FS Preview: Iran and USA favored to clash for team title

Saturday, September 3, 2022 - 12:52 By Eric Olanowski

COSIER-VEVEY, Switzerland (August 30) --- The United States and Iran account for 11 returning world medalists – six of which were gold medalists in Oslo -- and are poised to go toe-to-toe for the freestyle team title at the 2022 World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.

The elite group of freestyle competitors will be led by defending world champions Thomas GILMAN (USA), Kyle DAKE (USA), Jordan BURROUGHS (USA), Hassan YAZDANI (IRI), Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) and Amir ZARE (IRI).

The tournament gets underway September 10, but the freestyle portion of the competition will be on the tail end of 2022 World Championships. The world’s most popular wrestling style starts Thursday, September 15.

Last year in Oslo, the United States (168 points) medaled in seven of ten weights and edged Iran (162 points) and their seven medalists by six points in the team race. Each squad returns a trio of world champions, setting up what’s expected to be the closest team race since the 2017 World Championships, when Snyder beat Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RWF) in the final match of the event, helping America edge the Russians by one point.

What are placements worth?
Gold = 25 points
Silver = 20 points
Bronze = 15 points
Fifth = 10 points
Seventh = 8 points
Eighth = 6 points
Ninth = 4 points
Tenth = 2 points

Without 125kg Tokyo Olympic champion Gable STEVESON (USA) in America’s lineup and defending world champion Zare expected to finish with at least a bronze medal, the Stars and Stripes enter the World Championships in a 15-point hole.

There most critical weights where the USA can expunge that 15-point deficit are 57kg, 74kg and 97kg. These are the three weights where seeded American and Iranian wrestlers are on the same side of the bracket, setting up potential quarter or semifinal meetings.

Alireza SARLAK (IRI) and Thomas GILMAN (USA) clash in the 2021 world finals. They are expected to meet in the semifinals in Belgrade. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

At 57kg, reigning world champion and Olympic bronze medalist from Tokyo Gilman could see Alireza SARLAK (IRI) in the semifinals. The American is seeded No. 1 at the weight, while the Iranian is seeded fourth.

Gilman owns the two-match advantage against Sarlak, having picked up victories in the 2021 world finals and the semifinals at the '22 Zouhaier Sghaier Ranking Series event.

For that matchup to happen in the semifinals, Gilman must get through No. 8 Muhammet KARAVUS (TUR), and Sarlak must take out No. 5 Vladimir EGOROV (MKD).

At 74kg, Dake is the top-seeded wrestler. He'll share the top side of the chart with Iran’s No. 5 Yones EMAMICHOGHAEI (IRI).

Dake will likely take on European bronze medalist No. 8 Mitchell FINESILVER (ISR) in the quarterfinals. They met at the ’21 Henri Deglane, where Dake took out the Israeli wrestler 11-0 in the opening period.

If fifth-seeded Emamichoghaei wants to keep Iran’s hopes of winning the freestyle team title alive and down Dake in the semifinals, he’s going to have to get through No. 4 Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) in the quarterfinals.

At 97kg, the biggest storyline is how the seeds played out.

Kyle SNYDER (USA) and Mohammadhossein MOHAMMADIAN (IRI) sit together on the top side of the chart. The reason it’s significant is that the last time these two met – in the 2020 Matteo Pellicone semifinals – the Iranian pinned the two-time world champion.

Snyder is the top-seeded wrestler, while Mohammadian is seeded fifth.

For the Snyder and Mohammadian semifinal match to come to fruition, the American must beat No. 8 Mamed IBRAGIMOV (KAZ), while the Iranian must defeat No. 4 Mahamed ZAKARIIEV (UKR).

Outside of the weights where American and Iranian are positioned on the same side of the bracket, other key weights in the team race include 61kg, 65kg, 70kg, 79kg, 86kg and 92kg.

Iran holds a slight advantage at 61kg due to Reza ATRI's (IRI) world and Olympic experience. He'll be making his fourth appearance in Iran's senior world lineup. Last year, he finished in fifth place at the Tokyo Olympic Games and World Championships.

Seth GROSS (USA) will represent the USA at 61kg. He earned her first Worlds berth by beating 2021 world silver medalist Daton FIX (USA) in a three-match playoff.

The biggest unseeded dark horses in the 65kg bracket are Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) and Yianni DIAKOMIHALIS (USA).

Both Amouzad and Diakomihalis underperformed at last year’s World Championships. They both went 1-1 in Norway. Amouzad finished in 11th place, while Diakomihalis finished in 12th place.

But with another year of experience under their belt, they’re poised to welcome the pressure that comes along with fighting for a team title.

