Weekly FIVE! October 15, 2019

Tuesday, October 15, 2019 - 13:25 By Eric Olanowski

Reviewing Snyder's move, the list of returning U23 world champions who'll wrestle in Budapest, and the newly-released 2020 Ranking Series locations. Also looking at results from the ANOC World Beach Games, Dmitri Korkin and Continental Cup.

1. World and Olympic Champion Snyder On the Move
Late last week, the American training scene felt a monumental shift in training centers power after arguably the biggest transfer in recent memory took place.

Kyle SNYDER (USA), the two-time world and Olympic champion, took to social media to announce that he’d be transferring training centers. In that post, Snyder said, “The simple truth is I need to get better. In order for me to fulfill my obligations as a member of Team USA and as the defending Olympic champ, I must give full effort and take complete responsibility for this process.”

Snyder's move comes just under a month after "Capitan American" fell to his "worst" World Championships finish in his storied career. Snyder failed to make the world finals for the first time in his career after slipping to fellow Olympic champion Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE), 5-2, in the semifinals. After that loss, Snyder bounced back to a win his fifth consecutive world or Olympic medal. He now has an Olympic gold medal, a pair of world titles, and a world silver and bronze on his resume.

The Nittany Lion Training Center move will give Snyder the opportunity to train alongside 2018 world champion David TAYLOR (USA), among many other world medalists. He'll be coached by Olympic champions Cael SANDERSON (USA) and Jake VARNER (USA), who won their Olympic titles in 2004 and 2012, respectively.

Italy hosted the Sassari City Tournament in Sassari, Italy in 2019. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

2. 2020 Ranking Series Location Announced
United World Wrestling has announced Rome and Warsaw as hosts of the 2020 Ranking Series. Both events will include all three wrestling styles: freestyle, women’s wrestling, and Greco-Roman and will influence seeding for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Rome will host its competition January 15-18, while Warsaw will welcome wrestlers June 4-7 – one month after the final Olympic qualification tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria.

“We are pleased to announce our host cities for the 2020 Ranking Series,” said United World Wrestling president Nenad Lalovic. “There was outstanding participation at the 2019 events, which helped create excitement around our wrestlers and the World Championships in Nur-Sultan. We thank the local organizing committees in Rome and Warsaw for hosting these events.”

Click HERE to read full release on the 2020 Ranking Series event schedule.

Reigning senior-level Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO) headlines a list of ten returning U23 world champions. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

3. U23 World Championships to Feature 10 Returning Champs
The U23 World Championships are less than two weeks away and reigning senior-level Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO) headlines a list of entries that boasts one-third of last year’s U23 world champions.

As the (unofficial) early entries currently sit, there are 631 athletes from 64 different nations that'll wrestle in Budapest, Hungary from October 28 through November 3. But ten of those 631 wrestlers return to the U23 World Championships looking to defend their world titles from a year ago.

Greco-Roman will have five returning worlds champions -- headlined by reigning senior-level world champion Nugzari Tsurtsumia, who just reached the top of the 55kg podium at the Nur-Sultan World Championships in late September. He'll be joined in Budapest by fellow Georgian Zviadi PATARIDZE (GEO), who already has six age-group world titles to his name.

The other three returning U23 Greco-Roman world champions are Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY), Katsuaki ENDO (JPN) and Semen NOVIKOV (UKR).

El Sayed, who qualified Egypt for the Olympic Games at 67kg, will wrestle at 67kg -- which is the same weight as Japan's Katsuaki Endo, while Novikov will lace up at 87kg.

Freestyle has a trio of returning U23 world champions. They are Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK), Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) and Shamil ZUBAIROV (AZE). They'll compete at 74kg, 86kg and 92kg, respectively.

In women's wrestling, Japan's Saki IGARASHI (55kg) and China's Paliha PALIHA (76kg) will travel to Hungary to try to defend their titles from a year ago.

