#WrestleBuenosAires

Pan-Ams Preview: USA juggernaut the challenge for others

Wednesday, May 3, 2023 - 12:14 By Gaurav Bhatt

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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (April 28) -- It’s Pan-American Championships time again, which means the best wrestlers in North, Central, and South America will square off for continental supremacy. This time, the Pan-Am showpiece will run from May 3 to 6 in Buenos Aires. 

280 athletes from 19 nations are in the fray, but only one burning question: Can anybody stop the American juggernaut?

While they couldn’t replicate the 2021 Guatemala City heroics of capturing all ten freestyle gold medals, Team USA triumphed in 8 categories last year in Acapulco, topping the freestyle team charts for the eleventh straight year. And this year is shaping up to be more of the same. 

The USA men’s freestyle team competes May 5-6 and comprises seven 2022 World Championships medalists. This star-studded line-up includes World champions Kyle DAKE (74 kg), Jordan BURROUGHS (79 kg), David TAYLOR (86 kg), Kyle SNYDER (97 kg), and world silver medalists Thomas GILMAN (57 kg), Yianni DIAKOMIHALIS (65 kg) and Zain RETHERFORD (70 kg).

Leading the charge will be Dake, the four-time world champion who is looking for a Pan Am title hat trick. Last September, the Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist joined John SMITH (USA) as the only Americans to accomplish a four-peat at the Worlds. Dake won his first two World championship titles at the non-Olympic 79kg weight class and the last at 74kg.

The 32-year-old is also a 2018 World Cup champion, winning U.S. Open titles in 2016 and 2018. Dake was a four-time NCAA champion for Cornell, winning titles in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. He was the first wrestler to win four NCAA Division I title in four different weight classes.

But his Twitter bio sums up Dake’s intentions best: “Made History! But I still have a few things I want to do.”

The Lansing, N.Y.-native will start as the favorite in Argentina in a bracket that has familiar names in Franklin GOMEZ (PUR), Franklin MAREN (CUB), and Cesar ALVAN (BRA). Those three grapplers rounded off the podium in Acapulco last year, and the 36-year-old Gomez — a former Pan Am champion and world silver medalist — would look to avenge his 10-1 defeat in last year’s final against Dake. 

Burroughs, Taylor, and Snyder are the other three reigning world champions in action.

Jordan BURROUGHS (USA)Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) is the defending Pan-Am champ at 74kg. (Photo: UWW) 
Burroughs, with his three Pan American Games crowns, six world titles, and an Olympic gold medal, has little left to prove. Last year — after winning the 79kg world title in Belgrade to become his nation’s most decorated freestyle wrestler ever — the 34-year-old sat down with Team USA to disclose what’s fuelling him now.

“I wanted to win the tallest trophy when I was a kid. Then I wanted to have my name in the paper and get a varsity jacket. Then I wanted to get a scholarship, get my name up in the rafters at my college, and then it became, I wanted to gain followers and make money and establish myself. Then it became I wanted to be the best ever,” Burroughs said. “Now, honestly, I'm getting back to the essence of why I started this, and that's just because I love it.”

Of course, there’s Paris on the horizon as well.

“It's gold or bust for me, literally every single year. 2023 is an exciting time because it leads up to 2024 [Paris Olympic Games]. You want to get that ball rolling and start to gain momentum,” Burroughs added.

Snyder, the 27-year-old phenom, meanwhile, is looking for a Pan Am-threepeat of his own. The 2016 Olympic champion has won a World or Olympic medal for Team USA for eight straight years, a run that has fetched him a 2020 Olympic silver, three World gold, two silver, and a bronze medal.

The reigning Olympic and World champion Taylor will be gunning for his fourth gold at the event. The ‘Magic Man’ — who was named United World Wrestling Freestyle Wrestler of the Year in 2018 — has won the 86 kg Pan Am title thrice, including in Buenos Aires in 2019.

The Pan-American Championships, taking place prior to the USA World Team Trials in June, are often considered a warm-up for American wrestlers. The last time the US failed to bring home a gold medal was in 2001 when Cuba dominated the tournament. However, for the past two decades, the US has won at least one gold medal at the event, and they are poised to continue this trend with their decorated team.

Alejandro VALDES (CUB)

A few challengers, however, could thwart USA’s clean-sweep bid.

Among them is Alejandro VALDES (CUB) who is returning to the tournament after five years. The two-time world medalist, who won the Pan-Am title in 2013 and 2014, will look to challenge the likes of Diakomihalis.

