VARNA, Bulgaria – Carson Kuhn (Sandy, Utah) placed fifth at 55 kg/121 lbs., the top performance among American wrestlers at 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. Kuhn, who is a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete, was defeated in the bronze-medal match by Arash Dangesarakin of Iran, 1-3, 2-3. Kuhn opened with a pin over Chakir Ansari of France in 1:12. He was defeated in the semifinals by Azamat Chagapuly of Kazakhstan, 0-3, 5-5. Two other U.S. freestyle wrestlers lost their first match and were eliminated: Devin Peterson (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) and Greg Isley (Toledo, Ohio), both at 84 kg/185 lbs. Neither were not eligible for the repechage rounds when their opponent did not reach the finals. “We needed to wrestle and are capable of wrestling much better than we did today,†said National Freestyle Developmental Coach Bill Zadick. “We made a few mistakes either coming out of our position or by not wrestling smart and not showing adequate mat awareness. These things are developed by being in these situations often and consistently in our practices. It's not hard to figure out but, it takes work! We can improve quickly if we focus and put our minds to getting better in these areas.†In Greco-Roman, three U.S. wrestlers competed and were eliminated without winning a bout: Joey Denova (Fortson, Ga./USOEC) at 60 kg/132 lbs., Josh Castellano (Wood Dale, Ill./USOEC) at 74 kg/163 lbs. and Caleb Smith (Pakota, Ind./USOEC) at 74 kg/163 lbs. U.S. wrestlers will be in action as the tournament concludes on Sunday. PETKO SIRAKOV/IVAN ILLIEV JUNIOR INTERNATIONAL At Varna, Bulgaria, March 11 Men’s freestyle results 55 kg/121 lbs. Gold – Berdakh Pimbayev (Kazakhstan) Silver – Rasul Kaliyev (Kazakhstan) Bronze – Arash Dangesarakin (Iran) Bronze – Veliko Lutzkanov (Bulgaria) 5th – Carson Kuhn (USA) 5th – Mehmed Zeyti (Bulgaria) 66 kg/145.5 lbs. Gold – Ebrahim Nasiriafrachali (Iran) Silver – Aslan Azizov (Kazakhstan) Bronze – Aidar Baldanbayev (Kazakhstan) Bronze – Mehmed Gazi (Bulgaria) 5th – Bolat Sakayev (Kazakhstan) 5th – Madalin Manzala (Romania) 84 kg/185 lbs. Gold – Islam Azizov (Kazakhstan) Silver – Attila Szmik (Hungary) Bronze – Amir Mohammadi (Iran) Bronze – Nader Hamedpour (Iran) 5th – Valentin Sofiadi (Bulgaria) 5th – Vladimir Petkov (Bulgaria) U.S. men’s freestyle performances 55 kg/121 lbs. - Carson Kuhn, Sandy, Utah, 5th WIN Chakir Ansari (France), pin 1:12 LOSS Rasul Kaliyev (Kazakhstan), 0-3, 5-5 LOSS Arash Dangesarakin (Iran), 1-3, 2-3 84 kg/185 lbs. - Devin Peterson, Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., dnp LOSS Nikolay Dimitrov (Bulgaria), 4-0, 3-4, 0-1 84 kg/185 lbs. – Greg Isley, Toledo, Ohio LOSS Vladimir Petkov (Bulgaria), pin 1:44 Greco-Roman results 50 kg/110 lbs. Gold – Vilayat Gahramanli (Azerbaijan) Silver – Nikolay Vichev (Bulgaria) Bronze – Metin Turgut (Turkey) Bronze – Zhanserik Sarsenbeyev (Kazakhstan) 5th – Juhasz Bence (Hungary) 5th – Dosbol Abilkhasov (Kazakhstan) 60 kg/132 lbs. Gold – Ibragim Magomadov (Kazakhstan) Silver – Burak Kara (Turkey) Bronze – Ibrahim Celiker (Turkey) Bronze – Pezhman Shahboudaghi (Iran) 5th – Mate Krasznai (Hungary) 5th – Radoslav Vasilev (Bulgaria) 74 kg/163 lbs. Gold – Daniel Aleksandrov (Bulgaria) Silver – Fuad Aliyev (Azerbaijan) Bronze – Hossein Noroozi (Iran) Bronze – Ismail Kocaaslan (Turkey) 5th – Kadir Felioglu (Turkey) 5th – Maxat Bayaristanov (Kazakhstan) U.S. Greco-Roman performances 60 kg/132 lbs. - Joey Denova, Fortson, Ga. (USOEC), dnp LOSS Burak Kara, 0-2, 0-1 LOSS Abzal Tuleyev (Kazakhstan), pin 1:03 74 kg/163 lbs. - Josh Castellano, Wood Dale, Ill. (USOEC), dnp LOSS Fuad Aliyev (Azerbaijan), 0-5, 0-1 LOSS Ismael Kocaalan (Turkey), 0-1, 0-1 74 kg/163 lbs. - Caleb Smith, Pakota, Ind. (USOEC), dnp LOSS Fatih Kula, 0-2, 0-2 U.S. first round draws for Sunday Greco-Roman 96 kg/211.5 lbs. – Tanner Hall, Meridian, Idaho Vs. Taha Yasin Dundar (Turkey) 96 kg/211.5 lbs. - Marcus Finau, Oahu, Hawaii (USOEC) Vs. Luca Minguzzi (Italy)