July 29, 2010

ATHENS, Ohio-Ohio’s Jeremy Johnson tied for fifth in the 264.5 pound (120 kg) weight class over the weekend at the Junior World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

Johnson beat Bincho Dinkov Stoyanov of Bulgaria, 2-0, 2-0 and Ihar Dziatko of Belarus, 2-0, 1-0. He was defeated in a competitive semifinal bout by Taha Akul of Turkey, 0-1, 0-3. In his bronze medal match, he was defeated by Giorgi Sakandelidze of Georgia, 0-6, 0-3.

The USA finished with 26 points in sixth place. Russia won the team title with 70 points, followed by Azerbaijan with 50 points, Georgia with 49 points, Turkey with 42 points and Iran with 33 points.

Johnson made the junior freestyle world squad by defeating Michigan’s Steve Andrus 1-0, 3-1 and 1-0, 4-0 at the Junior World Trials last month in Colorado Springs, Colo. He went 2-0 to win the challenge tournament earlier in the day to advance to the championship series.

The freshman from Broadview Heights, Ohio redshirted for the Bobcats during the 2009-10 season.