Junior World Championships

[Harris]

197 has a chance to be a crazy weight class next year with a returning NCAA champ and 2 junior world freestyle champs (Ferrari, Braxton, and Elam).  In addition, you have Dean, Warner, Bonaccorsi, Darmstadt, etc.  Some serious talent Braxton will have to compete with.  197 went from a weaker weight to possibly the strongest.

Will be curious to see how he fits in and transitions to folkstyle at the highest level.

I don't think any college wrestler in the country wants to wrestle Braxton Amos next year because he is going to fight them from whistle to whistle.  He is one of those guys that just keeps coming and will never give up.

I am curious how all those guys you mentioned fit in and transition to his strength, style and toughness.  He is bringing a whole different skill set in my opinion.  He may not win them all but he is a tough match no matter what.  He just loves to wrestle and he seems to love going to battle.  Go back and look at his progress since 2016.  This young man works hard!

One of my favorite posts was when he won Fargo in 2016 I think.  His dad posted a thank you message on the WV message board.  He mentioned Braxton's youth coach at Team Miron who Braxton talked about in his post match interview linked above.  If you have never heard of Miron Kharchilava, he is the former decorated Soviet wrestler who came to the US and coached at Ohio State, Indiana, and for the US World team and eventually opened a local club.  He actually beat Nate Carr, Matt Demaray (2X NCAA champ at WI), and Casey Cunningham back in the day and is Carson Kharchla's (Ohio State Wrester) dad. 

So Braxton's dad posted back in 2016 about the training at Team Miron and it really helped me understand why he fits in so well at Wisconsin with the Bono and Reader training style.  Basically his dad said Miron pushes you past the point you ever thought was possible and will hold you accountable for your training and wrestling regardless of who you are or how good you are.  Braxton started training there when he was eight I believe and he is the perfect fit at Wisconsin in my opinion.  I have heard him say over and over in interviews how he loves the hard training and really appreciates his practice partners and the coaching staff at UW and the RTC.

So to answer your statement above, I think Braxton is going to do fine in folkstyle    Have you ever seen the video of him getting interviewed at his house in front of all the folkstyle trophies?  It kind of cracks me up because there isn't really any room left to fit any more stuff and the video was shot back in high school before all his international success recently.  This guy has been an elite folk, free, and greco wrestler for a long time.

Not only that, Braxton blew out his knee in a match when he was younger (and still finished the match of course).  He had to sit out after getting it surgically repaired and rehab from that injury.  So not only is he a tough physical wrestler, he is mentally tough as well and has had to overcome a lot in his career that has made him the wrestler he is today.

I really hope he gets to wrestle A.J Ferrari.  Win or lose that would be an epic match.

Can you tell I am a Braxton Amos fan? 

[TomM]

Kylie Welker is the Junior World champion at 76Kg with a 10-0 victory over India.  Congratulations!  Unscored upon at the World Championship is quite an accomplishment.  She is an awesome wrestler.  Way to represent Wisconsin.

Her opponents were completely overmatched. I see senior level world medals for her in the very near future. She is on quite a trajectory. Every time I watch her she seems like she has improved.

She was the Olympic Trials Alternate as a 17 year old Junior in high school and also won the Challenge Tournament.  That young lady can scrap with anyone.

FANTASTIC!!!

[vsmf2010]

197 has a chance to be a crazy weight class next year with a returning NCAA champ and 2 junior world freestyle champs (Ferrari, Braxton, and Elam).  In addition, you have Dean, Warner, Bonaccorsi, Darmstadt, etc.  Some serious talent Braxton will have to compete with.  197 went from a weaker weight to possibly the strongest.

Will be curious to see how he fits in and transitions to folkstyle at the highest level.

I don't think any college wrestler in the country wants to wrestle Braxton Amos next year because he is going to fight them from whistle to whistle.  He is one of those guys that just keeps coming and will never give up.

I am curious how all those guys you mentioned fit in and transition to his strength, style and toughness.  He is bringing a whole different skill set in my opinion.  He may not win them all but he is a tough match no matter what.  He just loves to wrestle and he seems to love going to battle.  Go back and look at his progress since 2016.  This young man works hard!

