#YasarDogu2018

Burroughs and Chamizo Set to Clash in Yasar Dogu Finals, Alborov Beats Two Olympic Champs on Road to Finals

By Eric Olanowski

ISTANBUL, Turkey (July 27) - The second installment of Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) and Frank CHAZMIO (ITA) is scheduled for tomorrow’s 74kg Yasar Dogu finals after both wrestlers finished the opening day with three solid performances apiece.

This time around, expect the conditions to be a little more conducive to wrestling, as they will compete indoors at the Bağcılar Olympic Sport Hall on a dry mat.

The two superstars who combine for ten world and Olympic medals met outdoors in May’s highly anticipated Beat the Streets finale, now known as “Slip Gate,” due to lack of footing which stemmed from the condensation build up on the mat.

In that Beat the Streets match-up, Burroughs “slipped” past Chamizo and scored the 6-5 come-from-behind victory.

Chamizo, the two-time world champion, and Rio Olympic bronze medalist commanded the 4-0 lead after a pair of first-period takedowns from a slide-by and a counter-offensive high-crotch. But, with short time remaining in the opening period, Burroughs, the London Olympic champion picked up his first two points and closed the Italian wrestlers lead to 4-2.

The second period belonged to America's four-time world champion, as he capped off the match by blasting through Chamizo with his patented double leg, ultimately winning the bout, 6-5.

After the match, both wrestlers admitted that the mat conditions were not ideal and caused a lot of issues.  Burroughs ended  the interview by looking at Chamzio and saying “Go back down to 70kg.”

In addition to Burroughs, fellow American's Thomas GILMAN (USA) and David Morris TAYLOR (USA) made the finals in their respective weight classes.   

 Aslanbek ALBOROV (AZE) defeated two Olympic champions on his way to the 97kg gold-medal bout. (Photo by Max Rose Fyne)

Meanwhile, Aslanbek ALBOROV (AZE), the 2017 world bronze medalist went 3-0 and beat a 2017 European champion and two Olympic champions on his way to making the 97kg finals.

Alborov opened his day against fellow countryman, Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE) who is a two-time Olympic medalist, winning the gold in London and bronze in Rio.

The 2017 world bronze medalist came out on top 1-0 in a match-up that likely determined who is going to represent Azerbaijan in October at the 2018 World Championships in Budapest.

Alborov continued his run into the quarterfinals, picking up the dominant 9-2 win over 2017 European Champion, Riza YILDIRIM (TUR).

Moving to the semifinals, Alborov avenged his 2017 World Championship semifinals loss to 2016 Rio Olympic champion, Kyle Frederick SNYDER (USA), picking up the 3-3 win on criteria. 

In the gold-medal bout, Alborov will wrestle U23 world champion and Asian runner-up, Mojtaba GOLEIJ (IRI). 

The finals are scheduled to take place on Saturday at 5:30 PM local time.  

RESULTS 
Freestyle 
57kg 

GOLD -  Thomas GILMAN (USA) vs. Dzmichyk RYNCHYNAU (BLR) 

BRONZE - Winner 251 vs. Taras MARKOVYCH (UKR) 
BRONZE - Winner 252 vs. Vicky VICKY (IND) 

65kg
GOLD -  Ali RAHIMZADA (AZE) vs. Mehran NASIRIAFRACHALI (IRI) 

BRONZE - Winner 253 vs. Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ) 
BRONZE - Winner 186 vs. Hassan MORADGHOLIEI (IRI) 

74kg
GOLD - Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) vs. Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA) 

BRONZE - Winner 185 vs. Saeid DADASHPOURKERIKALAEI (IRI) 
BRONZE - Winner 233 vs. Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ) 

86kg
GOLD - David Morris TAYLOR (USA) vs. Murad SULEYMANOV (AZE) 

BRONZE - Winner 214 vs. Ahmet BILICI (TUR) 
BRONZE - Winner 232 vs. Fatih ERDIN (TUR) 

