Weekly FIVE! July 30, 2019

Monday, July 29, 2019 - 22:57 By Eric Olanowski

Reviewing the Cadet World Championships, the Oleg Karavaev and Russia sweeping the Stepan Sargsyan. Also looking at this week's Poland Open and German Grand Prix and Taymazov being stripped of his second Olympic gold medal.

1. Cadet Worlds Underway in Sofia, Bulgaria
The 2019 Cadet World Championships are in full swing in Sofia, Bulgaria. Freestyle kicked off the championships on Monday and will hold center stage until Wednesday when women’s wrestling grabs the reigns. Greco-Roman takes charge on Friday and will close out the first of this year’s World Championships.

On the first day of competition, Iran dominated -- putting four of their five wrestlers into the Day 2 finals.

Iran will be led by returning cadet world champion Rahman AMOUZADKHALILI (IRI). He’ll be making his second-straight trip to the finals after defeating 2018 Cadet Pan American champion Stevo POULIN (USA) in the 48 kg semifinals with a 12-0 tech fall. Amouzadkhalili will take on Asian bronze medalist Kamronbek KADAMOV (UZB) in the 48kg finals.

Meanwhile, Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB) will also be looking to add a second cadet world title to his resume. Jalolov, a 2017 Cadet World champion and 2018 Youth Olympic Games champion, punched his ticket to the finals after an 8-0 win over 2019 Cadet European silver medalist and 2018 Cadet European bronze medalist Muhammet KARAVUS (TUR). He’ll wrestle two-time Asian bronze medalist Mahdi Mehrdad VEISI (IRI) in the gold-medal bout.

Wrestling continues on Tuesday at 10:30 (local time) with the qualification rounds and the Day 2 finals will begin at 18:00. Here are the finals matchups for the second day of wrestling at the Cadet World Championships:

Day Two Freestyle Finals:
48kg: Rahman Mousa AMOUZADKHALILI (IRI) vs. Kamronbek KADAMOV (UZB)
55kg: Mahdi Mehrdad VEISI (IRI) vs. Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB)
65kg: Batyrbek TSKHOVREBOV (RUS) vs. Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE)
80kg: Amirhossein Biglar FIROUZPOURBANDPEI (IRI) vs. Arslan BAGAEV (RUS)
110kg: Arsamag ZASSEEV (RUS) vs. Giorgi CHIKHRADZE (GEO)

Click HERE to read Taylor Miller's preview of the Day 2 freestyle finals.

2. Regular Season Closes out at the Oleg Karavaev
Belarus not only hosted the Oleg Karavaev but also closed out the final Ranking Series event of the season with the team title. They narrowly edged second-place Russia by two points in the team race. Their four gold medalists were: Pavel LIAKH, Viktar SASUNOUSKI, Radzik KULIYEU and Siarhei STARADUB. The quartet won their titles at 77kg, 82kg, 87kg and 97kg, respectively.

Viktar Sasunouski gave the host nation arguably their most impressive Oleg Karavaev gold medal and sealed up the third seed at September’s World Championships with a late clutch throw in the 82kg finals against the No.1-ranked Emrah KUS (TUR).

In the opening period of the gold-medal match, Sasunouski conceded an inactivity point and an exposure and fell behind 3-0 to last year’s Budapest world runner-up. Sasunouski scored first in the second period and trailed 3-1 when he threw a desperation headlock -- which was good enough to pick up two correct throw points. Sasunouski hung on to edge Kus, 3-3 on criteria.

Sasunouski came into the Oleg Karavaev as the fourth-ranked wrestler in the world at 82kg, but after his title-winning efforts in his home country, he’s passed Iran’s Saeid ABDVALI for the third seed heading into Nur-Sultan.

