ZRENJANIN, Serbia – The five U.S. wrestlers who competed in men’s freestyle on Saturday suffered losses and were not able to advance to the medal rounds at the Cadet World Championships. Three finished in the top 10 of their weight classes.

At 50 kg/110 lbs., Spencer Lee of Pennsylvania finished with a 2-2 record to place seventh.

Lee started off on fire, with a 7-0 technical fall over Ravzan Domitru of Romania in just 48 seconds. He got the quick takedown, and scored repeated turns to finish off the match.

His second win was even more impressive, an 8-0 first period technical fall over Abolfazi Hajipurmiji of Iran. Lee was getting multiple takedowns in the match, making it look very easy against an athlete from one of the top wrestling nations.

In the quarterfinals, Lee jumped to a 3-0 lead with two takedowns over Mahir Amiraslanov of Azerbaijan. However, the Azerbaijaini began scoring points off Lee’s attacks, and added a few of his own. In the second period, Amiraslanov scored a throw and finished off an  11-4 technical fall in 2:44.

When Amiraslanov qualified for the finals, Lee drew Irakli Mkheidze of Georgia in the repechage round. Once again, Lee got his offense going with leg attacks. However, Mkheidze executed two three-point throws in the first period for the technical fall, 6-3.

“Spencer Lee wrestled a couple of great matches. He wrestled a really good Iranian and just ran him into the ground. In his match against Azerbaijan, he came out like he was on fire and got up 3-0. He got into a situation where he was in on a leg and got tentative, and the guy did a cutback for three. They got into another situation later and he got three-pointed again. In two different matches, that happened to him. He is hurting right now. He needs to focus on the positive, realize the small mistake he made, and focus his energy on the big bonuses he had, like great offense, great attacks and good handfighting,” said Assistant National Freestyle Coach Bill Zadick.

A U.S. wrestler who had a strong run early was Sean Fausz of Kentucky, who opened with a pair of wins, finished 1-2 and placed ninth at 58 kg/127.75 lbs.

Fausz opened with a victory over Arpad Yakub of Romania in his first match, getting the 12-5 technical fall as time ran out in the second period. His second match was a quick 8-0 technical fall in just 36 seconds over Fotios Papadakis of Greece, which included two takedowns and a series of ankle lace turns.

In the third round, Mahammadali Aliyev of Azerbaijan was able to shut down the offense from Fausz, and secured a second period technical fall, 0-7 in 2:26. Aliyev reached the semifinals, and was winning his match, but was thrown with two seconds left by Selim Kozan of Turkey to lose the bout, knocking Fausz out of the repechage.

“I thought the Azerbaijan wrestler would pull him through, but he got three-pointed with about five seconds to go. That is what happens when you leave your destiny in somebody else’s hands. He is a great kid. He fought hard and got to the legs. He peppers people. He used his hands pretty well getting to attacks, and he has a great pace,” said Zadick.

Finishing in 10th, with a 1-1 record was Jon Jay Chavez of Idaho at 69 kg/152 lbs. Chavez won a bronze medal in Greco-Roman at the Cadet Worlds earlier this week.

Chavez started his day in freestyle with a workmanlike 8-0 technical fall over 2012 African Cadet champion Pieter Roets of South Africa, in 1:13. Chavez had a pair of takedowns, and a number of gutwrench turns, some for one point and some for two points.

Chavez was beaten early in his second match against Tariel Gaphrindashvili of Georgia, a 6-0 technical fall, based upon Gaphrindashvili getting two three-point throws. Chavez rolled through the second throw and scored, but the match was already over. Chavez was eliminated when Gaphrindashvili lost in the semifinals.

“It is a big challenge to come to a World Championships event and wrestle both styles. Jon Jay wrestled his first match and looked really good. He kind of got tricked against Georgia, who is really good with that two-on-one. He is better than that athlete, but you have to make it happen between the whistles,” said Zadick.

An American who qualified for the repechage was Austin Gomez of Illinois at 42 kg/92.5 lbs. Gomez dropped his opening match by technical fall to Younes Emamichoghaei of Iran, 0-8, in 1:49. After the Iranian reached the finals, Gomez was pulled back in, where he dropped a match to Jatin Jatin of India by technical fall, 0-8 in 1:40.

“His leg attacks looked really good early on against Iran, but he got into some upperbody and it cost us. His second match was very similar,” said Zadick.

Angus Arthur of Michigan was competing in freestyle after also wrestling in Greco-Roman ealier in the week at 85 kg/187.5 lbs.

Arthur opened against 2013 European Cadet Champion Nuramagomed Gadzhiyev of Azerbaijan and was defeated by technical fall, 1-9. Gadzhiyev reached the semifinals, but was beaten by Abdularashid Sadulaev of Russia, which eliminated Arthur from repechage.

“I felt really good about today. When the team was selected, from top to bottom, we had highly talented guys with good skills. They are pretty disappointed now because they did not get what they wanted. We wrestled hard. We did a lot of good things. Internationally, we have to fight for and control ties and we have to fight to our finishes,” said Zadick.

