Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! November 5, 2018

By Eric Olanowski

Reviewing results from the Iranian Freestyle League and the American Wrestling League draft. Also looking at Russia's Ivan Yarygin qualification process.   

1. Gadzhimagomedov, Karimi, Kurbanaliev Give Iran FS League Title to Bimeh
Using Russian and Iranian stars, Bimeh Razi Babol captured the 2018 Iran Freestyle League title, earning a 26-15 victory over Setaregan Sari in the final match in Gorgan city.

Sari's team opened up the finals with back-to-back wins from Nader HAJAGHANIA (IRI) and Mehran SHEIKHI (IRI) 57kg and 61kg respectively, before 2016 Asian champion Meysam NASIRI (IRI) downed Farzad AMOUZAD (IRI), 6-2, giving Bimeh their first team victory.

Russia's 2016 world champion Magomed KURVANALIEV (RUS) evened things up after a 15-4 technical fall at 70kg. 

In the fifth match, it was Hossein ELYASI (IRI) who kept Sari's hopes alive, beating Reza AFZALI, 6-4, breaking the two to two tie and giving Sari the 3-2 lead.

Bimeh, won four of the final five bouts, including wins from Budapest world bronze medalists, Akhmed GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (RUS) (79kg) and Alireza KARIMI (IRI) (92kg) to defeat Setaregan Sari 26-15 to capture 2018 Iran Freestyle League Title.

Final Match: Bimeh Razi Babol df. Setaregan Sari, 26-15 (6-4)
57kg- Nader HAJAGHANIA (Sari) df. Mehran REZAZADEH (Bimeh), 5-3
61kg- Mehran SHEIKHI (Sari) df. Behnam EHSANPOUR (Bimeh), 5-2
65kg- Meysam NASIRI (Bimeh) df. Farzad AMOUZAD (Sari), 6-2 
70kg- Magomed KURBANALIEV (Bimeh) df. Mohammad Mehdi YEGANEH JAFARI (Sari) by TF, 15-4
74kg- Hossein ELYASI (Sari) df. Reza AFZALI (Bimeh), 6-4
79kg- Akhmed GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (Bimeh) df. Fariborz BABAEI (Sari) by TF, 10-0
86kg- Alireza KARIMI (Bimeh) df. Masoud MADADI (Sari) by FALL
92kg- Mohammad Javad EBRAHIMI (Bimeh) df. Sina GHOLAMI (Sari), 8-3
97kg- Vladislav BAITSAEV(Bimeh) df. Amir MOHAMMADI (Sari), 6-0
125kg- Jaber SADEGHZADEH (Sari) df. Abbas FOROUTAN (Bimeh), 8-7

2. United World Wrestling Joins World Taekwondo in Worldwide Peace Initiative
United World Wrestling has joined with World Taekwondo and the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation (THF) to sign a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote humanitarian, peace and development-supporting activities around the world.

United World Wrestling president Nenad LALOVIC met with World Taekwondo President Chungwon CHOUE the World Wrestling Championships in Budapest on October 22 to sign the agreement.

“We have followed the development of this humanitarian fund and have seen what it can achieve and look forward to joining World Taekwondo’s effort to diversity athletic opportunities in the camps,” said Lalovic. “We trust that wrestling and taekwondo will add light to the lives of the children in these refugee camps.”

The agreement will allow full cooperation and information exchange between the three organizations. They aim to commit to developing close cooperation in the following areas:

Promoting sport as a powerful vehicle towards peace, social development, and integration of vulnerable populations;

Uniting forces in offering sport for development and peace activities, in particular in THF’s existing Azraq Taekwondo Academy in Azraq Refugee Camp, Jordan, and potentially other locations worldwide; 

Exchanging and sharing of expertise, know-how, information, and publications.

Click here for the full release.

Photo from Max Rose-Fyne of the 2018 Ivan Yarygin competition venue. 

