Walz wins bronze at U23 World Championships

Graff brings gold back to Blacksburg after winning 57 kg at the Henri Deglane Challenge

November 26, 2017

BLACKSBURG – Wrestling in his first international freestyle competition, Virginia Tech alum and three-time All-American Ty Walz won a bronze medal for the United States at the inaugural U23 World Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland on Sunday afternoon.

Walz, representing the Southeast Regional Training Center, defeated China’s Chaoqiang Yang, 3-0, in the third-place bout at 97 kg to become the first Hokie wrestler to win a world medal.

Walz handled last year’s Junior World silver medalist Erik Thiele of Germany with an impressive 8-1 decision. The Cleveland, Ohio native nearly defeated Belarus’ Dziani Khramiankou, falling narrowly 7-6, before knocking off Poland’s own Aleksander Wojtachnio, 10-3, in repechage that gave him a chance to wrestle for third.

A 2017 graduate, Walz’s 109 career wins ranks 10th in program history and his .784 career winning percentage ranks in a tie for 11th. He won the 2017 ACC Championship at heavyweight as a redshirt senior and was the first Tech grappler to make a world team at any level.

GRAFF WINS GOLD AT HENRI DEGLANE CHALLENGE

Virginia Tech director of wrestling performance Tyler Graff went 4-0 and won the gold medal at the Henri Deglane Challenge in Nice, France on Saturday evening.

Graff outscored his opponents 40-0 and won all four of his matches by tech fall. He helped the U.S. win the team title in men’s freestyle as they finished with 45 points, ahead of Spain (34) and France (30).

97 kg/213 lbs. – Ty Walz (Titan Mercury/Southeast RTC)
WIN Erik Thiele (Germany), 8-1
LOSS Dziani Khramiankou (Belarus), 7-6
WIN Aleksander Wojtachnio (Poland), 10-3
WIN Chaoqiang Yang (China), 3-0

57 kg/125.5 lbs. – Tyler Graff, (Titan Mercury WC/Southeast RTC), gold medal
WIN Edward Klimara (USA), tech. fall 10-0
WIN George Ramm (Great Britain), tech. fall 10-0
WIN Valentin Damour (France), tech. fall 10-0
WIN Frank Perrelli (USA), tech. fall 10-0

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