Toronto, Pan Am Games, Canada

U.S. Sweeps into Freestyle Finals in Pan Am Games

By William May

TORONTO, Canada (July 18) – Defending champions Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) and Jake HERBERT (USA) advanced to the finals of the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games on Saturday and will attempt to win gold medals for a second straight Games later Saturday evening.

Burroughs (74kg) and Herbert (86kg) will be joined in the gold medal matches at Mississauga Sports Center by teammates Kyle SNYDER (96kg) and three-time Pan American championships winner Zachery REY (125kg).

The U.S. quartet will try to match the four gold medals won in the same corresponding categories at the Guadalajara 2011 Games with Burroughs and Herbert leading the charge again.

 

Burroughs will square off South American Games champion Yoan BLANCO (ECU), who has won bronze medals at 66kg in Guadalajara and at 74kg at last year’s Pan Am championships.

In his opening bout of the day, Burroughs rolled up a technical fall against fellow 2014 world bronze medalist Livan LOPEZ (CUB), who will wrestle for a bronze medal on Saturday evening. Lopez was the 66kg gold medalist at the 2011 Games.

 

Herbert, meanwhile, will take his second shot at Reineris SALAS (CUB) this summer after a loss to the two-time world silver medalist at the Beat the Streets event in New York in May.

Herbert cruised into the gold medal match at 86kg with a pair of technical falls, while Salas was forced to go the full six minutes with decisions on points in the quarterfinals and semifinals.

At 96kg, Snyder, a 2013 junior world champion, also rides the momentum of a pair of technical falls into the final and will go up against Pan American championships bronze medal winner Arjun GILL (CAN).

Bringing the curtain down on the Pan Am Games’ wrestling competition will be Rey, who won his third Pan Am championships crown in Santiago in April, and Korey JARVIS (CAN), a bronze medal winner in April.

Gill and Jarvis were both gold medalists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Freestyle
74kg
GOLD: Yoan BLANCO (ECU) v Jordan BURROUGHS (USA)
BRONZE: Johnathan SCOTT (CRC) df. Cristian SARCO (VEN)
BRONZE: Livan LOPEZ (CUB) v Jevon BALFOUR (CAN)

86kg
GOLD: Reineris SALAS (CUB) v Jake HERBERT (USA)
BRONZE: Tamerlan TIGZIEV (CAN) v Pool AMBROCIO (PER)
BRONZE: Ricardo BAEZ (ARG) v Jaime ESPINAL (PUR)

97kg
GOLD: Kyle SNYDER (USA) v Arjun GILL (CAN)
BRONZE: Yuri MAIER (ARG) v Jose DIAZ (VEN)
BRONZE: Jesse RUIZ (MEX) v Marcos SANTOS (PUR)

125kg
GOLD: Korey JARVIS (CAN) v Zach REY (USA)
BRONZE: Edgardo LOPEZ (PUR) v Hugo DE OLIVEIRA (BRA
BRONZE: Rene SILVA (NCA) v Andres RAMOS (CUB)

#WrestleBudapest

Higuchi, Kiyooka reach finals at Budapest Ranking Series

By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (June 6) -- The final Ranking Series before the Olympics kicks off in Budapest. Seven weight classes in Freestyle will be in action with top wrestlers in all the weight categories. The ranking, and ultimately the seeds for the Olympics will be determined after this Ranking Series.

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13:25: Abbas EBRAHIMZADEH (IRI) blanks Haji ALIYEV (AZE) 6-0 in the 65kg semifinal. Top win for the Iran wrestler who will now wrestle Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN) for the gold medal. Kiyooka defended well against a storming Austin GOMEZ (MEX) in the second period to win 12-6.

13:00: AMAN (IND) moves into the final of the 57kg after a 14-4 technical superiority win over Aryan TSIUTRYN (AIN). He will wrestle world silver medalist Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) for the gold medal. Higuchi was in all sorts of trouble in his semifinal against Aliabbas RZAZADE (AZE) when the Azerbaijan wrestler used a high chest wrap to lead 8-0. But Higuchi managed to defend the last turn. He scores a takedown and uses a gut wrench to finish the bout 18-8 inside the first period.

