SZOMBATHELY, Hungary – Three U.S. men’s freestyle wrestlers have qualified for bronze medal bouts on the opening day of the FILA Cadet World Championships in Tuesday.

Wrestling in bronze-medal bouts on Tuesday night will be Dalton Brady of Queen Creek, Ariz. at 50 kg/110.25 lbs., Oliver Pierce of Allen, Texas at 69 kg/152 lbs. and Sam Brooks of Oak Park, Ill. at 85 kg/187.25 lbs.

Brady and Brooks won all of their preliminary matches, before dropping matches in the semifinals, which placed them directly into the bronze-medal round.

Brady will face Teja Devi Singh Thakur of India for a bronze medal. Brooks will battle Beka Rotchikashvili of Georgia in his bronze-medal bout.

Pierce won his first match, then lost to Magomedgadzhi Imanshapiev of Russia in the second round. When Imanshapiev reached the finals, Pierce was pulled back into the repechage. Pierce beat Nicholas Watkins of Canada to reach a bronze-medal bout, where he will face Azamai Dauletbekov of Kazakhstan.

All five U.S. wrestlers lost matches to eventual finalists, pulling them all back into the repechage rounds.

Two U.S. wrestlers fell one match short of the bronze-medal round, losing a repechage match which eliminated them from medal contention: Gannon Volk of Burnsville, Minn. at 42 kg/92.5 lbs. and Zane Richards of Carbondale, Ill. at 58 kg/127.75 lbs.

Results from the medal rounds will be posted when available.

Five other U.S. freestyle wrestlers weighed in and received draws for Wednesday competition. The pairings will be posted in another story.

Serving as coach of the team is 1976 Olympic champion and 1972 Olympic silver medalist John Peterson of Comstock, Wis., along with National Freestyle Developmental Coach Bill Zadick of Colorado Springs, Colo.

This will be the first time that FILA will have hosted a Cadet World Championships since 1999. 

Fans can follow the event on FILA’s official website at
http://www.fila-wrestling.com/szombathely2011/

FILA CADET WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Szombathely, Hungary, August 23

U.S. men’s performance so far on Tuesday

42 kg/92.5 lbs. - Gannon Volk, Burnsville, Minn.
WIN Sardan Sylva (Kosovo)
LOSS Azamat Toibek (Kazakhstan)
LOSS Dmytro Nesvyatpaska (Ukraine)

50 kg/110.25 lbs. - Dalton Brady, Queen Creek, Ariz.
WIN Zhakhongir Akilov (Ukraine)
WIN Tomasz Ogonowski (Poland)
WIN Kuat Amirtayev (Kazakhstan)
LOSS Gazhimurad Rashidov (Russia)
Bronze medal bout – Vs. Teja Devi Singh Thakur (India)

58 kg/127.75 lbs. - Zane Richards, Carbondale, Ill.
WIN Mehdi Ait Amrane (Algeria)
LOSS Prahlad Sing Ashish (India)
WIN Madyar Burkhan (Kazakhstan)
LOSS Elchin Mammadov (Azerbaijan)

69 kg/152 lbs. - Oliver Pierce, Allen, Texas
WIN Ganbold Turbold (Mongolia)
LOSS Magomedgadzhi Imanshapiev (Russia)
WIN Nicholas Watkins (Canada)
Bronze medal bout – Vs. Azamai Dauletbekov (Kazakhstan)

85 kg/187.25 lbs. - Sam Brooks, Oak Park, Ill.
WIN Aleksander Wojtachnio (Poland)
WIN Vasile Caras (Romania)
WIN Shavkatjon Odinayev (Uzbekistan)
LOSS Aslan Bibulatov (Russia)
Bronze medal bout - Vs. Beka Rotchikashvili (Georgia)