Photo Property of CBC.ca
Day 5 of Wrestling began with our final Quebec athlete, Alex Moore competing at the Freestyle 86 kg division. Alex’s first match would have him face off against Magomed Eldarovitch Ramazanov of Bulgaria who had the 5th seed for the tournament. Alex would begin the match strong, trailing only 4-0 at the break. Starting off the second round strong, Alex would take a quick duck-under and nearly score on a subsequent attack. However, Magomed’s experience would win out and Alex would lose via Grand Superiority (12-2) and would have to see if would progress to the Repechage.
Let’s go! (Photo Property of CBC.ca)
Ramazanov would continue his strong start, beating his opponent from Uzbekistan by pin to set up a Semi-final bout with Aaron Brooks of the United States. Brooks, a first time Olympian, punched his ticket to Paris by beating World and Olympic Champion Dave Taylor at their national team trials.
Alex Moore with the duck-under (Photo Property of CBC.ca)
Ramazanov would face tough challenge, trailing in a tight match, but would pull out a last second reversal to win the match versus the American, sending Alex to the Repechage.
A near takedown for Alex against Ramazanov (Photo Property of CBC.ca)
In the Repechage, Alex would face off against Javrail Shapiev of Uzbekistan. Alex would rise to the occasion against a very tough opponent, even leading at one point via Criteria. In the end, a last second flurry would see Shapiev win the match on points by a score of 6-1. While Alex’s results weren’t what we would have hoped for, his qualification and the way he comported himself throughout the tournament should make his coaches, his club and his country very proud and hopefully he feels the same.