Amine posted a 3-1 record over the two-day tournament, narrowly falling to Greece’s Dauren Kurugliev, 2-1, in the gold-medal final. Amine trailed the entire match after giving up a stepout in the opening seconds and a first-period shot-clock point. Kurugliev was never warned for passivity despite Amine getting in on numerous unanswered single-leg attacks in the second. Amine was awarded a caution point in the closing seconds of the bout but could not find a score late.

He claimed a wild win in the semifinal round, taking an early lead then rallying late to edge Turkey’s Osman Gocen, 8-8, on criteria. Amine hit a four-point carry early in the bout, which ultimately provided the criteria edge for the win, but Gocen scored on three takedowns, adding a lace on the middle one, to hold a four-point in the second period. Amine scored two takedowns in the final 35 seconds, finish on a single then scooting out of a Gocen double-leg attack to finish the winning takedown with 18 seconds left.

The CKWC also had Malik Amine (74kg), Mitch Finesilver (74kg), Matt Finesilver (86kg) and Ben Honis (97kg) in the European freestyle field.

Dieringer posted a 4-0 record and defeated Mark Hall, 6-0, in the 86kg championship bout. He scored three takedowns, including a double leg off the opening whistle and a throw by early in the second period to largely dominate the match from start to finish. He opened the tournament with a quick 10-0 tech, then beat Evan Wick, 5-2, in the quarterfinals with exposure points off a belly whizzer in the first period and go-behind counter in the second. His semifinal against David McFadden ended early when McFadden got his foot stuck in the mat on a Dieringer leg attack and had to injury default out.

Adam Coon also reached the finals at 130kg Greco-Roman but had to settle for second place after a 4-1 defeat to Cohlton Schultz in the finals. Coon couldn’t overcome an early Schultz takedown and stepout; the wrestlers traded passivity points in the first and second periods. Coon went 4-1 and opened with straight four techs on the first day of competition, including a wild 16-6 win over Courtney Freeman in which Coon rallied from an early four-point deficit with a takedown and two guts in the first and ultimately ended it with a four-pointer at the 5:34 mark. Coon is also qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Alec Pantaleo took sixth place at 65kg and just missed qualifying for the Olympic Trials. He earned two shutout wins to advance to the semifinals, where he fell to eventual champion and outstanding wrestler Andrew Alirez, 4-3, after two late Alirez takedowns. Pantaleo also led, 6-0, in the second period of the consolation semifinals against Seth Gross, but was countered attempting a turn and caught in a trap-arm gut. Pantaleo will next attempt to qualify at the Last Chance Qualifier in March.

“We’re all very excited to add Mitch to our Cliff Keen Wrestling Club,” said Michigan head coach Sean Bormet. “He has great dedication, professionalism and passion to train and compete and will bring an exceptional work ethic and a lot of experience to our wrestling room. He is a tough competitor, and we believe we can help him reach his goals. This will be a great fit for Mitch, and we’re really excited to coach him.”

“Between the training partners and the coaching staff, Michigan is the all-around package for me to continue my Olympic career,” said Finesilver. “While I’m very thankful for my training situation before this, I made the decision to move [to Michigan] because it will give me the best chance to reach my Olympic dreams. I’m excited for what this next chapter of my life entails!”

Finesilver spent the last four years as a resident athlete with the NYC RTC. He represented Israel in the last three World Championships (2021, ’22, ’23) and last four European Championships, capturing 74kg bronze in 2021. He also claimed bronze medals at the 2022 Matteo Pellicone and 2023 Ibrahim Moustafa tournaments and fifth place at the last summer’s fourth UWW ranking tournament, at the Polyàk Imre Memorial.

As a collegiate wrestler at Duke (2015-19), Finesilver captured NCAA All-America honors with a fourth-place finish at 149 pounds as a senior (2019) and was just the second wrestler in Duke history to qualify for the NCAA Championships all four years. He was an ACC champion and four-time finalist and, an evolutionary anthropology major, was named the 2019 ACC Scholar Athlete of the Year. Finesilver compiled a 95-30 career record, including a 33-5 mark as a senior, to rank eighth among the Blue Devils’ all-time program leaders.

Coon posted a 3-0 record and outscored his opposition by a combined 25-0 margin, including an 8-0 tech over Courtney Freeman in the gold-medal final. Coon spun behind a Freeman attack to score the takedown midway through the first period before adding three gut wrenches to end the bout at the 1:53 mark. It was the longest of Coon’s three matches on the day; he spent just 5:12 total time on the mat.

