Ishiguro Brushes Aside Rivals to Earn 1st Ticket to Senior Worlds

Friday, May 28, 2021 - 16:54 By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (May 28) --- In 2018, Hayato ISHIGURO became the first Japanese male to capture a world junior title in over three decades. The next year, he added a world U-23 bronze medal. On Friday, he earned his first shot at the big kids.

Ishiguro secured a place on Japan's team to this year's World Championships by taking the freestyle 86kg title at the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships on Friday in Tokyo.

Ishiguro scored a takedown and a 4-point move in the second period in posting a 7-1 victory in the final over Taisei MATSUYUKI to follow up on his title run at the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships in December.

The Emperor's Cup and Meiji Cup serve as domestic qualifiers for the World Championships, to be held in October in Oslo. Weight classes in which the winners of the two tournaments are different are decided by playoffs, which turned out to be the case in three of the eight divisions on Friday.

None of the 12 Japanese wrestlers who will appear at the Tokyo Olympics entered the qualifying process for the Oslo worlds, opening the door for young prospects like Ishiguro to make the step up to the senior global stage.

Ishiguro, bouncing back from a disappointing fifth-place finish at the Asian Championships in April in Almaty, avoided the playoff route with a solid run at spectator-less Komazawa Gym. Starting with a 9-3 victory over 2020 Asian champion Shutaro YAMADA, he advanced to the final with a 10-0 technical fall of 2019 Asian junior champion Tatsuya SHIRAI.

It all came in a tournament Ishiguro considered skipping beforehand, as well as dropping out midway through, due to problems with weight control.

"After the Asian Championships, I didn't put much thought into maintaining my weight," Ishiguro said. "I had to drop 8 or 9 kilograms all in one week. It had me worried, but I was able to put out a full effort."

Upon returning to Japan from Almaty, Ishiguro had to follow protocols and self-quarantine in a hotel for two weeks. He intended to work out in the single room doing core exercises and push-ups, but ended up "watching Netflix."

"Before the semifinal, I thought of defaulting, because I was feeling the effects of the weight loss and my legs were cramping," Ishiguro admitted. "I talked to my coach and my father and they said to just give it a shot and see what happens."

In Almaty, the luck of the draw matched Ishiguro with world and Olympic champion Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) in the second round, and while the Japanese put up resistance, he went down by technical fall.

That was expected. It was in the bronze-medal match against Mustafa AL OBAIDI (IRQ) that things went awry. As Ishiguro sprawled from a takedown attempt, Al Obaidi locked his arms from below, then twisted the Japanese over and onto his back for a stunning fall in 1:07.

There is speculation that that loss might be behind a new "look" that Ishiguro sported on Friday at Komazawa Gym -- he took the mat with a completely shaven head. Some wondered if it might be some sort of ascetic atonement for his performance in Almaty.

"I thought it could improve my footwork," Ishiguro said tongue-in-cheek when asked about it at the postmatch press conference. "The opponents looked a little scared."

Ishiguro, a two-time national collegiate champion now in his senior year at Nihon University, isn't sure he will keep the shiny dome in Oslo.

"I like it," he said. "but I'll listen to what other people think and decide for the World Championships. Most people don't like it."

Ishiguro competed in Almaty alongside his older brother Takashi ISHIGURO, who won a bronze medal at 97kg. Takashi will aim to join Hayato in Oslo as well when he looks to add to his Emperor's Cup title on Sunday.

Yuta NARA defeated Emperor's Cup champion Masayuki AMANO, 3-1, in a 97kg playoff and earned his fourth berth to the World Championships. (Photo: Japan Wrestling Federation)

Nara grabs 5th title, world team spot in playoff
In other action, Yuta NARA bounced back from the disappointment of failing to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics at both the Asian and world qualifiers by taking his fifth straight title at Greco 97kg, then winning a playoff to earn a fourth career trip to the World Championships.

Nara scored all of his points in the second period in beating Yuri NAKAZATO 6-1 in the final. He then came back for the world playoff an hour or so later and defeated Emperor's Cup champion Masayuki AMANO 3-1.

"The time you have for a wrestling career is limited," Nara said when asked why he entered the tournament so soon after the Olympic qualifiers. "Also, I feel that I'm the one carrying this weight class for Japan."

Nara has dominated the weight class in recent years. He had not lost a domestic match in it since 2016 when he was dealt a stunning defeat in the semifinals at the 2020 Emperor's Cup to Masaaki SHIKIYA, who then lost to Amano in the final.

