By Richard Immel
USA Wrestling

ZAGREB, Croatia – The U.S. received welcome news during the evening Greco-Roman session at Arena Zagreb—Max Black and Alejandro Sancho were pulled into repechage and have a chance to wrestle back for bronze at the 2025 World Championships.

Both men faced eventual finalists in the opening round, which served as a tough, but fortunate draw for the American duo. Black dropped a 7-1 decision to two-time World bronze medalist and 2024 Olympian Aidos Sultangali of Kazakhstan. Sancho went 4-0 against 2023 World champion and 2024 World runner-up Ibrahim Ghanem of France. With Sultangali and Ghanem cementing finals appearances, Black and Sancho received new life.

First time World Team member Michial Foy put on a nice showing with a 1-1 record at 97 kg that included a 4-0 win over 2024 Olympian Mindaugas Venckaitis of Lithuania. Foy did not receive the same fortunate bounce for repechage. His run in Croatia ended when Georgia’s Giorgi Melia, who defeated Foy in the second round, fell in the quarterfinals.

Earlier in the day, Greco-Roman group one athlete Kamal Bey got his repechage chance, and came up just of the 77 kg bronze medal match. He went 1-1 during the Friday repechage with an 11-2 win over 2017 World silver medalist Mateusz Bernatek of Poland and a 4-2 loss to 2024 World bronze medalist Ahmet Yilmaz of Türkiye.

For a complete match-by-match breakdown of Friday’s action for Team USA in Zagreb, browse our day seven match notes.

The tournament resumes at 10:30 a.m. local time on Friday with the Greco-Roman group two (60-72-97 kg) repechage and Greco-Roman group three (63-67-87 kg) preliminary rounds. Alston Nutter, Ellis Coleman and Payton Jacobson take the mats for the first time tomorrow morning for Team USA. Zagreb, Croatia, is in the GMT +2 time zone, which is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time. 

The Senior World Championships are streaming live on FloWrestling.com to the U.S. market. Brackets and updated results are available on UWW Arena.

USA Wrestling will provide regular updates on TheMat.com and its social media platforms throughout the event.

2025 Senior World Championships 

At Zagreb, Croatia, September 19 

Quick Links 

• Event Hub

• Live Stream

• Brackets and Results
  

Greco-Roman Results 

Gold Medal Match Pairings (Group Two) 

60 kg – Aidos Sultangali (Kazakhstan) vs. Alisher Ganiev (Uzbekistan)

72 kg – Ulvu Ganizade (Azerbaijan) vs. Ibrahim Ghanem (France)

97 kg – Mohammadhadi Saravi (Iran) vs. Artur Sargsian (UWW)

Semifinal Results (Group Two) 

60 kg 

Aidos Sultangali (Kazakhstan) tech. fall Amiran Shavadze (Georgia), 10-2

Alisher Ganiev (Uzbekistan) dec. Georgij Tibilov (Serbia), 5-5

72 kg 

Ulvu Ganizade (Azerbaijan) dec. Abdullo Aliev (Uzbekistan), 5-0

Ibrahim Ghanem (France) fall Merey Maulitkanov (Kazakhstan), 5:49

97 kg 

Mohammadhadi Saravi (Iran) dec. Kiryl Maskevich (UWW), 3-1

Artur Sargsian (UWW) dec. Murad Ahmadiyev (Azerbaijan), 1-1

U.S. Greco-Roman Results 

Group One 

55 kg – Jayden Raney (Sturgis, Ky./Union County/New York AC), Eliminated 

WIN Koriun Sahradian (Ukraine), 2-1

WIN Sajjad Ali Albidhan (Iraq), fall, 4:23

LOSS Eldaniz Azizli (Azerbaijan), 5-1

77 kg – Kamal Bey (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP), Eliminated 

LOSS Malkhas Amoyan (Armenia), 2-1

WIN Mateusz Bernatek (Poland), tech. fall, 11-2

LOSS Ahmet Yilmaz (Türkiye), 4-2

82 kg – Beka Melelashvili (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC), Eliminated 

LOSS Shahin Badaghimofrad (Qatar), 6-4

130 kg – Cohlton Schultz (Tempe, Ariz./Atreus WC), Eliminated

LOSS Sergei Semenov (UWW), 5-2

Group Two 

60 kg – Max Black (Marquette, Mich./NMU-National Training Center/New York AC), Repechage 

LOSS Aidos Sultangali (Kazakhstan), 7-1

VS Melkamu Fetene (Israel)

72 kg – Alejandro Sancho (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP), Repechage 

LOSS Ibrahim Ghanem (France), 4-0

VS Gor Khachatryan (Armenia)

97 kg – Michial Foy (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP), Eliminated 

WIN Mindaugas Venckaitis (Lithuania), 4-0

LOSS Giorgi Melia (Georgia), tech. fall, 9-0