The Belgrade Worlds will be Amouzad’s second competition up at 65kg after continuing his four-year growth spurt. Since 2018, he’s wrestled at 45kg, 48kg, 57kg, 61kg and seems to have settled in at 65kg. The lengthy Iranian competed at 61kg in his senior world debut a season ago but moved up to 65kg for April’s Asian Championships.

Amouzad showed that he’s a true 65kg guy by winning Asian gold in Ulan-Baatar earlier this year. In the gold-medal match, he scooped up a massive win over Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Bajrang PUNIA (IND).

Diakomihalis will try to end America’s 65kg non-world-medal curse that dates back to the ’06 Guangzhou World Championships when USA’s freestyle head coach Mike ZADDICK won world gold and secured the Stars and Stripe's last 65kg/66kg world medal.

At 70kg, No. 5 Amirmohammad YAZDANICHERATI (IRI) and No. 6 Zain Allen RETHERFORD (USA) are on opposite sides of the chart and wouldn’t wrestle until the finals.

Yazdanicheratri made his world team debut last year at 65kg, finishing with a silver medal. He’s moved up to 70kg to ultimately prepare himself for a run at Iran's 74kg spot for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Retherford will make his third appearance for the Red, White and Blue on the senior-level world stage. He finished in 11th place in Paris and 26th place in Nur-Sultan.

Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) and Mohammad NOKHODILARIMI (IRI) could meet in the 79kg world finals. They met for gold in Oslo, with the American picking up the victory. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

Last year’s world finals opponents Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) and Mohammad NOKHODILARIMI (IRI) are seeded first and second at 79kg, respectively, and wouldn't wrestle again until the finals.

Burroughs is heading to Belgrade looking to bag his sixth world title, which would be an American male record. His road to rewriting the history books will go through No. 8 Baliyan GOURAV (IND) in the semifinals before wrestling either No. 4 Arman AVAGYAN (ARM) or No. 5 Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) in the semifinals.

Nokhodilrimi has a tougher path to the gold-medal match. In the quarters, he’ll compete against No. 7 Saifedine ALEKMA (FRA), who was last year’s European runner-up. If he beats the French wrestler, he’ll compete against reigning European champion No. 3 Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) or European bronze medal winner No. 6 Muhammet AKDENIZ (TUR).

Regarding the 86kg bracket, all eyes will be on two guys: Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) and David TAYLOR (USA). The pair of Olympic champions are in a league of their own and are expected to meet for the fifth time in their career.

Yazdani is the first-seeded wrestler, and Taylor is seeded second. Barring a catastrophic meltdown, the superstars would meet for a second consecutive year for a world title.

Heading into Belgrade, Taylor owns the 3-1 advantage, but Yazdani gained the momentum after beating his American rival in the 2021 world finals.

Kamran GHSEMPOUR (IRI) stopped J’den COX (USA) in the semifinals and stopped the American from winning a third world title. They are both entered at 92kg. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

There are two headliners entered in the 92kg field, but Kamran Ghasempour holds the upper hand on two-time world champion J’den COX (USA) after winning their Oslo semifinal meeting en route to winning world gold last year.

Ghasempour heads into Belgrade as the top seed in the 92kg chart after his world title run and gold-medal performance at the Bolat Turlykhanov Cup Ranking Series event.

Ghasempour is looking to win an 11th consecutive tournament. Since 2018, he’s claimed gold at 10 straight events. Those events include the senior-level World Championships, two U23 World Championships, and a pair of Asian Championships, among others.

Ghasempour sits on opposite sides of the bracket from the Rio Olympic bronze medalist Cox. They’d have to remain unbeaten until the finals to clash for a second time.

But to get to Cox, Ghasempour must take out No. 8 Orgilokh DAGVADORJ (MGL) in the quarters and either No. 4 Andrii VLASOV (UKR) or No. 5 Viky VIKY (IND) in the semifinals.

Cox is seeded third and sits on the bottom of the bracket with his quarterfinals opponent No. 6 Adilet DAVLUMBAYEV (KAZ). The American must beat the Kazakh, then defeat either No. 2 Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE) or No. 7 Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO) to reach the finals against Ghasempour.

#WrestleRome

Crafty Bullen returns to top of podium in Rome

Friday, June 24, 2022 - 18:05 By Vinay Siwach

ROME, Italy (June 24) -- Grace BULLEN (NOR) won her first senior European title in 2017, and since then, she reached the medal bouts at 16 out of 22 competitions she competed in till 2020. She won another continental gold in Rome that year. A medal at Tokyo Olympics and at the home World Championships in Oslo felt like reality.

But as luck would have it, Bullen failed to qualify for Tokyo. Actually, she did not finish on the podium at five different tournaments including two shocking losses at the Olympic Qualifying tournaments in Budapest and Sofia. She returned empty-handed in Oslo as well.