The other playoff winners were in freestyle, Jintaro MOTOYAMA at 70kg and Masaki SATO at 74kg.

For Motoyama, the 2019 world junior silver medalist and 2018 world U-23 bronze medalist, his playoff victory over Ayumu SUZUKI avenged a loss to the fellow collegian earlier in the day.

Suzuki forged out a 6-4 win over Motoyama in the quarterfinals en route to winning the gold by beating Hirotaka ABE 6-3 in the final.

But Motoyama took his game up a notch in the playoff, scoring four stepouts in building up an 8-0 first-period lead before going on to win 10-1.

Sato's road to Oslo meant beating Emperor's Cup champion Kirin KINOSHITA twice, and he did it by the narrowest of margins.

First Sato won the Meiji Cup gold with a 2-2 win in the final, with his second-period takedown trumping the two single points scored by Kinoshita. Then in the playoff, a second-period takedown gave Sato a 2-1 win and the ticket to Oslo.

At 70kg, the spotlight was more on the return of Taishi NARIKUNI, a former collegiate champion who has competed just twice -- back in 2019 -- since being hit with a two-year doping ban in 2017 after a doctor mistakenly prescribed a cold medication containing a banned substance.

After starting off with a fall, Narikuni saw his dreams of making it to the World Championships shattered with a come-from-behind 8-3 loss to Abe in the semifinals. A late stepout put him behind before a failed throw attempt in desperation gave Abe his final points.

It was reminiscent of his loss at the Emperor's Cup in 2019, where he wrestled at 74kg because it was the first domestic qualifier linked to the Tokyo Olympics.

"It was the same at the Tokyo Olympic qualifier, at the end I lost the same way," he said. "At the 5-minute mark, I was the one attacking, only to be pushed out for the decisive point. It's a waste and shameful to lose the same way."

Narikuni came back to win the bronze medal by fall over Hidetaka SAKANO, but the damage was done.

"It's like it wasn't worth coming, it was so shameful," Narikuni said. "After the Tokyo Olympics qualifiers, I have been aiming for the World Championships for the past 1 1/2 years. I think I put more into this than I did for the Tokyo Olympics."

Narikuni won national collegiate titles in both freestyle and Greco-Roman in 2017 while at Aoyama Gakuin University. He has a goal of achieving the rare feat of winning world titles in both styles -- a sort of Shohei Ohtani of wrestling, referring to the Japanese baseball star who is a rarity by being both a pitcher and a slugger.

Upon graduating, Narikuni became a staff member at the Gold Kids wrestling club in Tokyo run by his mother, a two-time world champion under her maiden name of Akiko IIJIMA. As for what lies ahead, he's still too stunned to think about it.

"My goal was to win the title, win the playoff, then win the world title," Narikuni said. "There were nearly 100 people backing me up from Gold Kids, and I have a real sense of loss. My mind is a blank right now, I can't think of anything."

Reminded that the World Championships are held every year so it won't be long until the next one, he replied, "That's what everyone around me says. But inside, I really can't think of anything. I had only thought of this tournament."

Akie HANAI snuck past Yumeka TANABE by one point in the 59kg gold-medal match. (Photo: Japan Wrestling Federation)

There was one women's title up for grabs, which went to 2019 world junior champion Akie HANAI after edging Yumeka TANABE 2-1 in the 59kg final, with all of the points coming on the activity clock.

Combined with her Emperor's Cup victory, it gives Hanai a place on her first senior world team. She missed out on a first appearance at the Asian Championships in April when Japan withdrew its women's team due to contact with a person infected with the coronavirus.

In the semifinals, Tanabe scored a last-gasp victory by fall over fellow 2019 world U-23 champion Yuzuka INAGAKI. Trailing 3-2 in the final minute, Tanabe used a nifty inside leg hook to trip Inagaki backwards, then clamped down for the fall.

#WrestlePontevedra

U20 Worlds: Iran wins golds, U.S. team title

Sunday, September 8, 2024 - 23:21 By Vinay Siwach

PONTEVEDRA, Spain (September 8) -- Iran won two gold, a silver, and a bronze medal on the final day of the U20 World Championships, but it failed to stop the United States from winning the team title. The U.S. collected the top rank in the team race with 175 points, 15 better than Iran, which finished second. Japan finished third with 90 points.

This was the first time since 2017 that the U.S. won the team title and stopped Iran from completing a hat trick of top-place finishes. All 10 U.S. wrestlers competed for a medal and nine won a medal.

The U.S. fielded a very young team, with five wrestlers who were only 18 years old and eight wrestlers who could wrestle at the U20 level again next year.

