'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)

#WrestleBelgrade

Tokyo silvers Fumita, Aleksanyan book Paris Olympic trip in Belgrade

Friday, September 22, 2023 - 18:12 By Vinay Siwach

BELGRADE, Serbia (September 22) – Two Tokyo Olympic silver medalists will look to win a gold medal in Paris next year after Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) and Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) qualified for the Paris Olympics by reaching the final in the respective weight classes at the World Championships in Belgrade.

Fumita, a two-time world champion, reached the final at 60kg while Aleksanyan, a three-time Olympic medalist including gold, reached the gold medal bout at 97kg.

Kyrgyzstan and Cuba earned Paris Olympic quotas as well with world champion Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) reaching the final at 60kg and Gabriel ROSILLO (CUB) at 97kg after he stunned Tokyo bronze medalist Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) in the semifinal.

Fumita defeated Gevorg GHARIBYAN (ARM), who defeated returning silver medalist Edmond NAZARYAN (BUL) in the first round, 5-1 in the semifinal as he got two turns from par terre while defending successfully when he was put in the same position.

But the Japan star's biggest test was in the first bout when he faced former world champion Victor CIOBANU (MDA). Fumita was saved by a challenge from the Japan corner after Ciobanu was awarded a takedown and a four-point throw. In the replay, it was seen that Ciobanu blocked Fumita's attack by hands below Fumita's waist. As a result, Fumita was awarded two penalty points.

The two also met in the quarterfinals at the 2019 World Championships, with Fumita notching a wild 12-5 win en route to his second career gold.

“In the first round, more than my ability, it was the decision of the gods,” Fumita said. “I didn't feel like he touched my leg. But it was definitively shown and I went on to win. If there is a wrestling god, I thought I can't waste the opportunity it gave me.”

As per Japan federation rules, a wrestler who earns the Paris Olympic quota with a medal at the World Championships automatically secures a spot on the Japanese team to Paris.

For Fumita, the trip to Paris will be extra special as his father, who was also his high school coach, and his wife will join him on the trip.

“My condition is not at the very best,” he said. “I went through various things to get here. But my feeling is strong that I have to return with [the Paris berth]. My father also really wants me to take him to Paris. My wife, too. I'm really happy that I can proudly bring them with me to the arena in Paris.”

The 3-1 win over Ciobanu and the 5-1 victory in the semifinal were unlike the Fumita of old. The Japanese star was known for his big moves, which even cost him a few bouts in the past, but he has made peace with his subdued way of wrestling to earn wins.

“Last year was really disappointing,” he said. “But if that's the way world wrestling is, instead of doing spectacular moves, to win I can just be very basic. I've spent the past year thinking about it. It's really plain now. Honestly speaking, it's not interesting for me to do it. And it's probably not interesting to watch.”

Fumita will hope to continue his form in the final against defending champion Sharshenbekov who he defeated in the Asian Championships final 4-0 in 2020 in New Delhi.

“He's the defending champion and I'll be the one as the challenger. I'll try to do like I did four years ago,” Fumita said referring to his gold-medal run in Astana in 2019.

Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) won his semifinal against Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) 4-3. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Sharshenbekov has since improved significantly, winning the World and Asian Championships last year along with the world silver in 2021.

He was in a league of his own, making it to the semifinal against Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) with three technical superiority wins.

Mohsen Nejad was on his way to upset the world champion but Sharshenbekov scored a stepout to earn a 4-3 lead and defended it to beat the Iranian.

Sharshenbekov led 3-0 after a front roll from par terre but gave up a takedown when failing to get through a headlock. Mohsen Nejad got the criteria 3-3 lead when Sharshenbekov was called passive in the second period but that was short-lived as Sharshenbekov scored a stepout for one point.

At 97kg, Aleksanyan showed unreal par terre game winning three of his four bouts when his opponent was put in the par terre. He took only a minute and 57 seconds to beat Artur OMAROV (CZE) in the quarterfinal and five seconds more to beat Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU) in the semifinals.

Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) works a gut-wrench against Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU). (Photo: UWW / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Aleksanyan will look to win his fifth world title on Saturday against former U20 world champion and Tokyo Olympian Rossilo who secured a 3-0 win over 2021 world champion and returning bronze medalist Saravi in the semifinal.

Rosillo got the 1-0 lead when Saravi was called passive in the first period. But he used an arm drag to body-lock Saravi and get two points for a correct throw. Saravi never got going after that.

Rosillo's win brings Peter OHLER (GER), Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB), and U20 world champion Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (AIN) to the repechage. One of them will wrestle Saravi for the bronze medal.

In the only non-Olympic weight class in action on Friday, 72kg, returning world champion Ali ARSALAN (SRB), silver medalist Ulvi GANIZADE (AZE) and bronze medalist Selcuk CAN (TUR) failed to reach the final.

Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA) became the first French Greco-Roman wrestler since 2014 to reach the final of the World Championships after he defeated Can 4-0 in the semifinals while Robert FRITSCH (HUN) managed to see off Shingo HARADA (JPN) 3-1 in the other semifinal.

Fritsch, who lost to Arsalan last year, was trailing 9-5 in the quarterfinal against Arsalan but scored a pin over the Serb who seemed to have given up due to exhaustion.

With Arsalan's loss, U20 world champion Daniel SHORABI (IRI) will return to Iran without a medal as he lost to Arsalan 7-7.

'Focused' Chamizo Steals Gold Against Burroughs at Matteo Pellicone

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Tokyo silvers Fumita, Aleksanyan book Paris Olympic trip in Belgrade