Two United States Greco-Roman athletes will battle for bronze later today at the 2022 Grand Prix Zagreb Open in Zagreb, Croatia. The morning began with three Americans in the hunt following action on Saturday.
At 60 kilograms, Randon Miranda (60 kg, Rise RTC, 5PM #4) raced ahead of Serbian Sebastian Kolompar in the first period and never looked back. Passivity was doled out against Kolompar midway through the opening period, of which Miranda took advantage by cranking a pair of gutwrenches. Later in the frame, Kolompar got on the board with a correct-throw-arm-throw. Miranda then refocused his ties, scanning for bait-attacks that kept his foe’s feet honest. An arm drag from the Californian looked close to a scoring chance towards the end of the first but Serbia managed to stay upright.
The second period saw Kolompar unfurl another arm attempt. No points were awarded — and in the ensuing scramble, Miranda locked the head and netted two, though Kolompar reversed to stay in the match. Passivity went in the other direction with just over :90 left on the clock. Miranda experienced no problem defending from par terre bottom and eventually moved on with the 7-4 victory.
For bronze, Miranda will face ’12 Olympian Ayhan Karakus of Turkey. Karakus, now 32, hasn’t been a terribly active competitor over the past quadrennium but did resume his career in ’21 with appearances in two events.
Robert Perez III (67 kg, Sunkist) was set to square off against U23 World bronze Kadir Kamal (TUR) in the repechage — but Kadir was scratched. The forfeit automatically deposits Perez in a medal match in his first Senior international event. The opposition will be Gakus Snjoyan (FRA), who placed third at the ’18 Cadet Worlds.
Tanner Farmer (130 kg, NYAC/IRTC, 5PM #3) will not be competing for a medal in his international debut, but he certainly left it all out on the mat in his attempt to do so.
A bulldoze-strategy was in effect for Farmer from the outset against German Franz Richter. First blood was drawn by Farmer via step-out. Perhaps the most impressive sequence of the match arrived soon thereafter. Richter had coaxed Farmer to the edge; in response, the Illinois rep locked the body, pivoted, and torqued Richter to the tarp for two. A takedown for Germany cut some of the momentum but no follow-up points were availed. Back on the feet, and Farmer was back in bull-rush mode to overpower Richter for another step-out. However, the US challenged, apparently looking for more. The call was upheld to provide Richter with one more point.
The exchanges, which mostly featured Farmer blasting inside, began to take a toll on both athletes. Richter prepared and braced himself, it had seemed. He matadored an oncoming Farmer with a shuck at the boundary to take a 4-4 criteria lead in the second. A near-repeat occurred shortly, with Farmer rushing in only to have Richter pivot on the yellow to garner one more step-out. Again the American side challenged — and again there was no change to the call. The 6-5 decision was awarded to Richter, but the US is likely very pleased with Farmer’s effort this weekend and overall development thus far.
The medal round begins at 4:00pm local time (12:00pm ET) and can be viewed live right here.
2022 Grand Prix Zagreb Open
January 29-30 — Zagreb, CRO
TEAM USA DAY 2 RESULTS
60 kg
Randon Miranda (Rise RTC)
WON Sebastian Kolompar (SRB) 7-4
67 kg
Robert Perez III (Sunkist)
LOSS Morten Thoresen (NOR) 6-0
WON Kadir Kamal (TUR) via forfeit
130 kg
Tanner Farmer (NYAC/IRTC)
LOSS Fatih Bozkurt (TUR) via fall
LOSS Franz Richter (GER) 6-5
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