#WrestleRome

74kg Highlighted by Trio of Top-Five Wrestlers + 20 Total World Medals

Thursday, February 25, 2021 - 16:10 By Eric Olanowski

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It’s no secret that one of the deepest weight classes in the world is freestyle’s 74kg.

That storyline will follow itself into the Matteo Pellicone, as the weight will feature 13 wrestlers who own a combined six world titles, an Olympic gold and bronze, and 20 total world medals. More importantly, three of the four world-medal winners from the weight’s ’19 World Championships – with the exclusion of reigning two-time world champion, Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RUS) – will be in action in the former Italian port city of Ostia (March 4-7).  

Top-ranked Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA) will surely have a bullseye on his back and will be targeted by ’19 world bronze-medal winners, No. 3 Daniyar KAISANOV (KAZ) and No. 4 Jordan BURROUGHS (USA).  

Superstars Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) and Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA) could meet for a fifth time at the Matteo Pellicone. The American owns a 3-1 record against the Italian heading into the first Ranking Series event of '21.

But the weight goes much deeper than the trio of top-five ranked competitors. Other wrestlers ranked inside the top-20 heading into the Matteo Pellicone are Puerto Rico’s first-ever four-time Olympian No. 7 Franklin GOMEZ MATOS (PUR) and India’s No. 14 Jitender JITENDER (IND). 

Meanwhile, three other guys who have world medals on their resume will be lacing up their boots in Ostia. They are Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ), Yakup GOR (TUR) Jeandry GARZON CABALLERO (CUB). 

Kaipanov, a ’19 world silver medalist at 70kg, is ascending to 74kg for just the third time in his career.  

Gor, who is still looking to build his case as Turkey’s best 74kg option to qualify for Olympic Games, has a pair of world medals on his resume – with his most recent medal coming in ’15.  

Garzon Caballero, the 37-year-old Cuban, is a four-time world medal winner, with his last medal coming in ’10. 

 74kg Entries 
Jeandry GARZON CABALLERO (CUB)

  • ’07 world silver 
  • ’10, ’06 and ‘05 world bronze  

Sandeep Singh MANN (IND) 
Narsingh Pancham YADAV (IND)
No. 14 Jitender JITENDER (IND) 
Mitchell Louis FINESILVER (ISR) 
No. 1 Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA)

  • ’16 Olympic bronze 
  • ’17 and ’15 world gold  
  • ’19 world silver 
  • ’10 world bronze  

No. 3 Daniyar KAISANOV (KAZ) 

  • ’19 world bronze  

Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ)   

  • ’19 world silver  

No. 7 Franklin GOMEZ MATOS (PUR) 

  • ’11 world silver  

Malik Michael AMINE (SMR) 
Fazli ERYILMAZ (TUR) 
Yakup GOR (TUR) 

  • ’15 world bronze 
  • ’14 world silver  

No. 4 Jordan BURROUGHS (USA)  

  • ’12 Olympic gold  
  • ’11, ’13, ’15 and ’17 world gold 
  • ’14, ’18 and ’19 world bronze 

#JapanWrestling

Two-time Olympic champ Risako Kinjo brings curtain down on stellar career

Sunday, October 12, 2025 - 23:14 By Ken Marantz

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TOKYO, Japan (October 12) -- Risako KINJO (JPN), who won two Olympic gold medals under her maiden name of Kawai before capturing a fourth world title last year after giving birth, officially announced her retirement over the weekend.

"I felt that I had experienced everything that was good about being a wrestler," the 31-year-old Kinjo told the Japanese media Sunday on bringing down the curtain on one of wrestling's most sterling careers. "I felt fulfilled and happy with a life in which wrestling was my passion."

Kinjo also revealed that she is pregnant with her second child as she spoke to the media at the Japan Women's Open in Akitsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, where she was coaching younger sister Yukako TSUNEMURA (JPN), who was returning to the mat for the first time since becoming a mother herself.

Kinjo first announced her retirement on her Instagram account on Saturday night, stating that in the 24 years since she started wrestling at age 7, "I have had good experiences and bad, highs and lows. But to win four world championships and two consecutive Olympics was all due to the support and encouragement of many people. I thank them all."

Kinjo first struck Olympic gold at 63kg at Rio in 2016, then won out in a duel that captivated the wrestling world with fellow Rio and four-time Olympic champion Kaori ICHO (JPN) for the 57kg spot at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, where she took home a second gold.

Of the clash of the titans with Icho, Kawai remarked, "I had no more difficult period than that. I'm glad I was able to experience it."

In the Tokyo semifinals, Kinjo had to face yet another Rio gold medalist in Helen MAROULIS (USA), who had moved up from 53kg. Kinjo came away with a 2-1 win, then defeated Iryna KURACHKINA (UWW) 5-0 for the gold.

With Yukako also winning the 62kg gold, it elevated the Kawai sisters to celebrity status in the host country. The two got their start in the sport at the kids' club run by their mother. Both of their parents were national-level wrestlers.

Soon after Tokyo, Risako married former wrestler Kiryu KINJO, and in May 2022, gave birth to a baby girl. Instead of settling down to a domestic life, motherhood lit a fresh flame to continue the sport.

"I had originally planned to win the Tokyo Olympics and then retire gracefully," Kinjo said. "I even told people around me that I would quit after the Tokyo Olympics. But when I got married and got pregnant, I felt that my body wasn't only my own, and I wanted to continue wrestling.

"While I was pregnant, I watched Yukako's matches and thought to myself, 'If it were me, I would do it like this,' so after my child was born, I decided to try it again."

Her bid to win a third straight Olympic gold in Paris, however, was derailed by the reigning world 57kg champion Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN), who went on to triumph in the French capital.

Rebuffing speculation that the loss would mark her swan song, she showed her passion for the sport by sticking around. With the incentive of wanting to have her daughter see her compete and make some history, she had no qualms about moving into the non-Olympic weight of 59kg.

She suffered a setback of sorts at the Asian Championships in April 2024, when she lost to Qi ZHANG (CHN) in the semifinals and had to settle for a bronze medal.

But she righted the ship at the Non-Olympic Weight World Championships in October that year in Tirana, Albania, where she cruised into the 59kg final and defeated Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL) 4-2.

"No one from Japan had ever achieved becoming a 'world No. 1 as a mama', and it would be ideal if I could do it," Kinjo recalled thinking. "When I accomplished it at the World Championships last October, as soon as it was over I thought there is nothing else that I want."

That victory added to the three consecutive senior world golds that she won from 2017 to 2019. She also has a silver from 2015, and her laurels include a world cadet (U17) gold and two world junior (U20) titles, and she was a four-time Asian champion.

Kinjo was a star at Shigakkan University during its golden era as the elite powerhouse of women's wrestling in Japan, also producing such greats as Icho, Saori YOSHIDA (JPN), Eri TOSAKA (JPN), Mayu MUKAIDA (JPN) and Sara DOSHO (JPN).

Looking ahead, she says her focus will be on raising her new baby while staying involved in the sport.

"Right now I am eight months pregnant, and first and foremost I will put my full efforts into proper childcare. And at the same time, I will be Yukako's coach and always maintain a link to wrestling," she said.

At the Japan Women's Open, a second-tier event that offers qualifying spots at the All-Japan Championships, Yukako showed she still has some rust to be knocked off. Entered at 59kg, she won her first two matches before falling to high schooler Miuna KIMURA (JPN) 4-1 in the semifinals.

The tournament also saw the return of Sakurai for her first competition since winning the gold in Paris. She needed three wins to take the 57kg title, defeating collegian Himeka HASEGAWA (JPN) 5-0 in the final.