Johnson secures bronze, action concludes at Veterans World Championships

POREC, Croatia – Garret Johnson earned a bronze medal on Sunday as Greco-Roman competition concluded at the 2024 Veterans World Championships held at Zatika Sport Centre in Poreč, Croatia.

Wrestlers in action on the day at Zatika Sport Centre were Division A, athletes 35-to-40 years old.

Johnson secured bronze in the 130 kg bracket on Sunday with a 3-1 record. He started strong by pinning Nofal Heydarov of Azerbaijan at 3:51, followed by a 6-2 victory over Zaza Shavadze of Georgia. Despite a close 1-1 loss to Mahdi Noori of Iran, Johnson bounced back and bested Mingo Grant Jr. from the United States in an 8-0 win, clinching his spot on the podium.

Grant Jr. finished in 5th place in the 130 kg bracket. He got off a tough start with a 5-0 loss to Noori of Iran, but rebounded with a dominant 9-0 victory over Hamid Mjahed of Germany. His run concluded with an 8-0 loss to fellow American Johnson in the bronze medal match. Grant Jr. was the only other American to secure a win in the tournament, narrowly missing a spot on the podium.

Other athletes finishing in the top 10 in their respective weight classes included Luis Onofre Valencia (8^th place, 88 kg), Deandre Nunn (10^th place, 100 kg) and Ronald Dombkowski II (8^th place, 130 kg).

In the Greco-Roman team race, Kazakhstan finished on top with a total of 228 points, followed closely by Hungary with 216 points. The United States secured third place with 199 points, while Sweden and Turkey rounded out the top five with 184 and 172 points, respectively.

In Division A, the United States finished ninth with a total of 23 points on Sunday.

Complete brackets and match-by-match results are available to browse on UWW Arena. A live stream and archived matches are available to the U.S. market through FloWrestling.

Greco-Roman Results

Full Team Results

1. Kazakhstan, 228 points

2. Hungary, 216 points

3. United States, 199 points

4. Sweden, 184 points

5. Turkey, 172 points

Division A

Team Rankings

1. Armenia, 50 points

2. Turkiye, 50 points

3. Bulgaria, 47 points

4. Sweden, 44 points

5. Norway, 40 points

6. Kazakhstan, 29 points

7. Germany, 26 points

8. Iran, 25 points

9. United States, 23 points

10. France, 22 points

62 kg

Gold – Thomas Roenningen (Norway)

Silver – Michael Van De Walle (France)

Bronze – Marat Garipov (Brazil)

4^th – Kirill Kachesov (AIN)

5^th – Florian Bissler (France)

6^th – Per Sundberg (Sweden)

Gold – Thomas Roenningen (Norway) tech. fall Michael Van De Walle (France), 8-0

Bronze – Marat Garipov (Brazil) dec. Kirill Kachesov (AIN), 7-1

70 kg

Gold – Vahram Khachatryan (Armenia)
Silver – Ruslan Assakalov (AIN)
Bronze – Zholdybay Tokbayev (Kazakhstan)
4th – Petar Georgiev Georgiev (Bulgaria)
5th – Zoltan Szakolczi (Hungary)
6th – Sergei Fufachev (Kyrgyzstan)
7th – Saeid Esmaeili Fini (Germany)

Gold – Vahram Khachatryan (Armenia) tech. fall Ruslan Assakalov (AIN), 9-0

Bronze – Zholdybay Tokbayev (Kazakhstan) dec. Petar Georgiev Georgiev (Bulgaria), 6-3

78 kg

Gold – Sasun Ghambaryan (Armenia)

Silver – Petr Motovilov (AIN)
Bronze – Vitali Murashka (AIN)
Bronze – Timann Schamborn (Norway)
5th – Oleg Boikov (Ukraine)
5th – Alessio Martini (Italy)
7th – Marco Menta (Italy)
8th – Zhomart Utebov (Kazakhstan)
9th – Pascal Sepp Ruh (Germany)

10th – Johann Welker (France)

