Bydgoszcz, Poland – Jevon Balfour of Scarborough, Ont., picked up Canada’s only win on the final day of competition at the U23 World Championships in Poland.

Of the four Canadians competing today, Balfour’s victory in the 74 kg weight class over Moldova’s Gheorghi Pascalov was the lone triumph. Balfour defeated Pascalov after a 4-4 score. Balfour won due to his last points coming from a 2-point hold, while Pascalov last score was a single technical point.

Balfour, 22, then lost 0-10 to Japan’s Yajuro Yamasaki in the following round.

Caleb Rutner of Winnipeg lost his first-round matchup in the 70 kg division to American Richard Lewis. Lewis advanced to the gold medal bout, which put Rutner in a repechage match. He then lost by technical superiority against Belarus’ Surkho Rashytkhanau.

Burnaby, B.C.’s Nishan Randhawa was defeated by Givi Matcharashvili of Georgia. Randhawa, 19, lost by technical superiority to the Georgian.

Dillon Williams, 22, lost by technical superiority 0-10 to Mongolia’s Tulga Tumur-Ochir

“We are committed to being better,” said Tonya Verbeek, International Coach for Wrestling Canada Lutte. “This is a world class event which means we need to ensure our athletes are getting world class training, and appropriate competition opportunities in order for us to be competitive internationally.”

“We are disappointed as a group in our overall performance,” said Dave McKay, Team Canada Coach. “We have a young, talented group of athletes who we believe can compete at this level. We can reach our competition goals but it will take a concentrated effort and dedication to the process.”

The U23 World Championships end today in Poland after six days of competition. This was United World Wrestling’s debut of the competition for 18 to 23-year-old athletes in the three Olympic disciplines.

Results are available on United World Wrestling’s website: https://unitedworldwrestling.org/event/senior-u23-world-championships

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