Returning U23 World Champions:
Freestyle
74kg - Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
86kg - Kamran Ghorban GHASEMPOUR (IRI)
92kg - Shamil ZUBAIROV (AZE)

Greco-Roman
55kg - Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO)
67kg - Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY)
67kg - Katsuaki ENDO (JPN)
87kg - Semen NOVIKOV (UKR)
130kg - Zviadi PATARIDZE (GEO)

Women’s Wrestling
55kg - Saki IGARASHI (JPN)
76kg - Paliha PALIHA (CHN)

4. Inam Takes out Olympic Bronze Medalist Marsagishvili in ANOC World Beach Games Finals
Muhammad INAM (PAK) avenged his loss from the Rio De Janeiro stop of the Beach Wrestling World Series by scoring a stunning 5-2 win over London Olympic bronze medalist Dato MARSAGISHVILI (GEO). Inam's win came in the 90kg gold-medal match at the ANOC World Beach Games.

Coming into the ANOC World Beach Games, Marsagishvili was unquestionably the favorite to win a World Beach Games gold medal. This season, the Georgian wrestler was undefeated with Beach Wrestling World Series titles in Chaves and Rio de Janeiro, along with a gold medal at September’s UWW Beach Wrestling World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia.

Inam, the Beach Wrestling World Series runner-up in Rio De Janeiro, won his first beach wrestling gold medal with the three-point advantage over Marsagishvili in the 90kg finals.

Click HERE for results from the first day of wrestling at the ANOC World Beach Games.

Alexander BOGOMOEV (RUS) won the 61kg title at the Dmitri Korkin (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

5. Dmitri Korkin and Continental Cup Wrap up in Russia
The 12th Annual Dmitri Korkin and Continental Cup wrapped up last weekend in Russia and the host nation won eight of ten titles at both tournaments.

The Dmitri Korkin, which took place in eastern Siberia in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), saw eight of ten Russian wrestlers win a gold medal.

The pair of non-Russian champs were Peter IANULOV (MDA) and Daniel LIGETI (HUN). Ianulov, the 15th-place finisher in Nur-Sultan, defeated three-time European runner-up Alexander GOSTIEV (AZE) to win his 86kg title. Ligeti, who was also a 15th-place finisher in Nur-Sultan, beat Russian Nationals bronze-medal finisher Pavel KRIVTSOV (RUS) to win the 125kg gold medal.

The second tournament where Russia claimed eight of ten gold medals was the Continental Cup in Khasavyurt, which is located to the west of the Republic of Dagestan’s capital, Makhachkala.

The two non-Russian wrestlers to win a Continental Cup title were Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ) and Georgy RUBAEV (MDA). Dauletbekov, a 2017 U23 world runner-up, won the 86kg title with a win over Arsenali MUSALALIEV (RUS), while Rubaev, this year’s world fifth-place finisher (92kg), stopped Gadzhimagomed NAZMUDINOV (RUS) in the 92kg finals.

Dmitri Korkin RESULTS
57kg
GOLD - Zhargal DAMDINOV (RUS)
SILVER - Arıyan TYUTRIN (RUS)
BRONZE - Aldar BALZINIMAEV (RUS)
BRONZE - Parviz IBRAGIMOV (AZE)

61kg
GOLD - Alexander BOGOMOEV (RUS)
SILVER - Kazuya KOYANAGI (JPN)
BRONZE – Eduard GRIGORIEV (RUS)
BRONZE – Peter PAVLOV (RUS)

65kg
GOLD - Victor RASSADIN (RUS)
SILVER - Nʹurgun SCRAIABIN (BLR)
BRONZE - Genghis ERDOGAN (TUR)
BRONZE - Bulat BATOEV (RUS)

70kg
GOLD - Evgeny ZHERBAEV (RUS)
SILVER - Arbak SAT (RUS)
BRONZE - Revolii SAMSONOV (RUS)
BRONZE - Timur NINKOLAEV (RUS)

74kg
GOLD - Nadirbeg HIZRIEV (RUS)
SILVER - Nikita KNOTS (RUS)
BRONZE - Caballero GARZON (CUB)
BRONZE - Hadzhimurad HAJIYEV (AZE)

79kg
GOLD - Tazhidin AKAYEV (RUS)
SILVER - Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE)
BRONZE - Akhmad TASHUKHADZHIEV (RUS)
BRONZE - Logan MASSA (USA)

86kg
GOLD - Peter IANULOV (MDA)
SILVER - Alexander GOSTIEV (AZE)
BRONZE - Krzysztof SADOVIK (POL)

