USA Greco

Roberts & Coleman Eliminated; Kamal Still Alive at World Qualifier

By 5PM Staff

Posted on May 9, 2024

Dalton Roberts -- Image: UWW

The one item confirmed following the majority of action this morning in Istanbul is that the United States will head to the 2024 Paris Olympics without a full roster as both Dalton Roberts (60 kg, Army/WCAP) and Ellis Coleman (67 kg, Army/WCAP) have been eliminated. Fellow US Olympic Team member Kamal Bey (77 kg, Army/WCAP) was also defeated, but he at press time remains alive in the tournament pending the result of his vanquisher.

not all roads lead to gold, parent edition, jim gruenwald

Day 1 of the 2024 World Olympic Qualifier in Istanbul, Turkey began local time at 10:30am (3:30am ET) and is streaming live in the US on FLOWrestling.

Roberts and qualification round opponent Viktor Petryk (UKR) had clashed only once prior, back in ’18 at the Grand Prix of Germany. That match ended in Roberts’ favor by a score of 6-0. In the time since, both athletes have risen in prominence, thus making their match-up this morning all the more intriguing.

When Roberts walked onto Mat A, “KT tape” adorned his left shoulder whilst athletic tape was wrapped all around his left hand. Given his reputation for toughness, the sight of such reinforcements was immediately rendered a non-issue. The whistle blew and both quickly generated static, with Roberts digging into Petryk’s hands and driving inside with his legs. They jousted through the preamble and neither were able to compel meaningful attacks. Passivity then rang on Roberts to give UKR a 1-0 lead. From top par terre, Petryk clamped a front headlock and rolled Roberts three times to saunter into the break up 7-0.

Though facing an obviously problematic deficit, Roberts’ demeanor entering Period 2 was still one of confidence and he aggressively engaged Petryk to re-establish the tone. He was moving well, and Petryk began surrendering ground. Just as a passivity chance was to arrive on Roberts’ behalf, he dragged behind Petryk for a takedown and ardently went to work on a lift. Petryk defended to earn a reset — and then soon required a time-out for nose ketchup. Not long after the pause for UKR to receive medical attention, Roberts was awarded a passivity point. Again, he tried to step for a lift, but could not quite set his feet and the hold broke apart.

Back standing, and Petryk zipped for an arm spin from his left. Roberts instantly locked around Petryk for a yank-back counter-score — but upon the execution, Petryk was credited with four points for the attack. Roberts retained position on top and received one point for a reversal. However, the US challenged the sequence and won the call, as the reversal point was upgraded to exposure. The score was now 11-5. Time was running out and so Roberts had to try and make something happen. With under :15 to go, he fought for an underhook and drove Petryk off the line for a step-out point. 11-6. On the restart, Roberts wrangled over the top of Petryk for a front headlock but could not gather an attempt before time expired.

In the following round, Petryk was defeated by Alex Bica (SWE), which eliminated Roberts from re-entering the tournament through the repechage.

Coleman Goes 1-1

It was actually Coleman, not Roberts, who competed first for Team USA on Thursday morning. His antagonist, recent U23 World silver Aliaksandr Liavonchyk (AIN), was seen as a major stumbling block, this despite the inclusion of several other elite, highly-decorated entrants scattered throughout the bracket.

Liavonchyk was indeed an obstacle. And Coleman stepped right over him.

Brandishing crisp movement in the hand-fight was Coleman, who prodded from the outset as both wrestlers eagerly sought actionable ties. Liavonchyk was more keen to dig for underhooks, which brought him fleeting moments of success in that department. But Coleman would not bail from these positions, instead choosing to weave his arms in and out of the brief entanglements while letting his feet do most of the talking. Still, passivity was introduced midway through the first period and Liavonchyk wanted to lock for a gutwrench. Coleman defended smartly and instinctively, moving from bottom only in rhythm with Liavonchyk’s attempts to settle his lock. There was no further scoring in the period and Liavonchyk clung to a tenuous 1-0 advantage on the scoreboard.

