Weekly FIVE! July 2, 2019

Tuesday, July 2, 2019 - 11:59 By Eric Olanowski

Discussing special wrestle-offs for Russia, Canada, and Japan. Also looking at the European Games and the Yasar Dogu entries.

1. Russian National Championships Begin This Week
The Ice Palace Sports Arena in Adler, Krasnodar, Russia, will host the National Championships for the defending freestyle world champions July 4-7. But, only four wrestlers will lock up their spot on the world team spot. The other winners will have to wait until early August to hopefully book their trip to Kazakhstan.

The reason being, and as I mentioned late last week on Twitter, with a slight adjustment, the Russian Federation released European Games champions: Abdulrashid SADULAEV, Zaurbek SIDAKOV, Dauren KURUGLIEV, and Anzor KHIZRIEV, and bronze medalists Zaur UGUEV and Akhmed CHAKAEV from this week’s tournament. Russia will now hold a special wrestle-off at the Poland Open (Aug. 2-4) to determine the six remaining world team representatives. The special wrestle-offs were originally scheduled to take place at the Tbilisi GP but were moved after recent travel restrictions between Russia to Georgia.

SCHEDULE
July 4th (Thursday)
17.00-17.30 - Draw for weight categories up to 57kg, 65kg, 74kg, 86kg, 97kg.

July 5th (Friday)
08.30-09.00 - Medical examination and weigh in for 57kg, 65kg, 74kg, 86kg, 97kg.
11.00-18.00 - Preliminary matches for 57kg, 65kg, 74kg, 86kg, 97kg.
18.00-18.30 – Draws for 61kg, 70kg, 79kg, 92kg, 125 kg.
18.30-20.30 - Semifinal for 57kg, 65kg, 74kg, 86kg, 97kg.

July 6th (Saturday)
08.30-08.45 - Weighing in for 57kg, 65kg, 74kg, 86kg, 97kg.
08.45-09.15 - Medical examination and weigh in for 61kg, 70kg, 79kg, 92kg, 125kg.
11.00-18.00 - Consolation matches for 57kg, 65kg, 74kg, 86kg, 97kg.
11.00-18.00 - Preliminary and semifinal matches for 61kg, 70kg, 79kg, 92kg, 125kg.
18.00-18.30 - Opening ceremony.
18.30-20.30 - Finalsl for 57kg, 65kg, 74kg, 86kg, 97kg.

July 7 (Sunday)
08.30-08.45 - Weighing in for 61kg, 70kg, 79kg, 92kg, 125kg.
11.00-13.00 - Consolation for 61kg, 70kg, 79kg, 92kg, 125kg.
13.00-15.00 - Final matches for 61kg, 70kg, 79kg, 92kg, 125kg.

2. Lappage Gains World Team Spot, Named Canada’s Rep at 68kg
Budapest world silver medalist Danielle LAPPAGE (CAN) bumped up from her world championship weight of 65kg to the Olympic weight of 68kg and defeated Olivia DI BACCO (CAN), two matches to none (2-1 and 11-1) and gained the Canadian world team spot.

With her win last week, Lappage will represent Canada on the world stage for the third time in her career. In her first trip to the World Championships (2014), she finished in eighth place, then rounded out last year with a world silver medal. In addition to her three times representing Canada at the World Championships, Dappage also represented Canada at the 2016 Olympic Games where she suffered an injury during warms up and was forced to medically forfeit out of her opening round match.

To top off her week, the newly minted 68kg world team rep also won a Canada Cup title. Lappage stomped Jayden LAURENT (USA), 10-0 and took home her first 68kg medal of the year after falling in the finals of the Sassari and the Grand Prix of Germany.

3. Japan's Olympic-Weight World Team to be Finalized This Weekend
After the July 6 winner-take-all wrestle-offs, Japan will have their world team spots locked up at the Olympic weight classes. There are still three freestyle, two women’s wrestling and one Greco-Roman spot up for grabs, but all eyes will be locked into the three matches where a reigning world champion is one match away from defending their world gold.

Starting with the 50kg match where two-time defending world champion Yui SUSAKI will meet her nemesis Yuki IRIE.

Irie, the reigning Asian champion, is the only wrestler on Earth who has defeated Susaki multiple times. She gained the advantage over Susaki after winning December’s All-Japan Championships (Emperor’s Cup) - - a tournament in which Susaki was forced to sit out after she dislocated her elbow.

Susaki then defeated Irie en route to her Meiji Cup gold and forced the July 6 wrestle-off.

