Mat Assignments, Match Order / 92 kg Bracket (Full Names) / 92 kg Bracket (Bout Numbers) / Purchase Live Stream
Updated Saturday, Nov. 17 / 11:05 a.m. ET
Brunner needed Bohdan Hrytsay of Ukraine to win his semifinal match against Azerbaijan's Shamil Zubairov in order to get into Sunday's repechage. Hrytsay tied it up 3-3 late in the second period, but it was Zubairov who came away with a 4-3 win. The loss by Hrytsay ends Brunner's time at the U23 World Championships.
Updated Saturday, Nov. 17 / 8:38 a.m. ET
Brunner used 1:45 to dispose of Gergen to move into the quarterfinals, where he met two-time age-group World bronze medalist Bohdan Hrytsay of Ukraine. An arm throw by Hrytsay led to four points and a fall for the Ukrainian in 1:47.Christian Brunner rolled up Romania's Zoltan Gergen 10-0 in his first bout of the day at 92 kilograms. pic.twitter.com/bDsLByxISP
— Trackwrestling (@trackwrestling) November 17, 2018
Brunner's ability to get into repechage depends on the outcome of Hrytsay's semifinal match. Semifinals are scheduled for a 10:15 a.m. ET start Saturday.
Posted Friday, Nov. 16 / 10 p.m. ET
Purdue's Christian Brunner will wrestle for Team USA at 92 kg at the U23 Freestyle World Championships on Saturday. The two-time NCAA qualifier is projected as the 25th match for mat B at Polyvalent Hall in Bucharest, Romania. With a seven hour time difference and tournament variables, Brunner is anticipated to wrestle around 6-7 a.m. ET.
"Christian is very excited to have the opportunity to represent his country, while testing himself against some of the best wrestlers in the world," Purdue head wrestling coach Tony Ersland said. "I know he will make the most of this opportunity and use it as a springboard to make even more gains in his wrestling this season."
Brunner is the first Purdue wrestler to make a world team under the direction of the fifth-year head coach.
"Christian has always been a very hard worker with a strong work ethic," Ersland said. "This is a new and different challenge that he has really embraced. It is also another example of the trajectory of our program. We expect to see more Purdue wrestlers on national and world teams in the future."
The Boilermakers' head assistant wrestling coach Tyrel Todd is also set to make the trip to Bucharest. Todd will serve as Brunner's personal coach while assisting the USA Wrestling coaching staff.
Updates on Brunner will be posted on PurdueSports.com on Saturday. Feature content, including a five-part video series with Brunner and daily reports from Todd can be found below. Search for the event on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using #BuchaWrestU23.
VIDEO SERIESChristian knows his journey to the U23 World Championships has involved so many and it shows where the Purdue wrestling program is.
Hear how Christian found out he was selected for the U23 World Championships and the impact Coach Todd has had throughout the process, even since the day Christian became a Boilermaker.
Christian breaks down the difference between folkstyke, the style you're used to seeing him wrestle at Purdue, and freestyle, the style he'll wrestle at in Bucharest.
Love. Support. Family. It all means so much.
Nothing is going to change, wrestling is wrestling. It's living in the moment, but at the same time, not making it any more than what it is. It's just a great opportunity to be able do it at the international level.
TALES FROM TYREL
Updates from Bucharest courtesy of Purdue wrestling's head assistant coach Tyrel Todd
Day 1 / Wednesday, Nov. 14
Christian and I, along with the Brunner family of Jim, Kim and Lily, were very happy to make it to our hotel, the Rin Grand Hotel, in Bucharest. The second leg of our journey from Vienna to Bucharest, which was only 1.5 hours, left everyone feeling the travel, since we went from Chicago to Vienna on the first leg.
Flying into Austria was beautiful. The best word I could use to describe it is clean. The sun was out, the fields were very green, which seemed odd this for this time of year, and most all the buildings were white walls with red roofs and looked to be built well. It would have been a great experience to see some sights, but we were up and away in less than two hours.
After a short rest and some food when we got into Bucharest, Christian and I did a cardio workout in the hotel and short sauna to sweat out the trip.
Day 2 / Thursday, Nov. 15
Christian and I worked out around 10 a.m. local time today. There are three workout mats in the hotel, which is very good for weight control. We stretched and warmed up to spare for about 35 minutes. Then we worked his lungs with some hard executions and short bursts of stance motion. He worked hard and got all of the travel sweat out.
It rains a lot in Bucharest and sunny days are in the minority.
We went to the competition arena at 5:15 p.m. to watch the women's medal matches and check out the venue. Men's freestyle starts tomorrow!
Day 3 / Friday, Nov. 16
I was glad we were not competing on the first day of men's freestyle—some guys like Kollin Moore had less than 48 hours to recover from the travel. Christian and I went in and worked out in the afternoon to get his weight down and he also got a good blow on his lungs.
Christian is in a good mental state, in my opinion. He is focused, yet relaxed and enjoying his time in Romania. I am a big believer in living in the present and enjoying the process. I think someone can achieve their best competitive state by being in the moment, confident, relaxed and focused.
Tomorrow it is time to scrap.
Day 4 / Saturday, Nov. 17
Christian drew the Romanian Zoltan Gergen after a first round bye. There was no film on him, so I watched film of his next likely opponent, Bohdan Hrytsay of Ukraine.
Brunner wrestled well against the Romanian. He dominated the neutral position, scored off a snap down and then turned his opponent with two gut wrenches. About 30 seconds later, he shot a nice double leg attack and scored a four-point feet-to-back exposure. The match ended with a technical fall, 10 or more point superiority, in less than 2:00.
In his second match, Brunner was caught in an arm throw by Hrytsay. The match ended shortly after with a fall.
We really needed Hrytsay to make the finals in order to pull Brunner back into the repechage for him to have the chance to come back and wrestle for a medal. Unfortunately, Hrytsay gave up push out with four seconds left to lose 4-4 to Shamil Zubairov of Azerbaijan. Zubairov went on to win the world title at 92 kg.
Christian was crushed when Hrytsay lost in the semifinal. He was wrestling the best I have seen him and in a good place mentally. There is a lot to build off from this great experience.
TAKEAWAYS
When flying overseas or domestically there is always unforeseen adversity, it is easy to let your mind go. Control what you can control and don't worry about what you can't control.
Stay relaxed and enjoy the journey. When it is time to compete, stay relaxed and confident executing your game plan and what you and your coaches have discussed. Go out and enjoy competing.