Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! February 12, 2019

By Eric Olanowski

Reviewing the Freestyle World Cup draws and Kazakhstan's National Championships. Also looking at results from the Zagreb Open and how they changed the Greco-Roman rankings.

1. Wrestling Announces Groups for 2019 Freestyle World Cup

United World Wrestling has announced the draw for the 2019 Freestyle World Cup in Yakutia, Russia. The annual dual-meet event is a highlight of the international wrestling calendar and features the top eight teams from the 2018 World Championships in Budapest. 

The UWW executive board determined this week that all World Cup competitions, including the Greco-Roman and Women’s World Cup, should follow the same competition format for placement of teams in their respective pools, or groups. With the new system, the No. 1 team will be paired with the No.4, No.5, and No.8 teams from the world championships. 

The No.2 team will in a group with the No.3, No.6, and No.7.

The groups for the 2019 Freestyle World Cup:

Group A - RUS (1), CUB (4), JPN (5), TUR (8)
Group B - USA (2), GEO (3), IRI (6), MGL (7)


Kerem KAMAL, two-time junior world champion, led Turkey to the Zagreb Open team title with his 60kg gold-medal performance. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

2. First GR Ranking Series Event, Zagreb Open Concludes in Croatia

The first Greco-Roman Ranking Series event of the year, the Zagreb Open, wrapped up in Croatia, and Turkey captured the team title with their solo champion Kerem KAMAL (TUR) and three runner-ups. They finished 31 points ahead of second place Uzbekistan, who had two champions, and one second-place finisher. 

Croatia’s hometown wrestler Bozo STARCEVIC capped off his impressive run to a fifth consecutive Zagreb Open title with a tactical 2-1 victory over Turkey’s Yunus BASAR in the 77kg finals.

Meanwhile, Bulgaria’s Daniel ALEKSANDROV and Russia’s Ilia BORISOV knocked off reigning world runner-up’s Emrah KUS (TUR) and Kiril MILOV (BUL) respectively to with their first Zagreb Open titles.

Daniel Aleksandrov erased a 7-0 opening-period deficit and scored eight unanswered points in the final period to upend returning world runner-up Emrah KUS (TUR), 8-7, in the 82kg Zagreb Open gold-medal bout.

In the 97kg finals, Ilia Borisov also knocked off a returning Budapest world champion to win his Zagreb Open title. Borisov, the lone Russian finalist, tossed around returning world runner-up Kiril MILOV (BUL) with ease and scored the 9-0 technical superiority victory in the opening period.

Click HERE for a full recap of the Zagreb Open.

Team Scores
GOLD - Turkey (132 points) 
SILVER - Uzbekistan (101 points) 
BRONZE - Croatia (91 points) 
Fourth - Bulgaria (85 points) 
Fifth - Hungary (83 points) 

55kg (Round-Robin) 
GOLD -   Poya Soulat DAD MARZ (IRI) 
SILVER - Ekrem OZTURK (TUR) 
BRONZE - Alexandru Vasile BOTEZ (ROU)

60kg - Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Milad Ali REZANEZHAD (IRI), 9-3
63kg - Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB) df. Xavier JOHNSON (USA), 10-2 
67kg - Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB) df. Mihai Radu MIHUT (ROU), 4-1 
72kg - Robert Attila FRITSCH (HUN)  df. Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO), via injury default
77kg - Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO) df. Yunus BASAR (TUR), 2-1 
82kg - Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL) df. Emrah KUS (TUR), 8-7
87kg - Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) df. Kristoffer Zakarias BERG (SWE), 3-1 
97kg - Ilia BORISOV (RUS) df.  Kiril Milenov MILOV (BUL), 9-0 
130kg - Oskar MARVIK (NOR) df. Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) , 1-0 

3. Kazakhstan National Championships 

Kazakhstan, the host nation for this year’s 2019 Astana World Championships, wrapped up their National Championships in freestyle, Greco-Roman, and women’s wrestling last weekend. 