92kg
GOLD - Guram CHERTKOEV (RUS)
SILVER - Anzor URISHEV (RUS)
BRONZE - Marzapet GALSTYAN (ARM)
BRONZE - Ivan YANKOSKY (BRL)

97kg
GOLD - Igor OVSANNIKOV (RUS)
SILVER - Maksoud VEJSALOV (UZB)
BRONZE - George DIMITROV (BUL)

125kg
GOLD - Daniel LIGETI (HUN)
SILVER - Pavel KRIVTSOV (RUS)
BRONZE - Baldan TSYZHIPOV (RUS)
BRONZE - Zelimkhan KHIZRIEV (RUS)

Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ) was one of two non-Russian wrestlers to win a gold medal at the Continental Cup. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Continental Cup RESULTS
57kg
GOLD - Abubakar MUTALIEV (RUS)
SILVER - Hasanhuseyn BADRUDINOV (RUS)
BRONZE - Thomas GILMAN (USA)
BRONZE - Azamat TUSHKAEV (RUS)

61kg
GOLD - Ibrahim ABDURAKHMANOV (RUS)
SILVER - Rustam KARAKHANOV (RUS)
BRONZE - Artem GEBEKOV (RUS)
BRONZE - Kilyab HANIPAEV (RUS)

65kg
GOLD - Ramadan FERZALIEV (RUS)
SILVER - Evan HENDERSON (USA)
BRONZE - Alibek OSMONOV (KGZ)
BRONZE - Vazgen TEYANYAN (ARM)

70kg
GOLD - Aznaur TAVAEV (RUS)
SILVER - Frank MOLINARO (USA)
BRONZE - Gitinomagomed HAJIYEV (AZE)
BRONZE - Umar MUTALIEV (RUS)

74kg
GOLD - Magomed KHIZRIEV (RUS)
SILVER - Magoma DIBIRGADZHIEV (RUS)
BRONZE - Gadzhimurad ALIKHMAEV (RUS)
BRONZE - Amanula RASULOV (RUS)

79kg
GOLD - Atsamaz SANAKOEV (RUS)
SILVER - Isaiah MARTINEZ (USA)
BRONZE - Adam KHASIEV (RUS)
BRONZE - Magomed MUTALIBOV (RUS)

86kg
GOLD - Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ)
SILVER - Arsenali MUSALALIEV (RUS)
BRONZE - Zhavrail SHAPIEV (UZB)
BRONZE - Khabib HAJIYEV (RUS)

92kg
GOLD - Georgy RUBAEV (MDA)
SILVER - Gadzhimagomed NAZMUDINOV (RUS)
BRONZE - Muslim MAGOMEDOV (RUS)
BRONZE - Ramadan SHABANOV (RUS)

97kg
GOLD - Rasul MAGOMEDOV (RUS)
SILVER - Hayden ZILMER (USA)
BRONZE - Magomed TAGIROV (RUS)
BRONZE - Tai WALTZ (USA)

125kg
GOLD - Batraz GAZZAYEV (RUS)
SILVER - Magomedgadzhi NURASULOV (RUS)
BRONZE - Alan KHUGAEV (RUS)
BRONZE - Shamil SHARIPOV (RUS)

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media

1. Big Move Monday -- Sharshenbekov T. (KGZ) -- Senior Worlds 2019
2. Sunday smiles! ?
3. Here are few moments that stand out for us from World Championships.
4. Check out some of the best action from day 6 medal matches here at the 2019 Veterans World Championship.
5. A beautiful sequence from Turkey's Murat Ozkan. | #beachwrestling #wrestling

Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! March 10, 2020

Tuesday, March 10, 2020 - 13:43 By Eric Olanowski

Discussing the list of Olympic champions entered into the Tokyo Olympic qualification events and Greco-Roman world runner-up Pino HInds winning freestyle bronze at the Pan-Am C'ships. Also looking at Japan's special wrestle-offs for the Olympic spot.

1. Aliyev and "King Vlad" Entered into European Qualifier at 65kg
Lightweight superstars Haji ALIYEV (AZE) and Vladimer KHINCHEGASHVILI (GEO) entered the European Olympic Qualifier in Budapest, Hungary (March 19 – 22), with hopes of qualifying Azerbaijan and Georgia for the Olympic Games at 65kg.

