Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! August 20, 2018

By Eric Olanowski

Reviewing results from the Asian Games, and the 2018 Pan-American Junior Championships. Also taking a look at Lebanon's first continental medalist ever. 

1. Yazdani Captures 86kg Asiad Gold, Iran Lands Pair of Golds 
World and Olympic champion Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) stormed to the 86kg gold medal at the Asian Games, helping Iran grab one of their two gold medals on the opening day of competition. Yazdani, who earned his first career title at the Asian Championships in Bishkek earlier this year, completely overwhelmed Domenic ABOUNADER (LBN) in the 86kg finals, taking just 1:29 to score a 10-0 technical fall. 

Iran picked up its second gold when Ali KARIMI (IRI) scored with a 4-point move in the first period and cruised to a 6-0 victory in the 97kg final over five-time Asian medalist Magomed MUSAEV (KGZ). 

RESULTS 
57kg GOLD - Bekhbayar ERDENEBAT (MGL) df. KANG Kum Song (PRK), 8-2 
65kg GOLD - Bajrang BAJRANG (IND) df. Daichi TAKATANI (JPN), 11-8
74kg GOLD - Bekzod ABDURAKHMONOV (UZB) df. Daniyar KAISANOV (KAZ), 3-2
86kg GOLD - Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) df. Domenic ABOUNADER (LBN) by TF, 10-0, 1:29 
97kg GOLD - Alireza KARIMI (IRI) df. Magomed MUSAEV (KGZ), 6-0

Click HERE for full opening day recap 

2. USA Finishes Team Sweep with Nine Freestyle Champions at #Fortaleza2018
The United States produced nine freestyle champions at the 2018 Junior Pan American Championship in Fortaleza, Brazil, winning the team title 93 points ahead of second place Canada. Mexico, with its 100 points finished four points ahead of Brazil and grabbed the bronze medal. 

Jonathan PRATA ALAS (ARG) was the lone non-American to leave Brazil with a freestyle gold medal. 

Prata Alaz, the 2017 Cadet South American champion won the title with a thrilling victory over Kevin CHAVEZ BETANCUR (COL) that saw multiple points scored in the final 30 seconds.

Prata had his hand raised in a 10-6 win and earned the freestyle Golden Boot.

Team scores (top five)
1. USA – 240
2. Canada – 147
3. Mexico – 100
4. Brazil – 96
5. Colombia - 75

Click HERE for full freestyle recap 

3. Canada and Mexico Boast Three Champs, USA Wins Women's Freestyle Team Title at #Fortaleza2018
North America ran away with the top-three spots in the team race of the women’s freestyle tournament at the 2018 Junior Pan American Championships, with USA taking first, followed by Mexico and Canada.

Mariela ESCALANTE HERNANDEZ defeated Greidy ESTUPINAN PEREZ (COL) in the 50kg finals, 5-3 to give Mexico their first gold women's wrestling gold medal. Atzimba LANDAVERDE MORENO (65kg) and Miriam OLVERA GONZALEZ (76kg) also won continental gold medals, helping Mexico score 152 points and the silver medal in the team race. 

Three 2017 Junior Pan Am runner-ups made it to the top of the podium for Canada. Gold medalists included Jayd DAVIS at 53kg, Hannah TAYLOR at 57kg and Dejah SLATER at 68kg. 

Two additional bronze-medal performances and a silver pushed Canada onto the podium with 135 points and the third-place team trophy, edging out Brazil’s 131 points. 

Team results (top five)
1. USA – 172
2. Mexico – 152
3. Canada – 135
4. Brazil – 131
5. Colombia – 80

Click HERE for full women's wrestling recap 

4. Domenic ABOUNADER (LBN) Captures Lebanon's First Continental Medal Ever 
American-born Domenic ABOUNADER (LBN) may have fell to Hassan Yazdani in the 86kg finals, but he gave Lebanon its first-ever continental medal.

Abounader showed he could handle the added pressure as two of his victories came by one point---an 8-7 decision over Aligadzhi GAMIDGADZHIEV (KGZ) in the quarterfinals and a 10-9 thriller over Adilet DAVLUMBAYEV (KAZ). 

Prior to Abounader's arrival in the final, the best previous finish at an Asian tournament was Khodr BCHARA's sixth place in Greco-Roman 130kg in the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing. 

Click HERE for full Asian Games recap

5. USA Wins Greco-Roman Team Title with Six Champions at #Fortaleza2018
The United States claimed the Greco-Roman team title at the 2018 Junior Pan American Championships, claiming six gold medals on Friday in Fortaleza, Brazil. 

Winning titles for the U.S. was 2017 Junior World silver medalist Cevion SEVERADO at 55kg, Dylan GREGERSON at 63kg, Lenny MERKIN at 72kg, Cameron CAFFEY at 87kg, Austin HARRIS at 9 kg and Anthony CASSIOPPI at 130kg. 

