Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! December 3, 2019

By Eric Olanowski

Previewing the Canadian Wrestling Trials and Alans Tournament. Also looking at the results from the Alrosa Cup and Indian National Championships. 

1. Russia Dominates Alrosa Cup, Takes Down World, 11-1 
Russia’s star-studded squad closed out the Alrosa Cup in Moscow by winning 11 of 12 matches against an all-star world team that featured wrestlers from seven different nations. 

Roman VLASOV (RUS) edged his London Olympic finals opponenet Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARM), 3-2, in the headlining match of the dual, which came at 77kg (Greco-Roman). 

Vlasov, the two-time Olympic champion, scored his three points from an inactivity then tacked on two additional points with a right-side gut wrench and commanded the 3-0 lead. Julfalakyan made it a match with under a minute left, as he picked up a late second-period takedown and closed the Russian’s lead to one point. But, it wasn’t enough to avenge his Olympic finals loss, as Vlasov hung on to edge the Armenian, 3-2.

On the freestyle side of the dual, arguably the most impressive performance of the night came at 97kg when Alikhan ZHABRAILOV (RUS) scored a 5-2 upset victory over Olympic champion, Sharip SHARIPOV (AZE). 

In addition to Zhabrailov’s win, another significant victory for the Russian Federation came at 125kg, where Bilyal MAKHOV (RUS) continued his quest to improve his Olympic silver medal with a 2-0 shutout win over an undersized Elizbar ODIKADZE (GEO), who was wrestling up from his Nur-Sultan weight of 97kg. 

Azerbaijan’s three-time world champion Haji ALIYEV (AZE) was the lone non-Russian wrestler to seize a win in the 12-match dual. Aliyev scored a last-second takedown to move past Nachyin KUULAR (RUS), 5-4, in the 65kg matchup. 

Russia df. World, 11-1
Freestyle (5-1)
57kg – Ramis GAMZATOV (RUS) df. Giorgi EDISHERASHVILI (AZE), 8-4
65kg – Haji ALIYEV (AZE) df. Nachyin KUULAR (RUS), 5-4 
74kg – Timur BIZHOEV (RUS) df. Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO), 2-1
86kg – Magomed RAMAZANON (RUS) df. Ahmad BAZRI (IRI), 3-2 
97kg – Alikhan ZHABRAILOV (RUS) df. Sharip SHARIPOV (AZE), 5-2 
125kg – Bilyal MAKHOV (RUS) df. Elizbar ODIKADZE (GEO), 2-0 

Greco-Roman (6-0)
60kg – Sergey EMELIN (RUS) df. Victor CIOBANU (MDA), 7-0
67kg – Artem SURKOV (RUS) df. Atakan YUEKSEL (TUR), 6-1 
77kg – Roman VLASOV (RUS) df. Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARM), 3-2 
87kg – Alexander KOMAROV (RUS) df. Metehan BASAR (TUR), 2-1 
97kg – Nikita MELNIKOV (RUS) df. Ibrahim TIGCI (TUR), 8-3
130kg – Vitali SCHUR (RUS) df. Nurmakhan TINALIEV (KAZ), 3-1 

2. Wiebe’s Quest for Second Olympic Gold Kicks off Friday at Canadian Wrestling Team Trials
Erica WIEBE (CAN) has been on the record saying she thought chasing her first Olympic gold was the hardest thing she’d ever do. But after winning gold in Rio, the Canadian’s tone changed, saying pursuing her second Olympic title is a more difficult task. 

The future hall of famer’s quest to become the first non-Japanese woman to win two Olympic gold medals officially begins this Friday at the two-day Canadian Wrestling Team Trials in Niagara, Ontario, Canada. 

The process for Wiebe to make it to the Tokyo Olympic Games is relatively simple, but it'll be no easy task to do so. First, she has to win the Canadian Wrestling Team Trials. Then, she has to qualify the weight at the Pan-American Olympic Qualifier (March 13-15). 

Wiebe's first step in repeating her run to an Olympic gold begins this week in Ontario, where she’s entered at 76kg. Her weight class will feature five other wrestlers, including Canada’s last two world team representatives at 72kg, who are moving up to the Olympic weight of 76kg. 

