Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! April 02, 2018

By Eric Olanowski

Reviewing Bill Farrell results, Commonwealth Games team announcements and this weekends Freestyle World Cup. 

1. USA Wins Six Golds, Dieringer Named MOW at Bill Farrell
The United States, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan each had wrestlers capture gold medals at the Bill Farrell Memorial International which was held at the New York Athletic Club in New York City, United States.

For the second time in as many tournaments, American Alex DIERINGER (USA) took home the 79kg gold medal. Up from 74kg, Dieringer is a little over a month removed from going 5-0 and outscoring his competition 42-5 at the Outstanding Ukrainian Memorial in Kiev. In the Outstanding Ukrainian Memorial finals, Dieringer defeated Olympic bronze medalist Yabrail HASANOV (AZE), 7-3.

This weekend, Dieringer was named the Bill Farrell Most Outstanding Wrestler after three wins, which included a fall over 2015 world fifth-place finisher, Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA) in the 79kg finals.

FINAL RESULTS
57kg - Samat NADYRBEK (KGZ) df. Tim LAMBERT (USA), 11-0
61kg - Jon MORRISON (USA) df. Tyler GRAFF (USA), 6-5
65kg - Evan HENDERSON (USA) df. Ilman MUKHTAROV (FRA), via fall (0:26) 
70kg - Sayatpek OKASOV (KAZ) df. Kyle RUSCHELL (USA), 6-3
74 kg - Thomas GANTT (USA) df. Dan VALLIMONT (USA),11-0
79kg -  Alex DIERINGER (USA) df. Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA)
86kg - Joe Rau (Minnesota Storm) round-robin winner
97kg - Ty WALZ (USA) df. Deron WINN (USA), 4-2
125kg - Inkar YERMUKAMBET (KAZ) df. Oleg BOLTIN (KAZ), 4-2

2. Canada and Nigeria Announce Commonwealth Games Teams
Canada and Nigeria each revealed the 12 representatives who will compete at the 2018 Commonwealth Games which takes place in Gold Coast, Australia on April 11-13, 2018.

Defending Commonwealth Games championships, Olympic gold medalist Erica WIEBE (CAN) and Olympian Korey JARVIS (CAN) lead a Canadian team that won seven gold medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

World finalist Odunayo ADEKOROYE (NGR) and 2018 African champion Melvin BIBO (NGR) head Nigeria’s 12 participants. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Nigeria medaled in 11 out of 12 weight classes, including two gold medal performances by Adekuoroye and Oluwafunmilayo ADENIYI AMINAT (NGR).

3. Mongolia and India Round Out World Cup Teams
Due the the the U.S. Embassy not being able to provide expedited appointments for sporting events, the Russian Wrestling Federation has been forced to withdraw from this week’s 2018 Freestyle World Cup.

To fill the voided team slots, USA Wrestling and the tournament organizers have extended invitations to Mongolia and India. Both of which have accepted and have begun the visa process.

4. Six Olympic Medalists Set to Compete at Freestyle World Cup
Six Olympic medalists from Azerbaijan and the United States will be in action this weekend at the World Cup.

The three Olympic medalists who will be competing for Azerbaijan are Haji ALIYEV (AZE), Jabrayil HASANOV (AZE) and Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE). Sharifov, a two-time Olympic medalist won Olympic gold in London and bronze in Rio. Aliev and Hasanov each snagged bronze medals at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

The three men for the United States who boast Olympic medals are Jordan BURROUGHS (USA), J’den COX (USA) and Kyle SNYDER (USA). In London, Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) captured gold and in Rio Kyle SNYDER (USA) won gold while Cox finished with the bronze.

5. Session One 57kg World Finals Rematch 
The United States and Japan will meet in session one of the World Cup and the first match of the day is a rematch of the 57kg 2017 World Championships gold-medal bout between Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN) and Thomas GILMAN (USA).

