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

#WrestleTirana

U23 Worlds: Masoumi, Firouzpour add more age-group titles

Sunday, October 27, 2024 - 09:24 By Vinay Siwach

Tirana, Albania (October 26) -- Two years after they won their first U23 world titles, Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) and Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) repeated as U23 world champions in 125kg and 92kg respectively in Tirana, Albania.

Now a six-time age-group world champion, Masoumi showed another dominant performance in the tournament, outscoring his opponents 41-0. A month ago, Masoumi won the U20 world title as well.

Carrying the injured left elbow, Masoumi faced U23 European champion Alen KHUBULOV (BUL) in the final on Saturday and won 11-0 with yet another masterclass in underhooks and aggressive wrestling. Khubulov struggled to find an opening as Masoumi kept an eye on his attempted underhooks.

The gold medal was the 20-year-old's sixth in the age-group World Championships and second at U23 level. However, he has Olympic silver medalist Amirhossein ZARE (IRI) as the biggest domestic competitor, and he will have to beat him next year to be Iran's representative on the senior team.

Iran's second gold as Firouzpour added his second U23 world title to take his total to five. Firouzpour gave up a takedown and turn against Jacob CARDENAS (USA) but looked in control of the 92kg final and won it 11-4.

Firouzpour, who had moved up to 97kg in a bid to be at the Paris Olympics, was back at 92kg at the start of this year and has won all the three tournaments he has participated in.

Defending his gold medal from last year was Bashir MAGOMEDOV (AIN) who defeated rising star from Azerbaijan Ruslan ABDULLAYEV (AZE) in the 61kg. The score was identical to his 4-0 win in the final last year.

"Final match is always different," Magomedov said. "Silver medal for me doesn’t mean anything. I was ready to die. I had a couple of attacks that were needed, scored the points and won the match. I’ve completed the plan that was given to me by my coach."

Abdullayev got on Magomedov's legs a couple of times but failed to finish his attacks. Magomedov, on the other hand, was in no hurry to finish the bout and took his own sweet time to win.

With two U23 gold medals in two years, Magomedov will be moving up to 65kg next season. However, gain weight still remains his biggest challenge.

"I am going to move up to the Olympic weight class of 65kg," he said. "However, my weight is just 66kg, that’s not enough. If I get to 67, 68kg, then I can think of moving to 65kg. I try to wrestle with everyone. Even if there is a chance to wrestle the Japanese guy, I would definitely do that. This kind of experience is very important."

A big result came at 86kg as Arslan BAGAEV (AIN) upgraded his bronze medal from last year to gold in a thrilling final against Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE). After a slow start to the final, Bagaev led 2-1 with two minutes remaining. However, Dzhioev scored a takedownand took a 3-2 lead and kept the pressure on. Dzhioev went for a double-leg attack in the zone but Bagaev countered him with lift and scored four points which were awarded only after Bagaev challenged.

That changed the flow of the bout as Dzhioev needed four points to win and did not get the opening to score any more points, suffering a 6-3 loss.

The win marked the first time Bagaev won a world title and he was relieved.

"I competed three times at the age-group World Championship, but I couldn’t win in previous years," Bagaev said. "Finally, this year, I managed to win. I probably worked harder than anyone, and luck was on my side."

In the final, wrestling his friend and training partner Dzhioev made it emotional but Bagaev always believed that he will win the final.

"We almost train at the same gym," he said. "Everyone was waiting for this match. I knew I was going to win, I was wrestling till the very end. In the end, we both got a little bit emotional, but this is wrestling, everybody wants to win."

Takahashi's golden run

Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) pulled off one of the most incredible run at the U23 World Championships on one leg, literally. After getting injured against Mitchell MESENBRINK (USA), Takahashi had a heavy strapping on his knee.

In the final, Takahashi pulled out a takedown in the final minute of a tense final against Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ) and held on to a 3-1 lead to upgrade his bronze medal from last year to gold.

Takahashi led 1-0 at the break against Toktomambetov was called for passivity in the first period and he failed to score in the activity time. Toktomambetov took a 1-1 criteria lead after Takahashi was put on the activity clock in the second period.

