Top Stories of the Decade

Helen Maroulis Makes History, Upends Saori Yoshida at Rio 2016

Thursday, December 26, 2019 - 14:19 By Ken Marantz

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 23) -- Helen MAROULIS (USA) went into the 53kg final at the Rio 2016 Olympics knowing about as much as one could about her opponent. Granted, it wasn't hard to be familiar with Saori YOSHIDA (JPN), given that with three Olympic and 13 world golds to her name, she was already among the most famous wrestlers on the planet. And the American had some first-hand knowledge, having lost to Yoshida by fall in two previous meetings.

But Maroulis knew that if she wanted to fulfill her dream of becoming the first American woman to win an Olympic wrestling gold, the path had to go through Yoshida, so she did extra homework on the superstar, including having videos interviews translated so she could better understand what made her tick.

"I knew the match would be more mental than anything else, because she's really smart," Maroulis said in a FloWrestling documentary after the match. "I don't think she likes when people attack her, and I don't think she's wrestled someone in over a decade who believed they could beat her, and I'm like, I have to show her that."

Maroulis, 24 at the time, took her own advice and took the fight to the 34-year-old Yoshida, and it paid off with one of the biggest upsets of the Olympic wrestling tournament. Maroulis scored a pair of second-period takedowns in a dramatic 4-1 victory before a raucous crowd at Rio's Carioca Arena.

For Maroulis, it was redemption for having failed to make the U.S. team four years earlier. For Yoshida--and Japan as a whole--it was a heartbreaking defeat that prevented her from matching the previous day achievement of compatriot Kaori ICHO (JPN), who became the first woman in any sport in Olympic history to win four consecutive Olympic golds.

In the first period, Yoshida got in deep on a single-leg, but Maroulis prevented her from finishing it off. A short time later, Yoshida received a point with Maroulis on the activity clock, and the period ended with Yoshida leading 1-0.

Early in the second period, Yoshida tried to shrug past Maroulis. Maroulis slipped to the side and as she started going behind, Yoshida reached back for a headlock, but Maroulis pulled her head out and gained control as the two tumbled to the mat for a 2-1 lead. With just over a minute left, Maroulis crossed over for an inner thigh hold and forced out Yoshida for what was originally ruled a 1-point stepout, but was revised to a 2-point takedown.

In the final 20 seconds, Yoshida again got in on a single, but just as she did earlier, Maroulis applied a whizzer and forced a non-scoring stalemate. When the buzzer sounded, both wrestlers flopped to the mat in tears, obviously experiencing vastly different emotions.

As a bewildered Maroulis finally got to her feet, her coach Valentin Kalika ran onto the mat and warmly embraced her. Her success can be directly linked to coming under the tutelage of the Russian.  The two had worked together before he invited her to a training camp in 2014 in the Russian wrestling hotbed of Dagestan.

A suicide bombing in the volatile region had led USA Wrestling to advise her against taking the trip, and her father also strongly opposed. But the desire to become an Olympic gold won out and she went, although she did take the extreme precaution of changing out of her USA warmup jacket during a stopover at Moscow airport.

Kalika was awed by such dedication. "Man, this girl came to die [just] to win Olympics. Not many men would do that. She became my hero."

And, during the three-week camp -- which concluded without incident --- he officially became her coach. The results were tangible, as she won the world title in 2015 at 55kg, adding to her silver from 2012 and bronze in 2014. (She would add another gold in 2017.) Her biggest decision was which weight class to make her Rio challenge and, consulting a nutritionist and others, made the choice to go down to 53kg.

That put her on a collision course with Yoshida, who was on a mission of her own. Aside from the historic significance of a fourth Olympic gold, Yoshida wanted to dedicate the victory to her father, who had died suddenly at 61 five months before the Rio Games. Eikatsu YOSHIDA, a former national champion, had been a coach and confidante since she started the sport at age 3 (that's him on her shoulders during her victory lap at the London 2012 Olympics).

