By Taylor Miller
USA Wrestling
UFA, Russia – USA Wrestling men’s freestyle team collected three medals on Tuesday night, including a gold medal from 2020 Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award winner Braxton Amos and bronze medals from Beau Bartlett and Bryce Andonian at the 2021 Junior World Championships.

University of Wisconsin’s Amos was impressive in his final match at 97 kg, taking on 2021 Junior European champion Polat Polatci from Turkey for gold. Amos came out quickly, putting four-consecutive step outs on the board and then drew a caution-and-one from the Turk. Just before the break, Amos jacked up Polatci for a throw, but his opponent landed on top for four points, cutting Amos’ lead to 5-4 at the break. With less than a minute left in the match, Amos secured a body lock and threw Polatci for five points to separate himself. The American tacked on another takedown in the final moments for an 11-4 win. Overall, he went 4-0 in the freestyle tournament.

Amos isn’t done yet. He’ll compete Saturday and Sunday in the Greco-Roman division.

Braxton Amos interview

At 65 kg, Penn State’s Bartlett, who lost a tough match in the semifinals yesterday, bounced back nicely to win a Junior World medal, facing Mustafo Akhmedov from Tajikistan in the bronze bout. Bartlett trailed 4-0 at the break from an Akhmedov takedown and lace. In the second period, the American got on the board, drawing a passivity point from his opponent. In the waning seconds of the match, Bartlett doubled Akhmedov out of bounds for four points and added another takedown for good measure and a 7-4 victory.

Beau Bartlett interview

Andonian, a Virginia Tech wrestler, put together an exceptional day, winning two repechage matches to give him a shot at a medal match. For bronze, Andonian took on Stanislav Novac from Moldova, who earned silver at the 2021 Junior European Championships. Novac raced out to a 6-0 lead, but Andonian scored a takedown at the end of the period to trail 6-2 at the break. Despite Novac getting an early takedown in the second period, the final frame was all Andonian, who rattled off 16-consecutive points, including six takedowns and one gut wrench to claim the bronze medal for an 18-8 win.

Bryce Andonian interview

Three more Americans, who are all DSHSEA winners, will wrestle for medals tomorrow, including finalists Keegan O’Toole and Rocky Elam as well as Wyatt Hendrickson, who will go for bronze. Medal matches begin Wednesday at 6 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET). Fans can watch live on FloWrestling or follow along on USA Wrestling’s twitter @USAWrestling.

2021 JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Aug. 16-22 | Ufa, Russia

U.S. men’s freestyle results
57 kg: Richard Figueroa (Sanger, Calif./Sunkist Kids) – 12th
LOSS Ali Gholi Zadegan Koloukhi (Iran), 15-2

65 kg: Beau Bartlett (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC) – BRONZE
WIN Marcell Budai Kovacs (Hungary), 12-1
WIN Davit Margaryan (Armenia), 11-0
LOSS Ziraddin Bayramov (Azerbaijan), 6-2
WIN Mustafo Akhmedov (Tajikistan), 7-4

70 kg: Bryce Andonian (Blacksburg, Va./SERTC) – BRONZE
LOSS Erfran Elahi (Iran), 8-7
WIN Josley Dibo (Republic of Congo), fall 0:59
WIN Asset Bauyrzhanov (Kazakhstan), 9-6
WIN Stanislav Novac (Moldova), 18-8

79 kg: Donnell Washington (Portage, Ind./Indiana RTC) – 11th
LOSS Mohammad Nokhodilarimi (Iran), 6-3
LOSS Richard Schroeder (Germany), 7-6

97 kg: Braxton Amos (Mineral Wells, W.V./Wisconsin RTC) – GOLD
WIN Yunus Gafurov (Kazakhstan), 6-4
WIN Milan Korcsog (Hungary), 10-0
WIN Deepak Deepak (India), 9-1
WIN Polat Polatci (Turkey), 11-4