Takedown Report

O’Toole, Brooks, Hendrickson win gold, Cardenas captures bronze, Trumble in finals

BY SAVANNAH ASMANN, USA WRESTLING

The United States has more than one U23 World Champion in men’s freestyle for the first time in history. Keegan O’Toole, Aaron Brooks and Wyatt Hendrickson are 2023 U23 World Champions. Jacob Cardenas won a bronze medal, and the men’s freestyle team has the opportunity to capture eight World medals in Tirana, Albania.
The second group of men’s freestyle athletes saw Isaac Trumble advance to the finals, Doug Zapf earn a spot in the bronze medal match, and Cooper Flynn and Brock Hardy are in repechage.
Keegan O’Toole is a two-time age-group World Champion. In his finals match, O’Toole snagged two first period takedowns to lead 4-1 at the break. He added a takedown in the second period to defeat Imam Ganishov of (Individual Neutral Athlete) in the finals at 74 kg.
At 86 kg, Aaron Brooks was commanding in his finals match, dominating his opponent and winning by 10-0 technical fall. Brooks used three takedowns, one four-point move and tied up a leg lace to end it early. He returns to the top of the podium at an age-group World Championships, a place he knows all too well.
Wyatt Hendrickson became a U23 World Champion after besting Adil Misirci of Turkey in the finals at 125 kg. Hendrickson took a quick lead in the first period before unleashing an explosion on offense in the second period that led to a 13-3 technical fall. Hendrickson medals in just his second trip to an age-group World Championships.
It was a bronze medal for Jacob Cardenas as the United States went four-for-four in medal matches today. Cardenas scored the go-ahead takedown with just 33 seconds left in the contest. He is the second two-time U23 medalist in men’s freestyle for the United States.
Julian Chlebove’s tournament run came to an end in the morning session. Chlebove faced Mezhlum Mezhlumyan of Armenia in his repechage match, falling 11-0. Mezhlumyan is a 2023 U23 European Championships silver medalist.
In group two, Isaac Trumble secured a spot in the finals at 97 kg. Trumble navigated his way through a tough bracket, picking up wins over 2023 European Championships silver medalist Otkay Ciftci of Turkey and six time age-group World Team member Sergey Sargsyan of Armenia. Trumble will face Radu Lefter of Moldova in the finals tomorrow.
Doug Zapf guaranteed himself a spot in the bronze medal match, … rest of story at … Themat.com/news/2023/october/24/o-toole-brooks-hendrickson-win-gold-cardenas-captures-bronze-trumble-in-finals

October 26, 2023 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized