Weekly FIVE!

Weekly Five! November 12, 2019

Tuesday, November 12, 2019 - 16:17 By Eric Olanowski

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Discussing the Women’s World Cup team race, wrestlers and weights to watch and Iran hosting the Greco-Roman World Cup (November 28-29).

1. The Road to the Finals 
In the 18-year history of the Women’s World Cup, Japan, China and the United States are the only teams to hoist the annual dual meet team trophy. But, dating back to 2003 when the United States claimed their lone team title, Japan or China has had a stronghold on women’s wrestling -- claiming 14 consecutive World Cup championships. 

Japan and China met in the previous two World Cup finals, with Japan coming out on the winning end of both of those meetings. But, this year is slated to be a different story, as Japan and China will wrestle on Saturday night in Group A action for a potential spot in Sunday night’s gold-medal dual. That is, of course, if they both get past a fairly young and inexperienced Ukrainian team that’s looking to send shock waves through the wrestling world and make their first finals appearance since 2005. 

Russia, the United States and Mongolia are the three Group B teams.

Though Mongolia has a pair of returning world bronze medalists, they likely won’t have enough firepower to match that of the Russian Federation or the United States -- who both have at least one world champ on their squad. 

The premier Group B matchup between Russia and the United States, which will take place on Saturday afternoon, will feature four of the ten women’s wrestling world champions. 

Inna TRAZHUKOVA (RUS), this year’s 62kg world champion, will lead the Russian Federation in the dual, while reigning world champions Jacarra WINCHESTER, Tamyra MENSAH and Adeline GRAY headline the entries for the Stars and Stripes. 

The two teams with the best record after their pair of group matches will meet in Sunday’s gold-medal match. The third and fourth-place match will feature the two teams with the second-best record in their groups and the remaining teams will meet for fifth and sixth place. 

Number of World Cup Titles 
Japan: 10 
China: 6
United States: 1

SCHEDULE
Saturday (November 16) 
10:30 – Mat A: JPN vs. UKR / Mat B: RUS vs. MGL 
12: 00 – Mat A: RUS vs. USA / Mat B: CHN vs. UKR 
16:30 – Opening Ceremony 
17:00 – Mat A: JPN vs. CHN / Mat B: USA vs. MGL

Sunday (November 17) 
8:00 – Medical Examination & Weigh-in
10:30 – Finals 5/6
13:00 – Finals 3/4
14:30 – Finals 1/2
16:00 – Award Ceremonies

Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) is one of five world champions that'll be wrestling at this weekend's Women's World Cup. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

2. Wrestlers to Watch: The Five World Champs
Five of the six teams entered into the Women’s Wrestling World Cup bring at least two returning world medalists – totaling 17 podium finishers from this year’s World Championships (Ukraine is the lone team without a 2019 world medalist entered). But, without a doubt, the five newly-crowned must-watch world champions are: 

55kg - Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA)
57kg - Risako KAWAI (USA)
62kg - Inna TRAZHUKOVA (RUS)
68kg - Tamyra MENSAH (USA)
76kg - Adeline GRAY (USA)

Risako KAWAI (JPN) and Ningning RONG (CHN) met in the world finals at 57kg just over a month ago. They could square off again at this weekend's Women's World Cup. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

3. Weights to Watch: 57kg and 76kg 
The two can't-miss weights at this weekend’s Women’s Wrestling World Cup will be 57kg and 76kg. Both weight classes will feature the reigning world champion and the wrestler they defeated to win their world title. This means, there could be a pair of world finals rematches that take place this weekend.

Risako KAWAI (JPN) and Ningning RONG (CHN), who met in Nur-Sultan for the 57kg world title, could square off on Saturday night when Japan takes on China. That match will take place at 17:00 (local time).

Kawai is widely regarded as the top women’s wrestler in the world. Since winning her Rio Olympic title in 2016, Kawai has won three consecutive world titles. Her potential Chinese opponent, Ningning Rong, is a 2018 world champion and 2019 world runner-up. The highly emotional Chinese star is coming off a second consecutive year where she made the world finals, claimed a continental title and won at least three tournaments. 

Two other wrestlers that could cause Kawai and Rong fits at 57kg are ALTANTSETSEG Battsetseg (MGL) and Olena KREMZER (UKR). The 25-year-old Mongolian wrestler was a 2017 U23 world runner-up, while the Ukrainian wrestler was a 2018 U23 world bronze medalist. 

At 76kg, the two best women’s heavyweights in the world, Adeline Gray and Hiroe MINAGAWA (JPN), could square off in a rematch of September’s 76kg finals, but that all depends on how the group stage plays out. Additionally, Ekaterina BUKINA (RUS) and ZHOU Qian (CHN) will also wrestle at 76kg. Bukina is a Rio Olympic bronze medalist, and Zhou is a 2015 world runner-up. 

