Ellis Coleman of the USA receives his gold medal at 66 kg in Greco-Roman at the Petko Sirakov/Ivan Illiev Junior International in Varna, Bulgaria. Bill Zadick photo

VARNA, Bulgaria – The United States claimed two medals during the opening day of the Petko Sirakov/Ivan Illiev Junior International on Friday. FILA Junior athletes are 17-20 years old. U.S. athletes competed in both men’s freestyle and Greco-Roman.

Winning a gold medal in Greco-Roman was Ellis Coleman (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. Coleman stopped Ashat Zhambirav of Kazakhstan, 0-2, 4-0, 2-0.

Coleman, a 2010 Junior World bronze medalist, won four matches during the day. He opened with wins over Davide Cascavilla of Italy and Dogan Goktas of Turkey. In the semifinals, he came from behind to beat 2009 Asian Cadet champion Mehrdad Bahami of Iran, 0-1, 3-0, 1-1. 

Coleman is a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete. It was the second week in a row he has won an international event on the FILA Junior level, after capturing the Austrian Junior Greco-Roman Open last weekend.

“He wrestled great. The Bulgarian coach and a lot of coaches from other countries told me they love watching him wrestle because he always wrestles hard and gives it his all,” said National Greco-Roman Developmental Coach Ike Anderson. “And he had no easy road to the championship.”

Winning a silver medal in freestyle was Tanner Hall (Meridian, Idaho) at 96 kg/211.5 lbs., who was defeated in the finals by Hamed Talebi of Iran, 1-3, 0-2.

He won two bouts to reach the finals, stopping 2010 European Cadet silver medalist Zaid Dilyaver of Bulgaria as well as Evtim Evtimov of Bulgaria.

Hall, a high school senior, was a 2010 Junior Nationals champion. He will join the U.S. Olympic Training Center resident program after graduation.

"Tanner wrestled very well today, especially in his earlier bouts,” said National Freestyle Developmental Coach Bill Zadick. :He showed great poise in his semifinal match. Tanner lost the first period and was down by three in the second when he rallied to a 6-3 second period win. He completely dominated the third period 4-0! I am excited about his competitiveness and his level of fight, characteristics which will enable him to improve quickly!"

Placing fifth after dropping his bronze-medal bout at 74 kg/163 lbs. was Derek Garcia, (Mount Vernon, Wash.). 

Garcia won his first two bouts over Mohammed Hossein of Iran and Jason Lebee of France, 5-3, 7-0. He lost in the semifinals to Miroslav Kirov of Bulgaria, who was eighth in the 2010 Junior World Championships. He was beaten in the bronze-medal round by 2010 Asian Cadet champion Saken Aytzhanov of Kazakhstan, 3-0, 1-2, 1-2.

Garcia is a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete, and will attend Ohio State next year. He was a 2009 Junior Nationals champion.

"I thought our young men wrestled decent today, even though it wasn't exactly what we wanted. In the bronze final, Derek dominated the first period then, gave up points in the second and third coming from his offense. After an almost two year absence from competition he has a little understandable rust to shake off. I'm confident in his ability to get to where he wants to be, on the top of the podium," said Zadick.

The U.S. will have competitors in both freestyle and Greco-Roman on Saturday.

PETKO SIRAKOV/IVAN ILLIEV JUNIOR INTERNATIONAL
At Varna, Bulgaria, March 11

Freestyle results

74 kg/163 lbs.
Gold – Miroslav Kirov (Bulgaria)
Silver – Abubazar Tygayev (Kazakhstan)
Bronze – Hasan Mola (Bulgaria)
Bronze – Saken Aytzhanov (Kazakhstan)
5th – Valeri Enchev (Bulgaria)
5th – Derek Garcia (USA)

96 kg/211.5 lbs.
Gold – Hamed Talebi (Iran)
Silver – Tanner Hall (USA)
Bronze – Zaid Dilyaver (Bulgaria)
Bronze – Inkar Yermukambet (Kazakhstan)
5th – Evtim Evtimov (Bulgaria)
5th – Toth Rafael (Hungary)

U.S. freestyle performances

74 kg/163 lbs. - Derek Garcia, Mount Vernon, Wash., 5th
WIN Mohammed Hossein (Iran), pin 0:59
WIN Jason Lebee (France), 5-3, 7-0
LOSS Miroslav Kirov (Bulgaria), 0-1, 0-3
LOSS Saken Aytzhanov (Kazakhstan), 3-0, 1-2, 1-2

96 kg/211.5 lbs. - Tanner Hall, Meridian, Idaho, 2nd 
WIN Zaid Dilyaver (Bulgaria), 5-0, 3-0
WIN Evtim Evtimov (Bulgaria), 0-3, 6-3, 3-0
LOSS Hamed Talebi (Iran), 1-3, 0-2

Greco-Roman results

66 kg/145.5 lbs.
Gold – Ellis Coleman (USA)
Silver – Askhat Zhabirov (Kazakhstan)
Bronze – Dogan Goktas (Turkey)
Bronze – Dominik Etlinger (Croatia)
5th – Mehdi Zeidvand (Iran)
5th – Mehrdad Bahrami (Iran)

120 kg/264.5 lbs.
Gold – Miloslav Metodiev (Bulgaria)
Silver – Lam Balint (Hungary)
Bronze –Mohamedreza Rezaei (Iran)
Bronze – Damir Kuzembayev (Kazakhstan)
5th –Mehmet Ali Bayer (Turkey)
5th – Kircan Mumin (Turkey)

U.S. Greco-Roman performances

66 kg/145.5 lbs. - Dillon Cowan, Harvard, Ill., dnp
LOSS Nurgaliyev Nutai (Kazakhstan) 0-4 1-3

66 kg/145.5 lbs. - Ellis Coleman, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC). 1st
WIN Davide Cascavilla (Italy), 6-0, 4-0 
WIN Dogan Goktas (Turkey), 3-2, 5-0 
WIN Mehrdad Bahami (Iran), 0-1, 3-0, 1-1
WIN Ashat Zhambirav (Kazakhstan), 0-2 4-0 2-0

120 kg/264.5 lbs. - Scott Helton (Elmhurst, Ill./USOEC), dnp
LOSS Damir Kuzembayev (Kazakhstan), 7-0 8-0