Vito Arujau was edged 3-2 in the finals by Japan's Toshiya Abe (Photo/Gabor Martin, United World Wrestling)TALLINN, Estonia -- For the second time in his wrestling career, Vito Arujau will leave an age group world championship with a silver medal.
Arujau, a silver medalist at the 2016 Cadet World Championships, was edged 3-2 in the gold-medal match of the Junior World Championships on Tuesday in Tallinn, Estonia.
The Cornell All-American faced Japan's Toshiya Abe in the finals at 57 kilograms. Abe scored the only point of the first period off the activity clock. Arujau came back to take the criteria lead in the second period after scoring off the activity clock. With under 20 seconds left, Abe took a shot and finished for a takedown on the edge of the mat with 13 seconds remaining. Arujau was aggressive in the final 10 seconds as Abe retreated, which resulted in a caution and one point for Arujau before the clock ran out, giving the Japanese wrestler a one-point victory.
Arujau became the first medalist for the United States at this year's World Championships. On Monday, he reached the finals by dominating returning world champion Akhmed Idrisov of Russia in the semifinals. Arujau placed fourth at the U.S. Open this year.
David Carr advanced to the finals at 74 kilograms (Photo/ Kadir Caliskan, United World Wrestling)Carr, Davison, Parris advance to finals
On Tuesday, three more Americans advanced to the finals in freestyle, while two others will wrestle for bronze medals.
The United States started Tuesday by winning their first 12 matches and placing five wrestlers in the semifinals. David Carr, Lucas Davison and Mason Parris all won their semifinal matches, while Gabriel Tagg and Trent Hidlay lost in the semifinals and will wrestle for bronze.
Carr, a 2016 Cadet world bronze medalist, needed just 43 seconds to earn a 10-0 technical superiority in his semifinal match at 74 kilograms against returning world champion Khadzhimurad Gadzhiyev of Azerbaijan. Earlier in the day, Carr had wins over Russia's Devid Betanov and Iran's Mohammad Nokhodilarimi (16-7). He will meet 2018 U23 World bronze medalist Jintaro Motoyama of Japan in the finals.
Davison faced Mongolia's Batmagnai Enkhtusvshin in the semifinals at 92 kilograms. He raced out to an early 8-0 lead after picking up a takedown, which he followed up with three straight gut wrenches. A short time later, the Mongolian picked up a takedown and then hit a gut wrench to make the score 8-4, before Davison stepped over and secured the fall in one minute and 14 seconds. Davison has dominated his competition thus far. In addition to his semifinal fall, he has wins of 10-0 and 7-1. He will battle 2017 Cadet world champion Alan Bagaev of Russia in the gold-medal match.
Parris punched his ticket to the finals at 125 kilograms with a 13-2 technical superiority over Turkey's Pasa Ekrem Karabulut in the semifinals. He had technical superiorities in his first two matches and has outscored his opposition 33-2 in three matches. In the finals, Parris will face Amir Zare of Iran, a 2018 Cadet world champion and 2018 Youth Olympic Games silver medalist.
Tagg dropped his semifinal match at 61 kilograms to Japan's Kaiki Yamaguchi, 12-2. It was competitive in the first period as Yamaguchi led 3-2 at the break. But the Japanese wrestler blew the match open in the second period and earned the technical superiority. Tagg reached the semifinals with a pair of technical superiorities before edging Iran's Mahdi Shirazi 2-1 in the quarterfinals.
Hidlay lost a close semifinal match to Russia's Alik Sebzukhov, 4-3. The American led 1-0 after the opening period. Sebzukhov came back with a takedown in the second period, which was challenged by the U.S. The call stood and Sebzukhov went up 4-1. Hidlay would score a late takedown, but ultimately come up a point short. Hidlay had outscored his opponents 26-1 leading up to the semifinals.
Alleida Martinez (50 kilograms), Alex Hedrick (55 kilograms), Michaela Beck (59 kilograms), Jayden Laurent (68 kilograms) and Korinahe Bullock (76 kilograms) open their tournaments on Wednesday in women's wrestling.
Wednesday's medal matches in freestyle are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. local time/11 a.m. ET.
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