#WrestleNice

Henri Deglane Grand Prix of France Preview

Tuesday, January 12, 2021 - 13:34 By Eric Olanowski

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The 47th Annual Henri Deglane Grand Prix of France kicks off January 14-18. The star-studded entry list is headlined by four Olympic champions, five reigning world champions and will feature nearly 300 athletes from 23 different nations.

Potential Showdown of Olympic Champs Sharifov and Snyder
The most intriguing storyline coming into the competition is the potential showdown of Olympic champions Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE) and Kyle SNYDER (USA) at 97kg. If the pair of superstars meet, it'd be a rematch from the ’19 world championship semifinasl, where the London Olympic champion and Rio Olympic bronze medalist defeated the American, 5-2, en route to his world silver-medal run.

Sharifov shut down all 19 of Snyder's attacks, while only surrendered an inactivity point and a step out in their Nur-Sultan meeting. In addition to earning a stepout point, he capitalized on a pair of Snyder's attacks by scoring a takedown off a high crotch and two exposure points. 

In my opinion, the key adjustment for Snyder to even the series: Get to the corner on his straight on attacks.

Gadzhiev Making '21 Debut Down at 65kg
Poland's Magomedmurad GADZHIEV will make his ’21 debut down at the Olympic weight of 65kg and just his third appearance at the weight since ’17. 

Gadzhiev, a two-time world medalist, is fresh off an undefeated ’20 campaign up at 70kg. He claimed consecutive golds at the World Cup, European Championships, and Waclaw Ziolkowski Memorial.

For Gadzhiev to strike gold at his fourth consecutive competition, he’ll have to get through a long list of tough competition – including Olympic champion Vladimir KHINCHEGASHVILI (GEO) and fellow two-time world medalist James GREEN (USA). Tokyo Olympian Agustin Alejandro DESTRIBATS (ARG) and rising star John DIAKOMIHALIS (USA) will also compete in the 65kg bracket.


Reigning three-time world champion Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) will compete at 125kg. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

Other Freestyle World Champs Entered 
Freestyle world champions Beka LOMTADZE (GEO), Kyle DAKE (USA), and Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) are the other must-watch wrestlers that'll be in action later this week.

The favorite to win gold at 61kg is reigning world champion Lomtadze. His biggest threat will be '18 world bronze medalist Joseph COLON (USA).

Dake, a two-time world champion at the non-Olympic weight of 79kg, is making his second appearance down at 74kg. In his first showing down at the Olympic weight, he claimed gold at the Matteo Pellicone. Dake dismantled Olympic bronze medalist Soener DEMIRTAS (TUR), 10-0,  is less than a minute to finish atop the Ranking Series podium.

Dake will have to navigate a 74kg field that includes '18 world silver medalist Avtandi lKENTCHADZE (GEO) and '18 junior world champion Khadzhimurad GADZHIYEV (AZE).

Petriashvili, the reigning three-time world champion, is entered at 125kg. His most credential competition will be two-time world bronze medalist Nicholas GWIAZDOWSKI (USA).

Tamyra MENSAH STOCK (USA) will take the mat at 68kg. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

Mensah Back in Action After Downing Gray
Tamyra MENSAH STOCK (USA) will return to action at her normal weight, less than a week after upsetting five-time world champion Adeline GRAY (USA). The reigning 68kg world champion bumped up to 76kg and defeated Gray, 4-0, in the headlining bout of Flo Wrestling’s 10-match card.


Olympic champion Helena MAROULIS (USA) will wrestle at 57kg. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

Olympic Champ Maroulis Leads Shuffled Team USA
Rio Olympic gold medalist Helena MAROULIS (USA) leads a shuffled United States squad that'll see multiple world medalists moving down a weight in preparation for the Olympic Games.

Maroulis will compete at 57kg, while Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA) and Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) are dropping from their Nur-Sultan world championship weights of 53kg and 55kg, respectively. 

Hildebrandt, a '18 world silver medalist at 53kg, will make her third appearance at 50kg. Her first outing at 50kg came at the '20 Matteo Pellicone, where she upset top-ranked Alina VUC (ROU) with a last-second takedown to win her second Ranking Series title. Hildebrandt followed up that performance by qualifying the United States for the Olympic Games with a second-place finish at the '20 Pan-American Olympic Qualifier. 