RESULTS

Final Team Standings
GOLD - Belarus (147 points)
SILVER - Russia (145 points)
BRONZE - Turkey (113 points)
FOURTH -Kazakhstan (88 points)
FIFTH - Uzbekistan (67 points)

Gold Medal Results
55kg - Emin Narimanovitch SEFERSHAEV (RUS) df. Manjeet MANJEET (IND), 9-0
60kg - Seunghak KIM (KOR) df. Ahmet UYAR (TUR) , 3-1
63kg -  Shinobu OTA (JPN) df. Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB), 11-1
67kg - Mohamed Ibrahim Elsayed Ibrahi ELSAYED (EGY) df. Hansu RYU (KOR), via fall
72kg - Magomed YARBILOV (RUS) df. Narek OGANIAN (RUS), 3-2
77kg -  Pavel LIAKH (BLR) df. Shohei YABIKU (JPN), 11-0
82kg -  Viktar SASUNOUSKI (BLR) df. Emrah KUS (TUR), 3-3
87kg - Radzik KULIYEU (BLR) df. Dogan GOKTAS (TUR), 2-2
97kg - Siarhei STARADUB (BLR) df. Suleyman DEMIRCI (TUR), 6-1
130kg - Osman YILDIRIM (TUR) df. Abdellatif Mohamed Ahmed MOHAMED (EGY), 9-0

Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (RUS) defeated European champion Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM), 12-2 in the Stepan Sargsyan finals. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

3. Russia Reels in Ten Golds at Stepan Sargsyan
The 24th Annual Stepan Sargsyan closed out in Vanadzo, Armenia, and the Russian Federation swept the ten-weight tournament -- capturing gold medals in every weight class. Russian wrestlers occupied 17 of the 20 finals spots and went 10-for-10 in gold medal bouts.

Perhaps the most impressive Russian performance of the tournament came in the battle of European champions at 61kg, where Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (RUS) reached the top of the podium with an impressive 12-2 routing of Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM).

Magomedov, the reigning U23 Euroeapn champion, scored three takedowns in the opening period and commanded the 6-0 lead over the reigning senior-level European champion. The Russian conceded a takedown to the Armenian and still led 6-2. The Russian tacked on two second period takedowns and controlled the 10-2 lead when he trapped Harutyunyan’s left arm and ended the match with a right-sided trapped arm gut wrench.

RESULTS
57kg - Azamat TUSKAEV (RUS) df. Mihran JABURYAN (ARM), 10-0
61kg - Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (RUS) df. Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM), 12-2
65kg - Aznaur TAVAEV (RUS) df. Artur BADTIEV (RUS), 9-4
70kg - Anzor ZAKUEV (RUS) df. Meirzhan ASHIROV (KAZ), 5-4
74kg - Magomedkhabib KADIMAGOMEDOV (RUS) df. Khetik TSABOLOV (RUS), 11-10
79kg - Kamil ISAEV (RUS) df. Malik SHAVAEV (RUS), via fall
86kg - Zaur MAKIEV (RUS) df. Tamerlan TAPSIEV (RUS), 3-1
92kg - Radik NARTIKOEV (RUS) df. Guram CHERTKOEV (RUS), 6-2
97kg - Znur KOTSIEV (RUS) df. Azret SHOGENOV (RUS), 8-4
125kg - Vitalii GOLOEV (RUS) df. Soslan KHINCHAGOV (RUS), 6-6

Dauren KURUGLIEV and Artur NAIFONOV could meet in the Poland Open, with the winner gaining the 86kg Russian world team spot. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

4. Poland Open and German Grand Prix Kick off This Weekend
The Poland Open and German Grand Prix will take place this weekend, and will both have extremely important storylines to follow – especially heading into the 2019 World Championships.

The Poland Open, which will take place in Warsaw on August 2-4, will double up as the special wrestle-off site for the Russian Federation at 86kg between Dauren KURUGLIEV and Artur NAIFONOV.

Kurugliev, the European Games champion, was released from the Russian National Championships where Naifonov, the 2018 European champion, was the winner of the 86kg bracket. The other weights that were excused from the National Championships were 57kg, 65kg, 74kg, 97kg and 125kg. But, those weights will not be contested at the Poland Open.

The standard in years past at these special wrestle-offs has been that the highest placer at each weight will go on to represent Russia at their respective weight at the World Championships. That is expected to be the case again at 86kg. After the conclusion of the Poland Open and the final five wrestle-offs, the Russian coaching staff will announce their Nur-Sultan world team representatives in late-August.

