Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! April 10, 2018

Tuesday, April 10, 2018 - 17:31 By Eric Olanowski

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Reviewing the #WorldCupIowaCity and Aliyev's adjustment to 65kgs. Also taking a look at the upcoming Commonwealth Games and the European Championships.

1. USA Strikes Gold in Iowa City 
The United States of America capped off a historic weekend at the 2018 Freestyle World Cup winning four duals and bringing home their first title since 2003. The Americans wrapped up group action with wins over India (10-0), Japan (6-4) and Georgia (7-3). Their 3-0 record in the group stage locked up a spot in the finals with the winners of Group B, Azerbaijan. 

As they did all tournament, the red, white and blue rode on the coattail of the breakout performer of the World Cup, Kyle DAKE (USA) to in the gold-medal bout. To finish off his undefeated weekend, Dake used his lone takedown of the second period to knock off 2016 Rio bronze medalist, Jabril HASANOV (AZE), 5-3.

James GREEN (70kg), Jordan BURROUGHS (74kg), David TAYLOR (86kg) and Kyle SNYDER (97kg) also finished the weekend with undefeated 4-0 records. 

2018 #WorldCupIowaCity Medal Match Results: 
1st place: USA df. Azerbaijan, 6-4. 
3rdplace Japan df. Cuba, 6-4.
5th place: Georgia df. Mongolia, 6-4. 
7th place: Kazakhstan df. India, 10-0.

FULL RESULTS

2. Japan Grabs Bronze. Highest Finish Since 1985 
Sparked by their trio of defensive wizard lightweights, Japan captured their first World Cup trophy since 1985. 

In group action, Japanese lightweights went an impressive 9-0 and catapulted Japan to their first medal match in 33 years. 

Ignited by 2017 world champion Yuki TAKAHASHI (57kg), the first three weights continued their winnings ways and remained undefeated in the bronze-medal bout against Cuba. After Cuba stormed back to win four of the last six bouts, Japan’s hopes of winning the bronze was placed on the back of their final wrestler, Taiki YAMAMOTO (JPN). 

Yamamoto trailed 5-4 heading into the final 30 seconds of the match before getting to a high crotch on the right side. He took the lead on criteria after driving Y. ALPAJON ESTE (CUB) out of bounds to pick up the step out point. After Cuba’s failed challenge and a late flurry from Alpajon Este, Yamamoto hung on to win the match, 6-5. 

FULL RESULTS

3. Haji ALIYEV's (AZE) Adjusting to 65kg 
Three-time world champion Haji ALIYEV (AZE) won the 2017 world championship at 61kg. Around three months ago, the decision was made by Aliyev and the Azerbaijani coaching staff to bump up four kilograms and compete at 65kg. 

This weekend at the 2018 Freestyle World Cup, Aliyev went 2-2. In his first bout of the weekend, Aliyev was on the wrong side of a pin after trailing 8-2 to Cuban A. VALDES TOBIER. He then came back and picked up two straight wins, only to close out his weekend by falling 6-3 to 2016 world champion Logan STIEBER (USA). 

In speaking with Aliyev regarding the recent move up, he said “I changed weight categories and moved up to 65kg. It’s different, it’s difficult. I need to focus, but I think I’ll be fine…I changed to 65kg three months ago and just need to train more."

This was Haji's final competition before heading to Kaspiisk, Russia where he will be the 65kg representative for Azerbaijan at the European Championships. 

4. Commonwealth Games Kick Off This Week 
Canada, Nigeria, and India highlight the 2018 Commonwealth Games which begin April 12-14 in Gold Coast, Australia. 

At the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, Canada and Nigeria dominated the field in women’s wrestling, winning five of the six gold medals. India's Vinesh VINESH snagged the last gold medal of the competition. Of those six gold medalist, five will make their return to the Commonwealth Games with hopes of repeating as Commonwealth Games champions. 

In freestyle, it was Canada winning four gold medals while India captured the remaining three. Although only one champion in Korey JARVIS (CAN) returns, three other finalists return with hopes of bettering their performance from 2014. 

5. Europeans Championships Are Three Weeks Away 
The European Championships, United World Wrestling’s third continental (African and Asian) championship of the 2018 calendars begins April 30 at the Palace of Sport and Youth named after Ali Aliev.

The winners of the European Championships will be awarded 12 rankings points, second place will be given eight points and third place will be six points. 

Greco-Roman action begins Monday, April 30, women's wrestling takes over on Thursday, May 3, and the tournament will be wrapped up with freestyle beginning on Friday, May 5. 