Her father taught her the attacking style that led to her unrivaled success, and she felt she had sullied his memory by failing to score a takedown in the Rio final. As she wept uncontrollably in her mother's arms after the match, she could be heard saying, "Father is angry with me." The tears continued on the medal podium, and in interviews on Japanese TV.

The loss to Maroulis would be Yoshida's only one in her career to a non-Japanese in an individual tournament, as her two other defeats came at World Cups. It would also be her last match, as she announced her retirement in January this year.

#WrestleAthens

U17 Worlds: U.S. wins 3 golds to shock Iran for FS team title

Sunday, August 3, 2025 - 16:32 By Vinay Siwach

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ATHENS, Greece (August 3) -- Three gold medals for the United States and Iran's incredible choke on Sunday saw the U.S. defend its Freestyle team title at the World U17 Championships in Athens, Greece.

Going into the final day, Iran needed to win one bout out of four it had wrestlers in to claim the title irrespective of U.S. results. On the other hand, U.S. needed to win all its four bouts, including two head-to-head finals, and hope that Iran loses all its other matches as well.

That is exactly what transpired on the mat as U.S. put on an inspired show and won three gold and one bronze medal to reach 154 points. Iran finished with 150 points after its three loses in the finals and one in a bronze-medal bout.

Kazakhstan managed to pip Azerbaijan by one point and finish third with 91 points. Azerbaijan finished fourth 90 points and Japan got 79 points and finished fifth.

On Saturday, Ariah MILLS (USA) had won one gold as well apart from Japan, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and one UWW wrestler winning gold medals.

It began with Keegan BASSETT (USA), who gave hope to U.S. by claiming the gold medal at 45kg, as he pinned Parsa TAHMASBI (IRI) in the final inside the first period.

The first scramble saw the two wrestlers called back to center as neither wrestler was able to break the arm-lock. Bassett got the first takedown to lead 2-0 and then a turn made it 4-0. The American wrestler got another takedown and kept Tahmasbi's back on the mat.

The referees took their time but eventually called the fall, giving Bassett the gold medal at 45kg. Incidentally, its the same weight class his brother Bowen won the world U17 gold medal in 2021.

"Ever since I started wrestling, this was one of my goals to be a world champ," Bassett said. "It feels unbelievable to find a way to do it."

Over the two days he wrestled, Bassett showed how technically sound and physically strong he is at the weight class.

"I wrestled pretty good overall. First match was a little rough; nerves, and it was my first match in about three months," he said. "But I think I got better overall as the weekend went on and that's what I needed."

Four years ago, he was in Budapest watching Bowen win the gold medal in similar fashion as he pinned his opponent in the final. Keegan recalled that day.

"I definitely had that in mind going into this," he said. "Four years, that's unreal. I was there for him when he won in Budapest. I cried then, I cried now. It's just means so much. We work so hard and it's just truly such a surreal moment."

Samuel SANCHEZ (USA)Samuel SANCHEZ (USA) scores the gold winning takedown against Ulugbek RASHIDOV (UZB) in the 51kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Samuel SANCHEZ (USA), a returning world champion facing another returning world champion Ulugbek RASHIDOV (UZB), consolidated U.S. position by winning a thrilling 51kg final.

Rashidov was put on the passivity clock in the first period which gave Sanchez a 1-0 lead. He tried to score a go-behind and was awarded two points in the sequence. The U.S. challenged the decision and on review, it was clear that Rashidov never passed behind Sanchez and the two points were removed.

Sanchez came out attacking in the second period and got on a single-leg attack. Rashidov got his best defense of the match and defended that attack. Soon, Sanchez was put on the clock but he got the takedown on the edge with another leg attack to lead 3-0 and also got the activity time removed .

While Rashidov did get a front headlock turn in the final five seconds, Sanchez did not let him another and planted Rashidov's back on the mat for two more points as the time expired.

"I knew he was going to be a tough opponent," Sanchez said. "I got a little tired in the match, but I  kept going, kept digging deep and going through it. I got a couple shots but wasn't able to finish. But my last shot, I was able to take him out of bounce and get the two-point takedown."

Sanchez now has two gold medals at the World U17 Championships, having won at 45kg last year.