3. Russia’s Ivan Yarygin Qualification Process Announced 
The best Russian wrestlers will head to Vladikavkaz, Ossetia, Russia this weekend to compete at the 2018 Alans for an opportunity to head to Krasnoyarsk, Russia in January to wrestle in the Ivan Yarygin - which is often called the toughest tournament in the world. 

The only wrestlers that are exempt from the Alans are Magomedrasul GAZIMAGOMEDOV (RUS), Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS), Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RUS), and Zavur UGUEV (RUS) who all won gold medals at the 2018 World Championships.

Only three Russian wrestlers at each weight will qualify for the Ivan Yarygin. The first qualifying criteria is the world team member from the 2018 world championships, followed by the gold medalist of the Alans, and finally, the winner of January’s Mindiashvili Grand Prix. 

Kyle DAKE (USA) carries the American flag after winning his first world title. (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne)

4. World Champs Dake and Taylor Draft Team for Inaugural “American Wrestling League I The Beginning”
Reigning world champions Kyle DAKE (USA) and David TAYLOR (USA) drafted their teams for the inaugural “American Wrestling League I The Beginning” which takes place at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on November 30. 

Though there will be only ten matches, on Saturday night, each of the rookie world champions drafted ten starters, along with ten back-ups to compete at the ten international weight categories.  

Each of the starters from Team Dake and Team Taylor will pick up $2,500 to show, and $5,000 to win.

Fans can follow all of the AWL action live on trackwrestling.com on November 30. 

Team Kyle DAKE 
57kg - Zach SANDERS and Alan WATERS
61kg – Tony RAMOS and Nick SIMMONS 
65kg – Jordan OLIVER and Josh KINDIG 
70kg – James GREEN and Frank MOLINARO 
74kg – Isaiah MARTINEZ and Richie LEWISH 
79kg – Nate JACKSON and Josh ASPER
86kg – Nick HEFLIN and Pat DOWNEY 
92kg – Hayden ZILLMER and Deron WINN
97kg – Jacob KASPER and Ty WALZ
130kg – Dom BRADLEY and Ceron FRANSISCO  

Team David TAYLOR 
57kg – Nico MEGALUDIS and Frank PERRELLI 
61kg – Cory CLARK and Bryce MEREDITH 
65kg – Zain RETHERFORD and Evan HENDERSON 
70kg – Brandon SORENSEN and Anthony COLLICA 
74kg – Tommy GANTT and Joey LAVALLEE
79kg – Alex DIERINGER and Dan VALLIMONT 
86kg – Sammy BROOKS and Brett PFARR
92kg – Michael MACCHIAVELLO and Ben PROVISOR 
97kg – Kyven GADSON and Blaize CABELL 
130kg – Adam COON and Robbie SMITH 

5.  U23 World Championships Begin November 12 
Next week,  the Polyvalent Hall in Bucharest, Romania will host the 2018 U23 World Championships. Wrestling begins on Monday, November 12. 

Greco-Roman wrestling will kick off the championships, followed by women's wrestling, and will end with freestyle. 

Click here for the full schedule. 

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media 

1. Big Move Monday! #grecoromanwrestling #olympic #wrestling#activewrestling #5pointsthrow 
#budawrestle2018
2. Nice action in 82kg Peter Bácsi two times World Champion,2018 Budapest #grecoromanwrestling #olympicwrestling 
@unitedworldwrestling
3. #Budawrestle2018
4. Russia's U23 world squad. 
5. Kyle Dake and David Taylor AWL draft picks 

#WrestleParis

Wrestling at Paris 2024 by numbers: Quotas, countries, records

By Vinay Siwach

PARIS (July 5) -- The 291 wrestlers for the Paris 2024 from 63 countries have been confirmed and it is the United States sending the most wrestlers with 16. It has six spots in Freestyle, six in Women's Wrestling and four in Greco-Roman.

The U.S. is followed by Japan which managed 13 quotas for Paris Olympics with six in Women's Wrestling, four in Freestyle and three in Greco-Roman. Azerbaijan and China managed to get 12 quotas each. Azerbaijan has six in Freestyle, five in Greco-Roman and one in Women's Wrestling while China has five in Women's Wrestling, four in freestyle and three in Greco-Roman.

