2023 U17/U20 Greco-Roman Worlds Recap: Raney’s gold highlights Team USA

Photo: Jordyn Raney (left) defeated 2022 U17 World champion Aytjan Khalmakhanov of Uzbekistan in the quarterfinals of the 2023 U17 Worlds in Greco-Roman and eventually claimed a gold medal at 55 kilograms in Istanbul, Turkey. (Gary Abbott photo)

By Mike Finn

Team USA has rarely finished high in Greco-Roman on the international stage and that was again the case at the U17 and U20 World Championships this month. But Jordyn Raney made sure this country produced a World champion in either of the age-group World tournaments when the Kentucky native won the 55-kilogram gold medal in the U17 event, held July 31-Aug. 2 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Raney’s title — the only medal won by any of the 20 Greco-Roman wrestlers who competed in the two Worlds — put a highlight in that style. This is WIN’s recap of the U17 and U20 World Championships. Click here to view a recap of the men’s freestyle in the U17 and U20 Worlds. Click here to read a recap of women’s freestyle in U17 and U20 Worlds.

(WIN Magazine will also provide more comprehensive coverage of the U17 and U20 Worlds in the September issue of WIN.  Click here or call 888-305-0606 to subscribe.)

Raney is a 16-year-old native of Sturgis, Ky., and a twin brother to Jaydin Raney, who won 16U National championships in both freestyle and Greco-Roman last July in Fargo, N.D. As a three-time Kentucky state champion from Union County High School, Jordyn won all five matches in Turkey, including an 8-7 semifinal victory over Mohammadreza Gholami of Iran before dominating India’s Suraj Suraj, 12-2 in the gold-medal bout.

Overall, Team USA won 10 of 21 Greco-Roman bouts for a second straight year in the U17 Worlds, where Adams Waters (80k), Aiden Cooley (92k) and Nicholas Sahakian (110k) all won matches. While Waters and Cooley reached the quarterfinals, Sahakian wrestled in a bronze medal match but settled for fifth place.

In the U20 World Championships, held two weeks later in Amman, Jordan, the 10-man American Greco-Roman team failed to place a wrestler, won 9 of 22 matches and finished 11^th as a team. But this group did feature five wrestlers who finished in the top five in their weight class: Zachary Silvis (8^th at 57k), Landon Drury (5^th at 63k), Braden Stauffenberg (9^th at 72k), Wyatt Voelker (5^th at 87k) and Aden Attao (7^th at 130k).

Wyatt Voeker, who will be a redshirt freshman at Northern Iowa, earned a shot at a U20 Greco-Roman bronze medal when he beat Ivaylo Ivanov of Hungary in a repechage bout before settling for fifth place. (Richard Immel photo)

Drury, a 17-year-old native of Colorado Springs, Colo., who will be a senior at Springs Studio High School, won his first match by technical fall and a repechage bout before losing in the third-place bout.

Voelker, a 20-year-old native of Manchester, Iowa, who will be a redshirt freshman at the University of Northern Iowa, won three of five bouts, including his first two matches, but settled for fifth after losing his bronze-medal match.

Attao, an 18-year-old native of Boise, Idaho, who won a bronze medal in the 2022 U20 Worlds, also won his first two matches in Jordan, but the future Oregon State heavyweight was eliminated after losing his quarterfinal match.

2023 U17 Worlds Greco-Roman results

July 31-Aug 2 • Istanbul, Turkey

45 kg/100 lbs: Henry Aslikyan (Panorama City, Calif./Birmingham Community Charter School), dnp

Prelim – lost by TF to Alireza Ahmad Amirighasroddashti (Iran), 11-0

48 kg/105.5 lbs: Ezekiel Witt (Junction City, Kan./Manhattan Wrestling), dnp

Prelim – lost by TF to Edgar Petrosyan (Armenia), 8-0

51 kg/112.5 lbs: Hudson Loges (Blair, Neb./MWC Wrestling Academy), dnp

First Round – lost to Husniddin Ulugbekov (Turkmenistan), 4-1

55 kg/121 lbs: Jordyn Raney (Sturgis, Ky./Union County High School), Gold Medal

Prelim – won by TF over Ahmed Shaban (Egypt), 8-0; First Round – won by TF over Shu Wei Chung (Taipei), 8-0; Quarterfinal – dec. Aytjan Khalmakhanov (Uzbekistan), 9-7; Semifinal – dec. Mohammadreza Gholamreza Gholami (Iran), 8-7; Gold Medal Match – won by TF over Suraj Suraj (India), 12-2

