Buckeyes Earn Medals at U20 World Championships
8/16/2023 12:20:00 PM | General, Wrestling
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Buckeyes Jesse Mendez and Nic Bouzakis earned medals at the 2023 U20 World Championships this week in Amman City, JordanÂ
Ohio State had two wrestlers on the Team USA roster at the U20 World Championships for the second-consecutive year.
Mendez, a sophomore with the Buckeyes, advanced to the U20 Championship Finals Monday after four victories at 65kg for Team USA. He fell to Mohammad Shakeri of Iran, 5-2, to bring home a Silver Medal for the United States.
Bouzakis, who will be a redshirt freshman at Ohio State this year, battled back after a loss in the quarterfinals of the 61kg weight class, to earn a Bronze Medal.
For the chance to advance to the semifinals, Mendez won by decision, 13-4, over Ion Berghi (Moldova).
Mendez then advanced to the U20 Championship Finals with a 3-1 win over Abdullah Toprak of Turkey.
Bouzakis opened competition Tuesday with a win over Shehabeldin Mohamed of Egypt, a two-time U20 African Champion and a fifth-place finisher in the 2022 U20 World Championships, 4-2. After taking down Yahor Rudauski, who wrestled unattached, 9-6, Bouzakis fell in the quarterfinals to Kumar Mohit of India in a close one, 12-11.
In the repechage, Bouzakis wion by technical fall, 10-0, over Zhakshylyk Baitashov of Kyrgyzstan to advance to the Bronze Medal match Wednesday. He defeated Bisir Alili of North Macedonia, 11-1, to earn the medal Wednesday.
Bouzakis and redshirt freshman Nick Feldman made Team USA a year ago. Bouzakis finished seventh and Feldman (125kg) fifth in 2022 in Bulgaria.
Logan Stieber, who was recently elevated to assistant coach with the Buckeyes, and J Jaggers, Ohio State's associate head coach, both made the trip to Jordan as well.Â
Both Bouzakis and Mendez qualified for the national team by sweeping their opponents in the Team Trials Finals. In the best 2-of-3 finals, Bouzakis defeated Cael Hughes (Cowboy RTC) twice by scores of 10-0. Mendez defeated Tyler Kasak (M2 Training Center) by scores of 4-3 and 9-1.
The event in Jordan will marked the third time Bouzakis has made the Team USA U20 team. He also wrestled in the Greco Roman competition in 2021.Â
Most recently, Bouzakis took Gold at the U20 Pan-Am Wrestling Championships in Santiago, Chile. He was named the event's most outstanding wrestler after going 5-0. Earlier this summer he went 7-0 on his way to a U20 US Open Title in Las Vegas.Â
Mendez, who earned All-America status as a true freshman with the Buckeyes at 133, took third at 65kg in the U20 Freestyle bracket. He won his first World medal in a third attempt. The Indiana product finished in eighth place at the 2021 U20 World Championships and ninth place at the 2019 U17 World Championships.
Mendez finished with a 19-9 record as a true freshman in 2022-23 with the Buckeyes. He earned All-America status with a 5-3 record at the NCAA Championships, finishing sixth overall.Â
Bouzakis finished with an overall record of 8-1 a year ago while serving a redshirt year.
U20 Results
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65 kg – Jesse Mendez (Crown Point, Indiana/Titan Mercury WC/Ohio RTC), silver medal
WIN Mykyta Zubal (Ukraine), 2-1
WIN Aden Sakybaev (Kyrgyzstan), 7-2
WIN Ion Berghi (Moldova), 13-4
WIN Abdullah Toprak (Turkey), 3-1
LOSS Mohammad Shakeri (Iran), 5-2
61 kg – Nic Bouzakis (Dallas, Pennsylvania/X-Calibur Athletics WC/Ohio RTC). bronze medal
WIN Shehabeldin Mohamed (Egypt), 4-2
WIN Yahor Rudauski (Individual Neutral Athlete), 9-6
LOSS Kumar Mohit (India), 12-11
WIN Dmitri Carastoianov (Moldova), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Besir Alili (North Macedonia), tech. fall, 11-1
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