20 seconds into the final, and then held off the 2014 champion for a 10-6 victory.
 
Wrestling at the championships concludes Sunday with competition in the final five weight categories in freestyle – 46kg, 54kg, 63kg 76kg and 100kg.

Freestyle
42kg (16 entries)
Gold – Ivan OKONESHNIKOV (RUS) df. Amir Mohammad AZDANICHERATI (IRI) by Fall, 2:35
Bronze – Irlasbek NURAKHMET (KGZ) df. Islom ILKHOMOV (UZB), 4-2
Bronze – Shahin MUKHTAROV (AZE) df. Tzvetan MUSTAFOV (BUL) by TF, 10-0, 1:16

50kg (23 entries)
Gold – Anil ANIL (IND) df. Erfan AEINI (IRI), 10-6
Bronze – Ertugrul KAHVECI (TUR) df. Tumentsogt BOLD (MGL) by TF, 13-0, 2:39
Bronze – Petr KONSTANTINOV (RUS) df. Almaz SMANBEKOV (KGZ), 8-2

58kg (25 entries)
Gold – Yianni DIAKOMIHALIS (USA) df. Jintaro MOTOYAMA (JPN), 6-3
Bronze – Amirhossein KAVOUSI (IRI) df. Connor McNEICE (CAN), 12-8
Bronze – Fazil HASANOV (AZE) df. Soslan GUCHAKOV (RUS), 7-4

69kg (25 entries)
Gold – Slavik NANIEV (RUS) df. Ismail ABDULLAYEV (AZE) by TF, 13-0, 1:18
Bronze – Mojtaba OSMAVANDANI (IRI) df. Iveriko JULAKIDZE (GEO), 8-6
Bronze – Taro UMEBAYASHI (JPN) df. Samy HAMDY AMIN (EGY), 2-0

85kg (21 entries)
Gold – David-Soslan LAVOEV (RUS) df. Khasanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB), 7-2
Bronze – Nail SEIYAR (TUR) df. Sombir SOMBIR (IND), 13-5
Bronze – Owen WEBSTER (USA) df. Rahid HAMIDLI (AZE), 1-1