Winchester, the reigning 55kg world champion, dropped to the Olympic weight of 53kg. She'll make her second appearance at the weight. Winchester's competed at 53kg for the first time at the '20 Pan-American Olympic Qualifier, where she earned the USA a berth to the Olympic Games through her runner-up finish.


'19 world champion Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO) is entered at 55kg. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

Tsurtsumia Leads Greco-Roman Entries
Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO) is the lone reigning world champion entered in Greco-Roman. He'll face a 55kg field that includes world bronze medalist Ekrem ÖZTÜRK (TUR) and Individual World Cup runner-up Serif KILIÇ (TUR).

The Henri Deglane Grand Prix of France, which will be streamed live on United World Wrestling, begins Friday at 10:30 local time, with women's wrestling qualification rounds at 50kg, 53kg, 57kg, 62kg, 68kg, and 76kg. 

SCHEDULE

Thursday
10:00-12:00: Final entries WW-50kg 53kg 57kg 62kg 68kg 76kg (+2kg)
18:00-19:00: Draw WW-50kg 53kg 57kg 62kg 68kg 76kg (+2kg)

Friday 
8:00: Medical control WW-50kg 53kg 57kg 62kg 68kg 76kg (+2kg)
8:30: Weigh-in WW-50kg 53kg 57kg 62kg 68kg 76kg (+2kg)
10:00: Final entries FS–57kg 61kg 65kg 70kg 74kg 79kg 86kg 92kg 97kg 125kg (+2kg)
10:30: Qualification rounds and finals
18:00: Draw Freestyle FS–57kg 61kg 65kg 70kg 74kg 79kg 86kg 92kg 97kg 125kg (+2kg)
20:30: Finals awards ceremony

Saturday 
8:00: Medical control FS–57kg 61kg 65kg 70kg 74kg 79kg 86kg 92kg 97kg 125kg (+2kg)
8:30: Weigh-in FS–57kg 61kg 65kg 70kg 74kg 79kg 86kg 92kg 97kg 125kg (+2kg)
10:00: Final entries GR–55kg 60kg 63kg 67kg 72kg 77kg 82kg 87kg 97kg 130kg (+2kg)
10:30:  Qualification rounds and finals
18:00: Draw GR–55kg 60kg 63kg 67kg 72kg 77kg 82kg 87kg 97kg 130kg (+2kg)
20:30: Finals awards ceremony

Sunday 
8:00: Medical control GR–55kg 60kg 63kg 67kg 72kg 77kg 82kg 87kg 97kg 130kg (+2kg)
8:30: Weigh-in GR–55kg 60kg 63kg 67kg 72kg 77kg 82kg 87kg 97kg 130kg (+2kg)
10:00: Qualification rounds and finals
10:30: Finals awards ceremony

#WrestleParis

10 seeded showdowns we need to see at Paris 2024 (No. 1-5)

Friday, July 19, 2024 - 11:28 By Eric Olanowski

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PARIS, France (July 18) --- Yesterday, we launched the No. 6-10 must-watch seeded matches that could take place in the quarterfinals and semifinals of the upcoming Paris Olympic Games. We continue the series with the top five matchups that could be between seeded athletes in the quarterfinals and semifinals.

SCHEDULE | PARIS 2024 EVENT PAGE 

The top eight Ranking Series point scorers from the 2023 World Championships, 2024 Continental Championships, and the Croatian and Hungarian Ranking Series events earned a top eight seed in Paris. The remaining eight wrestlers will be randomly drawn into their respective brackets.

Here are the top-five seeded showdowns that can take place in Paris:

5. 97kg SEMIFINAL – No. 1 Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) vs. No. 4 Gabriel ROSILLO (CUB)
If you were to rank the ten Greco-Roman favorites expected to win gold at last year’s World Championships, Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) would have been either at the top or second on that list.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), no one told Gabriel Rosillo that the list existed.

In their lone career meeting, Rosillo, with the most perfectly timed arm drag that the wrestling world has seen in recent memory, stopped Aleksanyan from winning his fifth world gold medal. The Cuban sucked in an arm drag to Aleksanyan’s right arm, then perfectly timed a re-drag to the left side just as the Armenian pulled away, giving him the go-ahead takedown with 23 seconds left.