In freestyle, six of Kazakhstan’s 2018 world representatives captured a medal at last weekend’s Nationals Championships, but only Daulet NIYAZBEKOV and Adilet DAVLUMBAYEV walked away with gold medals. The other five wrestlers who competed in Budapest all took home bronze medals. 

Also of note, two of Kazakhstan’s most successful wrestlers from last season, Nurislam SANAYEV and Zhandos ISMAILOV sat out of the competition due to injury. 

Sanayev was last year’s world team representative at the Budapest World Championships, where he fell to Russia’s Zaur UGUEV in the 57kg gold-medal bout. Sanayev also had success at the Asian Championships a season ago, capturing the gold medal, though that title-winning performance came at 61kg. 

Kazakhstan’s 57kg Asian Championship bronze medalist Zhandos Ismailov sat this weekend due to injury. 

Both of these guys were expected to compete for the 61kg title. Instead, it was Kazakhstan’s U23 world representative Bauirzhan TOREBEK who grabbed the gold medal. 

Though a win last weekend puts most of the championship wrestlers into the continental championships, it does not guarantee them a spot on the 2019 Astana World Championship team. That decision won't come after several international tournaments.

Freestyle Results 

57kg
GOLD - Meirambek KARTBAY 
SILVER - Akbar KURBANOV 
BRONZE - Rakhat KALZHAN 
BRONZE - Berdakh PIRIMBAYEV 

61kg
GOLD-  Bauirzhan TOREBEK 
SILVER -  Rasul KALIYEV 
BRONZE - Kuat AMIRTAYEV 
BRONZE - Vladidmir KUDRIN 

65kg
GOLD - Daulet NIYAZBEKOV 
SILVER - Sayatbek OKASSOV 
BRONZE -Ilyas ZHUMAY 
BRONZE - Meirzhan ASHIROV 

70 kg
GOLD - Nurgozha KAIPANOV 
SILVER - Azhikul NURDAULET 
BRONZE - Kanat MUSABEKOV 
BRONZE - Amandik BAKEYEV 

74 kg
GOLD - Daniyar KAISANOV 
SILVER - Nurlan BEKZHANOV 
BRONZE - Bolat SAKAYEV 
BRONZE -  Azamat OMIRZHANOV 

79 kg
GOLD - Galymzhan USSERBAYEV 
SILVER - Shamil MURTAZOV 

BRONZE - Zhaksibek KARABALAYEV 
BRONZE - Abilay NURSULTANOV 

86 kg
GOLD - Adilet DAVLUMBAYEV 
SILVER - Azamat DAULETBEKOV 
BRONZE - Zhiger ZAKIROIV 
BRONZE - Elkhan ASADOV 

92 kg
GOLD - Yerali ABDRASHEV 
SILVER - Abdumanap BAIKENZHEYEV 
BRONZE - Abubakr TORGAYEV 
BRONZE - Shamil MAGOMEDOV 

97 kg
GOLD - Alisher YERGALI
SILVER - Bakdaulet ALMENTAY.
BRONZE - Mamed IBRAGIMOV 
BRONZE - Bakhitkhanov SERIK 

125kg
GOLD - Oleg BOLTIN 
SILVER - Yusup BATYRMIRZAYEV 
BRONZE - Duman BOLTIRIKOV 
BRONZE - Daulet SHABANBAY 

*Kazakhstan's 2018 national team members listed in bold. 

Click HERE to review Kazahkstan's Greco-Roman and women's wrestling results. 

4. Vlasov and Staebler Train Together in Sochi

The Russian Federation welcomed teams from Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Switzerland, and Uzbekistan, to attend their first training camp of the 2019 season in Russia’s Olympic host city of Sochi. 

The camp in Sochi brought together two Greco-Roman superstars in two-time Olympic champion Roman VLASOV (RUS) and three-time world champion Frank STAEBLER (GER), who was a part of a German squad that brought ten wrestlers to train with Russia’s No. 1 Greco-Roman National Team. 

