'Focused' Chamizo Steals Gold Against Burroughs at Matteo Pellicone

Sunday, March 7, 2021 - 20:53 By Vinay Siwach

OSTIA (Italy), March 8 --- After a 25-month wait, Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) and Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) finally met again on the mat.

At the Yasar Dogu in 2019, Chamizo had decided to sit out of the final, giving Burroughs the win. This was five months after the American had scored his third win over Chamizo at the Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov event in February.

Sure, the pandemic delayed the matchup but Burroughs' loss at the 2019 World Championships semifinal to Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RUS) in September deprived the fans of a rematch in NurSultan, Kazakhstan. Chamizo was on the other side of the bracket and reached the final against Sidakov.

But on a blockbuster Sunday at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series event in Rome, the two superstars clashed for the sixth time in what is quickly becoming wrestling's prized rivalry in recent years.

For the record, Chamizo closed the gap with Burroughs in head-to-head to 4-2 after winning a tense gold medal bout 3-2 at 74kg. Two of Chamizo's points were step out while one was for Burroughs passivity. Even Burroughs scored his two via step outs.

“I am feeling good. I did not even know he (Jordan) will be here,” Chamizo said. “I thought it would be an easy competition. My training is less but I am focused. That's what it is right now. I'm focused on my goals.”

Both wrestlers got into an intense scramble in the first period of the bout which resulted in Chamizo scoring a step out from a situation that seemed advantageous for Burroughs.

Chamizo explained the situation in the post-final interview. “I think he is a little bit scared when there's a scramble,” he said. “He loses focus and that's when I attack. When there is a scramble, he loses focus. He is like I don't want to be here.”

The bout was once again the most anticipated bout in Rome and like always was a medal bout. The two have wrestled for world medals, Ranking Series medals including the title which shows how dominant the two have been in their weight categories.

While Burroughs had talked about how is focused on winning his second Olympic gold medal after missing it in 2016 at Rio, Chamizo has been particularly expressive about being the top guy at 74kg.

Every tournament before the grand event in August will only be a virtual pit stop for wrestler but Chamizo thinks that the changes he has brought in himself will be enough to propel him to the top when it will matter the most five months from now.

“Before, I had training but I had no focus,” he said. “Now, I am a real 74kg. You see the difference between 2018 and now. Jordan is the best. For me, I always prepare for him. But I am the champion. I don't want to say but I the new man.”

It was evident in the final bout as well as Chamizo controlled the center of the mat instead of chasing Burroughs who has a tendency to pounce on the slightest of openings offered the opponent.

“I am training for this. I want to be in the center against him,” he said. “He has good scrambles and attacks. He is like a train. So I want to stay in the center and see what happens.”

Leading into the finals, Burroughs outscored his opponents 9-1 in the two bouts. 2019 Asian champion and world bronze medalist Daniyar KAISINOV (KAZ) was the first to fall to the American 5-0 before he beat Narsingh YADAV (IND) 4-1 in the semifinal.

On the other side, Chamizo had a roller-coaster especially in the quarter-final against Malik AMINE (SMR). Chamizo was at one point trailing Amine but managed to come back and win 13-8.

In the semifinal, Chamizo closed a 6-0 win over Franklin GOMEZ (PUR) to set up the summit clash against Burroughs.

Bajrang PUNIA (IND)

In other freestyle action, Bajrang PUNIA (IND) defended his title at 65kg with a tense 2-2 win over Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL) in the gold medal bout. This was Punia's fifth gold medal at a Ranking Series event, making him the most successful freestyle wrestler at the series.

In a far from ideal bout in the final, Punia was left struggling to find an opening against Ochir. He was put on shot-clock and did not score giving a 1-0 lead to Ochir, who later scored a step out to lead 2-0. With 30 seconds to go, Ochir went for a shot but missed, while Punia capitalized on it to take a takedown with 14 seconds remaining.

“It was a good match with him. I am wrestling after a year off and he is also an Olympic qualified wrestler so it was a tough bout,” Punia said. “Before the Olympics, I want to wrestle every Tokyo qualified wrestler..”

