Alan Vera finishes 1-1 on final day of competition at Poland Open. Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo.
Official release courtesy of Mike Willis/USA Wrestling.
The last of the U.S. wrestlers wrapped up competition at the Poland Open today, as Alan Vera went 1-1 at 87 kg in Greco-Roman.
In his opening bout, Vera took out the tournament champion from 2020, Dogan Goktas of Turkey. Vera was put down first, and looked to be in trouble as Goktas earned a turn from par terre with a gutwrench. However, on his second turn attempt, Vera stepped over, putting Gotkas on his back, cutting the score to 3-2. In the second period, Goktas was put down, giving Vera the 3-3 lead on criteria. Vera fended Goktas off for the rest of the match to advance to the quarterfinals.
Vera’s quarterfinal opponent 2019 World bronze medalist Rustam Assakalov of Uzbekistan proved to be too much this time around. Assakalov locked up with Vera and took him to his back for the fall in 1:31. This summer, Assakalov, who also won silver at the 2015 World Championships, will represent Uzbekistan at the Olympic Games for the second time in his career. Unfortunately for Vera, Assakalov fell in the semifinals to Istvan Takacs of Hungary, a 2019 Junior World champion, thwarting any chance of being pulled into repechage.
The medal matches will begin at 12:00 p.m. EST, streaming live on FloWrestling.
2021 Poland Open
Warsaw, Poland
U.S. Greco-Roman results
87 kg: Alan Vera (NYAC)
WIN – Dogan Goktas (TUR), 3-3
LOSS – Rustam Assakalov (UZB), FALL 1:31
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