Yianni Diakomihalis earned silver at the 2022 Senior World Championships over the weekend in Belgrade, Serbia, breaking the medal drought for the United States at 65 kg and helping the USA capture the overall team title.
The two-time Cadet World champion outscored his first four opponents 34-0 on the way to the finals.
He began by defeating Armenia's Vazgen Tevanyan 4-0 on the strength of a takedown and a pair of step out points. In round two, he topped multi-time World medalist Vladimir Dubov of Bulgaria in a commanding 10-0 technical fall.
He next defeated another accomplished foe, World finalist Bajrang Punia of India, by 10-0 tech fall with an array of offensive attacks. That set up a semifinal meeting with NCAA wrestler (Northwestern/Rutgers) Sebastian Rivera of Puerto Rico.
Diakomihalis got on and off the mat quickly in that bout, with two takedowns and three turns resulting in another 10-0 victory, this time in 53 seconds.
In the finals, Diakomihalis met Iran's Rahman Amouzad. After an action-packed first period, the two were tied at 8. However, the Iranian pulled ahead in the second on the way to a 13-8 win.
Congratulations to Yianni on his first (but certainly not last) Senior World medal!