Colon, Carr top podium, five others medal at Waclaw Ziolkowski in Poland

WARSAW, Poland – Team USA collected seven medals in its first day of competition at the Waclaw Ziolkowski Memorial International in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday. The medal count includes two golds, one silver and four bronzes.

Recording championship efforts were Joe Colon at 61 kg and David Carr at 74 kg.

Colon, a 2018 Senior World bronze medalist, was a perfect 3-0 on the day, earning a 10-0 win and 13-2 win to punch his ticket to the finals. There he had a wild back-and-forth bout with Ukraine’s Taras Markovych. The match was full of scrambles, and Colon came out on top with a 16-13 victory.

2019 Junior World champion Carr was dominant at 74 kg as he won all four of his matches by technical fall for his second-career Senior-level international medal. Surrendering only three points throughout the tournament, Carr capped off his impressive performance with an 11-0 tech fall over Zelimkhan Tohuzov from Ukraine.

Alec Pantaleo advanced to the finals at 70 kg, but he fell in controversial match for gold against Armenia’s Arman Andreasyan. Pantaleo attacked and led most of the match but in the second period, Pantaleo was put on the shot clock twice, giving Andreasyan a one-point lead with 15 seconds left. Pantaleo was not able to recover, losing 3-2 and earning silver. Earlier in the day, the American defeated 2017 Senior World champion Zurabi Iakobishvili of Georgia, 2-1, on his way to the finals.

Several Americans produced bronze-medal performances on Wednesday, including Vito Arujau, Austin DeSanto, Joey McKenna and David McFadden.

Arujau, a two-time age-group World silver medalist, went 3-1 at 57 kg with his lone loss coming to World medalist Andriy Yatsenkoof Ukraine in a close 9-6 bout. Arujau bounced back, outscoring his next two opponents 20-4, collectively. In his bronze match, the American dominated three-time Cadet World medalist and Youth Olympic Games runner-up Giorgi Gegelashvili of Georgia 12-2.

It was USA vs. USA in the battle for 61 kg bronze as Austin DeSanto took on Daniel DeShazer. DeSanto, an All-American for Iowa, ended the match quickly in the first period, using a takedown and leg lace to propel him to an 11-0 win. DeSanto finished the day 2-1, with his other win coming over Ukraine’s Valentyn Bliasetskyi, 10-0.

McKenna, competing at 65 kg, collected his third international medal of the year, grinding out a 3-1 win in the bronze bout against Krzysztof Bienkowski from Poland. A first-period takedown proved to be the advantage for McKenna. Earlier in the day, McKenna recorded a 10-0 tech fall and a 9-2 victory in his first two rounds.

McKenna’s Pennsylvania RTC teammate David McFadden also secured a bronze, wrestling at 79 kg. McFadden opened with back-to-back 10-0 victories before falling 6-0 in the third round. For bronze, he got back to his winning ways with a 10-0 win against Csaba Vida from Hungary.

In addition to DeShazer taking fifth at 61 kg, Yahya Thomas earned fifth at 70 kg, falling in the bronze match.

Others that represented the Stars and Stripes on Friday were Matthew Kolodzik and Tony Tolbert at 65 kg and Alex Marinelli at 79 kg.

Competition for the USA wraps up tomorrow as Jay Aiello (92 kg), Mike Macchiavello (97 kg), Nick Gwiazdowski (125 kg) and Derek White (125 kg) take the mat. Find more information, including streams, on SportZona.

WACLAW ZIOLKOWSKI MEMORIAL INTERNATIONAL

Warsaw, Poland | July 20-24

U.S. men’s freestyle results
57 kg: Vitali Arujau (Spartan Combat WC/TMWC) – BRONZE
WIN Robert Dingashvili (Georgia), 11-3
LOSS Andriy Yatsenko (Ukraine), 9-6
WIN Wanhao Zou (China), 8-2
WIN Giorgi Gegelashvili (Georgia), 12-2

61 kg: Joe Colon (Wildcat WC/TMWC) – GOLD
WIN Nil Leutert (Switzerland), 10-0
WIN Minghu Liu (China), 13-2
WIN Taras Markovych (Ukraine), 16-13

61 kg: Austin DeSanto (Hawkeye WC) – BRONZE
WIN Valentyn Bliasetskyi (Ukraine), 10-0
LOSS Taras Markovych (Ukraine), 5-4
WIN Daniel DeShazer (USA), 11-0

61 kg: Daniel DeShazer (Gopher WC RTC) – FIFTH
LOSS Taras Markovych (Ukraine), 6-4
WIN Valentyn Bliasetskyi (Ukraine), 5-2
LOSS Austin DeSanto (USA), 11-0

65 kg: Joey McKenna (Pennsylvania RTC/TMWC) – BRONZE
WIN Vasyl Shuptar (Ukraine), 10-0
WIN Nino Leutert (Switzerland), 9-2
LOSS Tsogbadrakh Tseveensuren (Mongolia), 2-1
WIN Krzysztof Bienkowski (Poland), 3-1

65 kg: Matthew Kolodzik (NJ RTC/NYAC)
LOSS Tsogbadrakh Tseveensuren (Mongolia), 11-8
WIN Tony Tolbert (USA), 10-0
LOSS Vasyl Shuptar (Ukraine), 7-5

65 kg: Tony Tolbert (NYC RTC)
LOSS Tornike Katamadze (Georgia), 4-0
LOSS Matthew Kolodzik (USA), 10-0

70 kg: Alec Pantaleo (Michigan RTC/TMWC) – SILVER
WIN Zurabi Iakobishvili (Georgia), 2-1
WIN Oleksiy Boruta (Ukraine), 6-2
LOSS Arman Andreasyan (Armenia), 3-2

70 kg: Yahya Thomas (Wildcat WC/TMWC) – FIFTH
LOSS Igor Nykyforuk (Ukraine), 5-4
WIN Marc Dietsche (Switzerland), 5-0
LOSS Oleksiy Boruta (Ukraine), 4-3

74 kg: David Carr (Cyclone RTC/TMWC) – GOLD
WIN Menghejigan Menghejigan (China), 13-2
WIN Shengsong Xia (China), 12-1
WIN Giorgi Sulava (Georgia), 10-0
WIN Zelimkhan Tohuzov (Ukraine), 11-0

79 kg: David McFadden (Pennsylvania RTC/TMWC) – BRONZE
WIN Jose O’Neil (Angola), 10-0
WIN Alex Marinelli (USA), 10-0
LOSS Vasyl Mykhaylov (Ukraine), 6-0
WIN Csaba Vida (Hungary) 10-0

79 kg: Alex Marinelli (Hawkeye WC/TMWC)
WIN Mateusz Pedzicki (Poland), 11-0
LOSS David McFadden (USA), 10-0
WIN Erik Reinbok (Estonia), 10-0
LOSS Csaba Vida (Hungary), 15-13