Alameldin Prevails Over Levai; Iran Wins Greco-Roman Team Title

LAS VEGAS, United States (October 14) -- Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY) was disappointed that he had no flag to complete his flag run.

That was the only setback for Alameldin on Wednesday as he won the 77kg gold medal in Greco-Roman at the U23 World Championships.

Alameldin, a former U20 world champion, produced one of the top performances in the final to beat former European champion Levente LEVAI (HUN), 5-2, in a back-and-forth final.

Levai and Alameldin had earlier met in the Budapest Ranking Series but the Egyptian dominated that bout, winning 8-0. He managed to make it closer but Alameldin still prevailed, thanks to some crafty attacks.

The final saw Levai start off with a couple of arm throws but did not finish them. He managed to complete it on the third attempt for two points to open the scoring and take a 2-0 lead. But Alameldin an arm drag for a quick takedown and take a 2-2 criteria lead.

The second period saw Levai try the arm throw again but Alameldin did not fall for it. He blocked Levai's attempt and was awarded two points that extended his lead to 4-2.

Levai had two minutes to score at least two points for the win however Alameldin kept his defense intact to deny Levai. Hungary challenged asking for points for a move Levai attempted in the final 10 seconds. However, there was no points and Hungary lost the challenge which made the final score for Alameldin, 5-2.

"The tournament was truly difficult," Alameldin said. "The match was very difficult. It required me to work on specific things, I’ve actually been working on for a while now. Because I’ve been putting in the work for some time, things have really improved."

A three-point win did not bother Alameldin who said that wrestling bouts can end in any score but winning is more important.

"It’s just a matter of circumstances, sometimes a game ends a certain way, and if it were replayed, it might not end with the same score," he said. "But in either case, whether it’s 1-0 or 8-0, the outcome is the same. It doesn’t really make a difference."

Iran Crowns 2 Champs

Iran managed to win the team title despite never leading the team race, thanks to double god medals on Wednesday. Iran finished with 119 points, five more than Kazakhstan which finished a surprising second with 114 points. Russia was third with 105 points.

Asian silver medalist Erfan JARKANI (IRI) held on to a 1-1 criteria lead against Manato NAKAMURA (JPN) to win the 63kg gold. Nakamura challenged at the end of the bout but there was no foul or fleeing from Jarkani, who won with a final score of 2-1.

At 87kg, Yasin YAZDI (IRI), also a Asian Championships silver medalist, won his career first-ever gold medal with a 4-0 victory over Temirlan TURDAKYN (KAZ) in the final. He got the par terre position in the first period but did not score any points.

However, he began the second period with a takedown and that eliminated any chances of him being put in par terre. Yazdi was awarded the second passivity as well which extended his lead to 4-0.

"I’d been waiting for this gold for about two or three years," Yazdi said. "I was able to win it here, and I hope I can keep winning gold medals in the future."

Yazdi said that before the final, he was aware of the Turdakyn's shortcoming and prepared more for exchanges in standing than par terre.

"Before the final, I knew I could win the match because I felt my opponent wasn’t as well-prepared as I was," he said. "My opponent was tall and I may have trouble taking him down and controlling him on the mat. So I focused most of my effort on the standing exchanges. I could tell that my opponent was starting to get tired in the last 30 seconds of the first period, so in the second period I put even more pressure on him."

Karumidze Wins 25-Point Thriller

In a 25-point thriller at 55kg, Koba KARUMIDZE (GEO) scored a stepout in the final second against Vishvajit MORE (IND) to win the gold medal with a score of 13-12 despite trailing in the second period.

The final began with Karumidze scoring a takedown and later getting the par terre position for a 3-0 lead. More tried a counter throw locking both of Karumidze's arm but failed to do so and the Georgian landed on top of More to lead 5-0. More managed a takedown just before the break to cut the lead to 5-2.

The two wrestlers continued the fireworks in the second period with Karumidze hitting a counter headlock four-pointer and More getting a reversal for one point. As Karumidze took extended time to return to the center, More was awarded a cautioned point which made it 9-6. More's continued pressure on Karimidze helped the Indian score a takedown and he turned Karumidze twice to lead 12-9. As he was going to turn for the third time, Karumidze blocked it and got two points.

With a 12-11 lead, Morea decided to defended the lead for the last 90 seconds but with less than one second remaining, Karumidze pushed More out with an underhook. The one point gave 12-12 criteria lead to Karumidze as he had a four-point move. India challenged the call but lost the challenge that gave one more point to the Georgian.

The loss denied More the chance to become India's first-ever Greco-Roman U23 world champion. The silver medal is still historic as More is the first to win it for India at this level.

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Koba KARUMIDZE (GEO) df. Vishvajit MORE (IND), 13-12

BRONZE: Malik GIGIEV (RUS) df. Isaac MARIN MATA (MEX), 9-0
BRONZE: Arsen ZHUMA (KAZ) df. Barsbek ASANKOZHOEV (KGZ), via fall

63kg
GOLD: Erfan JARKANI (IRI) df. Manato NAKAMURA (JPN), 2-1

BRONZE: Servet ANGI (TUR) df. Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA), 6-5
BRONZE: Igor PUNCHENKO (RUS) df. Ozodbek KHALIMBOEV (UZB), 6-4

77kg
GOLD: Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY) df. Levente LEVAI (HUN), 5-2

BRONZE: Anri PUTKARADZE (GEO) df. Samvel TERTERYAN (ARM), 1-1
BRONZE: Ruslan NURULLAYEV (AZE) df. Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR), 3-1

87kg
GOLD: Yasin YAZDI (IRI) df. Temirlan TURDAKYN (KAZ), 4-0

BRONZE: Alperen BERBER (TUR) df. Aleksandr KRIKUKHA (RUS), 1-1
BRONZE: Martin LJOSAAK (NOR) df. Antal VAMOS (SRB), 8-0

130kg
GOLD: Wenhao JIANG (CHN) df. Ali ILIASOV (RUS), 5-0

BRONZE: Kevin USPENSKI (EST) df. Laszlo DARABOS (HUN), 4-1
BRONZE: Jokhar UZAROV (KAZ) df. Aramayis HARUTYUNYAN (ARM), 5-1