Just when it seemed that the prodigy from Norway was fading away, Bullen came up with a performance for the ages at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series in Rome. Bullen captured the gold at 59kg on Friday, outscoring her opponents 25-2, including a 12-2 win in the final against Jowita WRZESIEN (POL).

Bullen's gold might have come at the right time as she prepares for the World Championships and ultimately for the Paris Olympics. The confidence-boosting win will also serve as a great catalyst to help her return to the top form that she once was known for.

The former U17 world champ displayed high-quality wrestling, not only in the final but throughout the day.

Nikolett SZABO (HUN) was the first to get a taste of Bullen's crafty wrestling, as she got launched for five with a clean pick and throw. That gave Bullen a 13-0 start to the day. Abigail NETTE (USA) kept her quiet for a few moments but Bullen won the semifinal 10-0.

A final against Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) would have given her a chance to assess herself better but Wrzesien defeated the former world silver medalist 9-3 in the other semifinal.

Against Wrzsien, Bullen launched double leg attacks and transitioned to leg lace on one of them to lead 8-0. She went for a winning takedown but in the sequence, ended up giving up an exposure as well which was two points for each wrestler. But she got that final takedown with 3:43 left in the final.

This was Bullen's first major international gold since that European title which she won, incidentally in Rome.

Tetiana RIZHKO (UKR) won the gold at 65kg. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

After winning three gold medals on Thursday, Ukraine added two more through Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR) and European champion Tetiana RIZHKO (UKR) at 53kg and 65kg, respectively.

Rizhko was the star performer of the day as she dismantled her opponents en route to the gold. In the four bouts, she won via fall in two, one by technical superiority and another 6-1.

She faced Emma BRUNTIL (USA) in Round 1 of the Nordic bracket and secured a fall inside the first period. Up against her teammate Kateryna ZELENYKH (UKR) in the next round, Rizhko scored two quick takedowns to open the scoring. Zelenykh kept trying to attack her senior opponent's legs but ended up giving points and eventually a fall.

In Round 4, she faced a familiar opponent in Kriszta INCZE (ROU). The bout was a virtual gold medal bout. Rizhko did not wait much and got an early exposure to lead 2-0. Incze's eyes lit up when she got behind Rizhko in a standing position and tried working a takedown but the Ukrainian tossed her for four. With a 6-1 lead, Rizhko played it safe and does not engage much in the second period.

Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR) defeated Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA) twice on Friday at 53kg. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

At 53kg, Malanchuk scored two wins over U23 European champion Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA) to win the gold medal. The two first met in Round 2 in the morning session which Malanchuk won 3-2. Dragutan tried avenging that loss but a solid defensive performance from Malanchuk got her the gold with a 6-2 score.

In the final, the score was tied 2-2 when Malanchuk worked on a cradle to secure the fall. Dragutan survived the fall but gave up two exposures in the process and trailed 6-2.

The rest of the bout saw Dragutan trying to find an opening against Malanchuk who would not budge despite several attacks from the Moldova wrestler.

Ukraine could have won a third gold of the day but Mariia VYNNYK (UKR) came up short against Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL) at 55kg.

Krawczyk won the gold after finishing second at the Ranking Series event in Istanbul at the beginning of the year. She turned that into gold with a 7-2 win over Vynnyk.

It was Vynnyk who got the first attack going and as she dragged Krawczyk towards the zone, the Poland wrestler used that momentum to hit a well-timed arm throw for four. Vynnyk seemed a little shocked after the throw but composed herself quickly.

She scored a takedown before the break to cut the lead to 4-2 but despite her several attempts to score more, she suffered a 7-2 loss in the final.

At 50kg, Madison PARKS (CAN) and Agata WALERZAK (POL) left everything on the mat in the gold medal bout.

Parks led 4-2 at the break before Walerzak made it 4-4 with a takedown at the restart. The lead went back to Parks with a stepout. But Walerzak scored a takedown and added two more to lead 8-5 with two minutes left. Parks, desperate to get on an attack, managed to score a takedown late in the match.

With the score reading 8-7 with just 20 seconds left, Walerzak kept her distance from Parks but in the final second of the bout, the Canadian used her strength to put down the Poland wrestler.

Walerzak was trying to escape a body lock from behind but Parks kept her hands locked and just before time expired, she managed to bring down Walerzak on her knee for a brief moment. But that was enough for her to get a takedown and the win.

Skylar GROTE (USA) won four bouts on Friday to capture the 72kg gold. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

A day after Yelena MAKOYED (USA) made a surprising run to the 76kg gold, another USA wrestler capture the gold on her debut in Ranking Series.

Pan-American champion Skylar GROTE (USA) dominated the field at 72kg to capture the gold a month after winning the continental title in Mexico.

After getting past teammate Marilyn GARCIA (USA) 11-0, Grote faced tough competition from former U23 world silver medalist Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU). But a good attack and defense combination gave a 6-3 win.

