Raney Wins Gold at U17 World Championships

The first day of the 2023 U17 World Championships saw an American lock up a medal and advance to the Greco-Roman finals as Jordyn Raney did so at 55 kg. Tuesday he had the opportunity to decide what color that medal would be against defending world champion Suraj of India.  

Raney got on the board first as he established position and forced Suraj to step out, which resulted in a 1-0 lead. That would be the score after a period. Not content to sit on a lead, Raney attacked right off the whistle in the second period with an arm drag and added two points to his score. 

Shortly after, Suraj got on the scoreboard with a takedown off of a throw-by; however, Raney was able to thwart any further scoring chances in par terre. Once again, Raney didn’t try to let his one-point lead hold up, he added to it with two points from a headlock. As Suraj was pushing forward on the ensuing exchange, Raney hit another headlock, this time it featured exposure and gave him a 9-2 lead. Before his Indian opponent could recover, Raney used a trapped-arm gut wrench for another set of exposure points which ended the bout via technical superiority. The Indian corner challenged the sequence, but lost, resulting in a 12-2 final score for Raney. 

In his world championship run, Raney defeated a pair of returning world champions (Suraj and Aytjan Khalmakhanov - Uzbekistan). His title marks the first time since the Cadet/U17 World Championships were reinstated in 2011 that America has crowned champion in back-to-back years (Joel Adams - 2022).

Raney wasn’t the only American to wrestle for a medal on Tuesday. Heavyweight Nicholas Sahakian scored a 5-1 victory over Tomas Rusi (Finland) to earn a spot in a bronze medal match at 110 kg. In the bronze medal contest, Sahakian squared off with Eldar Emirov (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete). The bout belonged to Emirov, who tossed Sahakian for four points late in the opening period and secured the fall right before the closing buzzer. Sahakian will settle for fifth place. 

The only other athlete from day one that was in the medal hunt on Tuesday was Billy Greenwood at 65 kg. Greenwood put up a valiant effort against Athanasios Efthymiadis (Greece) but was defeated 9-6 during the repechage phase. 

Of the Americans whose tournaments started only Tuesday, only Aiden Cooley (92 kg) managed to notch a victory. Cooley defeated Serbia’s Stevan Kojic, 9-0 in the Round of 16. The remaining American contingent was eliminated from the tournament as none of their opponents made the finals. 
 

Medal Results

48 kg 

Gold Medal Match: Payam Ahmadi Balootaki (Iran) over Shakhzod Ruziokhunov (Uzbekistan)  4-0

Bronze Medal Match: Elnar Ziyadov (Azerbaijan) over Murat Khatit (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete)  5-4

Bronze Medal Match: Edgar Petrosyan (Armenia) over Ivan Seibel (Germany)  Fall 1:46
 

55 kg 

Gold Medal Match: Jordyn Raney (USA) over Suraj (India)  12-2

Bronze Medal Match: Aytjan Khalmakhanov (Uzbekistan) over Mohammadreza Gholami (Iran)  11-2

Bronze Medal Match: Kuttubek Rysmatov (Kyrgyzstan) over Halil Cinar (Turkey)  11-1
 

65 kg 

Gold Medal Match: Zaur Beslekoev (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Yusif Ahmadli (Azerbaijan)  5-1

Bronze Medal Match: Islombek Karimjonov (Uzbekistan) over Octavian Cernetchi (Moldova)  8-0

Bronze Medal Match: Kumar Sachin (India) over Giorgi Tchikaidze (Georgia)  6-2
 

80 kg 

Gold Medal Match: Taizo Yoshida (Japan) over Mikhail Shkarin (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete)  8-6

Bronze Medal Match: Erik Ter Matevosyan (Armenia) over Eleftherios Pappas (Greece)  8-2

Bronze Medal Match: Alireza Abbasi (Iran) over Uladzislau Dubrouski (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete)  2-1
 

110 kg 

Gold Medal Match: Cemal Bakir (Turkey) over Ronak (India)  2-0

Bronze Medal Match: Eldar Emirov (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Nicholas Sahakian (USA)  Fall 1:59

Bronze Medal Match: Amirhossein Abdevali (Iran) over Mohamed Ahmed (Egypt)  2-0
 

US Results

45 kg

Round of 16: Alireza Amirighasroddashti (Iran) over Henry Aslikyan (USA)  11-0
 

51 kg

Round of 16: Husniddin Ulugbekov (Turkmenistan) over Hudson Loges (USA)  4-1

55 kg 

Gold Medal Match: Jordyn Raney (USA) over Suraj (India)  12-2
 

60 kg

Qualification: Yerdaulet Lassim (Kazakhstan) over Sam Herring (USA)  6-3
 

71 kg

Qualification: Ivan Bialiayeu (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Arvin Khosravy (USA)  4-1

92 kg

Round of 16: Aiden Cooley (USA) over Stevan Kojic (Serbia)  9-0

Quarterfinals: Gabriel Stan (Romania) over Aiden Cooley (USA)  9-0
 

110 kg 

Bronze Medal Match: Eldar Emirov (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Nicholas Sahakian (USA)  Fall 1:59