After the match, Aleksanyan said he relaxed at the most inopportune time and he’ll use the loss to Rosillo as motivation heading into Paris.

The second meeting between Aleksanyan and Rosillo could happen on August 6 in the 97kg semifinals.

4. 125kg SEMIFINAL – No. 1 Amir ZARE (IRI) vs. No. 4 Taha AKGUL (TUR)
Zare and Akgul have been going blow for blow for the last three years, with Zare grabbing the 2-1 advantage from his 2021 and 2023 wins, which were sandwiched between a 2022 world championship loss.

Zare picked up the biggest win of his career (at the time) with his win 4-0 shutout win over Akgul at the 2021 Oslo World Championships. Up until that point, the Iranian was looked at as a tier-two heavyweight. His win over Akgul in Norway pushed him into the ranks with Akgul, Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) and Gable STEVESON (USA).

In the second meeting, Akgul stood tall on the United World Wrestling logo in the center of the mat and didn't budge. He evened the score at one match apiece, striking late with a counter-offensive 360 spin, moving into the world finals with a 3-3 win.

Zare regained his crown in the third meeting, with a tactical heavy-handed 4-0 win.

Zare knew Akgul wasn’t much of an offensive threat and couldn't afford to make a similar mistake as he did the year before, giving up the match-deciding takedown with no time left. He remained composed and scored a pair of stepouts and a takedown to win 4-0, giving him the 2-1 advantage heading into Paris.

The fourth meeting between world champions Zare and Akgul could happen on August 9 in the 125kg semifinals.

3. 57kg SEMIFINAL –  No. 2 Rei HIGUCHI (JPN ) vs. No. 3 Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Harutyunyan and Higuchi are two guys with unlimited offensive and have gas tanks that rival a nuclear submarine.

That was on display in last year’s Freestyle Match of the Year, where Harutyunyan and Higuchi put up a combined 30 points in one match—17 points in the first period and 13 in the second.

In their epic second meeting, Higuchi surrendered an early 6-0 lead, but clawed his way back before the ending whistle in the first, taking the 10-7 lead with a beautiful four-point arm-throw. Higuchi’s onslaught of attacks continued as the second period started, scoring six straight points and extending his lead to 16-8. From there, Higuchi seemingly shut it down to conserve energy for the semifinals, as he gave up six unanswered points but still won the bout, 16-14.

The second meeting between Higuchi and Harutyunyan would go down on August 8 in the 57kg semifinals.

2. 97kg SEMIFINAL – No . 2 Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) vs. No. 3 Kyle SNYDER (USA)
Coming into the 2023 World Championships, Tazhudinov was a relatively unknown 20-year-old. The most fans knew about the 21-year-old was that he was a young guy trained by Sadulaev’s coach but left Russia to compete for Bahrain.

That all changed for Tazhudinov after his sub-three-minute quarterfinal routing of world and Olympic champion Kyle SNYDER (USA). The lengthy pupil of the Sadulaev’s School of Wrestling threw Snyder twice for four, using all four of the American’s shot attempts to score his 10 quick points.

Heading into Paris, there’s nothing more that Snyder wants more than revenge against Tazhudinov on his way to a potential third Olympic medal.

“I’m pumped about the bracket. It worked out great, in my opinion,” said Snyder in an interview with FloWrestling. “The third match of the day, that’s probably my best match. Once I start getting warm, I feel like I can wrestle forever.”

Round two of the Snyder vs. Tazhudinov rivalry will take on August 10 in the 97kg Olympic semifinals.

1. 60kg SEMIFINAL  –  No. 1 Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) vs. No. 4 Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN)
The Sharshenbekov and Fumita gold-medal bout from the 2023 World Championships was voted as the 2023 Match of the Year by fans.

In their second career meeting, the pair of two-time world champions wowed the crowd from whistle to whistle, with Sharshebekov scoring the first four-pointer of the match five seconds after the referee blew the whistle.

The points continued to pile up throughout the match. The pair collectively scored 15 points in the opening 90 seconds. They ultimately scored 17 points in the six-minute bout, with Sharshenbekov taking ownership of the world title with an 11-6 victory.

Sharshenbekov and Fumita are scheduled to meet on August 5 in the 60kg semifinals.

Wrestling at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games starts August 5-11 and can be followed on www.uww.org.