97kg
GOLD -  Aslanbek ALBOROV (AZE) vs. Mojtaba GOLEIJ (IRI) 

BRONZE - Winner 235 vs. Valerii ANDRIITSEV (UKR) 
BRONZE - Winner 215 vs. Kyle Frederick SNYDER (USA) 

Women's Wrestling 
50kg 

GOLD - Sarra HAMDI (TUN) vs. Oksana LIVACH (UKR) 

BRONZE - Winner 254 vs. Semkiv ILONA (UKR) 
BRONZE - Georgina Suzana SEICARIU (ROU) vs. Ciricu EMILIA (MDA) 

55kg
GOLD -  Pinki PINKI (IND) vs. Olga SHNAIDER (UKR) 

BRONZE - Siwar BOUSETTA (TUN) vs. Nurufe NURUFE (TUR) 

59kg
GOLD - Sofiia BODNAR (UKR) vs. Olena KREMZER (UKR) 

BRONZE -  Yuliya PISARENKA (BLR) vs. Sangeeta BALALI (IND) 

65kg 
GOLD - Netreba IRYNA (AZE) vs. Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR) 

BRONZE -  Mariia ILCHYSHYN (UKR) vs. Elis MANOLOVA (AZE) 
BRONZE - Winner 213 vs. Geeta GEETA (IND) 

72kg 
Round 3 -  Rajni RAJNI (IND) vs. Beste ALTUG (TUR) 

#WrestleBudapest

Orta, Kusaka win Ranking Series gold; Esmaeili books Paris 2024 spot

By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (June 9) -- The 67kg weight class in Budapest was supposed to offer some interesting match-ups. Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN) could have avenged his World Championships loss to Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI). Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) could have qualified for the Paris Olympics if he had defeated Geraei in Budapest. Leri ABULADZE (GEO) could have become a contender in Georgia for the weight class.

But none of that happened as Orta dominated, outsmarted and controlled his way to the gold medal at 67kg in the Ranking Series, making him one of the favorites for the gold medal in Paris. The Paris Games will also present Orta a rare opportunity to win two Olympic gold medals in two different weight classes as he won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 60kg.

Orta began his day with an 8-0 win over David MANYIK (HUN) before using a four-pointer to beat Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN) 7-1 to set up a semifinal against Esmaeili. No one would have expected the Asian champion Esmaeili to challenge the world champion but the Iranian had different ideas.

Esmaeili raced to a 7-0 lead in the first period and was one point away from winning the bout. However, Orta managed to keep himself in the bout and began the second period with a front headlock for four and got one more for a lost challenge from Iran. Still, Esmaeili did well to defend the lead until the last three seconds.

As the bout entered the final 10 seconds left, Orta almost gave up and Esmaeili, thinking that Orta had accepted defeat, turned his back and began walking towards the Iranian corner to celebrate. Just the whole stadium gasped as Orta, realizing there was still time left, ran towards Esmaeili and threw him for four.

Midway through the throw, an air-borne Esmaeili knew he messed up. He pleaded that the time was over. Referees initially did not award points to Orta but Cuba challenged and it was clear that the move was completed with 0.1 seconds left. Orta was awarded four points, helping him win 9-7.

An inconsolable Esmaeili had to be helped to the warm-up area. For he thought his Paris 2024 dream was over. 

Orta, fueled by that unthinkable win and his Cuban teammates including Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) in the stands, went on to beat Abuladze in the final to claim the gold medal. He, however, will remain second in the seeding for the Olympics as Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) has already locked up the top seed.

Jafarov was wrestling in Budapest but was up at 72kg. He may have changed his weight class but had no trouble winning the gold medal at the higher weight as well.

Back to Esmaeili who had his task cut out in the evening session. He needed to beat Geraei in two bouts to earn the Paris 2024 spot on the Iran team. He gathered himself from that loss to Orta and scored a final second takedown against Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN) to clinch a 6-5 win while Geraei defeated Andres MONTANO (ECU) 3-3 to claim the other bronze.

