U.S. Boys Bring Home Six World Medals At U17 Wrestling Championships In Azerbaijan

While Ohio's Rylen Wax came within one victory of becoming just the fourth wrestler in history to sweep the U17 Freestyle and Greco-Roman World Championships in the same year, Team USA's boys still returned home from Baku, Azerbaijan with a collection of six world medals and several standout performances on the international stage.

Wax, who will be a freshman at Dublin Coffman High School this year, highlighted the American effort by capturing the 45-kilogram Greco-Roman world title before adding a freestyle silver medal. Maryland's Salah Tsarni, who started his high school career at Bullis School but now wrestles for Blair Academy in New Jersey, also reached a freestyle final, while Montana's Bruno Pallone earned silver in Greco-Roman. Pennsylvania wrestlers Kooper Deputy and Chase Karenbauer each finished fifth after falling in their respective bronze-medal matches.

Wax Headlines American Performances

Wax's week was one of the tournament's biggest storylines.

The soon-to-be high school standout stormed through the Greco-Roman field to claim the 45-kilogram championship, rallying from a five-point deficit to defeat Azerbaijan's Ali Javaldi 13-5 in the finals. He followed that performance by advancing to the freestyle championship match, where he fell 7-1 to Puerto Rico's Nelson Villafane.

The silver medal prevented Wax from joining the exclusive list of wrestlers to win both freestyle and Greco-Roman gold medals at the same U17 World Championships.

Tsarni Falls Just Short Of Freestyle Gold

Tsarni delivered another impressive run for Team USA by advancing to the freestyle finals before settling for silver.

Tsarni built an early 3-0 advantage against Russia's Abdurazak Shabanov in the championship bout, but the momentum shifted after intermission. Shabanov used a decisive scoring sequence to take control before securing a 9-4 victory.

Tsarni's runner-up finish gave the United States its second freestyle finalist of the tournament alongside Wax.

Pallone Earns Greco-Roman Silver

Montana's Bruno Pallone added another medal to the American haul with a silver medal at 110 kilograms in Greco-Roman competition.

Pallone reached the finals with an impressive tournament that included two technical falls and two pins before meeting Ukraine's Tymofi Prykhodko in the gold-medal match. Prykhodko claimed the championship with a 14-5 technical fall.

Pennsylvania Wrestlers Finish Fifth

Pennsylvania's Kooper Deputy (48 kilograms) and Chase Karenbauer (55 kilograms) each battled their way into bronze-medal matches before ultimately finishing fifth in their respective weight classes.

New York's Camryn Howard also placed seventh at 71 kilograms.

American Wrestlers Shine While Representing Other Nations

Several U.S.-based wrestlers competing for other countries also reached the podium.

Florida's Jovanni Tovar captured the 55-kilogram freestyle championship while representing Colombia, dominating Uzbekistan's Jakhongir Tulkunov with an 11-0 technical fall in the gold-medal match.

Another Florida wrestler, Jovani Solis, earned a bronze medal at 60 kilograms while competing for Puerto Rico. New York's William Soto also represented Puerto Rico and finished fifth at 51 kilograms.

Although Team USA did not produce a freestyle world champion in the boys' division this year, the performances by Wax, Tsarni, Pallone and several other Americans underscored the country's depth on the world stage as the next generation of high school stars continues to emerge.

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