Wiebe’s strongest competition this week will be 2019 Pan-American champion Dejah SLATER and her biggest domestic rival, Justina DI STASIO, a 2018 world champion.

Wiebe and Di Stasio met earlier this year in the finals of the Canada Cup in Calgary, where Wiebe scored the 7-5 come-from-behind win. In that June meeting, Wiebe trailed 3-2 heading into the closing period, but the Olympic champion outscored the world champion, 5-2, and secured the gold medal with the 7-5 victory.

Outside of the massive storyline at 76kg, another weight to follow will be 57kg. Linda MORAIS, the reigning world champion at 59kg, will make her descent down to the Olympic weight with hopes is chasing Olympic gold in Tokyo. Morais will be met at 57kg by Hannah TAYLOR and Alexandra TOWN. Taylor is fresh off a bronze-medal finish at the U23 World Championships, while Town is a year removed from handing Canada their first-ever women's wrestling U23 world gold medal.

The Canadian Wrestling Team Trials begin Friday and can be followed live on www.wrestling.ca and CBC Sports! You can also follow Wrestling Canada Lutte on FacebookTwitter, and Instagram for live updates.

Kyle SNYDER (USA) will lead Team USA to Vladikavkaz, Russia, for the Alans International Tournament. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

3. Snyder Leads Experienced USA Squad Headed to Russia for Alans International Tournament
Kyle SNYDER (USA) is set to lead a highly experienced American team to Vladikavkaz, Russia, for the Alans International Tournament. The Menezh Sports Palace will host the three-day tournament from December 5-8. 

Thomas GILMAN, James GREEN and Nick GWIAZDOWSKI are the trio of world medalists that'll join Snyder, the two-time world and Olympic champion, in Vladikavkaz over the weekend. In total, the American team that's entered combines for nine world medals and an Olympic title. 

Gilman, a 2017 world silver medalist, will wrestle in Russia for the third time in the last three months. In October, Gilman went 5-0 and won the 57kg gold medal at the Yusup Abdulsalamov Tournament in Dagestan, Russia. He followed that up a week later with a bronze-medal finish at the Intercontinental Cup in Khasavyurt, Russia. 

Green, a two-time 70kg world medalist, will try to improve his bronze medal from last year’s Alans Tournament. But, he won’t be doing so at his normal weight of 70kg. Green will make his first appearance at the Olympic weight of 74kg, where he’ll look to challenge teammate Jordan BURROUGHS for the Tokyo Olympic spot. 

The fourth world medalist on USA’s team is two-time world bronze medalist Nick GWIAZDOWSKI, who’ll wrestle at 125kg. 

Zain RETHERFORD and Mike MACHIAVELLO round out the six-man roster for the United States.  Retherford, a two-time world team representative, will compete at 65kg, while Machiavello will wrestle at 92kg. 

USA Alans Teams 
57kg – Thomas GILMAN ('18 silver)
65kg – Zain RETHERFORD 
74kg – James GREEN ('17 silver, '15 bronze)
92kg – Mike MACHIAVELLO 
97kg – Kyle SNYDER ('15 and '17 gold, '18 silver, '19 bronze) ('16 Olympic gold)
125kg – Nick GWIAZDOWSKI ('17 and '18 bronze)

Prize Money
GOLD - $5000 $ + $1000 to the coach
SILVER - $2000 
BRONZE - $1000 (each bronze medalist)

Vinesh VINESH (IND) (Photo: Tony Rotundo) 

4. Vinesh and Malik Shine at Tata Motors Indian National Championships
Indian stars Vinesh VINESH and Sakshi MALIK shined bright over the weekend, winning gold medals in their respective weight classes at the 64th Annual Tata Motors Indian National Championships in Punjab’s northern city, Jalandhar. 

Vinesh, India’s most prominent women’s wrestling star, followed up her bronze-medal finish at the World Championships with a gold medal at the Indian National Championships. Vinesh, who qualified India for the Olympic Games at 53kg, downed Anju ANJU, 7-3, in the 55kg gold-medal match. 