In the world finals, 2017 Breakout Wrestler of the Year Yuki Takahashi captured his first world title by using three two-point moves to win the bout, 6-0. Takahashi scored his first two points from a caution-and-two and ended the match by picking up two defensive takedowns.

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media 

1. Have a productive week!?? Japanese wrestlers training? Всем плодотворной недели! Тренировка японских спортсменок? ?@saori___yoshida

2. #FlagFriday with Olympic champion S. SHARIFOV (AZE). Sharifov is entered at 92kg for next weekends World Cup.

3. Alexander KARELIN is ready for the European Champ’s ... are you?! #dagestan2018

4. “The days that break you are the days that make you???.” @mohsenhajipour
روزهایی که تو را می شکنند روزهایی هستند که تو را می سازند ???

5. “Cela semble toujours impossible jusqu’à ce qu’on le fasse...” @koumba_larroque

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open Flashback: Iran, U.S. opened season with success

By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (January 18) -- United World Wrestling's 2026 season will kick off with the Ranking Series in Zagreb February 4. The recent memories of Zagreb may be the September World Championships but the 2025 season also kicked off with the Ranking Series in the Croatian capital.

Iran and the United States had strong performances in the first of the four stops of the Ranking Series, a theme which continued throughout the 2025 season as the U.S. dominated Freestyle while Iran dominated Greco-Roman.

Women's Wrestling participants were less in numbers but still saw U.S. and UWW wrestlers share gold medals.

Here's a trip down memory lane of the 2025 Zagreb Open Ranking Series before the 2026 season kicks off:

WATCH ZAGREB OPEN 2025 TOP BOUTS HERE

Freestyle

A young Iranian team snapped four gold medals in Zagreb with Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) winning gold at 61kg, Abbas EBRAHIM (IRI) winning at 65kg, Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) became champion at 92kg and Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) winning the 125kg gold.

For the U.S., Spencer LEE (USA) kicked off the season with 57kg with gold, Zahid VALENCIA (USA) won at 86kg and Kyle SNYDER (USA) at 97kg. Both Valencia and Snyder went on to win gold at the World Championships later in the season.

Azerbaijan, Slovakia and France won one gold each, with Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) winning at 70kg for Azerbaijan, Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) winning gold at 74kg, and Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA) winning at 79kg for France.

Iran dominance began when Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) won gold at 61kg, beating the likes of Nuraddin NUVROZOV (AZE), Nashon GARRETT (USA), Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO) and Ebrahim KHARI (IRI). Javan would later win a silver medal at the World Championships. At 65kg, Ebrahim held his own in a thrilling final against Joseph MCKENNA (USA) to grab the second gold for Iran.

Young superstars Firouzpour and Masoumi put up a show to win gold medals at 92kg and 125kg respectively.

Lee was making a returning to competition six months after winning the silver medal at the Paris Olympics. He won the Zagreb Open gold with rather ease. For the U.S., Valencia saw himself win gold at 86kg outscoring his opponents 35-4 in four bouts. In the final, Valencia defeated world bronze medalist Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE), 8-0.

Snyder opened his season with a 33-1 scoring run in three bouts at 97kg in Zagreb. In the final, he easily defeated Abolfazl BABALOO (IRI).

Heybatov gave early warnings to the 70kg field by winning gold in Zagreb, a run which included wins over Austin GOMEZ (MEX), two back-to-back wins over Iranian wrestlers including a 12-1 one again Sina KHALILI (IRI) in the final. The two would wrestle again towards the end of the year at the U23 World Championships. Heybatov won that final with a 9-4 score.

Two veterans, Salkazanov and Khadjiev, were at their best in the opening Ranking Series tournament. Salkazanov blanked everyone, including winning 4-0 against David CARR (USA) in the final, to win 74kg gold.

Khadjiev had a tougher bat but managed to win the 79kg gold with a 5-3 win over Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) in the final. The French wrestler would later win silver at the European Championships.