Cassioppi repeated the 2017 Junior Pan American Greco-Roman champion, defending his 2017 title when he pinned Paul MORALES (MEX) early in the finals. 

He was the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler. 

Click HERE for full Greco-Roman recap

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media 

1. Big Move Monday!

2. UWW Regional Development Officer and former Olympic wrestler Yuri Maier carries the Olympic flame before the start of the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires.

3. Sick foot sweep from Enrique PEREZ CASTELLANOS (GUA) in men’s freestyle action of the 2018 Junior Pan American Championships #Fortaleza2018

4. It’s almost the weekend. Throw everything you have into today.

5. Faces of #AsianGames2018 Лица Азиатских Игр. #вольнаяборьба#АзиатскиеИгры#узбекистан#казахстан#кыргызстан#иран#монголия#лица#Faces#indonesia#freestylewrestling#korea#mongolia#uzbekistan#kazakhstan#kyrgyzstan

#WrestleLA

UWW announces new Olympic qualification process for LA 2028

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (February 2) -- United World Wrestling has overhauled the qualification process for the Olympic Games.

Beginning with the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the 16 wrestlers who qualify per weight class will earn their spots through four routes: the World Championships, Continental Qualifiers, the World Olympic Qualifier, and the UWW Rankings.

The first phase of qualification will be the 2027 World Championships that will award 72 quotas for the Olympics. Each medalist [gold, silver, two bronzes] in the 18 Olympic weight classes will earn LA 2028 spots for their respective National Olympic Committees (NOC).

The second phase will be the UWW Rankings in which the first three wrestlers of the rankings, not qualified in the first phase, will obtain one quota place for their NOC for the LA28 Olympic Games. The UWW Rankings will include the seven main events organized before the LA28 Olympic Games:

- 2027 Senior Continental Championships*
- 2027 Ranking Series (3 events)
- 2027 Senior World Championships
- 2028 Ranking Series (1 event)
- 2028 Senior Continental Championships*

*UWW may include Continental Games for ranking but will only consider best two out of three continental results.

This means that 54 more wrestlers will earn Olympic quotas for their respective NOCs.

Phase three for qualifying will include the Continental Qualifiers -- Europe, Asia, Pan-America, and Africa & Oceania. These tournaments will award two quotas per weight class.

Top two wrestlers, the finalists, in each of the 18 Olympic weights will earn LA 2028 quotas for respective NOCs. A total of 144 wrestlers will be awarded at these continental events.

The fourth and final phase of qualification will be the World Olympic Qualifier which will offer 18 quotas. The gold medal winners in each of the 18 Olympic weight classes will earn the spot for their respective NOCs.

Only the countries that did not obtain a quota place during the previous three phases may participate in the World Olympic Qualifiers. The participating countries may only send two wrestlers across all styles at the World Qualifier.

For the LA 2028 qualifying cycle, UWW will award quotas at the following events:

4 quotas - 2027 World Championships
3 quotas - Ranking Series UWW Rankings
8 quotas - Continental Qualifiers (2 Europe, 2 Asia, 2 Pan-America, 2 Africa & Oceania)
1 quota - World Olympic Qualifier

Furthermore, the 2028 Continental Championships will be held before the Continental Qualifiers, ensuring that the three quotas via ranking are finalized before continental qualification events begin.

Ranking Series Participation Guidelines

Each country may enter a maximum of two wrestlers per weight class and a two-kilogram weight allowance will apply for Ranking Series events, but not for Continental or World Championships where standard weight rules apply.

The point allocation for these Ranking events will also be reviewed.

Seeding Changes

During the Olympic cycle, seeds will be assigned based on the following event tiers:

Four-seed events:
Continental Championships
Continental Qualifiers
World Qualifier

Eight-seed events:
Ranking Series
World Championships
Olympic Games

Seeding for the 2028 Olympic Games will be based on results from:

- Three 2027 Ranking Series events
- 2027 Continental Championships (or Continental Games, if applicable)
- 2027 World Championships
- One 2028 Ranking Series event
- 2028 Continental Championships

These same events will be used to seed wrestlers throughout the 2028 season, including the Ranking Series, Continental Championships and Qualifiers, the World Olympic Qualifier, and the Olympic Games.

For the 2027 Ranking Series events, 2027 Senior Continental Championships and the 2027 Senior World Championships, the results of 2026 Senior World Championships will also be considered to seed the athletes.

As is the rule, the ranking points obtained at the 2026 Senior World Championships will be removed after the 2027 Senior World Championships.

A key change is that at the Olympic Games, the seed belongs to the country, which keeps the seed even if it replaces the athlete who earned it. In all other events, the seed belongs to the wrestler, and a nation loses that seed if a different athlete competes.

For clarification regarding the new Olympic qualification process, all NFs and NOCs can contact sports@uww.org.