Bassett and Nelson advance to the semifinals on the second day of the Cadet World Championships

Budapest, Hungary – Two U.S. wrestlers, Bo Bassett (45 kg) and Gavin Nelson (92 kg) advanced to the semifinals on the second day of men’s freestyle action at the Cadet World Championships. Later this afternoon, they will both wrestle for a spot in the gold medal match.

Bassett fell behind early in both of his matches but wore out his opponents as the bouts progressed, eventually earning pins. In his opening match, he downed Georgia’s Malkhazi Khelaia in 3:16. At the time of the fall he was leading, 14-8. He followed it up with a 3:53 pin over Azerbaijan’s Yusif Isparov after building an 11-4 lead. Isparov is a 2021 Cadet European bronze medalist.

In the semifinals, Bassett squares off with Umidjon Iskandarov of Uzbekistan. Iskandarov recorded 10-0 technical falls in both of his matches today.

Nelson took care of business quickly in his first match, logging a 22 second pin over Khaleifah Alhefeiti of the United Arab Emirates, taking him straight to his back with an ankle pick. His quarterfinal match presented more of a challenge, but a game Nelson handed Romania’s Georgian Tripon a 2-0 defeat. Nelson earned a passivity point in the first period and a step-out point in the second period, using his solid defense to prevent Tripon from getting anything on the board.

In his next match, he will see Russia’s Zhorik Dzhoiev.

Nate Jesuroga (51 kg) and Beau Mantanona (60 kg) will have to wait and see if they are pulled into repechage. Jesuroga won his opening bout against Turkey’s Resul Dogan, 4-2, before falling in the quarterfinals to Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Jumanazarov, 10-0. If Jumanazarov wins his semifinal match, Jesuroga will be pulled straight into the bronze medal match.

Mantanona dropped his opening bout to Azerbaijan’s Abdulrahman Ibrahimov, a 2021 Cadet European silver medalist, 6-2. Ibrahimov won his next two bouts, advancing to the semifinals and keeping Mantanona’s hopes of repechage alive for the time being.

Levi Haines was the fifth American competing in this morning’s session. He won his opening bout, pinning Uzbekistan’s Asadbek Karimov in a cradle in 2:52. He then fell to Turkey’s Cengizhan Dogan in the quarterfinals in a hard-fought 4-3 battle. Dogan lost in the quarterfinals, eliminating Haines from competition.

The semifinals begin at 10:45 EST and stream live on FloWrestling.

2021 Cadet World Championships

at Budapest, Hungary, July 19-25

Men’s Freestyle Results
45 kg: Bo Bassett (Windber, Pa.).
WIN Malkhazi Khelaia (Georgia), FALL, 3:16
WIN Yusif Isparov (Azerbaijan), FALL, 3:53
vs. Umidjon Iskandarov (Uzbekistan)

51 kg: Nathanael Jesuroga (Pleasant Hill, Iowa)
WIN. Resul Dogan (Turkey), 4-2
LOSS Nodirbek Jumanazarov (Uzbekistan), 10-0

60 kg: Beau Mantanona (Bermuda Dunes, Calif.)
LOSS Abdulrahman Ibrahimov (Azerbaijan), 6-2

71 kg: Levi Haines (Arendtsville, Pa.)
WIN Asadbek Karimov (Uzbekistan), FALL 2:52
LOSS Cengizhan Dogan (Turkey), 4-3

92 kg: Gavin Nelson (Inner Grove, Minn.)
WIN Khaleifah Alhefeiti (United Arab Emirates), FALL :23
WIN Georgian Tripon (Romania), 2-0