12:45: An upset from Yusup BATIRMURZAEV (KAZ) as he pins Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) in the 125kg final. Petriashvili looks in some trouble with his elbow and has called for a medical timeout. But the pin takes him out of the final. 

12:40: Alisher YERGALI (KAZ) with a stunning late exposure takedown to beat Abolfazl BABALOO (IRI) 3-2 and enter the 97kg final. On Mat C, the 92kg world champion Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) looked like entering the final when he led 5-0 against Magomedkhan MAGOMEDGOV (AZE) but the Azerbaijani world silver medalist came back to beat him 15-7.

12:30: Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) with a fall over Nahshon GARRETT (USA) after building a 10-1 lead in the 61kg semifinal. He will wrestle the winner of Shahdad Ali KHOSRAVI (IRI) and Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) for the gold medal.

12:15: That will sting Gulomjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) for some time. Aliabbas RZAZADE (AZE) pins Abdullaev in the 57kg quarterfinal and sets up a semifinal against Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) who defeated Almaz SMANBEKOV (KGZ) 11-0 in the quarterfinal.

12:12: Haji ALIYEV (AZE) cannot find a way past Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN) at 65kg! After building a 4-1 lead at the break, he hits a huge four-pointer on Aliyev to steer clear and win 9-3.

12:00: Mason PARRIS (USA) was checked by Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO) on different occasions but Parris won the 125kg bout 9-2. The Georgian, who qualified for the Paris Olympics at 97kg, is wrestling at 125kg in this Ranking Series.

11:45: Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO), who got a walkover in his first bout, works to a technical superiority win over Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (AIN) at 125kg. Moments later, at 57kg, AMAN (IND) rolls to an 11-1 win over Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)

11:35: World champion Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN) drops his Round 2 bout! Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN) scores three technical points to lead 3-0 but Muszukajev's takedown cuts the lead to 3-2 with 30 seconds left on the clock. Kiyooka defends well and hits a counter takedown in the end, adding lace to win 7-2.  

11:27: Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB) does not show up for his Round 2 bout against Haji ALIYEV (AZE) at 65kg. A big result for Aliyev who is now poised to finish at the top of group A.

11:25: Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) dominates Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO) at 61kg and wins 18-5 to advance. Harutyunyan will come down to 57kg for the Paris Olympics.

11:20: Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM), wrestling at 70kg instead of his preferred 65kg, rolls to an 11-0 victory at Alibek OSMONOV (KGZ). The ranking points won at 70kg will not be added to the ranking points of Tevanyan at 65kg.

11:15: Paris-bound wrestler Gulomjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) comes back from a 2-0 deficit to beat Ali Hossein MOMENIJOUJADEH (IRI) 6-2 at 57kg. He will wrestle Aliabbas RZAZADE (AZE) in the quarterfinals.

11:00: Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) with a top 9-2 win over Evan HENDERSON (USA) at 70kg. The Armenian controlled the bout throughout for the win. 

10:50: World champion Iszmail MUSZUKAKEV (HUN), wrestling for the first time since winning the World Championships, begins with a solid 6-2 win over Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB). He keeps it under control despite many attacks from Jalolov.

10:45: Haji ALIYEV (AZE) vs Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN) felt like a long bout! Aliyev got a 1-0 lead at the break for Kiyooka's inactivity. Kiyooka got one point in the second period but Aliyev scored a counter just after the clock expired to lead 3-1. A stepout for Kiyooka with 17 seconds left on the clock. He needed a takedown to win and tried for one but Aliyev bodylocked for a takedown to win 5-2.

10:35: Austin GOMEZ (MEX), qualified for the Olympic Games at 65kg, begins with a 10-0 rout of Gyoergy SZILAGYI (HUN). The 65kg wrestlers are drawn in round-robin and will be wrestling again.

10:30: The first bouts in Budapest are crazy. Austin GOMEZ (MEX) is on Mat C but on Mat B, it's world champion Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN) against Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB) and on Mat C, it's Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN) vs Haji ALIYEV (AZE).