One of my favorite posts was when he won Fargo in 2016 I think.  His dad posted a thank you message on the WV message board.  He mentioned Braxton's youth coach at Team Miron who Braxton talked about in his post match interview linked above.  If you have never heard of Miron Kharchilava, he is the former decorated Soviet wrestler who came to the US and coached at Ohio State, Indiana, and for the US World team and eventually opened a local club.  He actually beat Nate Carr, Matt Demaray (2X NCAA champ at WI), and Casey Cunningham back in the day and is Carson Kharchla's (Ohio State Wrester) dad. 

So Braxton's dad posted back in 2016 about the training at Team Miron and it really helped me understand why he fits in so well at Wisconsin with the Bono and Reader training style.  Basically his dad said Miron pushes you past the point you ever thought was possible and will hold you accountable for your training and wrestling regardless of who you are or how good you are.  Braxton started training there when he was eight I believe and he is the perfect fit at Wisconsin in my opinion.  I have heard him say over and over in interviews how he loves the hard training and really appreciates his practice partners and the coaching staff at UW and the RTC.

So to answer your statement above, I think Braxton is going to do fine in folkstyle    Have you ever seen the video of him getting interviewed at his house in front of all the folkstyle trophies?  It kind of cracks me up because there isn't really any room left to fit any more stuff and the video was shot back in high school before all his international success recently.  This guy has been an elite folk, free, and greco wrestler for a long time.

Not only that, Braxton blew out his knee in a match when he was younger (and still finished the match of course).  He had to sit out after getting it surgically repaired and rehab from that injury.  So not only is he a tough physical wrestler, he is mentally tough as well and has had to overcome a lot in his career that has made him the wrestler he is today.

I really hope he gets to wrestle A.J Ferrari.  Win or lose that would be an epic match.

Can you tell I am a Braxton Amos fan?

Great post Harris I knew a little about Miron Kharchilava but not this much thank you. Also did not realize he was Carson Kharchla's dad but that makes total sense. Kharchla is the real deal. Even with Evan, Keegan, Griffith and Marinelli there I Kharchla is my favorite to win it all at 165. Up  until he hurt is knee he was destroying people this past year in FS. Teched Mekhi at the RTC cup.

[Harris]

Yep - Carson is a tank as well and definitely a contender for NCAA champion if he is healthy.  I hope he comes back strong and healthy.  Ohio State has kind of a log jam in their middle weights for next year. 

This NCAA season is going to be fun to watch.

[Ledger]

197 has a chance to be a crazy weight class next year with a returning NCAA champ and 2 junior world freestyle champs (Ferrari, Braxton, and Elam).  In addition, you have Dean, Warner, Bonaccorsi, Darmstadt, etc.  Some serious talent Braxton will have to compete with.  197 went from a weaker weight to possibly the strongest.

Will be curious to see how he fits in and transitions to folkstyle at the highest level.

Does Myles Amine have one more year of eligibility?  If so, you'd have to add in an Olympic medalist.  Not to mention WI native Stephen Buchanon. 

[bigoil]

197 has a chance to be a crazy weight class next year with a returning NCAA champ and 2 junior world freestyle champs (Ferrari, Braxton, and Elam).  In addition, you have Dean, Warner, Bonaccorsi, Darmstadt, etc.  Some serious talent Braxton will have to compete with.  197 went from a weaker weight to possibly the strongest.

Will be curious to see how he fits in and transitions to folkstyle at the highest level.

Does Myles Amine have one more year of eligibility?  If so, you'd have to add in an Olympic medalist.  Not to mention WI native Stephen Buchanon.

He had Dean in there, only one can be at 197, Amine wrestled 189.2 in the olympics so I guess he can go to 184, not sure he'd want to.

[walden_hiker]

197 has a chance to be a crazy weight class next year with a returning NCAA champ and 2 junior world freestyle champs (Ferrari, Braxton, and Elam).  In addition, you have Dean, Warner, Bonaccorsi, Darmstadt, etc.  Some serious talent Braxton will have to compete with.  197 went from a weaker weight to possibly the strongest.

Will be curious to see how he fits in and transitions to folkstyle at the highest level.

