Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! April 02, 2018

By Eric Olanowski

Reviewing Bill Farrell results, Commonwealth Games team announcements and this weekends Freestyle World Cup. 

1. USA Wins Six Golds, Dieringer Named MOW at Bill Farrell
The United States, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan each had wrestlers capture gold medals at the Bill Farrell Memorial International which was held at the New York Athletic Club in New York City, United States.

For the second time in as many tournaments, American Alex DIERINGER (USA) took home the 79kg gold medal. Up from 74kg, Dieringer is a little over a month removed from going 5-0 and outscoring his competition 42-5 at the Outstanding Ukrainian Memorial in Kiev. In the Outstanding Ukrainian Memorial finals, Dieringer defeated Olympic bronze medalist Yabrail HASANOV (AZE), 7-3.

This weekend, Dieringer was named the Bill Farrell Most Outstanding Wrestler after three wins, which included a fall over 2015 world fifth-place finisher, Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA) in the 79kg finals.

FINAL RESULTS
57kg - Samat NADYRBEK (KGZ) df. Tim LAMBERT (USA), 11-0
61kg - Jon MORRISON (USA) df. Tyler GRAFF (USA), 6-5
65kg - Evan HENDERSON (USA) df. Ilman MUKHTAROV (FRA), via fall (0:26) 
70kg - Sayatpek OKASOV (KAZ) df. Kyle RUSCHELL (USA), 6-3
74 kg - Thomas GANTT (USA) df. Dan VALLIMONT (USA),11-0
79kg -  Alex DIERINGER (USA) df. Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA)
86kg - Joe Rau (Minnesota Storm) round-robin winner
97kg - Ty WALZ (USA) df. Deron WINN (USA), 4-2
125kg - Inkar YERMUKAMBET (KAZ) df. Oleg BOLTIN (KAZ), 4-2

2. Canada and Nigeria Announce Commonwealth Games Teams
Canada and Nigeria each revealed the 12 representatives who will compete at the 2018 Commonwealth Games which takes place in Gold Coast, Australia on April 11-13, 2018.

Defending Commonwealth Games championships, Olympic gold medalist Erica WIEBE (CAN) and Olympian Korey JARVIS (CAN) lead a Canadian team that won seven gold medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

World finalist Odunayo ADEKOROYE (NGR) and 2018 African champion Melvin BIBO (NGR) head Nigeria’s 12 participants. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Nigeria medaled in 11 out of 12 weight classes, including two gold medal performances by Adekuoroye and Oluwafunmilayo ADENIYI AMINAT (NGR).

3. Mongolia and India Round Out World Cup Teams
Due the the the U.S. Embassy not being able to provide expedited appointments for sporting events, the Russian Wrestling Federation has been forced to withdraw from this week’s 2018 Freestyle World Cup.

To fill the voided team slots, USA Wrestling and the tournament organizers have extended invitations to Mongolia and India. Both of which have accepted and have begun the visa process.

4. Six Olympic Medalists Set to Compete at Freestyle World Cup
Six Olympic medalists from Azerbaijan and the United States will be in action this weekend at the World Cup.

The three Olympic medalists who will be competing for Azerbaijan are Haji ALIYEV (AZE), Jabrayil HASANOV (AZE) and Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE). Sharifov, a two-time Olympic medalist won Olympic gold in London and bronze in Rio. Aliev and Hasanov each snagged bronze medals at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

The three men for the United States who boast Olympic medals are Jordan BURROUGHS (USA), J’den COX (USA) and Kyle SNYDER (USA). In London, Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) captured gold and in Rio Kyle SNYDER (USA) won gold while Cox finished with the bronze.

5. Session One 57kg World Finals Rematch 
The United States and Japan will meet in session one of the World Cup and the first match of the day is a rematch of the 57kg 2017 World Championships gold-medal bout between Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN) and Thomas GILMAN (USA).

In the world finals, 2017 Breakout Wrestler of the Year Yuki Takahashi captured his first world title by using three two-point moves to win the bout, 6-0. Takahashi scored his first two points from a caution-and-two and ended the match by picking up two defensive takedowns.

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media 

1. Have a productive week!?? Japanese wrestlers training? Всем плодотворной недели! Тренировка японских спортсменок? ?@saori___yoshida

2. #FlagFriday with Olympic champion S. SHARIFOV (AZE). Sharifov is entered at 92kg for next weekends World Cup.

3. Alexander KARELIN is ready for the European Champ’s ... are you?! #dagestan2018

4. “The days that break you are the days that make you???.” @mohsenhajipour
روزهایی که تو را می شکنند روزهایی هستند که تو را می سازند ???

