Micic Captures 57kg Freestyle Bronze at World Championships
9/19/2022 11:06:00 AM | Wrestling
BELGRADE, Serbia -- University of Michigan graduate Stevan Micic captured a 57kg/125-pound bronze medal at the 2022 UWW World Wrestling Championships on Saturday (Sept. 17) at Stark Arena. Micic, who wrestles internationally for Serbia, earned the country's first-ever world medal in men's freestyle.
Micic defeated Cuba's Reineri Andreu Ortega, 7-1, in the bronze-medal match. He earned his first point from the shot clock before adding two points for exposure off a duck under and ensuing scramble in the first, then tacked on two takedowns off single-leg shots in the second period. Andreu Ortega is a two-time U23 world champion and a five-time Pan American medalist, including two golds, at 57kg.
It was Micic's second career world bronze and first at the senior level. He previously medaled at the 2015 Junior World Championships at 55kg while representing the United States. Micic, a 2020 Tokyo Olympian, also owns three European medals, including 57kg silver from the 2019 games.
Micic went 4-1 over two days at worlds. His lone loss came in the semifinals, 6-1, to eventual champion Zelimkhan Abakarov of Albania. He earned the first point off the shot clock but gave up a late takedown in the first and exposure out of a scramble in the second. Abakarov went on to defeat USA's Thomas Gilman, 7-2, in the gold-medal match.
Micic opened the tournament with back-to-back wins by technical superiority -- 12-2 over Mexico's Roberto Alejandro Blanco and 12-1 tech over Kazakhstan's Rakhat Kalzhan -- before securing a 7-1 quarterfinal win over Japan's Toshihiro Hasegawa. Down at the break, scored seven unanswered points in the second period, including a four-point takedown, against the Japanese wrestler.
Fellow Wolverine alums Malik Amine and Myles Amine also represented San Marino at 74kg and 86kg, respectively.
Myles, a 2020 Olympic bronze medalist and four-time European medalist, took eighth place after falling in the quarterfinals Kazakhstan's Azamat Dauletbekov, 9-1. Amine sacrificed an early four-point takedown while on the offensive and was forced to chase for the remainder of the match. He went 2-1 in the tournament, rallying to earn a 5-3 win over China's Zushen Lin in his first bout before defeating Latvia's Ivars Samusonoks, 4-0, with two first-period takedowns.
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