SOFIA, Bulgaria – Sam Stoll (Kasson, Minn./Minnesota Storm) stormed back after a semifinal loss to win a bronze medal at 120 kg/264.5 lbs. in Greco-Roman at the Junior World Championships on Wednesday. Stoll secured a body lock, threw and pinned Behnam Shajaeiaghadam of Iran in the first period of their bronze-medal bout, ending the match at 2:15. It was the first medal for the USA at the Junior Worlds this year. “It was kind of how it has been all tournament. In the first two rounds, I was losing and I came back to win. I lost in the semis, but pulled through with the bronze-medal match,†said Stoll. Stoll was unable to get any traction in his semifinal match against Abas Abdullayev of Azerbaijan. Falling behind early, Stoll was unable to keep Abullayev from racking up the points on takedowns and pushouts, losing by technical fall, 8-0. Stoll, who is a high school star out of Minnesota, opened his day with a clutch 4-3 win over Alexandros Papadatos of Greece. Stoll trailed 3-0 in the second period, and had a big throw for three points. Papadatos protested the call, but the scoring was confirmed. In the semifinal against hometown favorite Yanislav Kolev of Bulgaria, Stoll trailed again, but ran off 10 straight points for a 10-2 technical fall. “I learned to believe in myself all the time. Coming in, I was just excited. I didn’t know what would happen, as this is my first time internationally. I was just doing what I love to do,†said Stoll. Stoll’s coaches had faith in him. “This young kid is courageous and capable. We had confidence in him that he could come here an medal. Once he lost in the semifinals, he turned it up a knotch and got serious,†said U.S. coach Rodney Smith. Winning his first two matches, then losing in the quarterfinals was Isaiah Varona (Miami, Fla./USOEC) at 55 kg/121 lbs. Varona placed eighth. He is competing in his second straight Junior World Championships. Varona opened with an impressive 8-0 technical fall over Daniel Kocar of Slovakia, finishing it off in the first period at 2:20. He had a battle in the second round with Ahmadjon Mahmudov of Uzbekistan. Mahmudov had two one-point lifts in the first period, but Varona tied it up in the second on a caution point and a pushout at 2-2. As time ran out , Mahmudov scored what could have been a winning takedown. Varona protest, and the referees ruled that time had run out. Varona won on criteria. His quarterfinal bout was against Nika Tsetskhaladze of Georgia. Varona could not get his offense going, and ended up losing by technical fall, 0-7 in the second period. Tsetskhaladze, who was eighth in the 2011 Junior World Championships, was defeated in the semifinals, which knocked Varona out of the tournament. Finishing with a 1-2 record after getting pulled back into the repechage was Sahid Kargbo (Alexandria, Va./Patriot Elite WC) at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. Kargbo opened with a good mix of technique and quick reactions to earn a technical fall over Filip Sacic of Croatia in the second period, 8-0. An early takedown followed by a gut wrench gave him the lead, which he added to with pushouts and an takedown. In his second match, Kargbo went tough with Shmagi Bolkvadze of Georgia. The match was tied 2-2 at break, but the Georgian scored on a stepout and a throw to emerge with a 6-3 win. Kargbo got pulled back into the repechage when Bolkvadze won his semifinal match over Ramin Teherisatang of Iran. In his repechage match against Michal Kosla of Poland, Kargbo was leading 5-1 when he was thrown to his back by Kosla. Battling for almost a minute on his back, Kargbo could not get away and the pin was called at 2:46. Dropping his only bout at 84 kg/185 lbs. was Lucas Sheridan (Concord Calif./CYC), who fell to Tarek Abd Elsalam Shibil of Egypt, 0-5. Sheridan, who competes for Indiana University, is competing in his second straight Junior World Championships. Sheridan was eliminated when the Egyptian was defeated in his next match. The United States placed in a tie for ninth in the standings with 14 points. Russia was the champion, with Azerbaijan in second and Iran in third. “There is a lot of promise here, without a shadow of doubt. We have the talent. Those kids have