Russia's Remaining Wrestle-Offs
57kg - Zaur UGUEV vs. Ramiz GAMZATOV or Aryian TYUTRIN
65kg - Akhmed CHAKAEV vs. Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV
74kg - Zaurbek SIDAKOV vs. Magomed KURBANALIEV
97kg - Abdulrashid SADULAEV vs. Vladislav BAITSAEV
125kg - ANZOR KHIZRIEV vs. Alan KHUGAEV

The second tournament worth following this weekend is the 36th Annual German Grand Prix which will take place in Dortmund, Germany (August 3-4).

In addition to Germany’s three-time world champion Frank STAEBLER making his first appearance down to 67kg since the Rio Olympics, four Olympic medalist and two other reigning world champions will be in action.

Olympic champions Roman VLASOV (RUS) and Davit CHAKVETADZE (RUS) will compete at 77kg and 87kg, respectively, while Rio bronze Stig Andre BERGE (NOR) and London runner-up Heiki NABI (EST) will take part in the tournament at 60kg and 130kg, respectively.

The two returning world champions taking the mat in Germany will be Artem SURKOV (RUS) and Musa EVLOEV (RUS). Surkov will compete at 67kg, where he’s the reigning world champion. Evloev will also compete at the weight where he’s the reigning world champion, 97kg.

Artur TAYMAZOV (UZB) was stripped of his London Olympic medal after a reanalysis of his anti-doping test at the 2012 Olympic Games. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

5. Taymazov Stripped of London Olympic Gold After Failed Anti-Doping Test Surfaces
Artur TAYMAZOV (UZB) has been stripped of his 2012 London Olympic gold medal by the IOC Disciplinary Commission (DC) after a reanalysis of his anti-doping test at the 2012 Olympic Games. The Uzbek tested positive for the prohibited substance dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (oral turinabol).

Taymazov has been removed from the 120kg gold-medal slot and the order of the medalists will be reshuffled as the following:

Gold: Komeil GHASEMI (IRI)
Silver: Bilyal MAKHOV (RUS)
Bronze: Tervel DLAGNEV (USA)
Bronze: Daulet SHABANBAY (KAZ)

Taymazov, who was also stripped of his 2008 Beijing Olympic gold medal for the use of prohibited substances, has 21 days to appeal the IOC DC decision before CAS. United World Wrestling will then determine the sanctions faced by the athlete.

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media
1. Big Move Monday -- Renteria T. (COL) -- Junior Panams 2019
2. Veisi from Iran defeats Howard (USA) and takes his place in tomorrow’s 55kg final.
3. Big Moves From Day 2 // Ranking Series //Oleg Karavaev // Minsk 2019
4. Erica Wiebe - On The Shoulders Of Giants - Olympic Champion Erica Weibe (@eweebz) may have been the only Canadian wrestler to win a gold medal in Rio, but as she tells 'Wrestling 360', her journey was only possible because of the pioneers who paved the way. Watch “On the Shoulders of Giants”.
5. Wow! Look at the medals for @tokyo2020! ?? Comment and tag the next @olympicchampion ⬇️⬇️⬇️

#JapanWrestling

Olympic champ Fumita joins Ono as late withdrawal from Emperor's Cup

Wednesday, December 17, 2025 - 07:42 By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (December 17) -- Five days after former world champion Masanosuke ONO made the stunning announcement that he was pulling out of the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships, another high-profile star aborted a long-awaited return to action by joining him on the sidelines.

Olympic champion Kenichiro FUMITA announced Wednesday on the eve of the tournament that he was withdrawing due to an injury, keeping him out of what would have been his first tournament since his triumph at the Paris Olympics.

Fumita, who won the Paris gold at Greco 60kg but was entered at 63kg, made the announcement on his X account. Without disclosing the injury, he said it "was not a major injury that will have an effect on my wrestling career, but I feel it is not worth the risk at this time so I decided to withdraw."