FULL SCHEDULE

Weekly FIVE! in Social Media

1. Kyle Dake back at it again! @kyledake444 

2. A. VALDES (CUB) With a huge 5 point throw!! ?? ? 

3. Georgia comes out on top after a crazy match against Mongolia ending 22-17!!! ? ? ?? ?? 

4. @alliseeisgold getting hyped after his big win in the final dual at the World Cup this weekend! ? ? 

5. Team Cuba got some serious skills on the court ? ?? ?? -

#UWWAwards

UWW Most Dominant Wrestlers 2025: Amouzad, Motoki, Esmaeili

Thursday, December 25, 2025 - 11:08 By Eric Olanowski

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 24) -- There were several dominant performances in 2025 on the wrestling mat. But it was three wrestlers who remained at the top of their weight classes and racked up dominant wins one after another. Two were Olympic champions while one was an Olympic silver medalist. All three became world champions in Zagreb.

Freestyle Most Dominant Wrester: Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI)

- 14–0
- Rank 1 at 65kg 
- 58,000 RS points 
- Outscored world and Olympic medalists 42–4
- World Championships, Tirana RS and ISG golds

Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) was about as perfect as you could be in a season, returning to prominence with title-winning efforts at the World Championships, Islamic Solidarity Games and Muhamet Malo Ranking Series event and finishing the season as the No.1 ranked wrestler in the world at 65kg with 58,000 Ranking Series points.

The Paris silver medalist, collected an unblemished 14-0 record in 2025 -- with five of those wins coming against top-level opponents who have world or Olympic medals on their resumes in Olympic champion Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN), Umidjon JALALOV (UZB), Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) and Real WOODS (USA). The craziest part about those five matches against the world’s best, Amouzad outscored 42-4.

But without a doubt, the highlight of Amouzad’s season came in Zagreb when he finally got his long awaited rematch, beating Kotaro KIYOOKA in a revenge match from the Paris 2024 Olympic finals.

The scariest part about Amouzad’s dominance -- he’s only 23 years old and he’s still getting better.

Women's Wrestling Dominant Wrestler: Sakura MOTOKI (JPN)

- 9-0
- Five pins, two technical superiorities
- 45,000 RS points 
- 8/9 bouts finished before regulation
- Completed Golden Grand Slam (U17, U20, U23, Senior World and Olympic gold)

Coming into the 2025 season, Motoki made her goals crystal clear -- become the third wrestler in history of the sport to win wrestling’s Golden Grand Slam -- and for those who don’t know, that is gold medals at the U17, U20, U23, Senior World Championships and the Olympic Games.

The only two missing from the Olympic champ's resume were the U23 and Senior World golds.

At the 2025 U23 and senior World Championships, Motoki showed that she’s in a league of her own, as she went 9-0, with eight  matches finishing before time expired. She scored five falls and two technical superiority wins.

Her win in the final of the World Championships will be one that will be talked about for ages as the most dramatic win of the season. Motoki scored a buzzer-beating takedown against Ok Ju KIM (PRK) with a 10-second flurry that consisted of a head outside single, arm throw, over-under knee pick, before head locking Kim with four tenths of a second left to keep her history making hopes alive.

In the end, Motoki’s heart and courage under fire helped her close out the year as the third wrestler to complete the Golden Grand Slam and she did it with a level of dominance we may not see again for a very long time.

Greco-Roman Dominant Wrestler: Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI)

- Rank 1 at 67kg 
- 58,000 RS points  
- 11–0 Record
- World Championships, Asian Championships and  ISG golds

In a 2025 campaign that saw him become a world champion, Esmaeili's season was immaculate, as he cemented his place among the sport’s top pound-for-pound wrestler with a season full of titles, stacking gold-medals at the World Championships, Asian Championships and Islamic Solidarity Games, rounding out the season ranked No. 1 in the world at 67kg.

The Paris Olympic champion remained unbeaten in 2025, winning all 11 bouts of his bouts in dominant fashion -- scoring eight shutout wins, with seven technical falls -- including a pair of 9-0 win against world champions Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) and Sebastian NAD (SRB). The reigning Olympic gold medalist also collected two victories over Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE), one in the world final and one in the Islamic Game gold-medal match, where he tossed his Azeri opponent for four as time expired to rob his rival of the title.

His opponents should not ease up because at just 22 years old, Esmaeili is still sharpening his tool set and leveling up his skills.