In the second highly anticipated match, Olympic champions Risako KAWAI and Kaori ICHO will meet for the world team spot at one of the deepest women’s weights in the world, 57kg.

Rio Olympic champion Kawai fell to four-time Olympic champion Icho in the All-Japan finals but got revenge at the Meiji Cup and redeemed herself with a 6-4 victory.

The third match featuring a returning world champion will take place at 65kg where Japan’s youngest male world champion in wrestling history Takuto OTOGURO will square off against Rio silver medalist Rei HIGUCHI.

Otoguro fell in his Meiji Cup final to Higuchi, 15-5, and will need to win on July 6 to regain his 65kg spot on the freestyle team.

4. Yasar Dogu Entries Released
The most anticipated freestyle Ranking Series event of the year, the Yasar Dogu, will take place July 11 to 14 in Istanbul, and more than 275 wrestlers from 21 countries are expected to make the journey to Turkey's most populated city. The goal remains simple: try to pocket the remaining Ranking Series points before heading to Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, for September's World Championships.

Since the Budapest World Championships, wrestlers have been stashing away Ranking Series points with hopes of becoming one of the forty top-four seeded wrestlers come September. The Yasar Dogu leaves those on the cusp of earning a top-four seed one last opportunity to gain those additional much-needed Ranking Series points.

Heading into Istanbul, five wrestlers have seized the No. 1 seed, 17 wrestlers have cemented at least a top-four seed, leaving 23 seeds open for the taking in Istanbul. Though they're not all entered, there are still 150 wrestlers who could steal a seed from a current top-four seeded wrestler if they were to win a gold medal in a weight class with 20+ wrestlers in Turkey.

Click HERE for full list of entries.

5. Successful European Games Conclude in Minsk, Belarus
The 2nd European Games wrapped up in Minsk, Belarus, with Russia winning the freestyle and Greco-Roman team titles, while Ukraine walked off with the women’s wrestling team title.

In freestyle, Russia finished with six medalists, four of which were gold, and won the team title 20 points ahead of second-place Azerbaijan, and 52 points ahead of third place Georgia. The main storyline coming from the freestyle side of the competition was Abdulrashid Sadulaev becoming the first freestyle wrestler to win back-to-back European Games titles.

In Greco-Roman, Russia won the team title, while 2016 Olympic champion Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) got back to his winning ways after failing to medal in Budapest. Aleksanyan lifted and tossed his way to his first European Games title at 97kg in Greco-Roman. The 27-year-old Armenian shut out local favorite Aliaksandr HRABOVIK (BLR) 5-0 in the gold-medal match.

In women’s wrestling, Ukraine finished in first place, 18 points ahead of the host nation Belarus, while two women made history by reaching the podium for a second consecutive time.

Sweden’s Sofia MATTSSON and Vasilisa MARZALIUK (BLR) became the first women two-time champions in the short history of the European Games.

In the finals, Mattsson, a Rio Olympic bronze medalist, narrowly edged Yulia KHAVALDZHY (UKR), 6-6 after giving up a what seemed to be a match-deciding takedown. However, after a Swedish challenge, Mattsson luckily found herself on the winning end of the match and became the first-ever wrestler to win two European Games golds.

Marzaliuk was the second women to win two straight European Games titles. Her finals match went a little different than Mattsson's, as she dominated Francy RAEDELT (GER), 9-0 in the 76kg finals.

Click HERE for the European Games event hub.

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media!

1. Big Move Monday -- N. NARMANDAKH (MGL) -- 2017 Cadet Worlds
2. #best10 from Day 4 at the U-15 European
3. HERSTORY MADE! @sofiammattsson becomes the first-ever two-time European Games champion!
4. Has Mahir AMIRASLANOV (AZE) been the most impressive wrestler of the European Games thus far?
5. Tickets for #WrestleNurSultan are on sale! Go to http://ow.ly/obUz50uM54Q to buy your tickets and come support the best wrestlers in the world. Are you in?

Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! October 1, 2019

Monday, September 30, 2019 - 18:09 By Eric Olanowski

Discussing the #WrestleNurSultan World Championships and October's Veteran and U23 World Championships.

1. Russia Wins Second Consecutive Freestyle World Title After Five Individuals Claim Gold
The Russian Federation strengthened its stronghold on the freestyle competition by winning its second consecutive team world title. Led by their four-time world and Olympic champion Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS), Russia finished 83 points ahead of second-place Kazakhstan. They medaled in nine of ten weights and capped off the World Championships with five freestyle gold medalists. They also had a silver-medal finisher and three wrestlers who won bronze medals. More importantly, five of Russia's nine medals came in Olympic weight classes -- which helped them qualify five of the six freestyle weights for the 2020 Olympic Games.