The Emperor's Cup is also serving as the domestic qualifier for the 2026 Asian Championships, and as the first of two national domestic qualifiers for this year's World Championships and Asian Games. The latter holds particular significance in that Japan will be hosting the event.

Fumita, the silver medalist at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and a two-time former world champion, had only competed at 63kg once in his career, at the 2023 German Grand Prix, where he placed second as a warmup for the World Championships, where he took home the silver.

The 30-year-old was due to take the mat on Thursday, the first day of the four-day tournament at Tokyo's Komazawa Gym.

"I deeply apologize to everyone who was looking forward [to seeing me] and to all those involved [with the tournament]," Fumita said. "I will make the utmost effort to be in top condition and be able to perform at the next competition."

Last Friday, Ono announced that he had withdrawn for health reasons, a move that indefinitely delays his return to the mats of his native country.

Ono revealed on social media that he had been diagnosed with a kidney problem, possibly linked to cutting weight to get down to 57kg, according to a report by Japan's top wrestling website Wrestling Spirits.

Ono has been competing at either 61kg or 65kg in recent years, and the stress of getting down to 57kg might have taken too big a toll. Ono said that he had gotten near 57kg the previous week when he experienced thickening of the urine, which can be regarded as a sign of dehydration.

Upon consultation with a doctor, it was decided "I will play it safe this time," Ono said.

The 22-year-old Ono has become a worldwide sensation, first by winning the senior world title at freestyle 61kg in 2024 with one-sided victories that included beating a past Olympic gold medalist and the reigning world champion, then for leaving the comfort of Yamanashi Gakuin University for the challenge of competing in American folkstyle at powerhouse Penn State University.

The Emperor's Cup would have provided a rare chance for Ono to compete in a freestyle tournament again, the first step on the path to getting back to the World Championships.

Ono said he will now return to Penn State, where he will resume his introduction into folkstyle. While he is redshirting this year -- the system that allows him to train with the team but not enter official competitions to preserve a year of eligibility -- he plans to enter an open tournament in January.

As pointed out by Wrestling Spirits, the big issue facing Ono now is whether or not he will be afforded a spot in the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships in May next year, which will be the second domestic qualifier for the worlds and Asian Games.

As the name implies, the field is limited to invitees, using criteria set by the Japan Wrestling Federation based on results from major competitions over the past year. There are exceptions made for a wrestler who has been out of action for an extended time but has achieved "particularly outstanding results."

In the past, this has been interpreted to mean medaling at an Olympics, as the majority of wrestlers take time off following Olympic success. The question the federation will have to answer is, will a world title in 2024 earn Ono an invitation?

Asked directly by Wrestling Spirits, Kenji INOUE, the federation's chairman of the technical enhancement committee, replied, "At this stage, nothing has been decided."

There is one incentive for the publicity-starved JWF to include Ono in the Meiji Cup field -- it could set up a classic match-up between him and Paris Olympic champion Rei HIGUCHI.

Higuchi has not competed since winning the Paris gold, but has already stated he plans to return at the Meiji Cup with eyes on a first Asian Games appearance.

Ono has not competed in Japan since June 2024, when he participated in the East Japan Collegiate League, a team competition in which he helped Yamanashi Gakuin win the Division I title.

After winning the gold at the Non-Olympic Weight Class World Championships in Tirana in October 2024, he revealed he had been dealing with a broken ankle.

That kept him out of competition for awhile, then early in 2025, he headed across the Pacific to begin training with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. In March, he made the blockbuster announcement that he would enroll at Penn State.

Ono had been entered at 57kg at the Bill Farrell Memorial Invitational in New York in November, but was a late withdrawal for undisclosed reasons.

At the Emperor's Cup, Olympic weight classes will be contested over two days in the same format at the World Championships, while non-Olympic weights will be finished in a single day.

Although Fumita will no longer be competing, fellow Paris gold medalist Yuka KAGAMI will be making her return to the mat for the first time since her Olympic triumph at women's 76kg, which gets started on Thursday.

Weekly FIVE! July 30, 2019

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Olympic champ Fumita joins Ono as late withdrawal from Emperor's Cup