Staebler told United World Wrestling that a highlight of the camp was training with Vlasov. “It’s been very hard, but great fun and we both learn from each other and get stronger together. Staebler hopes to one day return to Russia to train, saying, “There’s a great respectful friendship between Germany and Russia, and I hope we can return as soon as possible.” 

Staebler, who trained out of a barn for the finals three months leading up to Budapest after he got kicked out of his previous gym, reflected on how improbable his run to a third world title was. The German said he now realizes “How incredible it is that I’ve achieved what I have with my opportunities in Germany. My options compared to what Russia has are ridiculous. Thus, I learned to be even more proud of my German success.” 


Oskar MARVIK (NOR) won the 125kg title at the Zagreb Open and moved up to No. 4 in the rankings. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan) 

5. New Greco-Roman Rankings Released 

The first set of updated Greco-Roman rankings have been updated after the Zagreb Open and are up on United World Wrestling’s homepage. 

The biggest movers in the first set of Greco-Roman rankings were: 

55kg - Ekrem OZTURK (TUR) takes sole ownership of the No. 3 spot after a runner-up finish at the Zagreb Open. Ozturk now has 37 points after the Zagreb Open and fifth place finish at the world championships. 

67kg - Danijel JANECIC (CRO) leaps Budapest bronze medalists Meiirzhan SHERMAKHANBET (KAZ) (25 points) and Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL) (25 points) with his fifth-place finish at the Zagreb Open. He now has 30 points. 

72kg - Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL) was tied with fellow world bronze medalist Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE) for the third spot with 25 points, but broke that tie with his bronze-medal finish at the Zagreb Open. MNatsakanian now has 39 points. 

77kg - KIM Hyeonwoo (KOR) took possession of the No. 3 ranking with his third-place finish at the Zagreb Open. Kim has 37 points. 

125kg - Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ (CHI) and Oskar MARVIK (NOR) moved up to the third and fourth spot after being eighth and tenth respectively. Marvik won the gold medal, while Acosta finished in third place. 

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media 

1. Big Move Monday -- RUBAEV G. (MDA) -- 2018 Dan Kolov
2. Here are some of our favorite shots of @kadircaliskan ‘s from the #Zagreb2019
3. Two time World Champion Geno Petriashvili training with the national team in the mountains of Bakuriani @petro700
4. Images from the historic wrestling room in Gori, Georgia.
5. Best match of FR Takhti Cup- 79kg final: Bahman Teymouri (IRI) df. Jabrayil Hasanov (AZE), 6-4

Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! August 6, 2018

By Eric Olanowski

Reviewing Russian National results along with Russia sweeping the Junior European Championships. Also looking at updated World rankings, Maroulis' special wrestle-off, and the 2018 Junior Pan-American Championships. 

1. Russia’s #Budapest2018 Team Nearly Set 
Russian Nationals wrapped up this past weekend and eight of the ten spots on Russia’s #Budapest2018 team were locked up. 

Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS), the three-time world and Olympic champion bumped up to 97kg after winning the 92kg European title and defeated Vladislav BAITSAEV (RUS), 8-1 to win the Russian 97kg #Budapest2018 spot. 

Sadulaev’s win potentially sets up the rematch from last year’s World Championship finals with the three-time world and Olympic champion Kyle SNYDER (USA). 

As mentioned above, eight of ten weight classes were locked up. The two weight classes that are still up for grabs are 61kg and 65kg. 

Gadshimurad RASHIDOV (RUS) (61kg) and Ilyas BEKBULATOV (RUS) (65kg) were relieved from participating at Russian Nationals and will compete alongside Russian National champions Magomedrasul IDRISOV and Akhmed CHAKAEV (RUS) at the final Ranking Series event, the Ziolkowski (Poland Open) on September 7-9. 

The highest placer in these two weight classes at the Ziolkowski (Poland Open) will represent Russia at the 2018 World Championships. 

