Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! July 30, 2018

Monday, July 30, 2018 - 14:50 By Eric Olanowski

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Reviewing the outcome of the colossal match-up between Chamizo and Burroughs and Dake and Taylors Yasar Dogu dominance. Also taking a look at a new 76kg title contender and the Junior European Championships in Rome, Italy. 

1. Chamizo Outlasts Burroughs in Epic Shootout to Win Yasar Dogu Gold Medal
Nearly four months ago, Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) posted a photo on Instagram with the caption “If you want to be the king, you have to beat the king.” On Saturday, Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) did just that, getting his revenge against the London Olympic champion in front of a sold out Bağcılar Olympic Sport Hall in Istanbul, Turkey.

Chamizo, the two-time world champion avenged his loss to Burroughs from May’s Beat the Streets in New York City, outlasting the four-time world champion 10-10 on criteria to win the 74kg Yasar Dogu gold medal. 

After the match, Chamizo took to Instagram, posting a picture with the following caption, “Four months. It took Four months to climb up to the top of the world in the 74kg weight class. It was brand new for me, I had great opponents to face, but here we are. I can’t wait for Budapest, it’s time to fight and this time there can be only one.” 

With this weekend’s win, Chamizo evens up the series at one apiece. The next time these two could potentially meet would be in October at the 2018 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

Click HERE for full story. 


David TAYLOR (USA) picked up four pins on his way to the Yasar Dogu gold medal. (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne) 

2. Dake and Taylor Trample Competition as USA Edges Iran to Win Yasar Dogu Team Title
First-time world team representatives Kyle DAKE (USA) and David TAYLOR (USA) thumped the competition, picking up seven falls and a technical superiority victory on their way to winning gold medals at the 46th Annual Yasar Dogu. 

In the finals, Dake squared off against junior world bronze medalist Ibrahim YUSUBOV (AZE). The American used three takedowns, and a pair of gut wrenches to end the gold-medal bout 11-0 in the opening period. This win gave Dake his third overall international gold medal (2014 Granma Cup and 2017 Grand Prix of Paris).

Fellow American David Taylor, the 2018 Pan-American champion also cruised to a gold medal, tallying four dominating wins via fall in route to winning the 86kg gold medal.

The second-ranked wrestler in the world took less than 90 seconds to trample Murad SULEYMANOV (AZE) in the finals. In addition to the Ivan Yarygin and Pan-American gold medal, this is Taylor’s third individual gold medal of the year.

Team Scores 
GOLD - United States (150 points) 
SILVER - Iran (146 points)
BRONZE - Turkey (125 points)
Fourth - Azerbaijan (121 points)
Fifth - Ukraine 117 points)

Click HERE for full story. 


Aslanbek ALBOROV (AZE) defeated two Olympic champions at the 2018 Yasar Dogu. (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne) 

3. Aslanbek ALBOROV (AZE) Strings Together Championship Run that Included Beating Two Olympic Champions and a U23 World Champion 

Aslanbek ALBOROV (AZE), the 2017 world bronze medalist went 3-0 and beat a 2017 European champion and two Olympic champions on his way to making the 97kg finals.

Alborov opened his day against fellow countryman, Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE) who is a two-time Olympic medalist, winning the gold in London and bronze in Rio.

The 2017 world bronze medalist came out on top 1-0 in a match-up that likely determined who is going to represent Azerbaijan in October at the 2018 World Championships in Budapest.

Alborov continued his run into the quarterfinals, picking up the dominant 9-2 win over 2017 European Champion, Riza YILDIRIM (TUR).

Moving to the semifinals, Alborov avenged his 2017 World Championship semifinals loss to 2016 Rio Olympic champion, Kyle Frederick SNYDER (USA), picking up the 3-3 win on criteria. 

In the gold-medal bout, Alborov capped off his unthinkable championship run by shutting out U23 world champion and Asian runner-up, Mojtaba GOLEIJ (IRI), 10-0. 


Aline FOCKEN (GER) proves that she is a 76kg title contender after beating reigning world champion, Aline FOCKEN (GER). (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne) 

4. Focken Claims Yasar Dogu Gold, Upsets Reigning  World Champion Adar 
Aline FOCKEN (GER), 2017 69kg world runner-up defeated 2017 world champion Yasemin ADAR (TUR), 5-3 to win the 76kg #YasarDogu2018 gold medal. With her win this weekend, Focken adds another title contender into the 76kg #Budapest2018 mix. 