The pair of past world champions and Rio Olympic medalists suffered uncharacteristic early-round losses at the Nur-Sultan World Championships and missed out on qualifying their nations for the Olympic Games.

Aliyev, a three-time world champion, failed to qualify Azerbaijan for the Olympics at 65kg. The Rio Olympic bronze medalist dropped his opening round match at the World Championships to eventual world champion Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS). Aliyev scored a 10-1 win over Reda HUSSEN (EGY) in his first repechage match but fell to 2018 world champion Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) in a heartbreaking 11-9 match. He was knocked out of the tournament after his second loss and finished in 12th place.

Khinchegashvili, a Rio Olympic champion and London silver medalist, also failed to qualify his nation for the Toyko Olympic Games. The Georgian opened up his 2019 World Championships campaign with a 4-0 win over YUN Junsik (KOR), but lost 5-1 in his next match to eventual bronze medalist Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN). The Hungarian dropped a 3-2 nail biter against Rashidov -- knocking Khinchegashvili out of the tournament with a 22nd-place finish.

If either fails to make the finals in Budapest, their last opportunity will be the World Olympic Qualifier in Sofia, Bulgaria (April 30 – May 03).

Qualified Nation – Qualifying Wrestler
RUS via Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (Europe)
KAZ via Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (Asia)
IND via Bajrang BAJRANG (Asia)
HUN via Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (Europe)
JPN via Takuto OTOGURO (Asia)
MGL via Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (Asia)

2. Olympic Champs Maroulis and Wiebe Entered into Pan-American Qualifier
The road for Helen MAROULIS (USA) and Erica WIEBE (CAN) to repeat as Olympic champions runs through this week's Pan-American Qualifiers in Ottawa, Canada.

The pair needed the post-world championship qualifiers in 2016 to earn berths to the Olympics and find themselves in eerily similar situations heading into the Tokyo Olympic Games. In 2016, Maroulis qualified for the Olympics with a gold-medal performance at the 1st OG World Qualifying Tournament, while Wiebe punched her ticket to Rio after winning the 2016 Pan-American Olympic Qualifier.

They'll compete at this week's Pan-American Qualifiers to try to qualify their nations for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, which will kick start their journey to try to become the first non-Japanese wrestlers to win a pair of Olympic titles.

Since women's wrestling inception into the Olympic Games in 2004, Japan has claimed 11 of the 18 Olympic gold medals. But, of the seven non-Japanese women whose resume boasts an Olympic gold, surprisingly enough, there's never been a non-Japanese two-time Olympic champion.

Maroulis, America's first women's wrestling Olympic champion, returns to USA's lineup for the first time since falling to a 21st-place finish at the 2018 World Championships. She's faced difficulties with concussions over the last two seasons but locked up her spot on the Pan-American Qualifier team with two straight pins against Nur-Sultan world team member, Jenna BURKERT (USA).

She's wrestling at arguably the deepest weight in the world, 57kg, and is joined by reigning 59kg world champion Linda MORAIS (CAN) and 2019 Pan-American champion Lissette ANTES (ECU).

Wiebe enters the Pan-American Championships as the favorite to the 76kg weight category. Especially with the absence of her archrival Adeline GRAY (USA), who qualified the United States for the Tokyo Olympics with her American history-breaking fifth world title. Her biggest threat at 76kg is Genesis REASCO (ECU), who was last year's Pan-American runner-up.

3. Greco-Roman World Silver Medalist Pino Hines Captures Pan-Am Freestyle Bronze
Cuban big man Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB), fresh off his Greco-Roman runner-up finish at the World Championships in Nur-Sultan, shifted to freestyle and captured the 125kg bronze medal at the Pan-American Championships.

Pino Hinds transitioned to freestyle after he took a backseat to Mijain LOPEZ (CUB), who is looking to become the first male wrestler ever to win four Olympic titles.

In his 2020 freestyle debut, Pino Hinds went 2-2 and scored wins over Charles MERRILL (PUR) and Brandon ANGUIANO (MEX) en route to his bronze-medal finish. His losses came against Anthony Robert NELSON (USA) and Amarveer DHESI (CAN), who finished in first and second, respectively, at 125kg.