Yurieski TORREBLANCA (CUB) has won the 86 kg gold at the Pan-American Championships thrice (2015, 2017, 2020) and has a silver (2018) to boot. That defeat in 2018, however, came against American Taylor with a tight 3-2 scoreline.

Queralta’s compatriot Reineris SALAS (CUB), meanwhile, will throw down the gauntlet in the 125 kg category. The three-time World medallist earned a bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. With defending champion Amarveer DHESI (CAN) not entered, Salas will be the favorite to win the gold, his eighth.

Several of Puerto Rico’s silver linings from last year will take the mat with the hopes of upgrading their medals. These contenders include Darian CRUZ (57 kg), Joseph ANDRES SILVA (61 kg), Sebastian RIVERA (65 kg), and the aforementioned Gomez (74 kg).

Follow the Pan-American Championships live on uww.org or the official UWW App from May 3.

#WrestleParis

Paris 2024 Wrestling Day 3 Preview: GR 67kg and 87kg; WW 53kg

Wednesday, July 24, 2024 - 09:49 By Eric Olanowski

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PARIS, France (July 24) --- Two-thirds of the returning Greco-Roman Olympic champions -- Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) and Luis ORTA (CUB) -- along with the wrestler holding the world's longest win streak among active wrestlers, will compete on the third day in Paris 2024 when GR 67kg and 87kg and WW 53kg takes center stage at Champ de Mars Arena.

Beleniuk is a two-time Olympic medalist, having won gold in Tokyo and silver in Rio. The 33-year-old is on a mission to make history in Paris and become Ukraine's first-ever two-time Olympic champ. Before Beleniuk's win at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Ukraine was 0-3 in Olympic finals and were still searching for someone to accompany the 1996 Atlanta Games 90kg gold medalist Vyatsheslav OLEYNIK (UKR) in the history books.

PARIS 2024 SCHEDULE | PARIS 2024 NEWS

Orta moved up from his Tokyo Olympic weight of 60kg to 67kg and is on a quest to join Filiberto ASCUY and Mijain LOPEZ as Cuba's only multiple-time Olympic champs.

In women's wrestling, Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) will look to extend her world-best 130-match win streak against the 53kg field.

Zhan BELENIUK (UKR)Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) won the gold medal at 87kg in Tokyo. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Martin Gabor)

GR 87kg: Beleniuk up against packed field

It's not often that the reigning Olympic champion heads into a competition as an underdog, but that's the case when five world champs are in one bracket. Besides Ukraine's reigning Olympic champion Beleniuk, the other world title holders in 87kg include David LOSONCZI (HUN), Ali CENGIZ (TUR), Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) and Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE).

Beleniuk will have to overcome dark horses Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB), Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) and Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN) to become Ukraine's first-ever two-time Olympic gold medalist.

Cengiz won the outright world title in Belgrade, beating Beleniuk and Losonczi. However, he's since taken a step back to reality, going 5-3 in his last two competitions. Out of the three losses he's taken this season, two came against wrestlers he could face in Paris -- Komarov and Losonczi.

Cengiz lost to Komarov in the European finals before falling to Losonczi at the Hungarian Ranking Series event. Losonczi, the other half of the 2023 87kg world champions, followed a similar path as Cengiz during the first few months of the 2024 season.

After ending 2023 on a 14-match win streak, Losonczi lost his first match of the season to Alan OSTAEV (AIN) at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series event. The 23-year-old Hungarian rebounded at the Hungarian Ranking Series event, beating Olympians Cengiz and Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ) before dropping out his of his finals match against Semen NOVIKOV (BUL).

Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE)Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) will be hoping to add a second Olympic medal to his resume. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Huseynov, a world champion in 2021 and '23, saved Azerbaijan's Paris hopes at the last moment, replacing No. 6 Islam ABBASOV (AZE) at 87kg for the final Olympic Qualifier. 

The Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist at 77kg, bumped up to 82kg, where he remained for the last three seasons, winning two world titles and a European gold. But at 36, Huseynov will return to Azerbaijan's lineup for one final run at an Olympic title.

With Huseynov being new to the category, he remains the question mark of the weight. Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI) and Gobadze have wrestled the Azeri before with Huseynov beating Mohamadipiani in last year's World Championships final and he defeated Gobadze to qualify Azerbaijan for Paris 2024.