Punia began with a 7-0 win over Selim KOZAN (TUR) but was tested by Joseph McKEENA (USA) in the semifinal. It was a rematch from last year which Punia won 4-2. This time, he improved the score to 6-3.

Ochir, on the other hand, dominated his opponents starting with Hamza ALACA (TUR) who he beat 10-0 before a 4-0 win against ROHIT (IND).

Zahid VALENCIA (IUSA)

In an all-USA final at 86kg, former junior world silver medalist Zahid VALENCIA claimed a stunning 11-0 victory over Mark HALL (USA), himself a two-time junior world champion at 74kg.

Valencia was undoubtedly the top performer of the day as he outscored his opponents 34-2, winning all his bouts via technical superiority.

Another American wrestler who struck gold was Alec PANTALEO (USA) at 70kg. He defeated world silver medalist at 65kg Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ) twice in the day to claim the gold medal.

The surprise came at 61kg where U23 World Championships silver medalist Adlan ASKAROV (KAZ) defeated world and European silver medalist Suleyman ATLI (TUR) 8-3 in the first bout of the day. The Kazak youngster remained unbeaten for the day and claimed the gold medal while Atli settled for silver.

World Championships bronze medalist Nurislam SANAYEV captured the top position at 57kg by defeating Nicholas SUNIARO (USA) twice in the day. In the final, Sanayev beat the US wrestler 4-2 while in the day the score was 3-2.

The 79kg gold medal was captured by veteran Galymzhan USSERBAYEV (KAZ). He had to see off a late challenge from David Vincent MC FADDEN (USA) before winning 6-5.

Rio Olympics silver medalist at 86kg Selim YASAR (TUR) won the gold medal at 92kg to close out the competition which was the first Ranking Series event of the year.

RESULTS

Final #WrestleRome MFS team scores

GOLD: USA (190 points)
SILVER: Kazakhstan (178 points)
BRONZE: Turkey (113 points)
FOURTH: India (98 points)
FIFTH: Italy (48 points)

Men's freestyle

57kg
GOLD: Nurislam SANAYEV (KAZ) df. Nicholas Raymond SURIANO (USA) 4-2
BRONZE: Givi DAVIDOVI (ITA) df. Ali M M ABURUMAILA (PLE) 4-0

61kg
GOLD: Adlan ASKAROV (KAZ)
SILVER: Suleyman ATLI (TUR)
BRONZE: Tyler Lee GRAFF (USA)

65kg
GOLD: Bajrang PUNIA (IND) df. Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL) 2-2
BRONZE: Hamza ALACA (TUR) df. ROHIT (IND) 12-10
BRONZE: Joseph Christopher McKENNA 8-2 Selim KOZAN (TUR)

70kg
GOLD: Alec William PANTALEO (USA) df. Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ) 4-0
BRONZE: Vishal KALIRAMANA (IND) df. Syrbaz TALGAT (KAZ) 5-1

74kg
GOLD: Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) df. Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) 3-2
BRONZE: Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ) df. Franklin GOMEZ MATOS (PUR) 8-1
BRONZE: Daniyar KAISANOV df. Narsingh Pancham YADAV (IND) 5-0

79kg
GOLD: Galymzhan USSERBAYEV (KAZ) df. David Vincent MC FADDEN (USA) 6-5
BRONZE: Muhammet Nuri KOTANOGLU (TUR) df. Ramazan Ishak SARI (TUR) 6-0

86kg
GOLD: Zahid VALENCIA (USA) df. Mark HALL (USA) 11-0
BRONZE: Myles Najee MARTIN (USA) df. Clayton Steven PYE (CAN) 12-2
BRONZE: Yeskali DAULETKAZY (TUR) df. Fatih ERDIN (TUR) via VIN

92kg
GOLD: Selim YASAR (TUR)
SILVER: Erhan YAYLACI (TUR)
BRONZE: Elkhan ASSADOV (KAZ)

#WrestlePontevedra

Promising Sterkenburg twins head to Spain with history on line

Thursday, October 13, 2022 - 07:35 By Vinay Siwach

PONTEVEDRA, Spain (October 13) -- For a long time, the Netherlands had been all but wiped out of the wrestling map. Apart from the small bursts in female wrestling, it mainly struggled to get into the top-10 position at international competitions.