Three CKWC freestylers also competed at the Bill Farrell. Alex Dieringer headlined the contingent with a runner-up finish at 86kg. Dieringer went 4-1 on the day, dropping a 2-1 decision to Trent Hidlay in the final on a second-period shot-clock point. He opened the tournament with a quick fall and back-to-back techs, including an 11-0 win over Marcus Coleman in the quarterfinals — in just 26 seconds on an outside carry and four guts.

Matt Finesilver and Ben Honis went 2-2 at 86kg and 97kg, respectively. Honis earned two wins, including a wild 16-5 comeback tech over TJ Dudley in the opening round — with 14 unanswered points — before dropping a 4-4 decision to Jacob Warner on criteria — Warner’s two two-pointers — in the semifinals.

Parris posted a 3-0 record and did not allow a point scored against him, outscoring his opposition, 24-0, on the day. He defeated Venezuela’s Jose Diaz Robertti, 2-0, in the final with a caution point — for an unsportsmanlike head slap — and a shot-clock point in the first period. Parris pushed the action all match but couldn’t finish on a handful of double-leg shots as Diaz Robertti did not attempt an offensive attack for six minutes.

Parris earned technical superiorities of 12-0 and 10-0 in quarterfinals and semifinals during the morning session. He scored three takedowns, including two four-pointers, and added a lace off a two-point leg to beat the Dominican Republic’s Elison Adames Garcia in 1:31 in his first bout. His second was even quicker when he scored two takedowns, two guts and a lace in just 58 seconds against Jamaica’s Aaron Johnson.

Micic, who now trains out of own Chicago Galaxy Club, became Michigan’s first world champion since Joe Warren claimed the 60kg Greco-Roman gold in 2006. It was Micic’s second straight world medal after claiming 57kg bronze last year. It was the first senior-level medal for both Amine and Parris. Amine previously captured Olympic bronze at the Tokyo Games, while Parris is a junior world champion (2019).

Micic and Amine both qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics — and their second straight Olympic Games — while Parris also qualified in the weight class for the United States and earned an automatic berth to the championship finals at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials.

Representing Serbia in front of a spirited home crowd, Micic posted a 5-0 record and defeated world champions in each of his last three bouts, including a 7-4 win over Japan’s Rei Higuchi — the 2022 61kg world champion and an Olympic silver medalist at 57kg — in the championship final. After trading takedowns in the first period and giving up an early single in the second, Micic scored five unanswered points, taking the lead with a single leg of his own before countering a Higuchi shot to go up 6-4. He avoided giving up points on the edge on a deep single shot late and tacked on another point after a lost Japanese challenge.

Micic defeated Albania’s Zelimkhan Abakarov, the reigning 57kg world champion, 6-2 in the semifinals. Trailing 1-1 on criteria late, he hit a four-point chest-lock throw with 75 seconds to take the lead and added another point on a failed challenge. His quarterfinal win was even more dramatic, with three takedowns in the second period, including a single leg at the buzzer, to earn a 9-7 win over Olympic and two-time world champion Zaur Uguev of Russia.

(Tony Rotundo)

Amine went 4-1 in the tournament and defeated Uzbekistan’s Javrail Shapiev, 8-4, in the bronze-medal match. He sacrificed a temporary late lead after giving up exposure in a scramble over the final 20 seconds of the match but earned it back with two sets of exposure points himself. He also overcame an initial deficit to win his earlier repechage match, 8-2, over Mongolia’s Bat Byambasuren after Iran’s Aliazam Yazdani reached the finals and handed Amine his only loss in the quarterfinal round.

Parris earned a dominant 12-2 technical superiority win over Russia’s Abdulla Kurbanov in his 125kg bronze-medal with five takedowns, including a first-period four-pointer on the edge and a double leg to end the bout midway through the second. Parris went 4-1 and was leading Georgian Geno Petriashvili, a three-time world champion and nine-time Olympic/world medalist, in his semifinal before allowing a pair of late takedowns and dropping an 8-6 heartbreaker. He picked up three solid wins to open the tournament, including an 8-4 quarterfinal decision against China’s Deng Zhiwei, in which he gave up a four-point throw in the final 10 seconds only to earn a four-pointer of his own at the final buzzer.

In addition to Amine and Parris, Malik Amine, Matt Finesilver, Austin Gomez and Ben Honis represented the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club at the World Championships. It was Malik’s fourth world appearance, Honis’ second and Finesilver and Gomez’s first.