Lasha GOBADZE (GEO)Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) will be one of the darkhorses at 87kg in Paris. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Gobadze, the 2019 world champion, was a late addition to the entry list. He missed out on punching Georgia's ticket through the qualification competitions but earned an allocation after the Neutral Athletes dropped out. Gobadze has the talent to beat anyone in the world. In the last few years, since leaping 82kg to 87kg, the Georgian has beaten many top-tier guys who will also be at the Games. His previous wins include Cengiz and Bisultanov. On the other hand, he recently lost to Huseynov and Cengiz.

Komarov won the European Championships this year with wins over Beleniuk, Abbasov and Cengiz. He will be the biggest threat to make a run for the gold medal.

GR 67kg: New weight, old habits for Orta

Luis Orta has been a man on a mission since his disappointing seventh-place finish at the 2022 World Championships. He's turned his fortunes around, positioning himself to become Cuba's third-ever two-time Olympic champ. Since that blunder in Belgrade, Orta has gone 29-2, winning gold medals at the World Championships, Pan-Am Championships, Pan-Am Games, Central American and Caribbean Games and Hungarian Ranking Series. More importantly, his last two losses came at the hands of HUSIYUETU (CHN), who missed out on making the Olympic Games.

Of the 16 wrestlers in the field, Orta has at least one win over half of the entries. He's already beaten Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE), Andres MONTANO (ECU), Amantur ISMAILOV (KGZ), Mate NEMES (SRB), Souleymen NASR (TUN), Nestor ALMANZA (CHI), Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN) and Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI).

Orta has already bested Nemes and Jafarov, his most credentialed challengers. He defeated Jafarov twice last season and beat 2022 world champion Nemes in the quarterfinal of the 2023 World Championships.

Parviz NASIBOV (UKR)Parviz NASIBOV (UKR) is the returning silver medalist at 67kg.(Photo: United World Wrestling / Dogukan Karadag)

He is yet to face two major threats: Olympic medalists Parviz NASIBOV (UKR) and Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY). After seeing what the Ukrainian has been able to do over the last few years, Orta will be more threatened by Nasibov than Elsayed. 

Nasibov, the Tokyo runner-up, has victories over Olympian Jafarov, Nemes, Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM), and Mamadassa SYLLA (FRA) this season alone. Meanwhile, Elsayed has struggled since his impressive Tokyo bronze-medal run, going 7-4 in non-African competitions.

Iran's Esmaeili is replacing Tokyo Olympic champion Mohammedreza GERAEI (IRI) after winning the playoff. He almost beat Orta in Budapest and has a win over Sogabe. Iran will hope that the youngster can make a surprise run to gold as Geraei did in Tokyo.

 

WW 53kg: Fujinami vs the rest

When it comes to betting favorites in the 53kg Paris field, oddsmakers have singled out Akari Fujinami as the safest wrestler to put money on. 

Fujinami, a 20-year-old phenom, has been unstoppable up to this point in her career. She's won 130 consecutive matches heading into Paris -- including two golds at the World Championships, golds at the Asian Championships and Asian Games, and international and domestic competitions.

Akari FUJINAMI (JPN)Akari FUJINAMI (JPN), blue, pinned Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) at the 2023 World Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

To fully understand Fujinami's dominance, just look at her 2023 season. In her 21 matches last season at the World Championships, Asian Championships, Asian Games, Zagreb Open Ranking Series and Dan Kolov, Fujinami outscored her opponents 206-7 and finished 21/21 matches by technical superiority or via fall. Furthermore, 10 of those technical superiority wins came against wrestlers with at least one world medal to their name.

The only wrestler to score a point on Fujinami last season was Lucia YEPEZ (ECU). Fujinami gave up an early 5-0 lead but scored 14 consecutive points before securing a second-period fall.

Other threats to Fujinami include Qianyu PANG (CHN), Dominique PARRISH (USA), ANTIM (IND), and Jonna MALMGREN (SWE). Pang, Malmgren, and Antim have already faced Fujinami, while a matchup between Parrish and Fujinami would be a first.

Qianyu PANG (CHN)Qianyu PANG (CHN) is the returning silver medalist at 53kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Pang, an Olympic finalist in Tokyo, last faced Fujinami at the Asian Games, where the Japanese star won 10-0. Antim lost to Fujinami at the Asian Championships (10-0) and was pinned at the Asian Games. Malmgren and Fujinami met at the 2018 U17 World Championships, where Fujinami won 14-4.

Parrish was the 53kg world champion the year Fujinami withdrew from the World Championships. Fans and critics have long debated Parrish's world title without Fujinami's presence, leaving the American eager to face the young Japanese star.

The third day of wrestling at Paris 2024 starts on August 7. Follow @unitedworldwrestling on all social channels to stay updated on what's happening in Paris.