Elor Wins Third U20 World Championship

The final day of women’s freestyle competition saw one of America’s brightest stars shine when Amit Elor was victorious at the 72 kg weight class. Elor captured her third U20 world championship in the past three years and was as dominant as ever in doing so. She was the lone American woman to capture gold at the 2023 tournament. A total of five women will leave Amman, Jordan with medals (1,1 silver, 3 bronze) which was good for third place, behind India and Japan. 

Elor’s gold medal match was the final bout of the women’s competition and she closed out the tournament in style. She needed only 1:46 to roll to a tech fall against Turkey’s Bukrenaz Sert. After earning three points with a takedown and step out, Elor was able to counter a Sert attack for a second takedown. She then moved into a leg lace and eventually turned Sert three times for the 11-0 win. 

With the win, Elor now has three U20 world championships and a stunning seven world titles across all age groups. Last year, she won gold at the U20, U23, and Senior levels. Elor will have the opportunity to replicate that feat again in 2023. She’ll shoot for the second leg of the trifecta next month in Belgrade, Serbia. 

This year’s title saw Elor navigate through the bracket without surrendering a single point. Elor outscored her competition by the score of 31-0 across four matches and that doesn’t include a quarterfinal fall. 

The only other US woman in action on Friday was Katie Gomez at 53 kg. Gomez attempted to win her second consecutive U20 world bronze medal; however, she was stopped by Azerbaijan’s Gultakin Shirinova. Gomez led early in the final period 4-2, but couldn’t hold off a Shirinova onslaught that saw her finish with seven consecutive points to win 9-4. 

Also on Friday, the men’s Greco-Roman competition got underway. Four of the five American wrestlers advanced to the quarterfinals; however, they all suffered losses in that round. Three Greco team members, Haiden Drury (63 kg), Derek Matthews (77 kg), and Wyatt Voelker (87 kg), all have medal hopes and were pulled back into repechage after their respective losses. 

The other two members of the Greco squad that have been eliminated, Zach Silvis (55 kg) and Aden Attao (130 kg) both picked up at least one win. 

The final five Greco wrestlers will start their tournaments on Saturday. 

Final Results

Women’s Freestyle

53 kg

Gold Medal Match: Antim (India) over Mariia Yefremova (Ukraine)  4-0

Bronze Medal Match: Gultakin Shirinova (Azerbaijan) over Katie Gomez (USA)  9-4

Bronze Medal Match: Xuejing Liang (China) over Polina Lukina (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete)  7-4

57 kg

Gold Medal Match: Alina Filipovych (Ukraine) over Ichika Arai (Japan)  5-3

Bronze Medal Match: Gerda Terek (Hungary) over Gabriela Cross (Canada)  12-2

Bronze Medal Match: Reena (India) over Shugyla Omirbek (Kazakhstan))  9-4
 

62 kg

Gold Medal Match: Savita (India) over Astrid Montero Chirinos (Venezuela)  10-0

Bronze Medal Match: Suzu Sasaki (Japan) over Iris Thiebaux (France)  10-0

Bronze Medal Match: Melanie Jimenez Villalba (Mexico) over Iryna Bondar (Ukraine)  3-3
 

65 kg

Gold Medal Match: Eniko Elekes (Hungary) over Antim (India)  9-2

Bronze Medal Match: Martia Pantiru (Romania) over Ekaterina Koshkina (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete)  Fall 4:29

Bronze Medal Match: Khadija Jlassi (Tunisia) over Kseniya Tsiarenia (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete)  Fall 5:44
 

72 kg

Gold Medal Match: Amit Elor (USA) over Bukrenaz Sert (Turkey)  11-0

Bronze Medal Match: Harshita (India) over Emilia Crciun (Moldova)  Fall 3:34

Bronze Medal Match: Yuka Fujikura (Japan) over Patrycja Cuber (Poland)  10-1

US Results

Women’s Freestyle

53 kg

Bronze Medal Match: Gultakin Shirinova (Azerbaijan) over Katie Gomez (USA)  9-4
 

72 kg

Gold Medal Match: Amit Elor (USA) over Bukrenaz Sert (Turkey)  11-0
 

Greco-Roman

55 kg

Round of 16: Zach Silvis (USA) over Dzianis Vitaroi (Belarus)  Fall 5:58

Quarterfinals: Ali Ahmadi Vafa (Iran) over Zach Silvis (USA)  11-0
 

63 kg

Round of 16: Landon Drury (USA) over Suhib Alhasanat (Jordan)  9-0

Quarterfinals: Zhantoro Mirzaliev (Kyrgyzstan) over Landon Drury (USA)  8-5

77 kg

Round of 16: Alexandru Solovei (Moldova) over Derek Matthews (USA)  8-1

87 kg

Qualification: Wyatt Voelker (USA) over Yhias Abdurazakov (Turkmenistan)  10-0

Round of 16: Wyatt Voelker (USA) over Mohit Khokhar (India)  6-3

Quarterfinals: Abolfazi Choubani (Iran) over Wyatt Voelker (USA)  7-1
 

130 kg

Qualification: Aden Attao (USA) over Ayumu Iwasawa (Japan)  3-1

Round of 16: Aden Attao (USA) over Koppany Laszlo (Hungary)  8-7

Quarterfinals: Achilleas Chrysidis (Greece) over Aden Attao (USA)  6-4