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 ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Weekly FIVE!

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! July 30, 2019

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Weekly FIVE! July 2, 2019

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