Who’s In? Freestyle Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers

Wednesday, April 22, 2020 - 17:20 By Andrew Hipps

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (April 22) -- In response to the IOC’s decision to postpone the Tokyo Olympic Games until the summer of 2021, United World Wrestling has announced that all Olympic qualification spots already earned will continue to be honored.

For the nations whose wrestlers qualified at the World Championships or Pan Am Qualifiers that means they are done, but for those who haven’t qualified in each weight category there will be events in March and April of 2021 to determine the remaining eight spots in each category.

We’ve broken down “Who’s In,” and which stars still need to qualify.

Russia crowned four world champions and one bronze medalist in Olympic freestyle weight categories at the 2019 World Championships in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, to qualify five weight categories for the Tokyo Olympics. The only weight category not yet qualified for Russia is 125kg.

The United States had a strong performance at the Pan American Olympic Qualifier in Ottawa, Canada, qualifying three weight categories to go along with the two qualified at the World Championships.

Kazakhstan has four Olympic qualifiers in freestyle and will look to add to that total at the Asian Olympic Qualifier and World Olympic "Last Chance" Qualifier.

Cuba, India, and Iran currently sit at three Olympic qualifiers.

Let's examine where things stand in each of the six freestyle weight categories heading into the final four Olympic qualifying events.

57kg
Thomas GILMAN (USA), a 2017 world silver medalist, won gold at the Pan American Olympic Qualifier to qualify the United States at 57kg.

Colombia grabbed the other qualification spot at the Pan American Olympic Qualifier.

Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) and Bekhbayar ERDENEBAT (MGL) will be among the favorites at the Asian Olympic Qualifier. Higuchi was an Olympic silver medalist in 2016. He competed at 65kg in 2018 where he won a U23 world title and has since made the move down to 57kg.

Erdenebat is a two-time world bronze medalist. The Mongolian fell short of a world medal in Nur-Sultan, losing in repechage.

The 57kg wrestlers to watch at the European Qualifier include Mahir AMIRASLANOV (AZE) and Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM). Amiraslanov was a European Games gold medalist in 2019 and past junior world champion while Harutyunyan was a European champion in 2019 and a European bronze medalist in 2020.

65kg
At the Pan Am Qualifiers it was Alejandro VALDES TOBIER (CUB) who was able to wrestle well in Ottawa and came through to win gold, and punch his ticket to the 2020 Games.

He was joined by Agustin DESTRIBATS (ARG) who defeated Zain RETHERFORD (USA) in the semifinals, preventing the United States from qualifying all six weight categories in freestyle. Destribats also became Argentina's first male Olympic wrestler since 1996.

Expect some fireworks at the European Olympic Qualifier as world champions Haji ALIYEV (AZE) and Vladimer KHINCHEGASHVILI (GEO) are expected to compete. Aliyev defeated Khinchegashvili to win the European Games gold in 2019. Three years prior, it was Khinchegashvili who defeated Aliyev on his way to Olympic gold in 2016.

Another wrestler to watch at the European Olympic Qualifier is Selahattin KILICSALLAYAN (TUR). He won a bronze medal at the Matteo Pellicone and has won multiple European medals.

Amirmohammad YAZDANICHERATI (IRI) is a top contender in the Asian Olympic Qualifier.

74kg
Jordan BURROUGHS, a 2012 Olympic gold medalist and four-time world champion, qualified the United States for this weight category in Nur-Sultan, but he will likely have to defeat two-time 79kg world champion Kyle DAKE to earn a spot on USA's Olympic team.

There are several accomplished wrestlers in this weight category still looking to secure Olympic berths. The European Olympic Qualifier is expected to include multiple-time Olympic medalist Toghrul ASGAROV (AZE) or junior world champion Khadzhimurad GADZHIYEV (AZE), Olympic and world medalist Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR), world silver medalist Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO), Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN) and Azamat NURYKAU (BLR).

Multiple-time world medalist Bekzod ABDURAKHMONOV (UZB) will look to qualify at the Asian Olympic Qualifier.

86kg
David TAYLOR (USA), a world champion in 2018, missed the 2019 season due to injury. He came back in March to earn a qualification spot at 86kg for the United States by winning the Pan American Olympic Qualifier.

Pool AMBROCIO GREIFO (PER) also qualified at the Pan American Olympic Qualifier.

Past world medalists Ali SHABANAU (BLR), Fatih ERDIN (TUR) and Boris MAKOEV (SVK) headline the top contenders at the European Olympic Qualifier in this weight category. Shabanau has won four world bronze medals, with the most recent being in 2018. Erdin reached the finals of the World Championships in 2018, but failed to reach a medal match in 2019. Makoev earned a silver at the Paris World Championships in 2017.