Reigning world champion Abuiazid MANTSIGOV (RUS) leads a loaded Russian team into Tehran for the Greco-Roman World Cup. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

4. Iran Set to Host Greco-Roman World Cup (November 28-29) 
Iran is gearing up to host the Greco-Roman World Cup for the seventh consecutive time. The two-day Greco-Roman World Cup kicks off November 28-29 in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium and will feature six teams -- which is the first time the event has housed less than eight teams since 2008. 

The Russian Federation, who are the defending champions, are looking to become the first team to win back-to-back World Cup titles since Iran did it in 2011 and ’12.  To earn their eighth overall World Cup team trophy, they’ll rely heavily on reigning world champion Abuiazid MANTSIGOV (RUS), who’ll wrestle at 72kg. 

In addition to Mantsigov, Aleksandr CHEKHIRKIN, Stepan MARYANYAN and Sergey SEMENOV are will also compete on Russia's team at the Greco-Roman World Cup. The trio were all 2018 world champions, but Maryanan, who finished with a silver medal at this year’s World Championships, is the lone reigning medalist in the group of three. 

Outside of Russia’s loaded squad, six reigning world champs will travel to Tehran to compete in the Greco-Roman World Cup. 

The biggest storyline heading into the dual meet event is the potential Rio Olympic finals rematch between Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) and Shinobu OTA (JPN), which could be looming at 67kg. 

Borrero and Ota both won world titles in Nur-Sultan, but the Japanese wrestler will begin his ascent from his title-winning non-Olympic weight of 63kg to the Olympic weight of 67kg, where the Cuban wrestler is the current world-title holder. Shortly after winning his world title last month, Ota announced that he'd climb up 4kg to 67kg to make a run at improving his silver medal from the Rio Olympic Games, where he fell to Borrero in the finals.

In addition to Borrero, Mantsigov and Ota, the Greco-Roman World Cup will also welcome three other world champs. The returning world champs are: Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO), Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) and Lasha GOBADZE (GEO). 

Reigning World Champions Entered
55kg - Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO)
60kg - Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) 
67kg - Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB)
67kg - Shinobu OTA (JPN)
72kg - Abuiazid MANTSIGOV (RUS)
82kg - Lasha GOBADZE (GEO)

Two-time world and Olympic champion Kyle SNYDER (USA) highlights the list of entries at the Bill Farrell. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

5. Bill Farrell Live on FloWrestling.org 
The New York Athletic Club will host the first qualifier for America’s Olympic Team Trials, the Bill Farrell Memorial (November 16-17). The highest finisher at the six Olympic weight classes in freestyle, Greco-Roman and women's wrestling will cement their spot at April’s Tokyo Olympic Team Trials. 

Our friends at Flowrestling.org have the streaming rights to the event and have provided an early list of participants who are expected to compete. 

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media

1. Big Move Monday -- Khoroshavtseva O. (RUS) -- Senior Worlds 2019
2. ‪Iszmail MUSZHKAJEV ??: World Championship Highlights
3. Hassan YAZDANI ?? World Championship Highlights
4. Behind the Scenes: Sadulaev and 97kg at #WrestleNurSultan
5. Kazakhstan ?? put on a show at the #WrestleNurSultan World Championships — on and off the mat.

Women's Day

Women's Day: 10 moments that shaped women's wrestling

Tuesday, March 7, 2023 - 21:53 By Taylor GREGORIO

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CROSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (March 8) -- Throughout wrestling history, efforts have been made to make the sport more inclusive. Women's wrestling emerged as the top priority for United World Wrestling.

Over the years, the organization has taken various steps to uplift and improve the standard of women's wrestling around the world. Here are ten moments that changed women's wrestling.

1987 – First women’s wrestling World Championships

While Greco-Roman and Freestyle have a long history of World Championships, women got their first shot at world titles in 1987 when the first women's World Championships was held. The inaugural tournament took place in Lorenskog, Norway with nine weights.

A total of 48 female wrestlers participated in this World Championships.

The champions at the inaugural edition were Brigitte WEIGERT (BEL) at 44kg, Anne HOLTEN (NOR) at 47kg, Anne HALVORSEN (NOR) at 50kg, Sylvie VAN GUCHT (FRA) at 53kg, Isabelle DOURTHE (FRA) at 57kg, Ine BARLIE (NOR) at 65kg, Georgette JEAN (FRA) at 70kg and Patricia ROSSIGNOL (FRA) at 75 kg.