the skill set. On this level, we have to be mentally sound in critical situations. We have to put our kids in more situations like that. Critical thinking in times like that will be the key to our future success as American athletes. The women’s freestyle competition begins on Thursday. JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS At Sofia, Bulgaria, August 14 Greco-Roman results 55 kg/121 lbs. Gold – Kilic Seref (Turkey) Silver – Ruben Minasyan (Russia) Bronze – Andriy Tsaryuk (Israel) Bronze – Akan Baimaganbetov (Kazakhstan) 5th – Mostafa Behzadimoghadam (Iran) 5th – Nika Tsetskhaladze (Georgia) 7th - Gevorg Gharibyan (Armenia) 8th - Isaiah Varona (USA) 9th - Ahmadjon Mahmudov (Uzbekistan) 10th - Shinobu Ota (Japan) Gold – Kilic Seref (Turkey) tech. fall Ruben Minasyan (Russia), 7-0 (0:27) Bronze - Andriy Tsaryuk (Israel) won by forfeit over M. Behzadimoghadam (Iran) Bronze – Akan Baimaganbetov (Kazakhstan) dec. Nika Tsetskhaladze (Georgia), 2-1 66 kg/145.5 lbs. Gold – Abuyazid Mantsigov (Russia) Silver – Shmagi Bolkvadze (Georgia) Bronze – Ramin Taherisartang (Iran) Bronze – Shohei Yabiku (Japan) 5th – Tigran Abrahamyan (Armenia) 5th – Ruhin Mikahilov (Azerbaijan) 7th - Mihail Bradu (Moldova) 8th - Zhanibek Kandybayev (Kazakhstan) 9th - Petter Karlsen (Norway) 10th - Michel Daher (Hungary) Gold – Abuyazid Mantsigov (Russia) tech. fall Shmagi Bolkvadze (Georgia), 7-0 (2:53) Bronze - Ramin Taherisartang (Iran) pin Tigran Abrahamyan (Armenia), 1:47 Bronze – Shohei Yabiku (Japan) dec. Ruhin Mikahilov (Azerbaijan), 3-2 84 kg/185 lbs. Gold – Sosruko Kodzokov (Russia) Silver – Yousef Ahmad Ghaderian (Iran) Bronze – Tarek Abd Elsalam Shibil (Egypt) Bronze – Dogan Goktas (Turkey) 5th – Jun-Hyeong Choi (Korea) 5th – Orkhan Nuriyev (Azerbaijan) 7th - Timyr Hamikojev (FYR Macedonia) 8th - Rashid Kochiyev (Kazakhstan) 9th - Anton Dzmitrychenka (Belarus) 10th - Masato Sumi (Japan) Gold - Sosruko Kodzokov (Russia) dec. Yousef Ahmad Ghaderian (Iran), 5-4 Bronze - Tarek Abd Elsalam Shibil (Egypt) pin Jun-Hyeong Choi (Korea), 3:54 Bronze – Dogan Goktas (Turkey) tech. fall Orkhan Nuriyev (Azerbaijan), 6-2 (two three-point throws) 120 kg/264.5 lbs. Gold – Sergey Semenov (Russia) Silver – Abas Abdullayev (Azerbaijan) Bronze – Sam Stoll (USA) Bronze – Kim Min-Seok (Korea) 5th – Behnam Shajaeiaghadam (Iran) 5th – Tiberiu Barbazan (Romania) 7th - Mantas Knystautas (Lithuania) 8th - Zurab Gedekhauri (Georgia) 9th - Adam Gyorgy Mertse (Hungary) 10th - Emre Muyan (Turkey) Gold – Sergey Semenov (Russia) tech. fall Abas Abdullayev (Azerbaijan), 7-0 Bronze – Sam Stoll (USA) pin Behnam Shajaeiaghadam (Iran), 2:15 Bronze - Kim Min-Seok (Korea) dec. Tiberiu Barbazan (Romania), 4-2 Team Standings 1 Russia, 65 pts. 2 Azerbaijan, 47 pts. 3. Iran, 42 pts. 4. Turkey, 41 pts. 5. Armenia, 30 pts. 6. Georgia, 25 pts. 7. Korea, 21 pts. 8. Ukraine, 18 pts. 9 (tie) United States, 14 pts. 9 (tie) Israel, 14 pts. 9 (tie) Romania, 14 pts. 9 (tie) Kazakhstan, 14 pts. 13 (tie) Lithuania, 12 13 (tie) Kyrgyzstan, 12 15 Hungary, 11 16 Japan, 10 17 Austria, 9 18 (tie) Bulgaria, 8 18 (tie) Egypt, 8 18 (tie) Uzbekistan, 8 18 (tie) Moldova, 8 22 Serbia, 6 23 (tie) FYR Macedonia, 4 23 (tie) Poland, 4 25 (tie) Latvia, 2 25 (tie) Belarus, 2 25 (tie) Norway, 2 25 (tie) Sweden, 2 25 (tie) India, 2 30 Mexico, 1 U.S. Greco-Roman performances on Wednesday 55 kg/121 lbs. – Isaiah Varona, Miami, Fla. (USOEC/Northern Michigan University), 8th place WIN Daniel Kocar (Slovakia), tech. fall, 8-0 (2:20) WIN Ahmadjon Mahmudov (Uzbekistan), 2-2 LOSS Nika Tsetskhaladze (Georgia), tech fall, 0-7 (4:17) 66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Sahid Kargbo, Alexandria, Va. (Patriot Elite WC/George Mason University) WIN Filip Sacic (Croatia), tech. fall, 8-0 (4:45) LOSS Shmagi Bolkvadze (Georgia), 3-6 LOSS Michal Kosla (Poland), pin 2:46 84 kg/185 lbs. – Lucas Sheridan, Concord Calif. (CYC/University of Indiana) LOSS Tarek Abd Elsalam Shibil (Egypt), 0-5 120 kg/264.5 lbs. – Sam Stoll, Kasson, Minn. (Minnesota Storm), bronze medal WIN Alexandros Papadatos (Greece), 4-3 WIN Yanislav Kolev (Bulgaria), tech. fall 10-2 LOSS Abas Abdullayev (Azerbaijan), tech. fall 0-8 WIN Behnam Shajaeiaghadam (Iran), pin 2:15