Five Wolverines to Participate in 2019 Senior World Championships
9/12/2019 3:19:00 PM | Wrestling
2019 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Sat-Sun., Sept. 14-22
Bays Arena • Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
• Live Video/Results | Tournament Site | USA Wrestling | Flowrestling | Cliff Keen WC Twitter
The University of Michigan will have five representatives vying for gold at the 2019 UWW Senior World Championships over the next week (Sat-Sun., Sept. 14-22) at Bays Arena in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.
Fifth-year senior Myles Amine (86kg/189 pounds) and graduate student Stevan Micic (57kg/125 pounds), who both have a season of collegiate eligibility remaining, will make their senior-level world debuts, as will recent graduate Malik Amine (65kg/143 pounds).
Wolverine alums Domenic Abounader (86kg) and Adam Coon (130kg/286 pounds) will make their second straight world championships appearances. The postgraduate trio, as well as former Edinboro standout Dave Habat (65kg), also represent the U-M Cliff Keen Wrestling Club.
The world championships feature 30 total weight classes -- 10 each in the three Olympic styles (men's freestyle, men's Greco-Roman, women's freestyle). The top-six finishers at each weight (gold, silver, two bronze and two fifth-place finishers) will qualify their nation's spot for the 2020 Olympic Games. In the case of Abounader, the Amines, Micic and Habat, a top-six finish would essentially lock up their individual qualification to the Tokyo Games.
When to Catch Them
Each day will feature two sessions. Preliminary and quarterfinal rounds will commence at 11 a.m. local time (1 a.m. EDT) each day. Nur-Sultan is 10 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time; all times listed below are EDT.
MONDAY, SEPT. 16
Men's Greco-Roman: 130kg (Adam Coon)
Qualification Rounds: 1-6 a.m.
Semifinals: 7-7:45 a.m.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 17
Men's Greco-Roman: 130kg (Adam Coon)
Repechage: 1-5 a.m.
Finals: 8-10:30 a.m.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 19
Men's Freestyle: 57kg (Stevan Micic), 65kg (Malik Amine, Dave Habat)
Qualification Rounds: 1-6 a.m.
Semifinals: 6:45-7:45 a.m.
FRIDAY, SEPT. 20
Men's Freestyle: 57kg (Stevan Micic), 65kg (Malik Amine, Dave Habat)
Repechage: 1-6 a.m.
Finals: 8-11 a.m.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 21
Men's Freestyle: 86kg (Domenic Abounader, Myles Amine)
Qualification Rounds: 1-6 a.m.
Semifinals: 6:45-7:45 a.m.
SUNDAY, SEPT. 22
Men's Freestyle: 86kg (Domenic Abounader, Myles Amine)
Repechage: 5:30 a.m. - 7:30 a.m.
Finals: 8 a.m. - 11 a.m.
How to Catch the Action
Live video, live results and bracket updates will be available through Trackwrestling.com across desktops, mobile devices, tablets and connected televisions.
NBC Olympics also will air the World Championships, including more than 20 hours of live coverage on Olympic Channel. Event coverage will begin with men's Greco-Roman finals Sunday (Sept. 15) at 9 a.m. EDT on Olympic Channel. NBC Sports Network will provide same-day encore coverage of most of the events throughout the tournament.
The Michigan Representatives
Domenic Abounader -- Abounader buoyed his momentum from an All-America finish at the 2018 NCAA Championships into his post-collegiate freestyle career, capturing silver in an impressive senior-level debut at the Asian Games. Most recently, he claimed fifth place at the Poland Open last month. He will represent his father's native country, Lebanon, in his second straight World Championships. [ USA Wrestling 86kg Freestyle Preview ]
Malik Amine -- Amine recently completed his collegiate career as a two-time NCAA qualifier at 149 pounds and transitioned quickly into his senior-level freestyle debut down at 65kg (143 pounds) just weeks later at the European Championships in April. Representing San Marino, Amine also competed at the Poland Open last month. He is making his first appearance at the World Championships. [ USA Wrestling 65kg Freestyle Preview ]
Myles Amine -- Amine, a three-time NCAA All-American at 174 pounds, already has made a splash in his first international freestyle season. He captured 86kg bronze at the European Games in June -- the first senior-level international medal and the first in wrestling for San Marino. Over his two summer tournaments -- April's European Championships was his first -- Amine has faced a world and/or European medalist in six of seven matches, going 3-3 in those bouts. [ USA Wrestling 86kg Freestyle Preview ]
Adam Coon -- Coon enters the 2019 World Championship as the No. 2 seed in 130kg Greco after he captured the silver medal in his senior-level world debut last year. Coon pinned his way into the final with four straight falls before he lost to Russia's Sergey Semenov, 9-0, in the gold-medal match. Semenov is the No. 1 seed again this year. It was the first world medal for an American in Greco-Roman wrestling since 2015 and the first to reach the world finals since 2009. Coon is cadet, junior and senior world medalist. He captured 2011 Cadet freestyle gold and claimed double bronze in junior freestyle and Greco-Roman in 2014 before he won his senior-level silver. Coon was a three-time NCAA All-American at heavyweight for Michigan (2014-16, '18). [ USA Wrestling 130kg Greco Preview ]
Stevan Micic -- A three-time NCAA All-American at 133 pounds, Micic is slated to make his senior-level world debut for Serbia after injury kept him out of last year's World Championships. Micic claimed bronze in his senior-level debut at the 2018 European Championships and, just weeks before worlds, captured gold at the Poland Open where he suffered a torn PCL in the semifinals -- in which he earned a 9-5 win over eventual world silver medalist Nurislam Sanayev of Kazakhstan. A second knee injury delayed Micic's 2019 freestyle season, but he debuted with a silver-medal finish at the European Games in June, where he defeated Turkey's Suleyman Atli -- the current No. 1-ranked wrestler in the world -- by a 6-5 decision in the semifinals. Though unseeded entering the World Championships, Micic owns head-to-head wins against the aforementioned No. 1 and No. 4 seeds. [ USA Wrestling 57kg Freestyle Preview ]
