Israeli wrestler captures bronze medal at elite French competition

• Published date: 17 January 2021
• Author: BENJAMIN WEINTHAL
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

"I have a lot of pride being able to represent Israel on the world's stage. It's amazing to be able to represent my culture and heritage," Finesilver said.

Finesilver told The Jerusalem Post that "I feel as though I competed decently. I felt better as the day went on, though. Lots of work to still be done. I would love to represent Israel at the Olympics, but I still need to qualify the weight first. Those tournaments will be held in March and April."

Finesilver is the first Israeli to win a medal at the competition in nearly a decade.

Finesilver prevailed over Azerbaijan's Joshgun Azimov by 2-1 for the bronze medal. His match against the Polish wrestler Kamil Rybicki was a thriller, ending in a 5-2 victory for the American-born Finesilver.

The Flo Wrestling journalist David Bray tweeted after Finesilver defeated a Polish wrestler to enter the bronze medal round: "Mitch Finesilver will wrestle for bronze. Looked solid in that last match."

Finesilver beat 4-2 the Azerbaijani Gadzhimurad Omarov in his opening match 4-2. Azerbaijan produces some of the world's top wrestlers.

Kyle Dake, a two-time world champion from the US, defeated Finesilver 11-0 in the second round. Dake went on to win the Henri Deglane tournament.

In his wrestleback bracket match, where wrestlers who were defeated on the way to the finals seek to secure a bronze medal, Finesilver prevailed over his French opponent Charles Afa 12-1. Finesilver sported a red and white singlet with a Star of David on his wrestling uniform.

The tournament in Nice is named after Henri Deglane (1902 – 1975), who was a French Olympic champion in...