2023 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Sat-Tue., Sept. 16-19
Stark Arena • Belgrade, Serbia
• Live Video | UWW | FloWrestling Event Hub | Cliff Keen WC Twitter
The Cliff Keen Wrestling Club will have six representatives vying for freestyle gold at the 2023 UWW Senior World Championships this week (Sat-Tue., Sept. 16-19) at Stark Arena in Belgrade, Serbia.
Myles Amine, a 2020 Olympic bronze medalist, will appear in his third World Championships at 86kg for San Marino; he placed fifth in 2019 to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Malik Amine will also make his third world appearance for San Marino at 74kg, while Ben Honis makes his second straight appearance at 97kg for Italy.
Three CKWC representatives will make their senior world debut this week in Belgrade. Mason Parris, a 2019 junior world champion and the 2023 Hodge Trophy winner, was elevated to the 125kg spot on the USA team last week. Fellow Wolverine alum Matt Finesilver will compete for Israel at 86kg, while Austin Gomez, the newest addition to the CKWC, will wrestle at 65kg for Mexico.
Michigan alum Stevan Micic, a 2020 Olympian and 2022 world bronze medalist, will also represent the host nation Serbia at 61kg.
When to Catch Them
Each day will feature two sessions. Preliminary and quarterfinal rounds will commence at 10:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. EDT) each day. Belgrade is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time; all times listed below are EDT.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 16
Men’s Freestyle: 86kg, 125kg (Myles Amine, Matt Finesilver, Mason Parris)
Qualification Rounds: 4:30 a.m.
Semifinals: 1:00 p.m.
SUNDAY, SEPT. 17
Men’s Freestyle: 74kg (Malik Amine), 86kg (Myles Amine, Matt Finesilver), 125kg (Mason Parris)
Qualification/Repechage: 4:30 a.m.
Semifinals: 10:45 a.m. (74kg)
Medal Round: Noon (86kg, 125kg)
MONDAY, SEPT. 18
Men’s Freestyle: 65kg (Austin Gomez), 74kg (Malik Amine), 97kg (Ben Honis)
Qualification/Repechage: 4:30 a.m.
Semifinals: 11:00 a.m. (65kg, 97kg)
Medal Round: Noon (74kg)
TUESDAY, SEPT. 19
Men’s Freestyle: 65kg (Austin Gomez), 97kg (Ben Honis)
Repechage: 4:30 a.m.
Medal Round: Noon
How to Catch the Action
Live video, live results and bracket updates will be available in the United States through FloWrestling.org across desktops, mobile devices, tablets and connected televisions. FloWrestling is also available on Roku, Fire TV, Chromecast and Apple TV. All video footage from the event will be archived and stored in a video library for FloWrestling subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscription.
The CKWC Representatives
Malik Amine — Amine, a two-time NCAA qualifier at 149 pounds for Michigan, has spent the last year at 74kg after bumping up from 65kg. Representing San Marino, he captured his first ever international medal with a bronze finish at the Mediterranean Games in 2022. It is his third World Championships appearance; he previously went 2-1 at the 2019 event, claiming San Marino’s first ever win at a wrestling world championships.
Myles Amine — Amine, who will compete in his third world championships at 86Kg, captured Olympic bronze for San Marino in Tokyo to become the nation’s first individual male Olympic medalist. He is also the first freestyle Olympic medalist in Michigan program history and, in 2022, became the first ever five-time NCAA All-American in collegiate wrestling history. Amine is five-time European medalist, capturing gold in 2022 and silver this past April. He avenged his Euro loss to Greece’s Dauren Kurugliev en route to a gold medal at the Hungary Ranking Series Event in July. Amine is the No. 4 at 86kg for the 2023 World Championships.
Matt Finesilver — Finesilver, who joined the Cliff Keen WC this summer, is slated to make his world championship debut after representing Israel three times since over the spring/summer — at 2023 European Championships, the Hungary Ranking Series Event, where he placed third at 92kg, and the Ion Cornianu & Ladislau Simon in Bucharest, winning 86kg gold last month. Finesilver completed his collegiate career with the Wolverines in 2022-23 after spending the previous five years with Duke. He compiled a 106-37 record, including a 26-8 mark last season en route to the 184-pound NCAA bloodround.
Austin Gomez — Gomez also joined the Cliff Keen WC this summer after announcing that he would forgo his final season of collegiate eligibility and is set to make his world championships debut at 65kg for Mexico. Gomez, who earned the world team spot after winning a pair of qualifying events over the last year, earned NCAA All-American after a fourth-place finish at 149 pounds in 2022, the same year he captured a Big Ten title and shared Big Ten Outstanding Wrestler of the Championship with Myles Amine. He was previously a U.S. Cadet World Team member (2011) and qualified for the junior team in 2018 before injury forced him to withdraw.
Ben Honis — Honis will represent Italy at 97kg at the World Championships for the second straight year.
An All-American at 197 pounds during a collegiate career at Cornell, Honis took fifth place at the 2023 European Championships and Ibrahim Moustafa in Egypt, just narrowly missing out on medals at both events, and placed seventh at the Hungary Ranking Series Event in July. He previously he took second at 97kg at the 2019 U.S. Open and competed in the Olympic Team Trials in 2021.
Mason Parris — Parris, who is No. 2 on the 2023-24 freestyle national team after a runner-up finish at Final X last June, was elevated to the 125kg world team spot last week. The 2023 NCAA heavyweight champion and Hodge Trophy winner, Parris went 33-0 last season to complete his collegiate career as a four-time All-American with a 124-18 career record. Parris previously captured junior world gold in 2019 and, most recently, he claimed 125kg gold at the UWW Ranking Tournament in Hungary in July.
