Zagreb, Crotia - University of Wisconsin-La Crosse wrestler Richard Carlson of Mounds View, Minn. (H.S.) competed in the FILA Junior World Championships August 6.  Carlson, wrestling for Minnesota Storm in the 84 kg/185-pound division in the Greco-Roman style, fell 10-0 to Lasha Gobadze of Georgia, a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia.  Gobadze went on to earn a bronze medal at the Junior World Championships.  He was third at the 2013 and 2014 European Junior Championships. 

Carlson was one of eight wrestlers representing the United States at this year's FILA Junior World Championships.  The United States tied for 16th with 8.0 team points while Azerbaijan captured the title with 59.0 points. 
 
As a sophomore, Carlson finished 14-9 at 174-pounds for UW-La Crosse in 2013-14.  He placed fourth at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Midwest Regional, finishing 2-2 as the fifth-seed.

Greco-Roman wrestling features two wrestlers scored for their performance in two three-minute periods.  The style of wrestling forbids holds below the waist which is the major difference from freestyle wrestling.  This restriction results in an emphasis on throws because a wrestler cannot use trips to take an opponent to the ground, or avoid throws by hooking or grabbing the opponent's leg.

Arm drags, bear hugs, and headlocks, which can be found in freestyle, have even greater prominence in Greco-Roman. A Greco-Roman wrestler must find several ways to turn his opponent's shoulders to the mat for a fall without legs, including (but not limited to) techniques known as the bodylock and the gut-wrench.