But that changed last year.

Twin brothers Marcel STERKENBURG (NED) and Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED) are the rising stars of the nation with hopes of qualifying for the Paris Olympics. But before they know their Olympic fate, the twins are putting the country back on the world map, one step at a time.

The two will become the first wrestlers from the Netherlands to compete at the U23 World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain next week with hopes of winning the first medal as well.

They are no strangers to breaking new barriers. Last year, the two wrestled their way to historic gold and silver medals at the U20 World Championships to end a long wait for the Netherlands.

This year in March, Marcel won the U23 European Championships at 82kg while Tyrone finished third at 97kg. Two weeks later, they debuted at the senior Europeans aged 20 years but failed to win a medal.

Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED) is a U20 Worlds silver medalist. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Continuing their progress to become elite-level wrestlers, the U23 Worlds is an important pit stop for the two.

"I did gain enough power and weight for 87kg," Marcel said. "I’ve been feeling good this last month and the most important part of this U23 Worlds is proving that I can wrestle just as good as I was in 82kg."

After winning the U23 Euros, Marcel realized that the 2024 Paris Olympics are just around the corner and qualifying for the Games is an important step to keep his career going. For that, he moved to the Olympic weight class of 87kg.

"My focus after that was to gain weight," Sterkenburg said. "I am going to go to 87kg and in the Netherlands, my brother is the only training partner but he is 97kg so it is difficult to train with a bigger guy. So now I will be a better training partner for my brother as well."

The two were on the course when an unexpected problem arose. Marcel got a throat infection, making it difficult for him to breath while wrestling due to swollen tonsils. It got worse in Poland when he wrestled at the Wladyslaw Pytlasinski Cup in June.

"I passed out during my bout before getting a surgery done there," he said. "I will get the tonsils removed after the World Championships."

The training was halted and it only resumed in September when Marcel felt better. For the major part of their career, the two have been the only training partners for each other as the Netherlands lacked the 'quality' to make international wrestlers. But with wins at the U20 Worlds and U23 Euros, the Olympic committee in the Netherlands invested in the brothers.

"Since our medals for two years, we get budgets from NOC so we can travel and improve our wrestling," he explains.

The two, along with their coach Edward GICEWICZ, travel around Europe to get the best training. Over the years, they have found a great circle in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, training with European champion and world silver medalist Turpan BISULTANOV (DEN).

The training stints become important since different training partners bring in vast level of skills to challenge the wrestlers.

"On a technical base, I can improve a lot like my stance as it is a little bit rushed," Marcel said. "I fall at the beginning of the bout so small things."

The training trips to different countries come as a huge relief to them as they recalled the early days in the sport when it was impossible to get any partners.

"Before wrestling, we were training in boxing and judo," he said. "But everyone told us that we should try wrestling and begin naturally competitive, so we decide to train. Then my Poland coach came to the Netherlands and he coached only Greco-Roman so we decided to do.

"It was scraping with very little," he said. "We were asking for budgets from friends or foundations and our coach helped us. Sometimes we slept on the mats or at the cheapest possible option because the money to fund trips was difficult."

The medals at the Wladyslaw Pytlasinski Cup in Poland in 2020 and a bronze at the U20 European Championships a year later not only brought funding, the U20 Worlds medals helped them being noticed in the Netherlands.

The two brothers were all over the newspaper, invited to TV and radio shows and even to charity events. They were the new hope of Netherlands wrestling.

While training takes up most of the time, the twins liked the new side of their life. They enjoyed it. But quickly returned to training.

"I am studying commercial economics which also takes my time," Marcel said. "Apart from training I like going to cinemas and drawing. Both of us go to Thailand every year since my mother is from there."

Even during their off time, the Sterkenburg twins train on the beach in wrestling and visit the MMA gyms every day for training.

But before they leave for Thailand for another homely trip, the two want to bring more attention to the Netherlands with a medal at the U23 Worlds next week and embark on their Olympic journey.

"We’re both going for the gold medal, to make things even better than last year when Tyrone got silver," Marcel said.

'Focused' Chamizo Steals Gold Against Burroughs at Matteo Pellicone

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Promising Sterkenburg twins head to Spain with history on line