AMMAN CITY, JORDAN— A pair of Canadian wrestlers notched top-five finishes at the 2023 U20 World Championships, Aug. 14-20 in Amman City, Jordan. Mississauga’s Karanveer Mahil and Port Coquitlam, British Columbia’s Gabriela Cross each had a good showing at the event and earned fifth place finishes.

For Cross, Dinos WC, her first match at 57kg was against Egypt’s Louji Yassin in the round of 16. The match went right down to the wire, but Cross outlasted Yassin to win on criteria 5-5. She drew Ichika Arai of Japan in the quarterfinal and suffered a 5-0 loss. However, she did get pulled back into a repechage where she defeated Jana Petrovic of Serbia by superiority 10-0. That set up a bronze medal match with Gerda Terek of Hungary. This one was closer than the final score reflected. With the match tied 2-2 and less than a minute to go, Cross went for a throw, but was countered. Terek locked in a cross ankle and was able to turn Cross multiple times for the 12-2 win.

Other women’s results included: Saskatoon’s Caitlin Clatney 11^th at 59kg; Stoney Creek, Ontario’s Serena Di Benedetto 12^th at 50kg; Saskatoon’s Myah Phillips at 12th 76kg; Port Alberni, British Columbia’s Paige Maher at 13^th at 72kg; and Montreal’s Sophia Bechard 17^th at 55kg.

On the men’s side, Mahil, Hamilton WC, opened with a 10-0 superiority win in his round of 16 match at 125kg against Roope Kataja of Finland. He advanced to the quarterfinal where he bested Levan Lagvilava of France, also by superiority 11-0. In the semifinal, he matched up with Said Akhmatov, Independent Neutral Athletes, but lost on points 6-3. Still, he found himself in a bronze medal match with Rajat Ruhal of India. This one came right down to the wire, but Mahil came up just short losing 9-8.

The rest of the men’s results were: Winnipeg’s Sam Pereira ninth at 92kg; Mont Hope, Ontario’s Amaan Gulacha 19^th at 74kg; and Winnipeg’s Connor Church 22^nd at 79kg.

For complete tournament information, visit the tournament website at: https://uww.org/event/world-championships-65.