The two stepped on the mat for the wrestle-off for the Olympic spot with Geraei holding an advantage that if he won the first match, he would book his spot for Paris but Esmaeili had to do it in a best-of-three format. But Esmaeili did not let it go to that third as he defeated Geraei in two straight bouts in a tennis-like scoreline, 6-0 and 6-4, to earn a spot on the Iran team for the Paris Olympics and maybe a rematch with Orta in the French capital which on Sunday witness Carlos ALCARAZ win his first French Open.

David LOSONCZI (HUN)David LOSONCZI (HUN) celebrates after securing a fall over Ali CENGIZ (TUR). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

There was more drama in Budapest as David LOSONCZI (HUN) made sure he pinned Ali CENGIZ (TUR) when the two met in the 87kg semifinal. The two were awarded a shared World Championships title in September after Cengiz defeated Losonczi but the Hungarian wrestler won an appeal for judges' errors and was also awarded the gold medal.

Losonczi admitted that he was waiting for the rematch and though relieved to get the gold medal in Belgrade, he did not really celebrate it. So when he faced Cengiz this time, Losonczi stepped over when the Turkish wrestler was trying to finish a headlock throw. The local fans in Budapest were ecstatic and so was Losonczi who missed his final against Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) due to an injury, a deep cut on his chin.

Nao KUSAKA (JPN)Nao KUSAKA (JPN) defeated Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) in the 77kg semifinal in Budapest. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Nao KUSAKA (JPN) has now beaten World Championships gold and silver medalists at 77kg in the past two months. After his win over world champion Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) at the Asian Championships in April, Kusaka handed World Championships silver medalist Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) a 2-1 defeat in the semifinal. Suleymanov was leading 1-1 on criteria but Kusaka managed to score a stepout just in time to claim the win.

In the final, Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL) defaulted due to injury and Kusaka won the gold medal that will take him past Suleymanov as the top-ranked wrestler in the world. Suleymanov would have remained the top-ranked wrestler if he had won a bronze medal but pulled out due to injury. Kusaka will now have 67200 points while Suleymanov will have 67100 points.

At 97kg, World Championships bronze medalist Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) had no issues beating whoever tried to challenge him. In the final Alex SZOKE (HUN) led 1-1 on criteria but Saravi scored a takedown.

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)
SILVER: Poya DAD MARZ (IRI)
BRONZE: Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO)

67kg
GOLD: Luis ORTA (CUB) df. Leri ABULADZE (GEO), 4-0

BRONZE: Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) df. Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN), 6-5
BRONZE: Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) df. Andres MONTANO (ECU), 3-3

72kg
GOLD: Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) df. Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY), 5-2

BRONZE: Danial SOHRABI (IRI) df. Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO), 7-3
BRONZE: Krisztian VANCZA (HUN) df. Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA), 2-1

77kg
GOLD: Nao KUSAKA (JPN) df. Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL), via inj. def.

BRONZE: Yosvanys PENA FLORESS (CUB) df. Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Mohammad Reza MOKHTARI (IRI) df. Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE), via inj. def.

82kg
GOLD: Erik SZILVASSY (HUN) df. Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO), 3-1

BRONZE: Karlo KODRIC (CRO) df. Spencer WOODS (USA), via fall
BRONZE: Mihail BRADU (MDA) df. Peter DOEMOEK (HUN), 3-0

87kg
GOLD: Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) df. David LOSONCZI (HUN), via inj. def.

BRONZE: Mohammadhossein MAHMOODI (IRI) df. Ali CENGIZ (TUR), 10-4
BRONZE: Bachir SID AZARA (ALG) df. Istvan TAKACS (HUN), via forfeit

97kg
GOLD: Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) df. Alex SZOKE (HUN), 3-1

BRONZE: Giorgi MELIA (GEO) df. Josef RAU (USA), 11-4
BRONZE: Shayan HABIBZARE (IRI) df. Kevin MEJIA CASTILLO (HON), via inj. def.