In addition to Focken and reigning world champion, Adar, 76kg will also feature four-time world champion Adeline GRAY (USA) and Canada’s Rio Olympic champion Erica WIEBE.

To display just how open this weight class is, here are five head-to-head results from the four title contenders. 

Head-to-head Match-ups 
Yasemin ADAR (TUR) beat Erica WIEBE (CAN) at the Klippan Lady Open
Adeline GRAY (USA)  Beats Yasemin ADAR (TUR) Klippan Lady Open
Erica WIEBE (CAN) beat Adeline GRAY (USA) at the Canada Cup 
Aline FOCKEN (GER), beats Yasemin ADAR (TUR) at the Yasar Dogu 
Adeline GRAY (USA)  beat Aline FOCKEN (GER) Klippan Lady Open

5. Junior European Championships Begin Monday 
The 2018 European Junior Championships begins at the Centro Olimpico – PalaPellicone Monday, July 30 in Rome, Italy. Greco-Roman wrestling kicks off the championships, followed by women’s wrestling. Finally, freestyle closes out the tournament that concludes on August 05. 

Click here for full SCHEUDLE 

Weekly FIVE! In Social Medal 

1. Big Move Monday! #takedown #doubleleg #throw #wrestling#mma #mixedmartialarts

2. “Yasar Dogu Team Champs ?? ??.” ?: @magicman_psu

3. “Who is the man....” ?: @frankchamizo92

4. What’s your favorite sport? #Wrestling ?‍♀️ ?‍♂️

5 When the wrestling room is too hot, take the mat lakeside! ?: Holly Tappe on Facebook

Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! April 30, 2019

Tuesday, April 30, 2019 - 12:37 By Eric Olanowski

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Discussing last weekend's Asian Championships, and No. 2 Hasanov's possible weight change. Also looking at the Beat the Streets, updated world rankings, and the third Ranking Series event of the year. 

1. Asian Championships Come to an End in Xi’an, China 
The Asian Championships, which were the fifth and final Continental Championships, wrapped up last weekend in Xi'an, China. 

Iran put on an impressive showing in both freestyle and Greco-Roman, winning the team titles in each, while Japan won the women’s wrestling team title. 

In freestyle, Iran annihilated the competition, wrapping up the team title with seven champions and three bronze-medal finishers. Their ten medal performance was good enough for 220 points, which was 65 points ahead of second place India, who had 155 points. 

Kazakhstan rounded out the top three in the freestyle department with 129 points. 

Iran also won the Greco-Roman team title. They did so by narrowly sneaking past second place Uzbekistan by two points. 

Majority of Iran’s 165 points came from their four champions and a trio of bronze-medal finishers. Uzbekistan, who had 163 points, had more finalists than Iran, but dropped three of those five gold-medal bouts, falling just short of the podiums top spot.

Kazakhstan had 134 points and finished in third place in Greco-Roman. 

In women’s wrestling, powerhouse Japan won the team title with nine finalists and four champions. The lone wrestler who missed out on competing for a gold medal was four-time Olympic champion Kaori ICHO, who was making her return to international competition for the first time since her history-making performance at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. 

Icho scored a win in the 57kg bronze-medal bout, giving Japan, who had 215 points, a medal in all ten weight classes. 

China (183 points) and India (113 points) finished in second and third respectively in the women’s wrestling competition. 

Click here for the Asian Championships event hub. 

No. 2 Ranked 79kg European Champion Hasanov Moving Down to 74kg? 
Azerbaijan’s reigning 79kg European champion Jabrayil HASANOV posted a photo on his Instagram story showing himself on a scale with the weight of 76.4kg. 

Hasanov's current weight of 79kg is not an Olympic weight class, which means if the reigning world runner-up has hopes of improving on his bronze-medal finish from the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, he’ll have to make the move back down to 74kg. 

For Hasanov to represent Azerbaijan at 74kg at the World Championships and Olympic Games, he'll most likely have to go through either No. 13 Abubakr ABAKAROV or No. 15 Khadzhimurad GADZHIYEV. Abakarov represented Azerbaijan at the World Championships where he finished in eighth place, while Gadzhiyev was a fifth-place finisher at this year's European Championships.      

Bajrang Punia (IND), who won the 65kg Asian title, will take over the world's No. 1 spot at 65kg in the latest world rankings. (Photo Sachiko Hotaka)

3. New World Rankings to be Released this Week 
United World Wrestling will be releasing the latest point-based rankings later this week. The May edition of the world rankings are extremely important because they’ll include results from all five of the Continental Championships. 

