05/29/2026
𝘼𝙇𝙏𝙊𝙈𝙀𝙍 𝙎𝙀𝙏𝙏𝙇𝙀𝙎 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝙎𝙄𝙇𝙑𝙀𝙍 𝘼𝙏 𝙐23 𝙉𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉𝘼𝙇𝙎!
Placing 4th at the U.S. Open (Senior) to come one spot on the podium shy of locking up an automatic berth to the Under-23 World Championships; 𝑴𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒚 "𝑲𝒊𝒅 𝑫𝒆𝒆" 𝑨𝒍𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒓 (3x NYS placer/2x runner-up out of Minisink Valley) stepped onto the Spire Academy campus with his eyes fully on the prize, but ultimately came up just short in his mission!
Seeded 5th among the 87kg field; the 2023 Double Age-Group World Teamer [Altomer] cruised through the challenge tournament portion of the day, as he recorded triumphs by way of 8-0 TF, 1:38 fall, 8-0 tech, and 9-6 decision over the likes of 𝐑𝐮𝐛𝐞𝐧 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐲𝐚𝐧, 𝐄𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐳, 𝐀𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐫 𝐈𝐈, and 𝐀𝐲𝐝𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐢𝐱 𝐌𝐜𝐄𝐥𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐲!!!
Taking control of a then scoreless opening-round match versus Karapetyan ( 2025 U20 GR Nationals Bronze Medalist) in the last-half of the 1st period, the Curby Training Center athlete collected five quick points off of a passivity and back-to-back 2pt gut-wrenches to take the 5-0 cushion into the break.....
He stayed on the hunt in the 2nd period, adding a 2pt takedown and a 1pt stepout in a span of 38 seconds to pitch the goose-egg!
Making quick work of the unheralded Duenez; Altomer capitalized off of his opportunity in par tarre, as he converted a 4-point lift (to go up 5-0) and caught his nemesis on his back to come away with the eventual stick!!
Squaring off against the recent University at Buffalo transfer, Bonar (former 2x Wisconsin State Champion; former 2x Fargo GR National titlist); the native Empire Stater required a mere 44 ticks to to rack up the 8-0 victory; as he'd turn a 3-0 lead (stepout, caution +1, lost challenge by Bonar's corner when appealing the caution) into a superiority verdict by maneuvering his way behind the newest Bull and then launching him with a 5-point high amplitude suplex!!!
Going wire-to-wire, Altomer in the semifinals with top-seeded Rix McElhinney (2x Age-group World Teamer; 2025 Junior Pan American Games Gold Medalist; 2025 U.S. Open Senior 5th; 2024 U20 Pan-American Gold), Altomer utilized a 2pt body luck followed by a 4pt headlock to establish a 6- 0 lead approximately :32 into the bout and never looked back...
He added a 2pt takedown (bull rush on the edge of the mat) with 1:06 to go in the 1st period (to go up 8-2) and tacked on a 1pt stepout in the last 2:00 of the 2nd (to make it a 9-4 contest) to account for all of his the needed damage!
To the credit of Rix McElhinney; he did not go down without a fight as a TD (his second match) in the waning moments enabled him to make the scoreboard appear closer than was actually the case!
In a rematch of the 2023 U23 National main event; it would be 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐲𝐚𝐭𝐭 (2025 U23 Pan-American Games Bronze Medalist; 2025 U23 Nationals Champion; 2026 U.S. Open Senior 7th) getting his revenge against Altomer, as he claimed 7-0 and 6-5 (rallied from down 5-0) decisions to sweep the best-of-3 series!!
The 3x age-group Pan-American finalist/2x champ was also the U23 Nats runner-up in 2024!
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𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄: Per the specific wording of the selection criteria on the USA Wrestling website; there is reason to believe that Altomer may still be named as the Under-23 World entry!!!
Our impression (if interpreted accurately) is that Altomer's top-4 performance back in April (U.S. Open) may trump in significance this weekend's festivities!!
We are actively reaching out to the governing body for clarification and will provide an update as soon as a resolution has been reached and confirmed!