Zaur UGUEV (57kg), Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (65kg), David BAEV (70kg), Zaurbek SIDAKOV (74kg) and Abdulrashid Sadulaev (97kg) were the five Russian champions.

Uguev, Sidakov and Sadulaev each repeated their title-winning performances from the 2018 Budapest World Championships, while Rashidov and Baev captured their first career world golds.

Uguev, the 57kg champ, went 5-0 and rounded out his tournament with a 13-3 routing of European champion Suleyman ATLI (TUR) in the gold-medal match. He also scored a 4-3 win over European Games champion Mahir AMIRASLANOV (AZE) -- avenging his only loss of the season.

Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RUS) scored a step out against four-time world and Olympic champion Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) en rout to winning his second consecutive 74kg title. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

At 74kg, for the second consecutive year, Zaurbek Sidakov forged back-to-back wins over four-time world and Olympic champion Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) and two-time world champion Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) on his road to claiming the 74kg world title.

Abdulrashid Sadulaev reached the top of the world podium for the fourth time in his career with a 4-0 shutout win over fellow Olympic champion Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE) in the 97kg finals. Sadulaev's win over Sharifov came after the Azeri halted #SnyderLaev3 by stopping the two-time world and Olympic champion Kyle SNYDER (USA) in the semifinals.

Gadzhimurad Rashidov and David Baev also claimed freestyle world titles in Nur-Sultan.

After a pair of deflating losses in the previous two world finals (Paris and Budapest), Rashidov finally captured his long-awaited world title. Two of Rashidov's wins came against former world champions. In the opening round, Rashidov edged three-time world champion Haji ALIYEV (AZE), 4-2. Then, he stopped 2018 world champion Takuto OTOGURO (JPN), 8-1, in the third round. Finally, Rashidov carried the Russian flag around the mat after thumping Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ), 11-0, in the 65kg finals.

Baev won the 70kg title with a 14-2 routing of Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ) in the 70kg gold-medal match.

The lone weight Russia failed to medal at was 125kg. Their expected world representative was Anzor KHIZRIEV (RUS). But the European Games champion was injured two weeks before the first whistle in Nur-Sultan and forced to pull out of the World Championships.

J'den COX (USA) defeated Alireza KARIMIMACHIANI (IRI), 4-0, in the 92kg and claimed his second world title. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

The host nation of Kazakhstan finished in second place with 103 points -- which came from a pair of second-place finishes and a bronze medalist.

The United States ended the team race in third place with 94 points. America's Kyle DAKE (79kg) and J'den COX (92kg) won gold for the second consecutive year and are now expected to drop down to Olympic weight classes.

Though it's not official, but Dake is expected to drop down to 74kg to challenge Jordan Burroughs, and Cox is expected to move to 86kg to square off with David TAYLOR (USA) for the Tokyo Olympic spot.

Iran's Olympic champion Hassan Yazdani came into the World Championships heavily favored and won his second world title and first since 2017. In addition to scoring an injury default win in the finals over India's Deepak PUNIA, Yazdani scored two wins via fall and a pair of technical superiority victories.

At 125kg, Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) defeated Olympic champion Taha AKGUL (TUR) in an epic heavyweight battle for the second time in the last three years. Petriashvili took down Akgul with under 20 seconds left to grab the 6-6 lead on criteria. The Georgian ultimatly held on to win his third consecutive world title.

RESULTS (Click link to watch gold-medal matches)
57kg - Zavur UGUEV (RUS) df. Suleyman ATLI (TUR), 13-3
61kg - Beka LOMTADZE (GEO) df. Magomedrasul IDRISOV (RUS), 12-2
65kg - Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS) df. Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ), 11-0
70kg - David BAEV (RUS) df. Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ), 14-2
74kg - Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RUS) df. Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA), 5-2
79kg - Kyle DAKE (USA) df. Jabrayil HASANOV (AZE), 10-4
86kg - Hassan YAZDANICHARATI (IRI) df. Deepak PUNIA (IND), via injury default
92kg - J'den COX (USA) df. Alireza KARIMIMACHIANI (IRI), 4-0
97kg - Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS) df. Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE), 4-0
125kg - Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) df. Taha AKGUL (TUR), 6-6

Musa EVLOEV (RUS) (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

2. Evloev's Second World Title Helps Russia Claim Team Gold
Though the Russian Federation failed to match their six gold-medal performance from last year’s Budapest World Championships, they did win two titles and had three wrestlers fall in gold-medal matches. Russia won the team title with 132 points -- which was 52 points ahead of second-place Uzbekistan. Russia's two Greco-Roman champions were Abuiazid MANTSIGOV (72kg) and Musa EVLOEV (97kg).