The top four ranked wrestlers at each weight will be seeded at the 2019 World Championships, which take place in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan on September 14-22. 

Continental Championship Event Hubs
Asian Championships 
African Championships 
European Championships 
Oceania Championships
Pan-American Championships 

4. Beat the Streets Less than a Week Away
The wrestling invades New York City on May 6 for the annual  Beat the Streets (BTS) benefit. This year, the event will take take place at the world famous Hulu Theater, located inside "The World's Most Famous Arena," Madison Square Garden. 

The “Grapple at the Garden's” star-studded lineup includes nine returning world medalists, headlined by reigning world champions David TAYLOR (USA) and J'den COX (USA), and the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the world at 65kg, Bajrang PUNIA (IND). 

Taylor and Punia will both scrap against defending NCAA champions. At 86kg, Taylor will wrestle Drew FOSTER (USA), and Punia will go toe-to-toe with Yianni DIAKOMAHLIS (USA). 

The other reigning world champion in action, J'den Cox, will tussle with Patrick BRUCKI (USA) at 92kg. 

Rio Olympic champion No. 2 Kyle SNYDER (USA) and London Olympic gold medalist No. 2 Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) are also set to compete at the event. 

Snyder, the 2018 world runner-up, will take on Canada's Nishan RANDHAWA (CAN) in the 97kg bout, and Burroughs, the 2018 world bronze medalist, will wrestle 2008 Olympian and current UFC fighter Ben ASKREN (USA) at 74kg. 

The event, which has already sold over 3000 tickets, begins on May 6 at 6:30pm and can be watched on www.flowrestling.org. 

"Grapple at the Garden” Matchups 
Freestyle
57kg - Nathan TOMASELLO (USA) vs. Jack MUELLER (USA)  
61kg - Nick SURIANO (USA) vs. Joe COLON (USA)
65kg - Jordan OLIVER (USA) vs. Joseph MCKENNA (USA)  
65kg - Yianni DIAKOMAHLIS (USA) vs. Bajrang PUNIA (IND)
70kg - James GREEN (USA) and Anthony ASHNAULT (USA)
74kg - Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) vs. Ben ASKREN (USA)  
86kg - David TAYLOR (USA) vs. Drew FOSTER  (USA)  
92kg - J'den COX (USA) vs. Patrick BRUCKI (USA)  
97kg - Kyle SNYDER (USA) vs. Nishan RANDHAWA (CAN)
125kg Nick GWIZADOWSKI (USA) vs. Derek WHITE (USA)  

Women's Wrestling
53kg - Becka LEATHERS vs. Dana WEICKER (CAN) 
62kg - Mallory VELETE (USA) vs. Linda MORAIS (CAN)

5. Third Ranking Series Event Just Three Weeks Away 
The entries are starting to pour in for the third Ranking Series event of the year, the Sassari City Matteo Pellicone Memorial. The three-day tournament that begins on May 23 will take place on the Italian island of Sardinia, and will be the first-ever Ranking Series event which will feature freestyle, Greco-Roman, and women’s wrestling. 

Although registration hasn't closed, two-time world champion and Italian superstar Frank CHAMIZO has entered his name into the 74kg bracket. 

In addition to Chamizo, the early entry list at 74kg also includes Russia's 2017 world runner-up Khetik TSABOLOV and three-time European champion Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR). Chamizo defeated Tsabolov at last year's European Championships but fell to Demirtas, who went on to win the gold medal in Dagestan. 

Other notable early entries include Olympic champions KIM Hyeonwoo (KOR) and Erica WIEBE (CAN), and former world champions Aline ROTTER FOCKEN (GER), RYU Hansu (KOR), Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (BLR),  Sofia MATTSSON (SWE). 

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media 

1. Big Move Monday -- R. SCHWARZ (GER) -- 2019 Senior European C'ships
2. Big Move From Day 6 // #WrestleXian
3. Big Move From Day 5 // فن برتر روز پنجم #WrestleXian
4. Tasmuradov has an incredible match in the 1/4 finals of the 63kg division.
5. The reigning 79kg European?and world ?@cebrayil313 posted a photo of scale with the weight of 76.4kg. Does this mean the No. 2-ranked wrestler in the world is moving down to 74kg for the #WrestleNurSultan World Championships?