"This year I was definitely better than I was last year at controlling my opponent and moving him around," he said. "Not letting them on my legs as much. Last year, I was down like 5-0 in the finals. This year, didn't take me down."

Jayden JAMES (USA)Jayden JAMES (USA) defeated Arsham VAHABIAN (IRI), 9-2, in the 71kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Jayden JAMES (USA) put the U.S. closer to the title as he humbled Arsham VAHABIAN (IRI), 9-2, in the 71kg.

Vahabian was looking for his leg attacks but they never came as James showed some of the best defense of the night. He countered and scored a takedown. That remained the theme of the match as James kept going and did not even return to his corner during the break.

Soon, James had Vahabian broken and he ended the bout as Vahabian tried to pull of a headpinch. The win made U.S. go to 139 points while Iran was on 130 points.

In the 92kg bronze medal bout, Tanner HODGINS (USA) rallied to beat Elguja LOMIDZE (GEO), 10-0, and took the final tally of U.S. to 154 points.

David DZEBISOV (UWW)David DZEBISOV's (UWW) win over Amirali ALIZADEH (IRI) in the 92kg final indirectly helped the U.S. win the team title. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

It was now on Amirali ALIZADEH (IRI), who needed to win his 92kg final, a win which would have propelled Iran to 155 points and the team title.

But David DZEBISOV (UWW) ruined that party. Dzebisov defeated Alizadeh 6-2 in the 92kg final to deny Iran and earn a world title for himself.

Dzebisov scored the first takedown to lead 2-0 but Alizadeh fired one back on the second period to make it 2-2 and lead on criteria. He went into defense mode after that.

He, however, got caught in a tangle with Dzebisov who managed to finish on top and score two points and a lead of 4-2. There was only desperation from Alizadeh after that as he gave up two more points to drop the final 6-2.

In the only final in which neither Iran nor the U.S. featured, SITENDER (IND) won India's first Freestyle gold medal by beating Rihito HIURA (JPN) in the 60kg final.

A takedown masterclass saw Sitender break Hiura to the core and he was not able to finish his attacks nor defend the ones from Sitender.

The gold was first in Freestyle for India at U17 Worlds since 2022 and only the second time ever that the country had gold medals in all three styles.

USAThe 10 United States Freestyle wrestlers with the champion's team trophy. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

RESULTS

45kg
GOLD: Keegan BASSETT (USA) df. Parsa TAHMASBI (IRI), via fall (6-0)

BRONZE: Mirjalol MUKAMMILOV (UZB) df. Arnur NURSAIDOV (KGZ), 4-4
BRONZE: Ibragim VELIULLOV (UWW) df. Bakdaulet AGABEK (KAZ), 9-2

51kg
GOLD: Samuel SANCHEZ (USA) df. Ulugbek RASHIDOV (UZB), 5-2

BRONZE: Danael ABDYKASSYM (KAZ) df. Temuri TUTARASHVILI (GEO), 9-4
BRONZE: Dzhamal BAKAEV (UWW) df. Haruku SHIINA (JPN), 12-5

60kg
GOLD: SITENDER (IND) df. Rihito HIURA (JPN), 9-4

BRONZE: Hasan HASANOV (AZE) df. Nathan NASH (CAN), 5-4
BRONZE: Bekassyl ASSAMBEK (KAZ) df. Arian MEHRALIZADEH (IRI), 9-0

71kg
GOLD: Jayden JAMES (USA) df. Arsham VAHABIAN (IRI), 9-2

BRONZE: Ayubjon BOZORZODA (TJK) df. Jason KEIL (GER), 6-0
BRONZE: Yeghishe MOSESYAN (ARM) df. Farrukhbek JUMANAZAROV (UZB), 7-6

92kg
GOLD: David DZEBISOV (UWW) df. Amirali ALIZADEH (IRI), 6-2

BRONZE: Tanner HODGINS (USA) df. Elguja LOMIDZE (GEO), 10-0
BRONZE: Said PASHAYEV (AZE) df. Beibarys YERGALI (KAZ), 5-3