Takahashi kept his attacks and the referee was about to warn Toktomambetov for a second passivity when Takahashi got his takedown on the edge and claimed the lead. He held on to the 3-1 lead, avoiding much contact with Toktomambetov.

How hurt Takahashi was could be judged by the fact that he failed to perform the victory lap with the flag. After he won, the Japan team cheered for Takahashi and was proud that he managed to win the gold medal on one knee.

"I'm very happy and relieved that I won," Takahashi said. "I'm a tackler. I was good at attacking wrestling, and my opponent was very defensive, but I thought I could break down that defense by wrestling like I normally do, so I just did what I always do."

Takahashi threw some light on his style and said that countering is the way of wrestling he has been following since he began the sport.

"What I love most is winning," he said. "I've been doing tackles and attacking wrestling since I was little, so it's fun and I like it when I can make a tackle on my opponent."

Takahashi is registered for the World Championships in Non-Olympic Weight Classes at 79kg but with an injured knee, it will be interesting to see if Takahashi goes on to compete. But if he does, he is ready to challenge the pros.

"In the 79kg weight class, my opponent will be a bit bigger and bigger," he said. "I'm looking forward to seeing how well my speed and attacking wrestling will work against that opponent."

RESULTS

61kg
GOLD: Bashir MAGOMEDOV (AIN) df. Ruslan ABDULLAYEV (AZE), 4-0

BRONZE: Abhishek DHAKA (IND) df. Mykyta ABRAMOV (UKR), 3-1
BRONZE: Ebrahim KHARI (IRI) df. Levik MIKAYELYAN (ARM), 4-3

74kg
GOLD: Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) df. Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ), 3-1

BRONZE: Mitchell MESENBRINK (USA) df. Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN), 6-0
BRONZE: Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE) df. Ismail KHANIEV (AIN), 8-6

86kg
GOLD: Arslan BAGAEV (AIN) df. Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE), 6-3

BRONZE: Yudai TAKAHASHI (JPN) df. Joshua MORODION (GER), 9-2
BRONZE: Eugeniu MIHALCEAN (MDA) df. Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), 6-5

92kg
GOLD: Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) df. Jacob CARDENAS (USA), 11-4

BRONZE: Ion DEMIAN (MDA) df. Fatih ALTUNBAS (TUR), via fall (8-6)
BRONZE: Mustafagadzhi MALACHDIBIROV (AIN) df. Musza ARSUNKAEV (HUN), 10-1

125kg
GOLD: Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) df. Alen KHUBULOV (BUL), 11-0

BRONZE: Volodymyr KOCHANOV (UKR) df. Aydin AHMADOV (AZE), 11-0
BRONZE: Abdulla KURBANOV (AIN) df. Lucas STODDARD (USA),

Semifinals

57kg
GOLD: Abdymalik KARACHOV (KGZ) vs. CHIRAG (IND)

SF 1: Abdymalik KARACHOV (KGZ) df. Ali MOMENI (IRI), 4-3
SF 2: CHIRAG (IND) df. Allan ORALBEK (KAZ), 8-0

65kg
GOLD: Kaiji OGINO (JPN) vs. Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (AIN)

SF 1: Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (AIN) df. Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB), 3-0
SF 2: Kaiji OGINO (JPN) df. Abbas EBRAHIM (IRI), 11-5

70kg
GOLD: Magomed KHANIEV (AZE) vs. Magomed ELTEMIROV (AIN)

SF 1: Magomed ELTEMIROV (AIN) df. Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI), 5-3
SF 2: Magomed KHANIEV (AZE) df. SUJEET (IND), via fall (8-4)

79kg
GOLD: Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) vs. Feng LU (CHN)

SF 1: Feng LU (CHN) df. Arsen BALAIAN (AIN), 4-2
SF 2: Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) df. Masaki SATO (JPN), 12-1

97kg
GOLD: Mahdi HAJILOUEIAN (IRI) vs. Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ)

SF 1: Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) df. Shamil GADZHIALIEV (AIN), 7-2
SF 2: Mahdi HAJILOUEIAN (IRI) df. VICKY (IND), 11-8

Weekly FIVE! October 15, 2019

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U23 Worlds: Masoumi, Firouzpour add more age-group titles