The 2023 World Wrestling championships have taken many twists and turns. Many top-notch American Greco-Roman athletes, including Brady Koontz (55 kg) and Cohlton Schultz (130kg), lost their shot at clinching a medal at this year’s championship. After facing disappointing results, the athletes were also deprived of returning to the event.

However, amid these losses on the Serbian mats, one of the four American Greco-Roman athletes participating on 21st September still stands a chance to bounce back in the game. The dreams of clinching a victory for the 25-year-old Kamal Bey, despite his defeat, hinges on the win of an Azerbaijani wrestler.

Kamal Bey’s hopes continue to persist

Out of four wrestlers participating on Thursday, Kamal Bey is the only Greco-Roman wrestler standing. According to the update posted by the USA wrestling on X, “Kamal Bey (77kg) won a bout and is possible for repechage in Greco-Roman. Brady Koontz (55 kg) and Cohlton Schultz (130kg) also won a bout but were eliminated, as was Spencer Wood (82kg).

In the qualifying round, Bey won the match against Fabio Dietsche. The athlete, was able to clinch the victory with a score of 4-1. However, in the second round, the 25-year-old faced disappointment against the 2021 world runner-up, Sanan Suleymanov.

Bey and Suleymanov, who had competed two months ago on the mats of Hungary, went against each other with quite different approaches. Bey stalked towards Suleymanov with an aggressive approach; however, the Azerbaijani athlete was able to lock Bey, causing him to not score on the mat. Eventually, the 25-year-old was faced with defeat with a score of 8-0.

However, despite this disappointment, it still remains a possibility for Bey to repechage, as the athlete’s hopes remain in the win of Suleymanov in the semifinals against Malkhas Amoyan of Armenia. In the event of Suleymanov’s victory, Bey will have to win three repechage matches to qualify for a game against Amoyan for bronze. However, apart from Kemal Bey, the three Greek-roman wrestlers participating in the event have been eliminated.

Three wrestlers eliminated from the event

Denis Mihai, who had defeated Koontz with a score of 9-0, was defeated by Jasurbek Ortikbeov in the quarterfinals.

On the other hand, Spencer Woods, who had faced defeat with a score of 5-3 against Shafarenko, was eliminated after Zakarias Berg defeated Shafarenko in the round of 16. Lastly, the dreams of Cohlton Schultz achieving a medal in 2023 were hanging by a thread as Romas Fridrikas defeated the wrestler in round 16.

However, after the loss of Fridrikas against Amin Mirzazadeh in the semi-finals, the wrestler was eliminated from the championship.

Also read:USA’s Unstoppable 19-Year-Old Wrestling Prodigy Shines Bright With Second Consecutive Senior World Title

All in all, after these disappointing losses, only Kamal Bey stands a chance to be able to clinch a medal. His fandom is now all girded up to see the athlete strike his magic to get back into the game.

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