New York USA Wrestling

USA-NY Wishes to extend out sincerest congratulations to rising Hilton High School senior, Elijah Diakomihalis, on a tremendous performance last weekend in Amman, Jordan that yielded him a Bronze Medal in the 92kg bracket at the 2024 United World Wrestling (UWW) Under-17 Championships....

A victor in three of four his matches throughout Saturday/Sunday, the three-time NYSPHSAA Large School medalist/2x Finalist/Defending 190-pound Champion became the second member of his own family to achieve top-3 status at this prestigious age-group event; his feat complemented the back-to-back crowns seized in 2015 and 2016 at 58kg/63kg by oldest brother, Yianni!

The last of the United States' six medalists in the Men's Freestyle discipline, Diakomihalis put himself in the esteemed company of peers---Sammy Sanchez (Gold @45kg), Domenic Munaretto (Gold @51kg), Michael Mocco (Gold @110kg), Henry Aslikyan (Bronze @48kg), & Keanu Dillard (Bronze @55kg)!

As an added bonus, the collective juggernaut cited above were invaluable in vaulting the U.S. to the team crown for the second time in the past three years (previously won the U17 FS title in 2022)!!!

The bulk of Diakomihalis's heroics taking place on the final day of the week-long festivities, he'd post a 2-0 resume on Sunday, winning his repechage match by a score of 10-0 over Farukh Momunzhanov (KAZ); before emerging with an 8-3 decision in the Bronze-medal contest over 2024 European U17 Bronze Medalist, Aliaksei Khadunou (AIN)!!!

Rather dominant in each of his penultimate and ultimate outings, the two-time Fargo All-American/2023 16U National Champion (Junior 6th in '24) needed less than a full period (1:23) to strike with a 4pt counter chest wrap, a takedown, and a pair of 2pt gut-wrenches to make short work of Momunzhanov!

The 3rd-place match was closer on the scoreboard, but the verdict was never truly in doubt, as the American rep was able to jump out to a 4-0 against Khadunou behind a pushout + caution +1 less than half a minute into the 1st period; followed by a head-wheel takedown off of the ensuing restart...

His cushion cut to 4-2 at the end of the initial 2:00, Diakomihalis was quick to get back on the offensive, as he doubled-off for a TD in the first :09 of the 2nd period to go up 6-2 and then further pulled away when he tossed the Independent Athlete for a 2pt exposure in the last 90+ seconds of regulation!!

His comeback story made even more iconic/epic when it was later revealed that he had been wrestling with a tear in his labrum that will require surgery to repair (will miss the entirety of his scholastic swan song in 2024-2025), Diakomihalis split his two trips to the mat on Saturday... 

Fighting out a 3-0 hole in his opening round/qualification round match, Elijah controlled every moment of the 2nd period, as he notched two takedowns in the first :30 of the stanza (+1 for a fleeing call) and later was awarded a penalty point (illegal hold) and a point for unsuccessful challenge from the opposing corner to come away with a 7-3 decision versus Azerbaijan's Farhad Suleymanli (2024 European U17 5th; 2022 European U15 Runner-up)!!!

He'd suffer his lone defeat (7-5 score) in the round of 16 at the hands of the returning U17 World Bronze medalist/eventual 2024 U17 World titlist,  - Konstantine Petriashvili (GEO; brother of living legend/2024 Olympic Gold Medalist/3x Senior World Champ, Geno)...

Diakomihalis's success marked the fourth consecutive year in which a New York product came home with a U17 World Bronze...He was preceded in the milestone by Angie Dill (Women's 43kg in 2021) & Zack Ryder (Back-to-back 80kg MFS in 2022 and 2023)!!!