• Live Video | UWW | FloWrestling Event Hub | Cliff Keen WC Twitter

The Cliff Keen Wrestling Club will have six representatives vying for freestyle gold at the 2023 UWW Senior World Championships this week (Sat-Tue., Sept. 16-19) at Stark Arena in Belgrade, Serbia.

Myles Amine, a 2020 Olympic bronze medalist, will appear in his third World Championships at 86kg for San Marino; he placed fifth in 2019 to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Malik Amine will also make his third world appearance for San Marino at 74kg, while Ben Honis makes his second straight appearance at 97kg for Italy.

Three CKWC representatives will make their senior world debut this week in Belgrade. Mason Parris, a 2019 junior world champion and the 2023 Hodge Trophy winner, was elevated to the 125kg spot on the USA team last week. Fellow Wolverine alum Matt Finesilver will compete for Israel at 86kg, while Austin Gomez, the newest addition to the CKWC, will wrestle at 65kg for Mexico.

Michigan alum Stevan Micic, a 2020 Olympian and 2022 world bronze medalist, will also represent the host nation Serbia at 61kg.

When to Catch Them

Each day will feature two sessions. Preliminary and quarterfinal rounds will commence at 10:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. EDT) each day. Belgrade is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time; all times listed below are EDT.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 16
Men’s Freestyle: 86kg, 125kg (Myles Amine, Matt Finesilver, Mason Parris)

Qualification Rounds: 4:30 a.m.
Semifinals: 1:00 p.m.

SUNDAY, SEPT. 17
Men’s Freestyle: 74kg (Malik Amine), 86kg (Myles Amine, Matt Finesilver), 125kg (Mason Parris)

Qualification/Repechage: 4:30 a.m.
Semifinals: 10:45 a.m. (74kg)
Medal Round: Noon (86kg, 125kg)

MONDAY, SEPT. 18
Men’s Freestyle: 65kg (Austin Gomez), 74kg (Malik Amine), 97kg (Ben Honis)

Qualification/Repechage: 4:30 a.m.
Semifinals: 11:00 a.m. (65kg, 97kg)
Medal Round: Noon (74kg)

TUESDAY, SEPT. 19
Men’s Freestyle: 65kg (Austin Gomez), 97kg (Ben Honis)

Repechage: 4:30 a.m.
Medal Round: Noon

How to Catch the Action

Live video, live results and bracket updates will be available in the United States through FloWrestling.org across desktops, mobile devices, tablets and connected televisions. FloWrestling is also available on Roku, Fire TV, Chromecast and Apple TV. All video footage from the event will be archived and stored in a video library for FloWrestling subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscription.

The CKWC Representatives

Malik Amine — Amine, a two-time NCAA qualifier at 149 pounds for Michigan, has spent the last year at 74kg after bumping up from 65kg. Representing San Marino, he captured his first ever international medal with a bronze finish at the Mediterranean Games in 2022. It is his third World Championships appearance; he previously went 2-1 at the 2019 event, claiming San Marino’s first ever win at a wrestling world championships.

Myles Amine — Amine, who will compete in his third world championships at 86Kg, captured Olympic bronze for San Marino in Tokyo to become the nation’s first individual male Olympic medalist. He is also the first freestyle Olympic medalist in Michigan program history and, in 2022, became the first ever five-time NCAA All-American in collegiate wrestling history. Amine is five-time European medalist, capturing gold in 2022 and silver this past April. He avenged his Euro loss to Greece’s Dauren Kurugliev en route to a gold medal at the Hungary Ranking Series Event in July. Amine is the No. 4 at 86kg for the 2023 World Championships.

Matt Finesilver — Finesilver, who joined the Cliff Keen WC this summer, is slated to make his world championship debut after representing Israel three times since over the spring/summer — at 2023 European Championships, the Hungary Ranking Series Event, where he placed third at 92kg, and the Ion Cornianu & Ladislau Simon in Bucharest, winning 86kg gold last month. Finesilver completed his collegiate career with the Wolverines in 2022-23 after spending the previous five years with Duke. He compiled a 106-37 record, including a 26-8 mark last season en route to the 184-pound NCAA bloodround.