Two-time world medalist Anna SCHELL (GER) was dominating the field in a similar fashion. She had only conceded only against Anghel in three of her bouts.

Grote won her third bout against Aysegul OZBEGE (TUR) to set up a Round 5 bout against Schell. With the two wrestling being the only ones to remain undefeated at that point, it became a gold-medal match.

Schell tried getting on the scoreboard quickly but it was Grote who took the 2-0 lead. She then added another takedown and make it 4-0 at the break. In the second period, Grote kept her shots going and extended her lead to 6-0 despite Schell's repeated attempt to score from double-leg.

She managed to score one with 41 seconds left but Grote gave no other openings, winning 6-2.

"She [Schell] was the toughest opponent I faced," Grote said. "I don't have much experience internationally so the girls were new to me as I have never wrestled them before. But I began dominantly and then said to myself 'let's go.'"

Grote made her first national team ever after reaching the final at World Team Trials. She lost to U17 and U20 world champ Amir ELOR (USA) but did not let that disappointment come in the way of her future tournaments.

"I was disappointed after the loss but I told myself that I wrestle in two weeks," she said. "I need to be more calculated with my attacks, I could not win the hand fights. But I had spent a lot of time preparing so I came to Italy."

The learnings from that bout held Grote in Rome as she controlled her bouts with precision.

"I changed my mindset this year," she said. "Win or lose I am still Skylar and now I am more progressive in attacks than being a counter wrestler. I try to control the bout rather than wrestling as per my opponent."

Petriashvili wins gold

World and Olympic silver medalist Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) added a second Ranking Series title of his career, four years after he won the first with a clinical display of wrestling in Rome.

In the final, he faced his semifinal opponent from European Championships Robert BARAN (POL). While the bout in Budapest ran close, Petriashvili made sure it wasn't the case Friday.

After a slow start for which Petriashvili was awarded two points for Baran's passivity on either side of the break, Petraishvili successfully got one of his attacks to work and score a takedown and lead 4-0.

In the final few moments of the bout, Petriashvili scored another to win 6-0.

In the other freestyle weight that was in action Friday, Batyrbek TCAKULOV (SVK) collected a second straight Ranking Series gold at 97kg.

Earlier this month, he had won the gold at the Bolat Turlykhanov Cup in Almaty and came up with a similar performance in Rome. He defeated Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO) 10-4 in a final which he controlled throughout.

The European bronze medalist led the bout 2-1 before adding a takedown late in the first period. He began with another takedown out-of-bounds to extend it to 6-1. Switching to defense, he countered a duck under attempt from Matcharashvili and scored. While the Georgian managed to score one, he lost the bout.

En route to the final, Tcakulov had defeated fellow European bronze medalist Zbigniew BARANOWSKI using a leg lace while Matcharashvili upset the European champion Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE) in a minute and 10 seconds. He had earlier defeated silver medalist Vladislav BAITCAEV (HUN) 14-9 despite trailing 7-2 at the start.

Results

Women's wrestling

50kg
GOLD: Madison PARKS (CAN) df. Agata WALERZAK (POL), 10-8

BRONZE: Anna LUKASIAK (POL) df. Zehra DEMIRHAN (TUR), 2-1

53kg
GOLD: Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR) df. Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA), 6-2

BRONZE: Samantha STEWART (CAN) df. Szimonetta SZEKER (HUN), 10-0

55kg
GOLD: Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL) df. Mariia VYNNYK (UKR), 7-2

BRONZE: Andreea ANA (ROU) df. Nina HEMMER (GER), 4-3

59kg
GOLD: Grace BULLEN (NOR) df. Jowita WRZESIEN (POL), 12-2

BRONZE: Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) df. Elena BRUGGER (GER), 5-1
BRONZE: Abigail NETTE (USA) df. Nikolett SZABO (HUN), 13-2

65kg
GOLD: Tetiana RIZHKO (UKR)
SILVER: Emma BRUNTIL (USA)
BRONZE: Kriszta INCZE (ROU)

72kg
GOLD: Skylar GROTE (USA)
SILVER: Anna SCHELL (GER)
BRONZE: Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU)

Freestyle

97kg
GOLD: Batyrbek TCAKULOV (SVK) df. Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO), 10-4

BRONZE: Elizbar ODIKADZE (GEO) df. Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL), 9-3
BRONZE: Vladislav BAITCAEV (HUN) df. Erik THIELE (GER), 4-0

125kg
GOLD: Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) df. Robert BARAN (POL), 6-0

BRONZE: Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL) df. Anil KILICSALLAYAN (TUR), via inj. def.
BRONZE: KHOTSIANIVSKYI (UKR) df. Gennadij CUDINOVIC (GER), 11-0

FS Preview: Iran and USA favored to clash for team title

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Crafty Bullen returns to top of podium in Rome