Of the five returning world champions that graced Russia’s Nur-Sultan lineup, Evloev was the only wrestler to win back-to-back world titles. He was handed the gold medal after three-time world and Olympic champion Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) injury defaulted out of the finals due to an apparent rib injury he suffered during his semifinals match.

Mantsigov took down Aram VARDANYAN (UZB), 9-0, in the gold-medal match in the non-Olympic weight of 72kg.

Uzbekistan had a silver medalist, a pair of bronzes and two fifth-place finishers and wrapped up their tournament in second place with 80 points.

Georgia rounded out the top three in the Greco-Roman team standings. Though they were at non-Olympic weights, Georgia’s Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO) and Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) claimed titles -- catapulting their nation to the third spot in the final standings with 79 points.

In the 55kg finals, Tsurtsumia dominated Khorlan ZHAKANSHA (KAZ), 9-0, and won his first career world title at the senior level after winning the U23 world title a year ago. Gobadze, the winner of the 82kg gold medal, edged Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE), 5-3, and won his first career world title in any division after medaling four times at age-group World Championships.

Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) will represent Japan at 60kg at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

Japan matched Russia's Greco-Roman gold-medal output by winning a pair of titles over reigning world champions.

Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) locked up his spot on Japan's Olympic team after upsetting the reigning world champion Sergey EMELIN (RUS) ,10-5, in the 60kg finals. Shinobu OTA (JPN) gave Japan their second upset win over a reigning world champion when he defeated Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS), 10-4, in the 63kg finals.

With Fumita locking up his spot on Japan's Olympic team at 60kg, Ota will be forced to move up to the Olympic weight of 67kg if he has hopes of bettering his Olympic silver medal from the Rio Olympic Games.

In arguably the most impressive run to a world title, Olympic champion Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) knocked off four world champions to establish himself as the best in the world at 67kg. The Cuban's Nur-Sultan gold-medal run went through three-time world champion Frank STAEBLER (GER), two-time world champion RYU Hansu (KOR), U23 world champion Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY), and finally, reigning world champion Artem SURKOV (RUS).

Borrero is now a two-time world and Olympic champion.

Turkey’s Riza KAYAALP won his fourth world title. The Turkish superstar improved on his 15th-place finish from last year’s World Championships where he was fell in the opening round. On his way to a fourth world title, Kayaalp navigated a road that went through three world medalists, Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ (CHI), Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) and Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB). Kayaalp topped off the finals with a 3-1 win over Cuba’s now-two-time world medalist Oscar Pino Hinds.

RESULTS (Click link to watch gold-medal matches)
55kg - Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO) df. Khorlan ZHAKANSHA (KAZ), 9-0
60kg - Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) df. Sergey EMELIN (RUS), 10-5
63kg - Shinobu OTA (JPN) df. Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS), 10-4
67kg - Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) df. Artem SURKOV (RUS) , 3-1
72kg - Abuiazid MANTSIGOV (RUS) df. Aram VARDANYAN (UZB), 9-0
77kg - Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) df. Alex KESSIDIS (SWE), 8-0
82kg - Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) df. Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE), 5-3
87kg - Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) df. Viktor LORINCZ (HUN), 2-1
97kg - Musa EVLOEV (RUS) df. Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM), via injury default
130kg - Riza KAYAALP (TUR) df. Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB), 3-1

Rio Olympic champion Risako KAWAI (JPN) celebrates winning her third world title. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

3. Kawai's Third World Title Pushes Japan Past Russia in Women's Wrestling Team Race
Per usual, Japan won the women’s wrestling team title. But it wasn’t in normal Japanese fashion. Usually, the most dominant women’s wrestling nation walks away with the team title, but they had to fight and claw their way to the team title in Nur-Sultan. Last year in Budapest, Japan had four champs and cruised to a 37 points advantage over second-place China. But this year, the margin of victory narrowed to only 29 points ahead of second-place Russia.

Risako KAWAI (JPN) was the lone Japanese woman to win a world title in Nur-Sultan. She furthered her case to be included in the discussion as the pound-for-pound top-ranked wrestler in the world. Since dropping the 2015 world finals, Kawai has won three world titles and a gold medal at the Rio Olympic Games. This is in addition to defeating four-time Olympic champion and arguably the greatest women’s wrestler ever, Kaori ICHO (JPN), to secure her spot on Japan’s Nur-Sultan world team.