Austin Gomez — Gomez also joined the Cliff Keen WC this summer after announcing that he would forgo his final season of collegiate eligibility and is set to make his world championships debut at 65kg for Mexico. Gomez, who earned the world team spot after winning a pair of qualifying events over the last year, earned NCAA All-American after a fourth-place finish at 149 pounds in 2022, the same year he captured a Big Ten title and shared Big Ten Outstanding Wrestler of the Championship with Myles Amine. He was previously a U.S. Cadet World Team member (2011) and qualified for the junior team in 2018 before injury forced him to withdraw.

Ben Honis — Honis will represent Italy at 97kg at the World Championships for the second straight year.
An All-American at 197 pounds during a collegiate career at Cornell, Honis took fifth place at the 2023 European Championships and Ibrahim Moustafa in Egypt, just narrowly missing out on medals at both events, and placed seventh at the Hungary Ranking Series Event in July. He previously he took second at 97kg at the 2019 U.S. Open and competed in the Olympic Team Trials in 2021.

Mason Parris — Parris, who is No. 2 on the 2023-24 freestyle national team after a runner-up finish at Final X last June, was elevated to the 125kg world team spot last week. The 2023 NCAA heavyweight champion and Hodge Trophy winner, Parris went 33-0 last season to complete his collegiate career as a four-time All-American with a 124-18 career record. Parris previously captured junior world gold in 2019 and, most recently, he claimed 125kg gold at the UWW Ranking Tournament in Hungary in July.

“We’re all thrilled to have Austin join our Cliff Keen Wrestling Club,” said Michigan head coach Sean Bormet. “I’ve known Austin since he was a young kid in my Overtime programs, and obviously Kevin [Jackson] has a great relationship with him as well, so we really know we’re getting a high-character individual and a great competitor. Austin has great fundamentals, and he is explosive and dangerous from all three positions — great upper body, leg attacks and par terre. He’s a lot of fun to watch and will be a lot of fun to coach.”

“I am super grateful to be a part of a great wrestling club to pursue my World and Olympic dreams,” said Gomez. “I am excited to get to work with all of the coaches, who I know will get me to where I need to be to accomplish my goals.”

Gomez wrestled collegiately at Wisconsin (2022-23) and Iowa State (2018-21), earning NCAA All-America honors with a fourth-place finish at 149 pounds in his first season with the Badgers — and after missing the previous two seasons due to injury. He also captured the 2022 Big Ten 149-pound title and shared the Big Ten’s Outstanding Wrestler of the Championship award with Michigan’s Myles Amine. Gomez posted a 67-17 career record over four competitive seasons, including a 23-4 mark in 2021-22 and a 24-7 record as a redshirt freshman at ISU in 2018-19.

Gomez was a U.S. Cadet World Team member (2011) and qualified for the junior team in 2018 before injury forced him to withdraw. He was a four-time Fargo national champion, winning twice apiece in freestyle and Greco-Roman, and won double Pan American cadet gold in 2015, garnering the Golden Boot award as the Outstanding Wrestler in both freestyle and Greco.

He is currently in the process of qualifying for the Mexican world team at 65kg after earning wins at the Mexico All-Star Grand Prix, with a 14-4 technical superiority over Olympian Agustin Destribiats in the final, in November and the Campionato Nacional in March — at which he was named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler.

“Matt has been a tremendous addition to our program and wrestling room over the last year, from his commitment and work ethic to his amiability as a great teammate,” said Michigan head coach Sean Bormet, “so we are thrilled that he has decided to stay in Ann Arbor with the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club. I have been so impressed with Matt’s continued development, and I’m excited to see him bring that same mindset and growth into what I expect to be a very successful freestyle career.”

“I am excited to continue my wrestling career with the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club, where there are just phenomenal coaches, athletes and people surrounding the program,” said Finesilver. “The CKWC coaches have proven success on the college level as well as the senior level with their international success. They have made this an easy choice to stay in Ann Arbor. I’m excited to join the CKWC family!”

Finesilver, who transferred to Michigan last summer after four years at Duke, posted a 106-37 career record, including a 26-8 mark for the Wolverines last season. He was a four-time NCAA qualifier at 174 and 184 pounds and reached the NCAA Round of 12 in March. He placed top four at the ACC Championships all three competitive seasons at Duke, including a runner-up finish in 2019, and took third place at the 2023 Big Ten Championships. Finesilver earned bonus points nearly half of his collegiate wins with 11 falls, 15 technical falls and 25 major decisions.

He made his international debut for Israel at the European Championships last month, taking fifth place at 92kg. His brothers, Mitch and Josh, also compete for Team Israel.