Gold – Sasun Ghambaryan (Armenia) dec. Petr Motovilov (AIN), 7-0

Bronze – Vitali Murashka (AIN) dec. Oleg Boikov (Ukraine), 5-2

Bronze – Timann Schamborn (Norway) dec. Alessio Martini (Italy), 5-1

88 kg

Gold – Plamen Palev (Bulgaria)
Silver – Ugur Ari (Turkey)
Bronze – Nils Euren (Sweden)
Bronze – Ludek Konvicny (Czech Republic)
5th – Francisco Barrio (Argentina)
5th – Krasimir Georgiev Nenkov (Bulgaria)
7th – Stanislav Rodionov (AIN)
8th – Luis Onofre Valencia (United States)
9th – Pascal Mieslinger (Germany)
10th – Valeriy Golubkov (AIN)

Gold – Plamen Palev (Bulgaria) dec. Ugur Ari (Turkey), 6-2

Bronze – Nils Euren (Sweden) dec. Francisco Barrio (Argentina), 3-0

Bronze – Ludek Konvicny (Czech Republic) dec. Krasimir Georgiev Nenkov (Bulgaria), 3-3

100 kg

Gold – Nikolai Trishin (AIN)
Silver – Walid Said (Sweden)
Bronze – Elgiz Mammadov (Azerbaijan)
Bronze – Oktay Kahraman (Turkey)
5th – Philipp Vanek (Germany)
5th – Jevgenijs Didiluks (Latvia)
7th – Murat Chukenov (Kazakhstan)
8th – Dmitrii Dokuchaev (AIN)
9th – Daulet Kuanov (Kazakhstan)
10th – Deandre Nunn (United States)

Gold – Nikolai Trishin (AIN) dec. Walid Said (Sweden), 1-1

Bronze – Elgiz Mammadov (Azerbaijan) dec. Philipp Vanek (Germany), 2-0

Bronze – Oktay Kahraman (Turkey) dec. Jevgenijs Didiluks (Latvia), 5-2

130 kg

Gold – Maysam Lashkari (Iran)
Silver – Mahdi Noori (Iran)
Bronze – Garret Johnson (United States)
Bronze – Serhat Saricicek (Turkey)
5th – Mingo Grant Jr (United States)
5th – Hristo Georgiev (Bulgaria)
7th – Zaza Shavadze (Georgia)
8th – Ronald Dombkowski II (United States)
9th – Nofal Heydarov (Azerbaijan)
10th – Aleksei Pintaev (AIN)

Gold – Maysam Lashkari (Iran) tech. fall Mahdi Noori (Iran), 8-0

Bronze – Garret Johnson (United States) tech. fall Mingo Grant Jr. (United States), 8-0

Bronze – Serhat Saricicek (Turkey) dec. Hristo Georgiev (Bulgaria), 5-3

U.S. Men’s Freestyle Results

Division A

78 kg – Ted Bristol (San Diego, Calif.), 11^th place

LOSS Pascal Ruh (Germany), 11-8

88 kg – Luis Onofre Valencia (San Francisco, Calif.), 8^th place

LOSS Ludek Konvicny (Czech Republic), 9-1

100 kg – Deandre Nunn (Joliet, Ill.), 10^th place

LOSS Oktay Kahraman (Turkey), 9-6

130 kg – Garret Johnson (Spokane, Wash.), bronze

WIN Nofal Heydarov (Azerbaijan), fall 3:51

WIN Zaza Shavadze (Georgia), 6-2

LOSS Mahdi Noori (Iran), 1-1

WIN Mingo Grant Jr. (United States), 8-0

130 kg – Mingo Grant Jr. (Baltimore, Md.), 5^th place

LOSS Mahdi Noori (Iran), 5-0

WIN Hamid Mjahed (Germany), 9-0

LOSS Garret Johnson (United States), 8-0

130 kg – Ronald Dombkowski II (Waterford, Pa.), 8^th place

LOSS Maysam Lashkari (Iran), 9-0

LOSS Hristo Georgiev (Bulgaria), 5-1