Back into the trenches they went for Period 2. Coleman scanned the ties for possible handles at Liavonchyk’s arms and around the body, and the Belarusian would answer by sticking to a basic yet effective strategy that prioritized underhooks. He had been working mainly to Coleman’s left side, but switched to the right whenever the opposite window closed. The passivities flipped, benefitting Coleman. Elbow-to-elbow he locked, and nearly achieved a rotation but Liavonchyk managed to stay pasted for a reset. Later in the period, the pair were jockeying towards the boundary and Coleman looked to be perilously close to stepping off the line until he shucked Liavonchyk off in the tie-ups, causing the Belarusian to lose his balance and land off the edge. A step-out point was initially awarded to Coleman but a challenge from the AIN corner resulted in the score going unchanged. Coleman then held firm through the remainder to collect a hard-fought 1-1 decision at the expense of a very credible opponent.

Residing in the round-of-16 was Andreas Vetsch (SUI), who was struggling to keep up with Coleman’s tempo whenever contact managed to sustain for more than a few seconds. Vetsch would reach, and Coleman would quickly out-pummel him and drive his legs forward to re-take command of the exchange. This was the pattern in the first period, save for the sporadic instances in which Coleman would try to lock Vetsch’s arms with two-on-ones. Passivity benefited the US in the opening period. Coleman opted for a gutwrench; when that didn’t work, he stepped up for a lift before bringing Vetsch back down in hopes of securing a crash gut. The Swiss athlete defended it all and the period ended 1-0 for the Coleman.

But the points swung in the other direction early in the second frame. Coming off of an exchange during which he had snared head-and-arm, Coleman reflexively attempted a headlock that Vetsch countered a for a takedown; upon landing, Coleman immediately stood from bottom, but Vetsch had the inside track and was able to knock Coleman off the edge for another point. Just like that, American was down 3-1. Not long after, Vetsch was gifted a passivity point along with an opportunity from par terre top. Coleman defended without an issue and reached his feet for the race to the finish. He was experiencing little to no difficulty when it came to moving Vetsch around the mat, and on several occasions snapped and and dragged his opponent in an effort to crack open scoring chances. One particular melee with a minute left in the contest saw Coleman try to rake a front headlock that Vetsch countered to land on top and eventually gain four additional points. From then on, Vetsch avoided danger and kept his feet and the match reached its conclusion with Coleman falling to SUI 8-1.

Vetsch was defeated 4-1 by Valentin Petic (MDA) in the proceeding round, thus eliminating Coleman from returning in the repechage round.

Bey Waits for Result

Prior to Bey’s qualification round showdown against ’21 World silver Sergey Kutuzov (AIN), the expectation was that theirs would be a back-and-forth battle with points flying all over the board. Instead, the outcome was determined — in curious fashion, no less — before the start of the second period.

They had just begun to get acquainted with one another when Bey was rung up for passivity. The long and lanky Kutuzov locked elbow-to-elbow and stepped to lift; Bey surged to his feet from bottom on the attempt but was taken off the edge for a step-out point. After the reset, Kutuzov lasered a left underhook that he used to cut the corner and zip behind Bey. He executed a clean rotation, but one without impact. Nevertheless, the maneuver was credited with four points. Kutuzov maintained his lock and torqued the hold again. Bey had spun on his feet, but other than that motion was not made vulnerable by the attempt. Kutuzov received two more points following the second attempt and the US corner challenged the call. Upon review, the Kutuzov’s 6-0 lead remained intact but the distribution of the points had been altered. Rather than having been awarded four for a throw and then two more, the points were the result of a leg foul and two from exposure. But — the officials’ review was subsequently re-reviewed before the match started back up again. The officials then determined that Bey had committed not one, but two leg fouls, and abruptly the bout was halted with Kutuzov advancing 8-0.

At press time, Kutuzov is in the quarterfinal round opposed by Per Albin Olofsson of Sweden. If Kutuzov reaches the semifinal and prevails, Bey will be pulled back into the tournament in the repechage with an opportunity to potentially wrestle-back for “true third”.