#BudaWrestle2018

Dake, Cox Add to USA's Gold-Medal Haul in Budapest

Monday, October 22, 2018 - 19:26 By Andrew Hipps

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (October 22) -- A day after the United States of America captured its first gold medal in Budapest, Kyle DAKE and J'den COX added to the gold-medal haul for USA by winning world titles.

Dake won the gold medal at 79kg and did so without surrendering a point throughout the competition. The 27-year-old American outscored his opponents 37-0. 

"I definitely put the work in to get to where I needed to be," said Dake. "I've always been pretty stingy with points. Giving up points is not something I like to do."

In the gold-medal match, Dake won 2-0 over 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Jabrayil HASANOV (AZE). 

He scored his first point off the shot clock in the first period before adding another point off a step out in the second period. 

Like his USA teammate David TAYLOR who won gold on Sunday at 86kg, Dake claimed a gold medal in his first Senior World Championships. 

Cox, a bronze medalist at the Rio Olympics and Paris World Championships while competing at 86kg, topped Ivan YANKOUSKI (BLR) 4-1 in the gold-medal match at 92kg. 

Cox scored two of his points off step outs in each of the two periods. Holding a 2-1 lead late in the match, Cox shot a single leg and secured a takedown in the closing seconds to clinch the victory.

"I wish I could have scored more points, but it seemed like my opponent didn't really want to wrestle that much," Cox said. 

Russia claimed a gold medal at 57kg as Zavur UGUEV (RUS) edged Nurislam SANAYEV (KAZ) 4-3 in a back-and-forth match. The victory gave Russia its second gold medal in Budapest and clinched the freestyle team title. 

Uguev, a two-time cadet world champion, struck first with a takedown midway through the first period, but Sanayev responded a short time later with a takedown off a leg attack to grab the lead. 

In the second period, Uguev retook the lead off a step out, but like in the first period, Sanayev responded, taking the lead off a step out of his own. With Sanayev leading on criteria late in the match, he was hit with a caution and one for grabbing the singlet, giving the match to Ugaev, 4-3. 

In an action-filled, high-scoring match, 19-year-old Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) won the gold medal at 65kg with a 16-9 victory over Bajrang BAJRANG (IND). 

Otoguro, a 2015 cadet world champion, jumped out to a 5-0 lead early on the strength of a four-point takedown. But Bajrang came back with two takedowns to cut the deficit to 5-4. The two traded two-point takedowns again, and the first period ended 7-6 in favor of Otoguro. 

Otoguro built his lead to 12-6 in the second period, but Bajrang continued to battle. He climbed back his back into the match with a takedown and points off cautions, but Orogoru was able to score when he needed to and claim a seven-point victory.  

2017 world champion Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN) rebounded from a semifinal loss to Uguev to win a bronze medal at 57kg with a 5-4 win over Reineri ANDREU ORTEGA (CUB). The other bronze medal at 57kg went to Suleyman ATLI (TUR), who topped 2017 world silver medalist Thomas GILMAN (USA) 5-4.

Alejandro VALDES TOBIER (CUB) earned a world bronze medal at 65kg for the second consecutive year. He cruised to a 10-0 technical fall over Seungchul LEE (KOR) in the bronze-medal match. Akhmed CHAKAEV (RUS) won his second bronze medal in three years with a 9-4 win over George BUCUR (ROU).

The bronze medals at 79kg were won by Ali SHABANAU (BLR) and Akhmed GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (RUS). For Shabanau, it was his fourth world bronze medal.

At 92kg, Alireza KARIMIMACHIANI (IRI) won his second world bronze medal. The other bronze at 92kg was won by Atsushi MATSUMOTO (JPN), who edged Turtogtokh LUVSANDORJ (MGL) 6-5. 

Finals Results

Freestyle

57kg
GOLD: Zavur UGUEV (RUS) df. Nurislam SANAYEV (KAZ) by VPO1, 4-3
BRONZE: Suleyman ATLI (TUR) df. Thomas GILMAN (USA) by VPO1, 5-4
BRONZE: Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN) df. Reineri ANDREU ORTEGA (CUB) by VPO1, 5-4

65kg
GOLD: Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) df. Bajrang BAJRANG (IND) by VPO1, 16-9
BRONZE: Alejandro VALDES TOBIER (CUB) df. Seungchul LEE (KOR) by VSU, 10-0
BRONZE: Akhmed CHAKAEV (RUS) df. George BUCUR (ROU) by VPO1, 9-4

79kg
GOLD: Kyle DAKE (USA) df. Jabrayil HASANOV (AZE) by VPO, 2-0
BRONZE: Ali SHABANAU (BLR) df. Ezzatollah Abbas AKBARIZARINKOLAEI (IRI) by VPO1, 8-8
BRONZE: Akhmed GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (RUS) df. Davit KHUTSISHVILI (GEO) by VSU, 10-0

