Stevan Andrija Mićić ( sr-cyr, Стеван Андрија Мићић; born 4 April 1996) is a Serbian-American wrestler who competes at 57 kilograms (125 pounds). He won a gold medal in

freestyle wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling. It is one of two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games, along with Greco-Roman wrestling, Greco-Roman. scholastic wrestling, High school wrestling and men's collegiate wrestling in the U ...

at the

2023 World Wrestling Championships The 2023 World Wrestling Championships was held from 16 to 24 September 2023 in Belgrade, Serbia. Wrestlers get a chance to win 90 quotas for the 2024 Summer Olympics from the Belgrade Worlds. Any nation that participated in the 2023 continental ...

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 A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

(

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

and

2020 The year 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 even ...

), a silver medal at the

2019 European Games The 2nd European Games 2019 (, ''Jeŭrapiejskija huĺni 2019''; , ''Yevropeyskiye igry 2019''), also known as the 2019 European Games or Minsk 2019 (; ), were held in Minsk, Belarus, from 21 June to 30 June 2019. The games featured 200 events in ...

, 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 fi ...

(

and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

) while representing Serbia. In

collegiate wrestling Collegiate wrestling, commonly referred to as folkstyle wrestling, is the form of wrestling practiced at the post-secondary level in the United States. This style of wrestling is also practiced at the high school, middle school, and elementary ...

, he is a three-time

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

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

and was the 2018

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

champion for the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except wo ...

Biography

Background

Stevan Mićić was born on April 4, 1996, in

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

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, 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, is an unofficial region of Northern Indiana, northern Indiana, United States that is located at the northwestern corner of the state. Though there is no official definition of th ...

within the Serbian culture, an area within the

Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the Midwest, containing the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs and satellite cities. ...

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

High school

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 14,106 at the 2020 ce ...

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, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

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

College career

He was a student at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

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 U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

wrestler Austin DeSanto 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. He earned a bachelor's degree in sociology and a master's degree in sports management from the University of Michigan.

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 overview Men's freestyle Men's Greco-Roman Women's freestyle Participating nations ...

, held in Kaspiysk, Dagestan, Russia where he lost to Zaur Uguev of Russia, but won a bronze medal after defeating Levan Vartanov of Spain. The bronze medal was also Serbia's first European medal in freestyle wrestling. Later at the

2018 Mediterranean Games The 2018 Mediterranean Games (, ), officially known as the XVIII Mediterranean Games (, ) and commonly known as Tarragona 2018, was an international multi-sport event held from 22 June to 1 July 2018 in Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. Tarragona was ...

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 won the gold medal in the 57kg event at the 2016 Yasar Dogu Tournament held in Istanb ...

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

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

by finishing fifth at the

2019 World Wrestling Championships The 2019 World Wrestling Championships were held in Astana, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan from 14 September to 22 September 2019. The tournament served as qualification for the Wrestling at the 2020 Summer Olympics, 2020 Summer Olympics, the top six wres ...

in Kazakhstan, where he lost 5–4 in the quarterfinal against

and lost 4–3 in a bronze-medal match against the 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, though he would not medal. He won a bronze medal at 65 kg at the

2022 Mediterranean Games The 2022 Mediterranean Games (), officially known as the XIX Mediterranean Games and commonly known as Oran 2022, was an international multi-sport event held from 25 June to 6 July 2022 in Oran, Algeria. Oran was announced as the host city at th ...

in Oran, Algeria. He also won a bronze medal at 57kg 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 as ...

in Belgrade, Serbia. At the

, again in Belgrade, Micic went 5-0 to win the gold medal at 57kg. To win the gold, he defeated three former world champions: 2018 and 2019 World/2020 Olympic 57kg gold medalist Zaur Uguev in the quarterfinals, 2022 57kg champion Zelimkhan Abakarov in the semifinals, and 2022 61kg champion Rei Higuchi in the finals. This was Serbia's first senior-level gold medal in men's freestyle wrestling.

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 Wrestlers at the 2018 Mediterranean Games Wrestlers 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 for Serbia