Fix, Brooks, Demas, Berge and Elam receive draws for 2018 Junior World Championships

TRNAVA, Slovakia – The first five reps for the U.S. Junior men’s freestyle World Team have received their draws for Friday’s competition of the 2018 Junior World Championships in Trnava, Slovakia.

Wrestling for the USA tomorrow is 2017 Junior World champion Daton Fix at 57 kg, 2017 Cadet World champion Aaron Brooks at 79 kg, three-time age group World Team member Dom Demas at 65 kg, two-time World Team member Brady Berge at 70 kg and international newcomer Zach Elam at 97 kg.

Oklahoma State redshirt freshman Fix will take on Ahmet Tas of Turkey in the first round. Tas took eighth at the 2018 Junior European Championships.

Brooks will open his first Junior Worlds against the winner of a match between 2015 Cadet Asian bronze medalist Daniar Meldebek of Kazakhstan and two-time Senior Nordic champion Ivars Samusonoks of Latvia.

OU wrestler Demas, who has represented the U.S. on the World level in Greco, will begin his first freestyle outing against 2017 Cadet Asian champion Ikhtiyor Normurodov of Uzbekistan. Normurodov finished seventh at the 2018 Junior Asian Championships.

Berge, who competes for Penn State, drew Razambek Zhamalov of Russia, who took eighth at the 2018 Medved tournament earlier this month and was ninth at the 2017 Ivan Yarygin Memorial.

At 97, Elam will face off against Kunai Nurdavletov of Kyrgyzstan in his international debut. Nurdavletov won bronze at the 2018 Junior Asian Championships.

Friday morning’s action is set for 10:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. ET). Fans can watch all the action live on Trackwrestling.com.

2018 JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

at Trnava, Slovakia

U.S. men’s freestyle draws

57 kg: Daton Fix (Sand Springs, Okla./Titan Mercury WC/Cowboy RTC)
vs. Ahmet Tas (Turkey), 2015 Balkan champion, eighth at 2018 Junior European Championships

65 kg: Domonick Demas (Dublin, Ohio/OKRTC)
vs. Ikhtiyor Normurodov (Uzbekistan), 7th at 2018 Junior Asian Championships, 2017 Cadet Asian champion

70 kg: Brady Berge (Mantorville, Pa./Nittany Lion WC)
vs. Razambek Zhamalov (Russia), 8th at 2018 Medved, 9th at 2017 Yarygin

79 kg: Aaron Brooks (Hagerstown, Md./USOTC)
vs. winner of Daniar Meldebek (Kazakhstan) and Ivars Samusonoks (Latvia)

97 kg: Zach Elam (Kansas City, Mo./Team Central WC)
vs. Kunai Nurdavletov (Kyrgyzstan), 2018 Junior Asian bronze