92kg
GOLD: J'den COX (USA) df. Ivan YANKOUSKI (BLR) by VPO1, 4-1
BRONZE: Alireza KARIMIMACHIANI (IRI) df. Dato MARSAGISHVILI (GEO) by VSU1, 12-1
BRONZE: Atsushi MATSUMOTO (JPN) df. Turtogtokh LUVSANDORJ (MGL) by VPO1, 6-5
 

#WrestleTirana

Breaking down freestyle battles at World Championships for Non-Olympic weights

Wednesday, October 16, 2024 - 09:44 By Vinay Siwach

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TIRANA, Albania (October 15) -- Six months ago, no one had the Sadulaev-Taylor-Ghasempour three-way battle for world title on their bingo card. But it is about to go down in Tirana.

The World Championships in non-Olympic weight classes is returning after eight years. Despite the fact that none of the Paris Olympic participants were allowed in the tournament, it still has a host of stars hoping to become world champions.

Abdulrashid SADULAEV (AIN), a two-time Olympic and five-time world champion, did not participate in the Paris Olympics and is going down a weight class to 92kg in a bid to earn his sixth world title. Three-time world champion David TAYLOR (USA) jumped from 86kg to 92kg in a bid to compete at the World Championships. He now gets a shot at Sadulaev. Two-time world champion at 92kg Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI), who has been moving up and down in weight classes, has somehow been made the challenger.

Ghasempour participated in the 97kg weight class in the Zagreb Open but lost to Kyle SNYDER (USA). He was in line for Iran's 86kg spot for Paris but later opted out of a trial against Hassan YAZDANI (IRI).

Sadulaev lost a bout for the second time in his career and first in six years when he lost to Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) at the 2023 World Championships. Taylor lost to Aaron BROOKS (USA) in the U.S. Olympic trials and Ghasempour barely scraped through in the trials for the world team in Iran.

Yet, the three will be the favorite for the gold medal and it will only be a surprise if any of them miss out on the podium in Tirana.

Jordan BURROUGHS (USA)Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) is eyeing his seventh world title. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Six-time world champion Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) is also chasing history. If he wins, he will win his seventh world title, making him the most successful American wrestler at the World Championships. He missed out on competing at the 2023 World Championships but stormed back in 2024, winning the trial in the United States.

But his path to gold won't be an easy one. Two-time U23 world champion Magomed MAGOMAEV (AIN), former world silver medalist Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO), three-time world medalist Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI) and Asian champion Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) are also in the fray.

Nokhodi and Burroughs have wrestled in two back-to-back World Championships finals with the latter winning both. But Burroughs suffered his first loss to an Iranian in 2022 when Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI) defeated him at the World Cup and Nokhodi will draw confidence from there.

All the big names will be looking to hand Burroughs his first World Championships loss since 2019.

Vitali ARUJAU (USA)Vitali ARUJAU (USA) is the defending world champion at 61kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Another Olympic champion eyeing a world title will be Zavur UGUEV (AIN) as he last won the second of two titles in 2019. Uguev won gold at the Tokyo Olympics at 57kg but finished fifth at the 2023 World Championships. He will be at 61kg in Tirana hoping to deny defending world champion Vitali ARUJAU (USA) a second world title.

Arujau won his first world gold medal in 2023 by beating Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (AIN) in a tense final. He won the team trials in the U.S. to confirm his name for the World Championships in Tirana.

An interesting name entered is Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB). The former European champion will turn out for Serbia at 61kg but it is unlikely that he will be challenging for gold.

Masanosuke ONO (JPN), however, can be a big threat for the gold medal given his style and pace of wrestling. He rocked the competition at the U20 World Championships last month and won gold at 61kg. It will be interesting to see how he fares at his first senior World Championships.

Asian Championships silver medalist UDIT (IND) and Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) have some good wins under their belts over the past two years and they would like to make a mark in Tirana.

Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN)Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN) and Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) wrestled in the U23 World Championships final last year. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

U23 world and European champion Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN) will be making his senior international debut at 70kg in Tirana and will be the favorite to win the gold medal. However, the field has other top contenders like Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI), Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) and James GREEN (USA) among others.

Yazdani lost the final at 70kg last year to Zain RETHERFORD (USA) but will look to make amends this year. He won the Asian Championships over Aoyagi in a high-scoring final. Yazdani's 13-9 win over Aoyagi was not convincing and the Japanese will look to change the result if the two meet in Tirana. Aoyagi was in the final against Sheriev but dropped the final 9-3. He finished eighth at the World Championships in 2023.

Former U20 world champion for Iran, Peiman BIABANI (CAN) will be turning out for Canada. He finished second at the Pan-Am Championships and the World Championships will be a big test for him. 2023 bronze medalist Ramazan RAMAZANOV (BUL) will look to change the color of his medal this year.