Marsteller to go for gold, Woods, Green & Lewan for bronze at Muhamet Malo Ranking Event in Albania

TIRANA, Albania – 2023 World Team member Chance Marsteller has reached the 86 kg gold-medal finals in men’s freestyle at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Event on Wednesday.

Marsteller will face 2023 Asian champion Bolat Sakaev of Kazakhstan in the gold-medal finals.

In the semifinals, Marsteller was in command in a 4-0 victory over 2023 European bronze medalist Sebastian Jezierzanski of Poland. Masteller scored the only takedown in the match in the first period, and added a shot clock point and a step out.

Leading 4-0, Marsteller hit a sweet dump for four-points and a pin in 1:17 over Rustem Myrzagaliyev of Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals.

Three U.S. wrestlers will compete for a bronze medal, Real Woods (65 kg), two-time World medalist James Green (70 kg) and Will Lewan (70 kg). Green and Lewan will compete against each other in the bronze-medal round.

Woods was defeated in the semifinals by 2024 Olympic silver medalist and 2022 World champion Rahman Amouzadkhalilli of Iran, 11-2. Woods scored the first takedown, and the bout was tied 2-2 at the break. In the second period, Amouzadkhalilli scored two takedowns and a number of step out points to open up the score.

Woods opened with a strong 10-1 decision over Congbao Xie of China, scoring both a takedown and a turn in each period. He followed with a dominant 10-0 technical fall over Mikyay Salim Naim of Bulgaria. Woods continued to display outstanding offense in his 10-0 technical fall win over Adlan Askarov of Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals.

Woods will face 2024 U23 World silver medalist Kaiji Ogino of Japan in the bronze-medal bout.

Green was edged by 2024 World silver medalist Yoshinosuki Aoyagi of Japan, 4-1 in the semifinals. The match was tight until the finish. Aoyago scored on a shot point and a step out, while Green scored on a shot clock point. In the last seconds, Aoyagi scored two points on a scramble to close out the win.

In his first match, Green broke a 2-2 tie with a shot on the edge that became a step out, and with the unsuccessful challenge, defeated Sanzhar Doszhanov of Kazakhstan 4-2. Green continued in the quarterfinals with a solid 4-0 decision over Fati Vejseli of North Macedonia.

Lewan won his opening bout by injury default in 5:31 over Eriglent Prizreni of Albania. Lewan was leading 9-0 at the time the match did not continue. In his second bout, Lewan was defeated by Yoshinosuki Aoyagi of Japan in an 11-1 technical fall. Lewan advanced to his bronze-medal bout with a forfeit in the repechage over Arman Andreasyan of Armenia.

Two U.S. wrestlers dropped a match and were not eligible for repechage, Yahya Thomas (70 kg) and Quincy Monday (74 kg).

In his first match, Thomas controlled the action with a number of step outs, on the way to a 5-1 decision over Yernur Nurgazy of Kazakhstan. In his second bout, Thomas was put on the shot clock twice and did not score, falling to Akaki Kemertelidze of Georgia, 3-0. Thomas was eliminated when Kemertelidze fell in the semifinals.

Monday was hit with an arm throw early in the match and fell in his opening bout to Orozobek Toktomambetov of Kyrgyzstan, 4-2. He was eliminated when Toktomambetov lost his next match.

The finals will be held at 6:00 p.m. local time, which is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time zone (finals at 12:00 noon ET).

The event is being broadcast live on FloWrestling. https://flosports.link/4iCPX0o

Brackets are posted on UWW Arena https://arena.uww.org/sport-event/show/1efe2b4f-9e4e-6292-b4ed-318d9cdc9726

MUHAMET MALO RANKING SERIES EVENT

At Tirana, Albania, February 26-March 2

Finals pairings

57 kg – Aiaal Belolyubskii (Tajikistan) vs. Ali Momenijoujadeh (Iran)

61 kg – Nachyn Mongush (UWW) vs. Takira Suda (Japan)

65 kg – Talyrbek Zhumashbek Uulu (Kyrgyzstan) vs. Rahmad Amouzadkhalilli (Iran)

70 kg - Yoshinosuki Aoyagi (Japan) vs. Vazgen Tevanyan (Armenia)

74 kg – Taimuraz Salkazanov (Slovakia) vs. Cherman Valiev (Albania)

86 kg – Chance Marsteller (USA) vs. Bolat Sakaev (Kazakhstan)

U.S. Men’s Freestyle results

65 kg: Real Woods, Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen WC), in bronze-medal bout

WIN Congbao Xie (China), 10-1

WIN Mikyay Salim Naim (Bulgaria), tech fall 10-0

WIN Adlan Askarov (Kazakhstan), tech fall 10-0

LOSS Rahman Amouzadkhalilli (Iran), 11-2

Bronze medal bout – Kaiji Ogino (Japan)

70 kg: Will Lewan, Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen WC)

WIN Eriglent Prizreni (Albania), inj. dft. 5:31

LOSS Yoshinosuki Aoyagi (Japan), tech fall, 11-1

WIN Arman Andreasyan (Armenia), forfeit

Bronze medal bout – Vs. James Green (USA)

70 kg: Yahya Thomas, Princeton, N.J. (Titan Mercury WC/NJRTC), eliminated

WIN Yernur Nurgazy (Kazakhstan), 5-1

LOSS Akaki Kemertelidze (Georgia), 3-0

70 kg: James Green, Lincoln, Neb. (Titan Mercury WC/Nebraska NTS), in bronze medal bout

WIN Sanzhar Doszhanov (Kazakhstan), 4-2

WIN Fati Vejseli (North Macedonia), 4-0

LOSS Yoshinosuki Aoyagi (Japan), 4-1

Bronze medal bout – Vs. Will Lewan (USA)

74 kg: Quincy Monday, Princeton, N.J. (Titan Mercury WC/NJRTC), eliminated

LOSS Orozobek Toktomambetov (Kyrgyzstan), 4-2

86 kg: Chance Marsteller, Reading, Pa. (Titan Mercury WC/NJRTC), in gold medal bout

WIN Rustem Myrzagaliyev (Kazakhstan), pin 1:17

WIN Sebastian Jezierzanski (Poland), 4-0

Gold medal match - Bolat Sakaev (Kazakhstan)