Stevan Andrija Mićić ( sr-cyr, Стеван Андрија Мићић; born 4 April 1996) is a

Serbian-American Serbian Americans ( sr, / ) or American Serbs (), are Americans of Serb ethnic ancestry. As of 2013, there were about 190,000 American citizens who identified as having Serb ancestry. However, the number may be significantly higher, as there w ...

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott La ...

and folkstyle wrestler who competes at 57 kilograms (125 pounds). He won a bronze medal at the

2022 World Wrestling Championships The 2022 World Wrestling Championships was the 17th edition of the World Wrestling Championships of combined events and was held between 10 and 18 September 2022 in Belgrade, Serbia. The UWW Bureau approved the candidature of Belgrade, Serbia ...

in Belgrade, Serbia. He is the first wrestler representing Serbia to win a medal in men's freestyle wrestling at the World Wrestling Championships. He has also claimed two bronze medals at the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

(

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

), a silver medal at the

2019 European Games , translation: Time for bright victories! , nations participating = 50 , athletes participating = 4,082 , events = 200 in 15 sports , opening ceremony = 21 June , closing ceremony = 30 June , officially opened ...

, and bronze medals at the

Mediterranean Games The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The fir ...

(

and

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

) while representing Serbia. In college, he is a three-time

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

All-American and the '18

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

champion for the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...

Biography

Background

Stevan Mićić was born on April 4, 1996, in

Mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, to parents Stevan and Lori Mićić. In his early years, Stevan grew up in

Northwest Indiana Northwest Indiana, nicknamed The Region after the Calumet Region, comprises Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Newton and Jasper counties in Indiana. This region neighbors Lake Michigan and is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. According to the 2020 Ce ...

within the Serbian culture, an area within the

Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also colloquially referred to as Chicagoland, is a metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States. Encompassing 10,286 sq mi (28,120 km2), the metropolitan area includes the city of Chicago, its suburbs and hi ...

, which has one of the largest Serbian populations outside of Serbia.

High School Career

Stevan graduated from Hanover Central High School in

Cedar Lake, Indiana Cedar Lake is a town in Hanover Township, Lake County, Indiana, Hanover and Center Township, Lake County, Indiana, Center townships, Lake County, Indiana, United States. It is near the Illinois state line. Its population was 11,560 at the 2010 cen ...

in 2014. He was named the 2014 Indiana state recipient of the Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award. He is a three-time

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

state champion, winning at 126 pounds (2014), 113 pounds (2013) and 106 pounds (2012) and finished third at 103 pounds as a freshman (2011). Stevan graduated with a career prep record of 184-5, including a perfect 141-0 mark over his final three seasons. He was anked as the nation's No. 19 overall recruit by InterMat and No. 1-ranked 126-pound wrestler.

College career

He is a student of the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and runner-up at the NCAA national championships in 2018. At the end of 2018, he had a collegiate wrestling record 74 wins and 13 defeats. At the 2019 NCAA national championships in the quarterfinal he beat

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

Wrestler, Austin DeSanto, in a close match by score (3-2). For the 2019–20 season, Mićić did not compete after qualifying for the Olympics through his finish at the 2019 World Championships, utilizing an Olympic redshirt. He planned to return in 2021 with one year of eligibility remaining, despite not competing during regular season, but pulled out of the 2021 NCAA Championships due to an injury.

International career

Mićić wrestled for the United States at junior levels, winning a bronze medal at 55 kg at the 2015 Junior World Championships in Salvador, Brazil. From 2018, he started to represent Serbia at senior levels. Mićić holds dual citizenship and chose to compete for the birth country of his father. He participated in the

2018 European Wrestling Championships The 69th UWW European Wrestling Championships was held in Kaspiysk, Dagestan, Russia, between 30 April and 6 May 2018. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's Greco-Roman Women's freestyle Participating nations On ...

, held in Kaspiysk, Dagestan, Russia where he lost to

Zaur Uguev Zaur Rizvanovich Uguev ( rus, Заур Ризванович Угуев, , zɐˈur ʊˈɡu(ɪ̯)ɪf; born 27 March 1995) is a Russian freestyle wrestler who competes at 57 kilograms. He claimed the 2020 Summer Olympic Games gold medal after bac ...

of Russia, but went on to wrestle back and win a bronze medal after defeating Levan Vartanov of Spain. The bronze medal was also Serbia's first ever European medal in freestyle wrestling. Later at the

2018 Mediterranean Games The 2018 Mediterranean Games ( es, Juegos Mediterráneos de 2018), officially known as the XVIII Mediterranean Games ( es, XVIII Juegos Mediterráneos) and commonly known as Tarragona 2018, was an international multi-sport event held from 22 Jun ...

in Tarragona, Spain, Mićić took another bronze medal at 65 kg. At the

, he won a silver medal, defeating world No.1

Süleyman Atlı Süleyman Atlı (born 27 July 1994 in Fethiye) is a Turkish freestyle wrestler competing in the 61 kg division. He is a member of Ankara ASKI. Career He earned a quota spot for the 2016 Summer Olympics with his first-place performance at t ...

of Turkey and U23 world bronze medallist Taras Markovych of Ukraine en route. Mićić qualified for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

by finishing in fifth place at the

2019 World Wrestling Championships The 2019 World Wrestling Championships were held in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan from 14 September to 22 September 2019. The tournament served as qualification for the 2020 Summer Olympics, the top six wrestlers from each category earned their NOCs a qu ...

in Kazakhstan, where he lost 5–4 in a tight quarterfinal match against

and later lost 4–3 in a bronze medal match against host country's Nurislam Sanayev. However, winning the

2021 Poland Open The 2021 Poland Open was an amateur wrestling event held in Warsaw, Poland between 8 and 13 June 2021. It served as the last United World Wrestling Ranking Series event of the year and played a role with regard to the 2020 Summer Olympics ...

Ranking Series event helped Mićić to be the top seed at the Tokyo Olympics. He won one of the bronze medals in the

65 kg 65 may refer to: * 65 (number) * 65 (film), ''65'' (film), an upcoming American science fiction thriller film * One of the years 65 BC, AD 65, 1965, 2065 * A type of dish in Indian cuisine, such as Chicken 65, Gobi 65, or Paneer 65 {{Numberdis ...

event at the

2022 Mediterranean Games The 2022 Mediterranean Games ( ar, ألعاب البحر الأبيض المتوسط 2022, links=, lit=, translit=ʾAlʿāb al-Baḥr al-ʾAbyaḍ al-Mutawassiṭ 2022), officially known as the XIX Mediterranean Games and commonly known as Oran ...

held in Oran, Algeria. He won one of the bronze medals in the 57kg event at the

held in Belgrade, Serbia.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Micic, Stevan 1996 births Living people Sportspeople from Mesa, Arizona American people of Serbian descent Serbian male sport wrestlers Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Serbia Mediterranean Games medalists in wrestling Competitors at the 2018 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 2022 Mediterranean Games Wrestlers at the 2019 European Games European Games medalists in wrestling European Games silver medalists for Serbia Michigan Wolverines wrestlers European Wrestling Championships medalists World Wrestling Championships medalists Wrestlers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic wrestlers of Serbia