1989 – First combined World Championships

Two years after its world debut, women’s wrestling shared the stage with the other two styles. A combined World Championships was held in Martigny, Switzerland.

Apart from most European countries in the participation, wrestlers from Japan, China, Chinese Taipei, Venezuela and the USA were also part of this competition. 

53 wrestlers took part in this competition and the champions included Shoko YOSHIMURA (JPN) and Ming-Hsiu CHEN (TPE).

Since then, women's wrestling World Championships has been held every year barring 2004 -- the year of the Athens Olympics.

2004 – Women’s wrestling makes Olympic debut in Athens

With momentum building around the sport, women’s wrestling was showcased on the world’s biggest stage at the 2004 Athens Olympics. With four weight classes, 11 different countries were represented in the Games, and seven of those won medals, including gold medals for Japan, Ukraine and China.

2013 - Increase from four to six weight classes at Olympics

In 2013, wrestling received devasting news that it was in danger of being dropped from the Olympic program. UWW responded quickly, making necessary changes to the sport, which included gender equity and increasing the women’s weights from four to six. It ultimately helped secure wrestling’s place as an Olympic core sport.

The change was implemented in the 2016 Rio Games, where Greco-Roman, Freestyle and women each had six weight classes. Previously, Greco-Roman and Freestyle each had six weights, while women had four.  

2015 – Yoshida wins 13th World title

At the 2015 World Championships in Las Vegas, USA, Saori YOSHIDA (JPN) set a bar that is yet to be broken. She won her 13th straight World title, spanning from 2002 to 2015 with 11 of those coming at 55kg and the last two at 53kg.

In World Championship action, Yoshida was undefeated. In addition to an outstanding number of World titles, Yoshida also has three Olympic golds in four attempts.

2016 -- Icho first woman to win four Olympic golds

At the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, Kaori ICHO (JPN) earned legendary status, becoming the first female athlete to win four Olympic gold medals. For the historic win, Icho defeated Valeriia KOBLOVA (RWF), 3-2, in the 58kg final.

Icho’s first Olympic gold came over Sara MC MANN (USA) at 63kg at the 2004 Olympics. After winning her second Olympic title at the 2008 Beijing Games over Alena KATACHOVA (RUS) at 63kg, Icho considered retiring but pressed on for two more Olympic Games, which included a 2012 win over Rui Xue JING (CHN), again at 63kg. Overall, Icho went undefeated internationally from 2003 to 2016 with a forfeit in 2007.

2016 -- Amri becomes first African to win Olympic medal

The Rio Olympics witnessed another significant moment when Marwa AMRI (TUN) became the first female wrestler from Africa to win an Olympic medal. She claimed the bronze medal in the 58kg weight class.

In the bronze medal bout, Amri defeated Yuliya Ratkevich (AZE), 6-3, after executing a four-pointer with 10 seconds remaining in the bout.

A year later, Amri became the first African to reach the 2017 World Championships final in Paris. On the same day, Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) achieved the same feat as she reached the final at 55kg.

2018 - Youth Olympic Games achieve gender balance

In an effort to become more gender equitable, wrestling increased the number of female participants in Buenos Aires to 50, up from 32 participants in Singapore 2010 and Nanjing 2014.  With that number, the participants in women's wrestling was equal to freestyle and Greco-Roman. 

The adjustment was part of a larger effort by the International Olympic Committee to meet its goal to make the 2018 Youth Olympic Games the first-ever gender-equal Games.

2021 -- Mensah Stock becomes first Black female to win Olympic gold

After a 2019 World title run, Tamyra MENSAH STOCK (USA) was a favorite to take the crown at 68kg at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Expectedly, she reached the final in Tokyo against Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR).

The match held a lot of significance as it was the first Olympic final in wrestling’s history to feature two Black women and ensured that for the first time, a Black woman would stand atop the Olympic podium. Ultimately, it was Mensah Stock who emerged with a 4-1 win, an Olympic title and a groundbreaking moment for the sport.

CWGFor the first time in wrestling's history, the 2022 Commonwealth Games were officiated by majority women. The 16 female referees who participated in Birmingham post for a photo after the competition. (Photo: Helena Curtis)

2022 -- CWG becomes the first major tournament to be officiated by a majority of females

In an initiative to achieve gender parity, UWW launched a program to help educate, train and bring up more female referees within the sport. As a part of its strategic plan, UWW, along with the Commonwealth Games Federation, agreed to include a majority of women officials at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.  

Of the 21 referees assigned to the event, 15 were women for a total of 70 percent female representation. Additionally, one of the Referee Delegate positions and other official positions were held by women.