#BudaWrestle2018

USA Puts 2 in Finals, Otoguro Halts Chakaev's Run

Sunday, October 21, 2018 - 17:23 By Andrew Hipps

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BUDAPEST, Hungry (October 21) -- The United States of America went 2-for-3 in the semifinals on Sunday, advancing Kyle DAKE and J'den COX to the gold-medal finals.

Dake, competing in his first World Championships, continued his dominance in the 79kg weight class with an 11-0 technical fall over Akhmed GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (RUS) in the semifinals. 

Dake used a four-point throw to open up the scoring early and continued to build his lead. He eventually put the match away with a big throw on the edge of the match to secure the technical fall. Gadzhimagomedov defeated Dake in their previous meeting. 

Dake will now face Olympic bronze medalist Jabrayil HASANOV (AZE), who came from behind late to defeat Ezzatollah AKBARIZARINKOLAEI (IRI) 3-3 on criteria. The Iranian appeared to be in control until Hasanov took a shot in the final 20 seconds and converted it to a takedown. He then held on for the win.

Cox, an Olympic and world bronze medalist, advanced to the finals with a 5-2 victory over world bronze medalist Alireza KARIMIMACHIANI (IRI). Cox went up 2-0 before the Iranian took the lead on criteria after a takedown. The lead, though, was short lived as Cox scored a reversal and added another takedown to win by three.

The American will now face Ivan YANKOUSKI (BLR) in the gold-medal match at 92kg. Yankouski used two arm throws in the first minute of the match to cruise to a first-period technical fall shutout (11-0) over Atsushi MATSUMOTO (JPN).

At 65kg, Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) halted the run of Akhmed CHAKAEV (RUS). The two wrestlers went back-and-forth in a high-scoring affair. The match was filled with action, as well as stoppages for injuries and challenges. 

The first period saw a wild exchange, which resulted in Chakaev taking a 4-3 lead. The first period would end 6-5 in favor of Chakaev. Otoguro turned it up in the second period, taking the lead and building it to 10-6. But Chakaev stayed offensive and cut the deficit to two late. Otoguro, though, was not going to be denied and pulled away for a 15-10 victory and spot in the finals. 

In the other 65kg semifinal match, Bajrang BAJRANG (IND) held on to defeat returning world bronze medalist Alejandro VALDES TOBIER (CUB) 4-3 at 65kg. He becomes India's first world finalist since Amit KUMAR made the world finals in 2013.

At 57kg, both returning world finalists fell in the semifinals.

Zavur UGUEV (RUS), a two-time cadet world champion, topped 2017 world champion Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN) 7-2, while Nurislam SANAYEV (KAZ) claimed an 11-0 technical fall over 2017 world silver medalist Thomas GILMAN (USA).

Takahashi scored the first point of the semifinal match off the shot clock, but Uguev dominated the rest of the way. The Russian used a takedown and exposure to go up 4-1. He then tacked on to his lead in the third period to win by five. 

Sanayev led Gilman 2-0 after the first period before breaking the match open in the second period. He scored with a double leg takedown to go up 4-0 and converted it a lace and quickly built the lead to 9-0. Sanayev then put the match away with another takedown. 

Semifinal Results

57kg 
Zavur UGUEV (RUS) df. Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN) by VPO1, 7-2
Nurislam SANAYEV (KAZ) df. Thomas GILMAN (USA) by VSU, 11-0

65kg 
Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) df. Akhmed CHAKAEV (RUS) by VPO1, 15-10
Bajrang BAJRANG (IND) df. Alejandro VALDES TOBIER (CUB) by VPO1, 4-3

79kg 
Kyle DAKE (USA) df. Akhmed GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (RUS) by VSU, 13-0
Jabrayil HASANOV (AZE) df. Ezzatollah AKBARIZARINKOLAEI (IRI) by VPO1, 3-3

92kg 
Ivan YANKOUSKI (BLR) df. Atsushi MATSUMOTO (JPN) by VSU, 11-0
J'den COX (USA) df. Alireza KARIMIMACHIANI (IRI) by VPO1, 5-2

#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.