60 kg/132 lbs: Sam Herring (Sidman, Pa./Bishop McCort High School), dnp

Prelim – lost to Yerdaulet Lassim (Kazakhstan), 6-3

65 kg/143.5 lbs: William Greenwood (Livermore, Colo./GRIT Athletics WC), dnp

Prelim – lost by TF to Yusif Ahmadli (Azerbaijan), 8-0; Repechage – lost to Athanasios Efthymiadis (Greece), 9-7

71 kg/156.5 lbs: Arvin Khosravy (Woodland Hills, Calif.), dnp

Prelim – lost to Ivan Bialiayeu (Individual Neutral Athlete), 4-1

80 kg/176 lbs: Adam Waters (Stowe, Pa./Steller Trained Wrestling), 8th place

Prelim – dec. Miguel Angel Vega Salazar (Colombia), 6-1; First Round – won by TF over Aman (India), 9-0; Quarterfinal – lost to Eleftherios Pappas (Greece), 8-1

92 kg/202 lbs: Aiden Cooley (Allen, Texas/Best Trained Wrestling), 10th place

First Round – won by TF to Stevan Kojic (Serbia), 9-0; Quarterfinal – lost by TF to Gabriel Stan (Romania), 9-0

110 kg/242.5 lbs: Nicholas Sahakian (Sherman Oaks, Calif./St. John Bosco High School), 5th place

First Round – dec. Daniel Szilagyi (Hungary), 3-1; Quarterfinal – lost by TF to Ronak Ronak (India), 9-0; Repechage – dec. Tomas Rusi (Finland), 5-1; Bronze Medal Match – lost by fall to Eldar Emirov (Independent Neutral Athlete), pin 1:59

2023 U20 Worlds Greco-Roman Team Standings

2023 U20 Worlds Greco-Roman Results

Aug. 18-20 • Amman, Jordan

55 kg/121 lbs: Zachary Silvis (Cottage Grove, Minn./Pinnacle WC), 8^th place

First Round – pinned Dzianis Vitaroi (Individual Neutral Athlete), 5:57; Quarterfinal – lost by TF to Ali Ahmadi Vafa (Iran), 11-0

60 kg/132 lbs: Max Black (Castle Rock, Colo./ NMU-National Training Center), dnp

Prelim – lost by TF to Koto Gomi (Japan), 11-0

63 kg/138.5 lbs: Landon Drury (Colorado Springs, Colorado/Betterman Elite Wrestling), 5^th place

First Round – won by TF over Suhib Alhasanat (Jordan), 9-0; Quarterfinal – lost to Zhantoro Mirzaliev (Kyrgyzstan), 8-5; Repchage – dec. Vasyl Myshanych (Ukraine), 5-2; Bronze Medal Match – lost to Dinislam Sagitzhan (Kazakhstan), 9-0

67 kg/147.5 lbs: Joel Adams (Omaha, Neb./The Best Wrestler), dnp

Prelim – lost to Artur Jeremejev (Estonia), 5-2

72 kg/158.5 lbs: Braden Stauffenberg (Plano, Ill./Michigan WC), 9th place

Prelim – pinned Omar Al Daraghmeh (Jordan), 2:40; First Round – lost by TF to Muhammed Gocmen (Turkey), 9-0

77 kg/169.5 lbs: Derek Matthews (Burley, Idaho/Northern Colorado WC), dnp

First Round – lost to Alexandru Solovei (Moldova), 8-1; Repechage – lost to Abdulmasih Abdulmasih (Individual Neutral Athlete), 10-1

82 kg/180.5 lbs: Michael Altomer (Stuyvesant, N.Y./Curby 3-Style Wrestling), dnp

First Round – lost to Mahmoud Ibrahim (Egypt), 4-2

87 kg/191.5 lbs: Wyatt Voelker (Manchester, Iowa/Panther WC RTC), 5th

Prelim – won by TF over Yhlas Abdurazakov (Turkmenistan), 10-0; First Round – dec. Mohit Khokhar (India), 6-3; Quarterfinal – lost to Abolfazl Choubani (Iran), 7-2; Repechage – dec. Ivaylo Ivanov (Bulgaria), 3-2; Bronze Medal Match – lost to Vigen Nazaryan (Armenia), 7-0

97 kg/213.5 lbs: Sawyer Bartelt (Coral Gables, Fla./Gladiator Wrestling), dnp

First Round – lost to Juan Diaz Blanco (Venezuela), 2-2

130 kg/286.5 lbs: Aden Attao (Boise, Idaho/Suples WC), 7^th place

Prelim – dec. Ayumu Iwasawa (Japan), 3-1; First Round – dec. Koppany Laszlo (Hungary), 8-7; Quarterfinal – lost to Achilleas Chrysidis (Greece), 6-4

Team Standings