Other notable European wrestlers looking to earn spots at the Tokyo Olympics include Aleksandr GOSTIYEV (AZE), Ahmed DUDAROV (GER) and Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL).

Top wrestlers in Asia looking to qualify include past world silver medalist Sohsuke TAKATANI (JPN) and Adilet DAVLUMBAYEV (KAZ).

97kg
Three-time world medalist Reineris SALAS PEREZ (CUB) and Jordan STEEN (CAN) earned qualification spots at the Pan American Olympic Qualifier.

Olympic champion Kyle SNYDER earned the qualification spot for the United States, but will likely have to get past two-time 92kg world champion J'den COX to make the USA team.

Mohammadhossein MOHAMMADIAN (IRI) will look to qualify at the Asian Olympic Qualifier. He dominated the field at the Matteo Pellicone, outscoring his four opponents 32-0 and scored a fall in the quarterfinals over Snyder.

Magomed IBRAGIMOV (UZB), an Olympic bronze medalist and multiple-time Asian champion, is also expected to be at the Asian Olympic Qualifier.

Khadshimourad GATSALOV, one of the all-time great freestyle wrestlers, is now competing for Armenia. Gatsalov won an Olympic gold medal and five world titles for Russia. He will attempt to qualify for the Olympics at the European Olympic Qualifier, along with Olympic bronze medalist Albert SARITOV (ROU).

125kg
Two-time world bronze medalist Nick GWIAZDOWSKI (USA) won gold at the Pan American Olympic Qualifier. Amar DHESI (CAN) was the other Olympic qualifier in Ottawa.

This is the lone weight class that Russia has not yet qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. Russia will likely send European Games gold medalist Anzor KHIZRIEV or Alan KHUGAEV to the European Olympic Qualifier. Multiple-time world medalist Jamaladdin MAGOMEDOV (AZE) and multiple-time European bronze medalist Robert BARAN (POL) are also expected to be at the European Olympic Qualifier.

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open: Tynybekova beats Motoki again, Zhou rules 68kg

Saturday, January 13, 2024 - 00:56 By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (January 12) -- For the last two years, Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) has begun her seasons disastrously. She suffered first-round losses in Istanbul and Zagreb in 2022 and 2023 Ranking Series events respectively.

But the world champion has begun 2024 with a gold medal at the first Ranking Series event -- winning the 62kg weight class at the Zagreb Open on Friday.

After winning her third world title in Belgrade last year, Tynybekova traveled to the Asian Games in October 2023 but finished with a bronze medal. There, she had said that a break from wrestling for some time would help her for the new season.

It appears that the break did help Tynybekova as she won five bouts on Friday albeit taking them notoriously close. After winning close bouts against Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA), Yaru WU (CHN) and Alina KASABIEVA (AIN), Tynybekova set up a World Championships rematch against Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) in the semifinal.

Unlike the World Championships final, it seemed that Motoki had a plan. She moved much quicker and remained at a distance from Tynybekova. The first point on the scoreboard came as Tynybekova was called for passivity. Motoki then added a takedown to lead 3-0 at the break.

"In the first period I wrestled passively because I was tired," Tynybekova said. "Motoki was leading 3-0 but during the break time the coach told me to wrestle actively right from the beginning to score two points and finish the match 3-3 winning on criteria."

That's what Tynybekova did. Motoki was hit with a passivity call with 50 seconds remaining. During Motoki's activity time, Tynybekova got the opportunity to hit a single-leg attack and she got exposure to lead 3-3 with 10 seconds on the clock.

"The semifinal and those six minutes seemed to be endless for me," she said. "I thought the time would never end."

Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) defeated Kayla MIRACLE (USA) in the final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

In the final, Tynybekova faced a familiar opponent in Kayla MIRACLE (USA) and won with the largest margin of victory in her five bouts, beating her 7-0.

"I wasn’t thinking about winning the gold," she said. "The main thing was to come here and try myself against international athletes. We knew that the strongest ones would come here to compete. The coach Nurbek Izabekov said that we should come here and just wrestle as if we were at home. It didn’t matter for me to win or lose, the main goal was to wrestle."

But compared to the World Championships, Tynybekova said that she is still recovering physically and will assess her future tournaments depending on the same.

"In comparison with the World Championships, this tournament in Zagreb was harder for me because I am not in good health now," she said. That’s why all the matches today were really difficult. [Next], I think we will be wrestling at all the Rankings Series as well as the Asian championships that will be held in our country in Kyrgyzstan."