Meanwhile, the United States had a trio of champions in Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA), Tamyra MENSAH (USA) and Adeline GRAY (USA). For Winchester (55kg) and Mensah (68kg), it was their first time winning a world title. But for Gray, this was the fifth time that she cemented herself as the top wrestler in the world at her respective weight class.

Mariya STADNIK (AZE), one of the most credentialed women’s wrestlers ever, finally won her second world title. Her win in Nur-Sultan came one decade after winning her first world title. The three-time Olympic medalist and six-time world medalist tallied a 13-0 win over Emilia VUC (ROU) in the 50kg finals.

RESULTS (Click link to watch gold-medal matches)
50kg - Mariya STADNIK (AZE) df. Emilia Alina VUC (ROU), 13-0
53kg - Yong Mi PAK (PRK) df. Mayu MUKAIDA (JPN), 12-1
55kg - Jacarra Gwenisha WINCHESTER (USA) df. Nanami IRIE (JPN), 5-3
57kg - Risako KAWAI (JPN) df. Ningning RONG (CHN), 9-6
59kg - Linda MORAIS (CAN) df. Liubov OVCHAROVA (RUS), via fall
62kg - Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) df. Taybe Mustafa YUSEIN (BUL), 5-3
65kg - Inna TRAZHUKOVA (RUS) df. Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR), 13-0
68kg - Tamyra MENSAH (USA) df. Jenny FRANSSON (SWE), 8-2
72kg - Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) df. Alina BEREZHNA STADNIK MAKHYNIA (UKR), 4-2
76kg - Adeline Maria GRAY (USA) df. Hiroe MINAGAWA SUZUKI (JPN) , 4-2

4. Five History-Making Performances From Nur-Sultan
The World Championships were filled with countless memorable moments, but there were five that top all others -- mainly because they were history-making performances.

In women’s wrestling, Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) and Yong Mi PAK (PRK) defeated reigning world champions and became their nation’s first-ever women’s wrestling world champions. Pak reached the top of the podium at 53kg and Tynybekova won the 62kg gold medal.

Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) defeated reigning world champion Taybe YUSEIN (BUL) and became Kyrgyzstan’s first-ever women's wrestling world champion. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

Tynybekova became Kyrgyzstan’s first medalist in Paris when she finished with a bronze medal. In Nur-Sultan, Tynybekova upset reigning world champion Taybe YUSEIN (BUL) with a late takedown and became Kyrgyzstan’s first world champion.

Yong Mi Pak also picked up an upset win over a reigning world champion to win her country’s first world title. Pak scored the stunning 12-1 win over two-time world champion Mayu MUKAIDA (JPN) in the 53kg finals and handed the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s their first women’s wrestling world title.

Myles AMINE (SMR) finished in fifth place at 86kg and locked up San Marino's first freestyle trip to the Olympic Games. (Photo: Tony Rotunod)

In freestyle, the duo of best friends who attend the University of Michigan, Stevan MICIC (SRB) and Myles AMINE (SMR), sealed up their nation’s first-ever freestyle Olympic Games berths after finishing in fifth place at 57kg and 86kg, respectively. Micic locked up Serbia's spot at the Olympic Games with an 8-0 win over Givi DAVIDOVI (ITA) in the repechage round. He ultimately fell short in the bronze-medal bout against reigning world runner-up Nurislam SANAYEV (KAZ). Amine handed San Marino their first trip to the Olympic Games with a 4-2 quarterfinals win over Germany's Ahmed DUDAROV.

Also in freestyle, Stefan REICHMUTH (SUI) made history for Switzerland after defeating Carlos IZQUIERDO (COL), 3-0, in the bronze-medal bout at 86kg. With his win over the Colombian wrestler, Reichmuth became the first Swiss wrestler to ever medal at a World Championships.

5. October to Feature Veteran and U23 World Championships
The Cadet, Junior and Senior World Championships are well behind us, but October is set to feature the Veteran and U23 World Championships. The Veteran World Championships will be up first. The six-day freestyle and Greco-Roman tournament will start on October 8 in Tbilisi, Georgia. The fifth and final World Championships, the U23 World Championships, will begin on October 23 in Budapest, Hungary.

As always, the final two World Championships can be followed live on www.unitedworldwrestling.org.

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media

1. Freestyle Olympic qualifiers
2. Women's Wrestling Olympic qualifiers
3. Greco-Roman Olympic qualifiers
4. Big Move Monday -- @melonin_97 (FRA) -- Senior Worlds 2019
5. #TBT - Olympic Champs SHARIFOV (AZE) and SNYDER (USA) Battle

Weekly FIVE! July 2, 2019

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media!

Comments

Weekly FIVE! October 1, 2019

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media