PARIS 2024 SCHEDULE | PARIS 2024 NEWS

Egypt, Iran and Turkiye are tied with 11 quotas each from the qualification process. Egypt has qualified all six in Greco-Roman, four in Freestyle and one in Women's Wrestling. Iran won six in Greco-Roman and five in Freestyle. Turkiye has five in women's wrestling, four in Greco-Roman and two in freestyle.

Cuba and Kyrgyzstan also touched double digits with 10 quotas. Cuba has five quotas in Greco-Roman, three in Freestyle and two in Women's Wrestling. Kyrgyzstan has four quotas in Greco-Roman and three each in women's wrestling and freestyle.

Mongolia and Ukraine earned nine spots for Paris 2024 with the former qualifying all six in Women's Wrestling and three in Freestyle. Ukraine has four in Women's Wrestling, three in Freestyle and two in Greco-Roman.

Algeria and Kazakhstan have eight quotas while four countries have seven. Five countries have six quotas each while four nations have five quotas. Four countries got four each, eight got three each and six earned two quotas each for the Paris Games.

There will be 15 countries that won one quota. In addition, two Individual Neutral Athletes will take part in Paris 2024 along with two refugee athletes.

Wrestlers by continents

Europe - 111 (38.54 percent)
Asia - 84 (29.17 percent)
Americas - 55 (19.10 percent)
Africa - 32 (11.11 percent)
Oceania - 6 (2.08 percent).

Quotas by continents

Europe - 26 countries (42.62 percent)
Asian - 12 countries (19.67 percent)
American - 12 countries (19.67 percent)
Africa - 7 countries (11.48)
Oceania - 4 countries (6.56 percent)

Debuts

- Four countries will be making their debuts at the Olympics in Women's Wrestling - Lithuania, Algeria, New Zealand and Uzbekistan
- Honduras is sending its first-ever Greco-Roman wrestler to the Olympics
- The Dominican Republic is sending its first-ever Freestyle wrestler to the Olympics

Full List of Quotas

Country Quota FS WW GR
USA 16 6 6 4
JPN 13 4 6 3
AZE 12 6 1 5
CHN 12 4 5 3
EGY 11 4 1 6
IRI 11 5  - 6
TUR 11 2 5 4
CUB 10 3 2 5
KGZ 10 3 3 4
MGL 9 3 6  -
UKR 9 3 4 2
ALG 8 1 2 5
KAZ 8 4  - 4
GEO 7 4  - 3
GER 7 1 4 2
MDA 7 2 3 2
UZB 7 3 1 3
BUL 6 1 2 3
CAN 6 2 4  -
IND 6 1 5  -
NGR 6 1 5  -
SRB 6 2   4
ARM 5 2 - 3
HUN 5 2 1 2
POL 5 2 2 1
ROU 5  - 3 2
COL 4  - 2 2
ECU 4  - 3 1
PUR 4 4  -  -
VEN 4 1 2 1
ALB 3 3  -  -
FRA 3  - 2 1
ITA 3 1 2  -
KOR 3  -  1 2
LTU 3 - 1 2
PRK 3 - 2 1
TUN 3 - 2 1
GRE 3 2 1  -
AIN 2 1  - 1
AUS 2 2  -  -
CHI 2  -  - 2
FIN 2  -  - 2
GBS 2 2  -  -
GUM 2  - 2  -
MEX 2 2  -  -
SWE 2  - 2  -
EOR (UWW) 2  1 1  -
BRA 1  - 1  -
BRN 1 1  -  -
DEN 1  -  - 1
DOM 1 1    
EST 1  -  - 1
HON 1  -  - 1
MAR 1  -  - 1
MKD 1 1  -  -
NOR 1  - 1  -
NZL 1  - 1  -
RSA 1 1  -  -
SAM 1 1  -  -
SMR 1 1  -  -
SVK 1 1  -  -
TJK 1 1  -   -
Total = 63 290 97 96 97