Pino Hinds refocused his attention on joining Bilyal MAKHOV (RUS) as the only wrestlers since 2015 to qualify their nations for the Olympic Games in both freestyle and Greco-Roman. Although he fell in the finals at the World Championships, Pino Hinds qualified Cuba for the Tokyo Olympic Games at 130kg in Greco-Roman.

Hinds is wrestling freestyle again at the Pan-American Olympic Qualifier, which kicks off on Friday.

His toughest competition at the Pan-American OG Qualifier is the two-time world bronze medalist, Nicholas Edward GWIAZDOWSKI (USA). The pair met twice last year, with Gwiazdowski scoring a pair of technical superiority victories.

Pino Hinds led 1-1 on criteria in the second period but gave up two takedowns and four leg laces before ultimately finishing the tournament with a bronze medal. He also fell 10-0 in the Pan-American Games finals.

4. Russia Inserts Bukina into European Qualifier over Olympic Champ Vorobeva
The biggest question after the European Championships wrapped up: Who will Russia roll with at 76kg heading into the European Olympic Qualifier?

The Russian coaching staff had the insanely tough decision on whether to insert reigning European champion Ekaterina BUKINA (RUS) or replace her with the reigning 72kg world and European champion, Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS).

Ultimately, they elected to place the ball in Bukina's hand to earn Russia their berth to the Olympics at 76kg.

Bukina is coming off a successful European championship campaign where she went 5-0 and captured the 76kg gold medal. In Rome, she defeated 2017 world silver medalist Vasilisa MARZALIUK (BLR) in the semifinals, then downed 2017 world champion Yasemin ADAR (TUR) in the finals.

After winning her first continental title, Bukina, a Rio Olympic bronze medalist, was asked where she sees herself in the race to represent Russia at the Olympic Games. She said, "It depends on who will be in better shape. Right now, she is wrestling in the other weight category, but we will decide later when it's closer to the Olympics. It's too early to talk about it."

Vorobeva also won gold at the European Championships, but she did so at the non-Olympic weight of 72kg. When she was asked about the log jam between herself and Bukina at 76kg, she said, "I gave Bukina this place, and it's good for her that she used her chance. But if there is a need for me to wrestle at 76kg, we'll both go on the mat, wrestle and see who the best is."

It's not clear what Russia will do if Bukina qualifies her nation for the Olympics, but it seems like a special wrestle-off is almost certain.

5. Dosho Earns Shot at Olympic Repeat With Win in Japan Team Playoff
Having stuck it out through trying times since her triumph in Rio four years ago, Sara DOSHO (JPN) finally assured that she will be able to defend her Olympic crown at this summer's Tokyo Games.

Dosho edged world junior champion Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) 3-1 in a special playoff to fill the Olympic spot at 68kg that she herself secured for Japan by placing fifth at last year's World Championships in Nur-Sultan. Morikawa had forced the playoff by winning the All-Japan title last December, where she defeated Dosho 9-2 in the semifinals.

"I had a lot of injuries, but I was able to come back and be here today," Dosho said. "I want to be completely healthy for the Tokyo Olympics and wrestling at a high level. From the time I won in Rio, my aim was to win again in Tokyo. That has not changed. I'll do what I can to make that happen."

Meanwhile, Keisuke OTOGURO (JPN) will join younger brother Takuto on Japan's team at Tokyo 2020 after he chalked up a 5-2 victory over Mao OKUI (JPN) at freestyle 74kg in the other playoff held behind closed doors at the National Training Center in Tokyo. Okui had earned Japan's spot by finishing fifth at Nur-Sultan.

READ: Ken Marantz provides a full breakdown of Japan's special wrestlers-offs.

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media
1. Big Move Monday -- Grace BULLEN
2. Happy International Women’s Day!
3. ? points for 5x World champ @adelinegray
4. Olympic Champion Vorobeva’s New Title: Mother!
5. Outrageous first-round action at the Greco-Roman Pan Am Championships!

Weekly FIVE! October 15, 2019

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media

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Weekly FIVE! March 10, 2020