Daton Fix gets his hand raised after beating Afgan Khashalov (Photo/Richard Immel)TAMPERE, Finland -- Four-for-four. 14-0.
That's how the American freestyle team fared in Wednesday's first session at the Junior World Championships in Tampere, Finland. Team USA put all four wrestlers in the finals, going 14-0 in the process.
Daton Fix (55 kilograms), Ryan Deakin (66 kilograms), Zahid Valencia (84 kilograms) and Gable Steveson (120 kilograms) advanced to the finals on Day 2.
Team USA's freestyle team has now secured seven medals in eight classes at the Junior World Championships.
Russia had three finalists on Wednesday and will go head-to-head with USA in all but one of the finals matches.
Fix, a returning Junior world bronze medalist, was unscored upon with four technical falls en route to reaching the gold-medal match at 55 kilograms. His most notable victory was a 10-0 round of 16 win over returning Junior world champion Afgan Khashalov of Azerbaijan. In the finals Fix will face Russia's Ismail Gadzhiev, a past European champion and Youth Olympic Games champion.
Gable Steveson had four technical falls in four matches in the first session (Photo/Richard Immel)Steveson, a two-time Cadet world champion, had four technical falls in four matches on his way to reaching the finals at 120 kilograms. The high school senior and nation's top wrestling recruit had not given up a point until his semifinal match against Zaur Kozonov (Russia), a match he won 21-10. Steveson's finals opponent is Naeiim Rah Hassanzadeh of Iran.
Zahid Valencia reached the finals at 84 kilograms (Photo/Richard Immel)Valencia opened his tournament by beating Gadzhimura Magomedsaidov of Azerbaijan 11-2, avenging a loss from last year's Junior World Championships. The match was competitive early, but Valencia turned it up in the second period, scoring three takedowns to win by nine. He followed up that win with two technical falls, with his semifinal victory coming over Deepak Punia of India. Valencia now faces Russia's Artur Naifonov, who won by technical fall in all but one of his matches.
Deakin was a major surprise for Team USA, reaching the finals of the Junior World Championships in his first international wrestling tournament. He was a fifth-place finisher in Fargo a year ago. Deakin, who wrestles at Northwestern, opened with a technical fall. In his quarterfinal match, Deakin found himself in a 6-0 hole after the opening period against Mongolia's Temuulen Enkhtuya. The American battled back in the second period, picking up three takedowns to take the victory. He rode that momentum to a convincing 10-2 semifinal victory over Amirhossei Hosseini of Iran. Tonight Deakin meets David Baev of Russia, a past Cadet world champ and European champ. Baev was unchallenged in the opening session, getting four technical falls in four matches.
The final session on Wednesday is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. local time, 11 a.m. ET.
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