"Everyone put themselves in the position to get on the podium and win the best medal they could," J'den COX, coach of Team USA, said. "Everyone is going to get better but overall it was great. They are the best in the world. I get it that individually in some cases we didn't get where we wanted to go but as a whole, we wrestled an amazing tournament."

Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) scores a takedown against Benjamin KUETER (USA). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

However, the final day of the U20 Worlds in Pontevedra, Spain did not go as planned for the U.S. It had five wrestlers on the mat and only one won his match. Marcus BLAZE (USA) won a bronze medal over Tolga OZBEK (TUR).

Ladarion LOCKETT (USA), Joshua BARR (USA) and Benjamin KUETER (USA) all dropped their finals while Connor MIRASOLA (USA) lost his bronze medal match.

Kueter, a U20 world champion at 97kg in 2022, was wrestling at 125kg and reached the final. However, he ran into a mountain named Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) who already has a U23 world gold, two U20 world golds, and a U17 world gold.

Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) gestures towards the crowd after winning the 125kg final in Pontevedra. (Photo: United World Championships / Jake Kirkman)

Masoumi added a third U20 world gold medal to his name after he won the 125kg final 4-2 over Kueter and is now a five-time age-group world champion. A naturally aggressive wrestler, Masoumi dropped that approach and was happy to win his matches by sitting on the lead.

He did the same against Kueter in the final as he scored a takedown, a point for Kueter's passivity and a stepout. As he defended his 4-0 lead, Kueter managed to trip him in the final 30 seconds to score a takedown for two points.

"My opponent in the final is a well-known wrestler as he won the World Championships Sofia, Bulgaria, two years ago," Masoumi said. "He had taken a year off from wrestling but had improved a lot since then. He’s a skilled and accomplished wrestler. Thank God I was able to use my knowledge of him to wrestle smartly and win 4-2"

Kueter did trouble Masoumi in the final but Masoumi, despite wrestling with a heavily tapped left hand, never dropped his guard. Masoumi said he had broken his wrist before coming to Spain so he was careful with his attacks.

While he won his four bouts outscoring his opponents 32-3, Masoumi had only one technical superiority win. In 2022, when he won both the U20 and U23 world titles, Masoumi won all but one of his matches via superiority.

"I had an injury in my hand and it was broken, so I tried to be careful with it," he said. "Otherwise, I’m always aggressive and a fighter."

He will be in Tirana, Albania in a month's time to wrestle at the U23 World Championships. He won the gold medal in 2022 but skipped the 2023 edition. But Masoumi said his main focus is to make the senior team.

"In the match against Amirhossein ZARE (IRI) in Croatia, I lost," he said of his 5-0 loss to Olympic silver medalist Zare at the Ranking Series in Zagreb in January. "Some might say that Amir Reza Masoumi has settled, but no, I’m not satisfied at all. I’m preparing myself for the World Championships in Zagreb, aiming for the national team selection."

Ali REZAEI (IRI) scores the match-winning takedown against Ladarion LOCKETT (USA) in the 74kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

Ali REZAEI (IRI) was the second gold medal for the day for Iran after he defeated 2023 U17 world champion Lockett 3-3 on criteria in a thrilling 74kg final. Rezaei is the first U20 world champion from Iran at 74kg in 15 years.

Lockett was leading the final 3-1 after scoring a takedown in the second period and Rezaei, who won a silver medal last year, needed at least a takedown to win.

It came in the fifth minute of the bout when Lockett missed a sweep single and Rezaei showed exceptional speed to get him a bodylock and finish with a takedown. Leading 3-3 on criteria, Rezaei did not allow Lockett to get into any attacking positions and won the gold medal.

Ali REZAEI (IRI) defends an attack from Ladarion LOCKETT (USA) in the 74kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

"I went through a tough final but with the great analysis from the coaches, I managed to defeat the strong American opponent," Rezaei said. "I hope to continue on this path and become a world and Olympic champion."

In Amman, Rezaei dropped the 70kg final against Meyer SHAPIRO (USA) 11-6 but planned to win the gold in Pontevedra.

"Last year, I won silver," he said. "I’ve been waiting for this moment for about a year and a half, and thankfully, in the final, my opponent was an American, and I managed to beat him. This journey continues."

Ibragim KADIEV (AIN) won the 86kg gold medal in Pontevedra. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

The third American to suffer a loss in the final was Burr as Ibragim KADIEV (AIN) beat him 8-2 in the 86kg final. Kadiev won his second U20 world gold medal after winning the 79kg gold in Amman last year.

