Jimenez Earns Third U20 World Silver Medal
The women’s freestyle portion of the 2025 U20 World Championships came to a conclusion on Friday afternoon in Bulgaria. It was a rather bittersweet day for the American contingent, as three women were in action in medal round matches, and none were able to come away with a win.
One woman did obtain a medal - Audrey Jimenez at 50 kg. Jimenez took the mat in a gold medal match at 50 kg. Jimenez managed the first points of the bout as she notched a takedown on Japan’s Rinka Ogawa early in the first period. Jimenez got in on a beautiful low-leg misdirection shot and scored after Ogawa fought the hold for an extended time, but eventually gave up the takedown.
Ogawa quickly rebounded and got on the board with a sweep single for a takedown and then added a second pair of points with a tilt. The first period ended with Jimenez trailing, 4-2.
Ogawa continued scoring in the second period as she was able to expose Jimenez while trying to finish a takedown. During the final seconds of the bout, trailing 6-2, Jimenez got in deep on a shot, but was exposed while trying to complete the hold. As the time expired, Jimenez’s corner challenged the sequence, but the call was confirmed and Ogawa was awarded an additional point. That gave the Japanese wrestler a final score of 9-3.
Jimenez is now a three-time U20 world silver medalist. She earned silver medals in 2022 and 2023 at this weight class. We’ll see her in action again next month at the Senior World Championships.
Team USA also had Abbi Cooper and Jasmine Robinson in bronze medal matches on Friday. The 2024 U20 world champion, Robinson, did not wrestle her bout. She had to take multiple injury timeouts yesterday during her semifinal loss.
Cooper and Belarus’ Kseniya Kostsenich squared off for a bronze medal at 53 kg. The American got the scoring started with an arm spin for four points. After the next restart, Cooper went back to the arm spin and earned a takedown and a commanding 6-0 lead.
Cooper nearly ended the bout at the end of the first period as she countered a Kostsenich attack with a throw for four points. The Belarusian wrestler was awarded two points in the sequence, which made the score 10-2 at the break.
Kostsenich started a second-period rally with a double leg where she finished high and got behind Cooper. She would toss Cooper for four points, which got her back in the match at 10-6. Kostsenich continued to apply pressure and ended up with a stunning 11-10 victory.
Of the Greco-Roman wrestlers in action Friday, only Joel Adams was able to log a win. He had repechage hopes until the opponent who defeated him was beaten in the semifinals.
Saturday will see the final four members of the Greco-Roman team start their tournaments. Those are the wrestlers at the 63, 77, 87, and 130 kg weight classes.
Men’s Greco-Roman
55 kg
Round of 32: Nazarii Babinskyi (Ukraine) over Caleb Noble 8-0
67 kg
Round of 32: Takaku Suzuki (Japan) over Otto Black 8-4
72 kg
Round of 32: Joel Adams over Rabil Askerov (Russia) 12-4
Round of 16: Arionas Kolitsopoulos (Greece) over Joel Adams 4-1
97 kg
Round of 16: Vendel Vitai (Hungary) over Soren Herzog 2-1
Women’s Freestyle
50 kg
Gold Medal Match: Rinka Ogawa (Japan) over Audrey Jimenez 9-3
53 kg
Bronze Medal Match: Kseniya Kostsenich (Belarus) over Abbi Cooper 11-10
72 kg
Bronze Medal Match: Kairyrkul Sharshebaeva (Kyrgyzstan) over Jasmine Robinson FFT
Final Medal Round Results
Women’s Freestyle
50 kg
Gold Medal Match: Rinka Ogawa (Japan) over Audrey Jimenez (USA) 9-3
Bronze Medal Match: Shruti (India) over Josephine Wrensch (Germany) 6-0
Bronze Medal Match: Na Hu (China) over Diana Rysova (Ukraine) 9-5
53 kg
Gold Medal Match: Natsumi Masuda (Japan) over Anastasiia Polska (Ukraine) 6-0
Bronze Medal Match: Kseniya Kostsenich (Belarus) over Abbi Cooper (USA) 11-10
Bronze Medal Match: Saarika (India) over Ilona Valchuk (Poland) 11-0
72 kg
Gold Medal Match: Kajal (India) over Yuqi Liu (China) 8-6
Bronze Medal Match: Kristina Bratchikova (Russia) over Haticenur Sari (Turkiye) 17-12
Bronze Medal Match: Kairyrkul Sharshebaeva (Kyrgyzstan) over Jasmine Robinson (USA) FFT
Greco-Roman
60 kg
Gold Medal Match: Aykhan Javadov (Azerbaijan) over Yurik Mkhitaryan (Armenia) 12-5
Bronze Medal Match: Suraj (India) over Lucas LoGrasso (France) 1-1
Bronze Medal Match: Vakhtang Lolua (Georgia) over Omer Altas (Turkiye) Cautions
82 kg
Gold Medal Match: Mikhail Shkarin (Russia) over Dias Seitkailyev (Kazakhstan) 4-1
Bronze Medal Match: Azimjon Soatullaev (Uzbekistan) over Martik Petrosyan (Armenia) 8-0
Bronze Medal Match: Taizo Yoshida (Japan) over Prince (India) 11-0
Saturday’s Gold Medal Matchups
55 kg: Turan Dashdamirov (Azerbaijan) vs. Payam Balootaki (Iran)
67 kg: Erzu Zakriev (Russia) vs. Zhantoro Mirzaliev (Kyrgyzstan)
72 kg: Gaspar Terteryan (Armenia) vs. Ahmad Kodirov (Uzbekistan)
97 kg: Yehor Yakushenko (Ukraine) vs. Mohammad Seydi Avendi (Iran)