Does Myles Amine have one more year of eligibility?  If so, you'd have to add in an Olympic medalist.  Not to mention WI native Stephen Buchanon.

He had Dean in there, only one can be at 197, Amine wrestled 189.2 in the olympics so I guess he can go to 184, not sure he'd want to.

They don't wrestle at the same school. However, Brucki will most likely be 197 so if Amine comes back he would have to go 184.

[bigoil]

197 has a chance to be a crazy weight class next year with a returning NCAA champ and 2 junior world freestyle champs (Ferrari, Braxton, and Elam).  In addition, you have Dean, Warner, Bonaccorsi, Darmstadt, etc.  Some serious talent Braxton will have to compete with.  197 went from a weaker weight to possibly the strongest.

Will be curious to see how he fits in and transitions to folkstyle at the highest level.

Does Myles Amine have one more year of eligibility?  If so, you'd have to add in an Olympic medalist.  Not to mention WI native Stephen Buchanon.

He had Dean in there, only one can be at 197, Amine wrestled 189.2 in the olympics so I guess he can go to 184, not sure he'd want to.

They don't wrestle at the same school. However, Brucki will most likely be 197 so if Amine comes back he would have to go 184.

Oh my bad, I thought he transferred to Mich.

[Harris]

Braxton Amos is going for a bronze world medal in Greco.  He won against Kazakhstan and Turkey before falling to the Russian in the semifinals.  It is amazing how many matches Braxton has had since starting this journey with the Olympic last chance qualifier in freestyle and greco.  He is a warrior.  One more match.  Let's go!

[Harris]

Just to show how tough it is to medal in Greco.  Braxton Amos is the only United States Greco wrestler to make it to the semifinals and the only U.S. wrestler to make it to the medal round at Junior Worlds. 

[Harris]

Here is the text from the Wisconsin RTC email with the details.

Braxton Amos's quest for a 2nd world medal will continue tomorrow.

Competing at 97kg in the Junior World Championship Greco Roman bracket, Amos started off continuing his success after winning gold in Freestyle earlier in the week.

In the round of 16, Amos wrestled against Yerzat Yerlanov of Kazakhstan. In the first period, it was all Amos with a 4 point headlock. He then scored 1 point with a passivity call, leading 5-0 at break.

Needing to score 3 points for a technical superiority victory, Amos did just that. A takedown on the edge and a pushout to ice the match was all he needed to move on.

Next up in the quarterfinals, was Turkey's Mustafa Olgun. Braxton was the first wrestler to have points put up on the board, with a passivity call to lead 1-0. This was the only point scored heading into break.

Olgun, was awarded 1 point with a passivity call to start the scoring in the 2nd. He was unable to turn Braxton, bringing them to their feet. Olgun stepped out with 90 seconds remaining to push Amos's lead to 2-1. Amos looked to add to his lead with a take down on the edge and then added a four point through before pinning Olgun in 5:58 to move on to the Semi-Finals match.

Amos squared off in the Semi-Finals against Aleksei Milshin of Russia. Amos was called for passivity, awarding one point to the Russian and his chance to wrestle on top in par terre. The Russian turned Amos three times, to lead 7-0. Milshin was able to get a takedown on the edge of the mat to win by a 9-0 technical superiority victory.

Amos will wrestle for Bronze at 97kg tomorrow morning, starting at 8 am central time.

[BuckyMatt]

According to Willie Saylor,  There have only been 2 American wrestlers to ever win double medals at Junior Worlds - Adam Coon won Bronze-Bronze ('14) and Albright ('83) won Silver-Bronze. Braxton could join that group tomorrow. That would put him in Elite air!

[TomM]

Amos wins GR Bronze

Braxton James Amos (United States) VSU Arkyt Orozbekov (Kyrgyzstan) , 8-0 1:13

[Ghetto]

Of the three men ever to medal in both freestyle and greco, Amos is the only one to win a gold.

This kid is awesome.

Any wait to watch him in Madison and have Littleguy buy me an ice cream.

[Harris]

Congrats Braxton!  What a fierce competitor.  Just think of all the wrestling and training he has done over the past 6 months at such a high level.