RESULTS
57kg - Z. UGUEV df. K. DONDUK-OOL, 7-1 
61kg – M. IDRISOV df. I. MUSUKAEV, 5-3 
65kg - A. CHAKAEV df. B. GOYGEREEV, 2-2
70kg – M. GAZIMAGOMEDOV df. A. SAT, 9-0 
74kg - Z. SIDAKOV df. K. TSABOLOV, 2-2 
79kg -  A. GADZHIMAGOMEDOV df. K. SUYUNCHEV, 3-2 
86kg - D. KURUGLIEV df. A. NAIFONOV, 2-1 
92kg – B. TSAKULOV df. A. URISHEV, 7-5 
97kg - A. SADULAEV df. V. BAITSAEV, 8-1
125kg – A. KHIZRIEV df. M. KUSHKOV, 4-4 

 

2. Maroulis and Hedrick Wrestle-off Scheduled for October 6
Helen MAROULIS (USA), the three-time world and Olympic champion will wrestle Alex HEDRICK (USA) on October 6 in a Final X special wrestle-off to determine who will represent the United States at 57kg in October’s World Championships. 

The best-of-three series was originally scheduled for June 23 but had to be rescheduled due to an undisclosed Maroulis injury. 

If Maroulis is victorious, it’ll be her thirteenth time (age-level and senior-level) representing the United States at a World Championship or Olympic Games. 

3. New Freestyle and Greco-Roman Rankings Released  
United World Wrestling released the August 2018 Ranking Series for Freestyle and Greco-Roman. 

Two-time world champion Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) rose four spots to No.1 at 74kg in the August 2018 Ranking Series for freestyle wrestling after capturing a gold medal at the Yasar Dogu with a criteria victory (10-10) over returning world champion Jordan BURROUGHS (USA), avenging a loss from May.

Also of note, Russia leads the pack with four wrestlers ranked No.1 in freestyle while no other country has multiple top-ranked wrestlers. 

In Greco-Roman, Islam ABBASOV (AZE), Riza KAYAALP (TUR) and Kazbek KILOV (BLR) were the three new No. 1-ranked wrestlers.

Three-time world champion Riza Kayaalp (TUR) moved to No.1 at 130kg after claiming a gold medal in the final Ranking Series event for Greco-Roman wrestling. 

Kayaalp, who climbed from No.5 in the rankings last month, won a gold medal at the Vehbi Emre with a 2-1 victory over Kiryl HRYSHCHANKA (BLR). It was Kayaalp's sixth Vehbi Emre title. Earlier this year he won his eighth European title.

Full Freestyle Rankings 
Full Greco-Roman Rankings 

Aleksandr KOMAROV (RUS) captured his fourth age-level European gold medal (Photo Max-Rose Fyne) 

4. Russia Rolls Over European Competition, Sweeps Team Race
Russia, on the back three-time age-level world champion and most dominant Junior in the world, Aleksandr KOMAROV (RUS) captured thirteen individual Junior European gold medals, while also obtaining team titles in freestyle, Greco-Roman and women’s wrestling.

Freestyle Results 
Greco-Roman Results 
Women’s Wrestling Results

5. Pan-American Championships Begin Next Week 
Fortaleza, Brazil is poised to host the 2018 Junior Pan-American Championships which takes place August 17-19. 

Greco-Roman wrestling will kick off the championships at the Centro de Formacao Olimpica do Nordeste on Friday and will be followed by women’s wrestling (Friday) and freestyle (Saturday).

Full Schedule

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media 

1. Big Move Monday! #ActiveWrestling #GrecoRomanWrestling#wrestling #georgian #wrestler LOMADZE Iuri
#takedown #throw #suplex #mma#mixedmartialarts @georgian__wrestling
2. Snyder won the first round. 
If these two meet at the #Budapest2018World Championships, who do you think wins? @sadulaev_abdulrashid or @snyderman45 ? ⬇️ COMMENT ⬇️
3. Victory is always possible for the person who refuses to stop fighting. 
4. Big Move from Last Day of the Junior European C'Ships #Rome2018!
5. Team Russia celebrates behind the scenes!! ????? -