In the final against Burr, Kadiev jumped to a 3-0 lead 15 seconds into the match. Burr did get on a few leg attacks but he was able to score only a stepout in the first period, cutting the lead to 3-1 at the break.

Kadiev, who took multiple medical timeouts for his injured knee, scored a counter against Burr and got two more points. The U.S. challenged the decision to award two points to Kadiev as Burr was never in danger but the replays showed Burr's back on the mat. The lost challenge made the score 6-1. Burr scored a stepout with 12 seconds left and then tried a front headlock throw but Kadiev stopped it to get two points and an 8-2 win.

"The American opponent was the toughest one for me," Kadiev said. "I also injured my knee. I didn’t attack much, because I couldn’t risk it. If only I hadn’t injured the knee, the match would have gone in a different way. My wrestling style is to attack from the very first second, and then in the second period the opponent gets tired and it’s easier to finish him."

Kadiev will get a chance to showcase his skills again at the U23 Worlds next month in Tirana. He also said that winning the gold medal last year made his more happy than this year.

"When I first won the U20 Worlds, I was much happier than now," he said. "This time there is no such feeling of excitement as it was last time. I wrestle more confidently, and we’ve worked on our mistakes with the coaches. I don’t know how fast I can recover from this knee injury. Hopefully, I can still make it to the U23 Worlds."

At 92kg, Mustafagadzhi MALACHDIBIROV (AIN) got some motivation from Kadiev as he finished his final against Sali SALIEV (BUL), 11-0, well before time.

Malachdibirov got Saliev in a gut-wrench and managed to turn him to win the gold medal at 92kg.

Masanosuke ONO (JPN) asks for the 'champion belt' after his 61kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

Ono warning before Tirana

At the non-Olympic World Championships in Tirana from October 28 to 31, one wrestler to watch will be Masanosuke ONO (JPN) who destroyed everyone in Pontevedra to win the 61kg gold medal.

After winning his four bouts on Saturday, Ono returned to wrestle Ebrahim KHARI (IRI) for the final. It was expected to be an action-packed final but Ono finished it in one action.

As soon as the referee blew the whistle, Ono got an attack on Khari and scored a takedown. 26 seconds later, Ono had finished the final using the gut-wrench to win the gold medal in 26 seconds.

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"I was surprised that it ended sooner than I expected, but it was a very enjoyable 25 seconds," Ono said. "I'm satisfied."

Ono will now look to win the gold medal at 61kg in Tirana. However, he is aware that his opponents in Tirana will be more powerful.

"I'm still not satisfied unless I win there (Tirana)," he said.

Ono began wrestling only after his teacher in the music class during kindergarten encouraged him to wrestle. Ono, now at the Yamanashi Gakuin University, trains under former world champion Yuka TAKAHASHI (JPN) and is from the Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture, which is in the countryside.

RESULTS

61kg
GOLD: Masanosuke ONO (JPN) df. Ebrahim KHARI (IRI), 10-0

BRONZE: BHUVANESH (IND) df. Abdinur NURLANBEK (KAZ), 6-5
BRONZE: Marcus BLAZE (USA) df. Tolga OZBEK (TUR), 5-0

74kg
GOLD: Ali REZAEI (IRI) df. Ladarion LOCKETT (USA), 3-3

BRONZE: Aghanazar NOVRUZOV (AZE) df. Tamir ESHINIMAEV (AIN), 4-1
BRONZE: Shingo ANDO (JPN) df. Muhamed BEKTEMIROV (AUT), 9-3

86kg
GOLD: Ibragim KADIEV (AIN) df. Joshua BARR (USA), 8-2

BRONZE: Ahmet YAGAN (TUR) df. Ryogo ASANO (JPN), 3-2
BRONZE: Abolfazl RAHMANI (IRI) df. Gabriele NICCOLINI (ITA), 9-2

92kg
GOLD: Mustafagadzhi MALACHDIBIROV (AIN) vs. Sali SALIEV (BUL), 11-0

BRONZE: Kamil KURUGLIYEV (KAZ) df. Amirreza DALIRI (IRI), 8-5
BRONZE: Anar JAFARLI (AZE) df. Connor MIRASOLA (USA), 6-2

125kg
GOLD: Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) df. Benjamin KUETER (USA), 4-2

BRONZE: Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL) df. Alikhan KUSSAINOV (KAZ), 4-1
BRONZE: Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR) df. Jaspooran SINGH (IND), 3-2

Ishiguro Brushes Aside Rivals to Earn 1st Ticket to Senior Worlds

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U20 Worlds: Iran wins golds, U.S. team title