CADET WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Zrenjanin, Serbia, August 24

Men’s freestyle results

42 kg/92.5 lbs.
Gold – Ryo Matsui (Japan)
Silver – Younes Emamchoghaei (Iran)
Bronze – Viktor Terzi (Ukraine)
Bronze – Jatin Jatin (India)
5th – Aybek Suleymanov (Kazakhstan)
5th – Temerlan Aliev (Russia)
7th - Viktor Lyzen (Germany)
8th - Farrukh Aliyev (Azerbaijan)
9th - Sanzharbek Turdubaev (Kyrgyzstan)
10th - Marton Nemeth (Hungary)
Gold – Ryo Matsui (Japan) tech. fall Younes Emamchoghaei (Iran), 8-1
Bronze – Viktor Terzi (Ukraine) tech. fall Aybek Suleymanov (Kazakhstan), 9-0
Bronze – Jatin Jatin (India) tech fall Temerlan Aliev (Russia), 7-0

50 kg/110 lbs.
Gold – Abdulagav Shakhbanov (Russia)
Silver – Mahir Amiraslanov (Azerbaijan)
Bronze – Toshohiro Hasegawa (Japan)
Bronze – Iralki Mkheidze (Georgia)
5th – Ravinder Ravinder (India)
5th – Patryk Olenczyn (Poland)
7th - Spencer Lee (USA)
8th - Abbos Rakhmonov (Uzbekistan)
9th - Pavel Ivanov (Bulgaria)
10th - Abolfazi Hajipouramiji (Iran)
Gold – Abdulagav Shakhbanov (Russia) dec. Mahir Amiraslanov (Azerbaijan), 7-3
Bronze – Toshohiro Hasegawa (Japan) dec. Ravinder Ravinder (India), 11-8
Bronze – Iralki Mkheidze (Georgia) tech. fall Patryk Olenczyn (Poland), 8-0

58 kg/127.75 lbs.
Gold – Selim Kozan (Turkey)
Silver – Ramaz Zoidze (Georgia)
Bronze – Mahammadali Aliyev (Azerbaijan)
Bronze – Uruzbeg Tcomartov (Russia)
5th – Amit Amit (India)
5th – Dzianis Maksimau (Belarus)
7th - Maxim Sacultan (Moldova)
8th - Rei Higuchi (Japan)
9th - Sean Fausz (USA)
10th - Marcin Majka (Poland)
Gold – Selim Kozan (Turkey) dec. Ramaz Zoidze (Georgia), 7-0
Bronze – Mahammadali Aliyev (Azerbaijan) dec. Amit Amit (India), 3-0
Bronze - Uruzbeg Tcomartov (Russia) tech. fall Dzianis Maksimau (Belarus), 8-1

69 kg/152 lbs.
Gold – Abdulmuslim Mukhuddinov (Azerbaijan)
Silver – Kamran Ghasempour (Iran)
Bronze – Tariel Gaphrindashvili (Georgia)
Bronze – Alberts Juvcenko (Latvia)
5th – Timur Bizhoev (Russia)
5th – Pritam Pritam (India)
7th - Yernar Amangeldyev (Kazakhstan)
8th - Tigran Mnatsakanyan (Armenia)
9th - Benjamin Optiz (Germany)
10th - Jon Jay Chavez (USA)
Gold – Abdulmuslim Mukhuddinov (Azerbaijan) pin Kamran Ghasempour (Iran), 3:47
Bronze – Tariel Gaphrindashvili (Georgia) pin Timur Bizhoev (Russia), 1:13
Bronze – Alberts Juvcenko (Latvia) pin Pritam Pritam (India), 2:37

85 kg/187.5 lbs.
Gold – Abdulrashid Sadulaev (Russia)
Silver – Muhammed Enes Altun (Turkey)
Bronze – Zhassulan Yermembet (Kazakhstan)
Bronze – Nuramagomed Gadzhiyev (Azerbaijan)
5th – Abdallah Hatem Abdelmotelb (Egypt)
5th – Hossein Shanbazi Gazvar (Iran)
7th - Parveen Parveen (India)
8th - Beksultan Sultanaliev (Kyrgyzstan)
9th - Dmitri Ceacusta (Moldova) 
10th - Shun Umehara (Japan)
Gold – Abdulrashid Sadulaev (Russia) pin Muhammed Enes Altun (Turkey), 0:46
Bronze – Zhassulan Yermembet (Kazakhstan) tech. fall Abdallah Hatem Abdelmotelb (Egypt), 7-4 (2 three-point throws)
Bronze - Nuramagomed Gadzhiyev (Azerbaijan) tech fall Hossein Shanbazi Gazvar (Iran), 8-0

U.S. men’s freestyle performances

42 kg/92.5 lbs. – Austin Gomez, Carol Stream, Ill.
LOSS Younes Emamichoghaei (Iran), tech. fall 0-8, 1:49
LOSS Jatin Jatin (Indian), tech. fall, 0-8 1:40

50 kg/110 lbs. – Spencer Lee, Saegertown, Pa., 7th place
WIN Ravzan Domitru (Romania), tech. fall, 7-0 (0:48)
WIN Abolfazi Hajipurmiji (Iran), tech. fall 8-0 (1st period)
LOSS Mahir Amiraslanov (Azerbaijan), tech. fall 4-11 (2:44)
LOSS Irakli Mkheidze (Georgia), 3-6, first period (2 three-point throws)

58 kg/127.75 lbs. – Sean Fausz, Alexandria, Ky., 9th place
WIN Arpad Yakab (Romania), tech. fall, 12-5 (4:00)
WIN Fotios Papadakis (Greece), tech. fall 8-0 (0:36)
LOSS Mahammadali Aliyev (Azerbaijan), tech fall, 0-7 (2:26)

69 kg/152 lbs. – Jon Jay Chavez, Boise, Idaho, 10th place
WIN Pieter Roedulf Roets (South Africa), 8-0 (1:13)
LOSS Tariel Gaphrindashvili (Georgia), tech. fall 0-6, 1:24 (2 three-point throws)

85 kg/187.4 lbs. – Angus Arthur, Laingsburg, Mich.
LOSS Nuramagomed Gadzhiyev (Azerbaijan), tech fall, 1-9