5. “Cela semble toujours impossible jusqu’à ce qu’on le fasse...” @koumba_larroque

#WrestleBudapest

Ranking Series: Tazhudinov wins gold; Sujeet, Suda champions in Budapest

By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 17) -- The final Ranking Series of the season begins Thursday in Budapest with seven Freestyle weight classes -- 57kg, 61kg, 65kg, 70kg, 79kg, 97kg and 125kg.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | FREESTYLE PREVIEW

19:55: Bahrain gets a second gold medal as Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN) hangs on for a 5-3 win over Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (UWW) in the 125kg final.

19:35: Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) makes it another 11-0 victory and wins gold medal at 97kg. That is his fourth technical superiority win today. Since his Paris gold, Tazhudinov wrestled in Spain and won gold and now adds a second in two weeks.

19:10: Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) is so good in his defense and he uses it to great effect and beats Magomet EVLOEV (TJK) 5-0 and takes the gold medal at 79kg at the Budapest Ranking Series.

18:35: Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) wins Ranking Series gold medal at 70kg after beating Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) 8-0 in the final. Just a really strong performance overall as he gets ready for World Championships.

18:10: SUJEET (IND) gives India a Ranking Series gold medal in Freestyle after beating Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE). A bit of Bajrang PUNIA (IND) in Sujeet as he only gives up a activity point in the first period and upped the pace in the second scoring two takedowns and point for activity to win the gold medal.

17:45: Takara SUDA (JPN) with a buzzer-beating four-pointer in the 61kg final to win gold medal! Suda was down 3-1 against Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) with 10 seconds remaining. Suda snaps Zhumashbek Uulu and then brings him down on the mat. Zhamashbek Uulu tries to defend but in clearly on his back and Suda has control. Suda is awarded a 3-3 criteria win.

Kyrgyzstan challenges but that is awarded four points to Suda and he wins 5-3

17:20: Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) is the champion at 57kg after he pulls off a takedown in the last 25 seconds against Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE). Both wrestlers exchanged activity points and Lilledahl led 1-1 on criteria but he scored a takedown to pull off a clear 3-1 victory.

17:00: The medal bouts in all weight classes begin now. The bronze medals will be held on Mat B and C while the gold-medal bout will be on Mat B.

Budapest Ranking Series 2025 Day 1 Semifinal Report

Olympic champions Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN), who wrestled at the Grand Prix of Spain last week in his first tournament since Paris Olympics, reached the 97kg final at the Budapest Ranking Series on Thursday.

Wrestling only in his third-ever Ranking Series, Tazhudinov posted three straight technical superiority wins and entered the final against Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL).

Opening his day with a 14-2 win, Tazhudinov manhandled Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA) and capitalized on the half-hearted attacks of the French wrestler. He hit a big double-leg attack for four points but Viskhanov got two points for exposure.

But that was only opening Tazhudinov allowed for the rest of the bout. Viskhanov tried a few leg attacks but Tazhudinov scored a takedown and two turns to be up 10-2 before an arm-bar attempt turned into takedown for his win.

Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW) was next and Tazhudinov needed just a minute to beat him. In the semifinals, he took 1 minute and 48 seconds to see off Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO), 10-0.

Baranowski had a contradictory run to the final as he won 6-6 on criteria against Jonathan AIELLO (USA) before a 7-5 victory over VICKY (IND) in the quarterfinals. He improved the score line to 7-3 in the semifinal against Juhwan SEO (KOR).

In other weight classes, world U20 champion Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) needed two last-second wins in quarterfinals and semifinals to book a place in the final. He defeated Niklas STECHELE (GER) 4-2 with a pushout in the last second and then handed RAHUL (IND) a 7-6 loss with a takedown in the final moments.

He will take on Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE) for the gold medal after the Azerbaijan wrestler beat Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO), 5-2.

Asian champion at 61kg Takara SUDA (JPN) showed why he one of the medal threats at the World Championships in Zagreb. Suda wrestled two bouts before reaching the final and won them without much trouble. He began with a 12-2 win over Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO) and then posted a 4-3 win over Assylzhan YESSENGELDI (KAZ).

He will face Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) in the final after the Kyrgyzstan beat his compatriot Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ), 3-2. A win against Suda in the final can be a huge confidence booster for the Kyrgyz wrestler.

At 65kg, SUJEET (IND) was a surprise finalist after he got the better of Paris Olympic medalist Islam DUDAEV (ALB), 11-0, and then beat Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM), 6-1, in the semifinals.

He will take on Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE) in the final who defeated Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN), 9-2, in the other semifinal.

At 70kg, Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) and Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) set up the final which will be a clash between two continental silver medalists. Aoyagi was in red-hot form in Budapest and outscored his opponents 28-3 before the final.

Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), after his small quest at 86kg, returned to 79kg and made it to the final in Budapest after a 2-0 win over Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ) in the semifinal. He will face Asian silver medalist Magomet EVLOEV (TJK) in the final. The Tajik stunned Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) in the semifinal using a cradle in just 21 seconds.

Kougioumtsidis dominated his matches till the semifinals but could not stop Evloev from finishing the cradle and had to make his way to the bronze-medal bout instead of gold.