Feng ZHOU (CHN) dominated the 68kg weight class in Zagreb. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

In the other Women's Wrestling weight class, veteran Feng ZHOU (CHN) clinched the 68kg gold medal after a close 2-0 win over Forrest MOLINARI (USA).

But it was total domination from Zhou in the morning session as she took out world champion Buse TOSUN (TUR) in the opening match and world silver medalist Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (MGL) in the semifinals.

Rolling back the years, Zhou showed that strong gut wrench that the Chinese wrestlers are famous for. Tosun had no answers to Zhou's grip and suffered a 10-0 loss.

Zhou was in trouble in the second bout against Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL) when the Polish wrestler scored a takedown with 10 seconds remaining to lead 3-1. But Zhou hit exposure with three seconds on the clock to win 3-3. A lost challenge gave her an extra point.

After beating RADHIKA (UWW) 13-0 in the quarterfinal, Zhou used the gut wrench to build a 9-0 lead against Enkhsaikhan in the semifinal before the Mongolian close the gap to 9-5. However, it did not give her the win.

Molinari was hit with two passivity calls on either side of the break which gave Zhou a 2-0 lead which was enough, along with her defense, to get her the gold medal.

In the non-Olympic weight classes, Ukraine won two gold medals with Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR) clinching the gold medal at 59kg and Alla BELINSKA (UKR) winning the 65kg gold after dominating the round-robin.

Milad ALIRZAEV (AIN) completes a throw on Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB). (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Alirzaev shines

In a bracket that had five World Championships medalists including world champion David LOSONCZI (HUN), Milad ALIRZAEV (AIN) emerged as the best at 87kg, winning the gold after beating Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI), 4-2, in the final.

After a few easy matches early on, Alirzaev was tested by Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB) in the quarterfinals. Alirzaev hit a big throw from par terre to lead 5-1 but Komarov got two turns from par terre in the second period to make it 5-5. Alirzaev led 5-5 on criteria thanks to the four-point technique which helped him win as well.

In the semifinal, Daniel GREGORICH (CUB) mounted a comeback from 7-0 to make it 7-7 and lead on criteria. However, Alirzaev scored a reversal with 30 seconds remaining to win 8-7.

The final saw Mohmadipiani get the par terre advantage and he managed to throw Alirzaev but failed to get a correct throw. Alirzaev blocked him during the throw to score two points, a decision which Iran challenged and lost, giving Alirzaev a 3-1 lead.

Mohmadipiani scored a stepoutn in the stepout but that was after Alirzaev was awarded a point for par terre. The final score remained 4-2 as Alirzaev won the gold.

The bronze medals were won by Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB) who beat Daniel GREGORICH (CUB), 9-0, while Alan OSTAEV (AIN) beat Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO) via fall. Ostaev had earlier knocked out world champion Losonczi in the opening bout.

At 77kg, world silver medalist Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) won the gold after Zoltan LEVAI (HUN), a world silver medalist from 2022, pulled out injured during the match.

RESULTS

Women's Wrestling

59kg
GOLD: Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR)
SILVER: Mariana CHERDIVARA ESANU (MDA)
BRONZE: Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE)

62kg
GOLD: Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) df. Kayla MIRACLE (USA), 7-0

BRONZE: Veranika IVANOVA (AIN) df. Ana GODINEZ (CAN), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Alina KASABIEVA (AIN) df. Sakura MOTOKI (JPN), via inj. def.

65kg
GOLD: Alla BELINSKA (UKR)
SILVER: Kadriye AKSOY (TUR)
BRONZE: Anne NUERNBERGER (GER)

68kg
GOLD: Feng ZHOU (CHN) df. Forrest MOLINARI (USA), 2-0

BRONZE: Buse TOSUN (TUR) df. Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (TUR), 5-1
BRONZE: Tetiana RIZHKO (UKR) df. Qian JIANG (CHN), 11-6

Greco-Roman

77kg
GOLD: Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) df. Zoltan LEVAI (HUN), via injury (5-0)

BRONZE: Yunus BASAR (TUR) df. Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR), 2-1
BRONZE: Nao KUSAKA (JPN) df. Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR), 8-7

87kg
GOLD: Milad ALIRZAEV (AIN) df. Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI), 4-2

BRONZE: Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB) df. Daniel GREGORICH (CUB), 9-0
BRONZE: Alan OSTAEV (AIN) df. Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO), via fall

Who’s In? Freestyle Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers

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Zagreb Open: Tynybekova beats Motoki again, Zhou rules 68kg