Sakshi Malik was the second superstar to win a national title over the weekend. Malik, the Rio Olympic bronze medalist, got back to her winning ways after a disappointing 17th-place finish at the World Championships. Malik defeated Radhika RADHIKA, 4-2, in the finals at 62kg. 

In freestyle, India’s two 2019 world medalists, Bajrang PUNIA and Deepak PUNIA, elected to sit out of the competition. Bajrang, who medaled at his second straight World Championships, is preparing for the 2020 Toyko Olympics, while Deepak, the world silver medalist at 86kg, is nursing the same injury that kept him from wrestling Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) in the 86kg world finals. 

The winners of the Tata Motors Indian National Championships will now travel to Nepal to compete in the South Asian Games. Wrestling at the South Asian Games begins on December 6. 

Women’s Wrestling 
50kg – Sheetal TOMAR df. Nirmal NIRMAL, 7-3 
53kg – Pinki PINKI df. Ankush ANKUSH, 7-3 
55kg – Vinest VINESH df. Anju ANJU, 7-3 
57kg – Sarita MOR df. Neetu NEETU, via default
59kg – Anshu ANSHU df. Lalita SHERAWAT, 4-4
62kg – Sakshi MALIK df. Rashika RADHIKA, 4-2 
65kg – Nisha DAHIYA df. Navjot KAUR, 4-1 
68kg – Anita Sheoran df.  Divya KAKRAN, 5-1 
72kg – Kiran KIRAN  df. Naina NAINA, 4-1 
76kg – Gursharan PREET KAUR df. 4-2 POOJA, 4-2 

Freestyle 
57kg – Rahul RAHUL df. Abasaheb ABASAHEB, 7-6
61kg – RAVINDER Sonaba df. Tanaji TANAJI, 12-2
65kg – Amit KUMAR df. Rahul RAHUL, 12-2
70kg – Naveen NAVEEN df. Vishal VISHAL, 2-1 
74kg – Gourav BALIYAN df. Praveen RANA, 5-3
79kg – Sandeep MANN df. Jutender JITENDER, 7-4
86kg – Pawan KUMAR df. Deepak SAROHA, 4-1 
92kg – Monu MONU df Sunil SUNIL, 10-2
97kg – Satyawart KADIAN df. Kapil Chaudhary, 9-0
125kg – Sumit MALIK df. Abhijut ABHIJIT, 5-0 

Shinobu OTA (JPN) (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

5. Rio Silver Medalists Ota, Higuchi Take Drastic Measures in Quest to Make Tokyo 2020
A pair of Japanese silver medalists from the Rio 2016 Olympics, denied during their preferred routes to Tokyo 2020, will be trying desperate measures in last-ditch efforts to make Games in their host country---which presents a weighty problem for both.

Shinobu OTA, the Rio 2016 silver medalist at Greco-Roman 60kg, has moved up to two divisions to 67kg for the upcoming All Japan Championships, which will serve as the final qualifier for either filling an Olympic berth that Japan has already secured, or earning the chance to win a spot at the Asian Olympic qualifying tournament in March.

Conversely, Rei HIGUCHI, who failed to gain an Olympic ticket at freestyle 65kg, has gone the other way, dropping two weight classes down to 57kg, the division in which he won the silver in Rio, according to the list of entries recently released by the Japan federation for the tournament to be held Dec. 19-22 in Tokyo.

Click here for Ken Martantz' full breaks down of the All Japan Championships. 

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media
1. Big Move Monday -- Islamova V.
2. Mijain LÓPEZ is a three-time Olympic champion, is on a quest to become the first-ever male to win four Olympic titles.
3. The most dominant wrestling nation in the world, Russia ??.
4. Happy Friday, wrestling fans! ‬
5. World Champion Spotlight: Abuiazid MANTSIGOV (RUS) outscored his four #WrestleNurSultan opponents 29-0 and captured his first world title. The 26-year-old scored a 53 second 9-0 technical superiority victory over Aram VARDANYAN (UZB) in the finals.

Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! January 28, 2019

By Eric Olanowski

Reviewing the Ivan Yariguin and the Dave Schultz Memorial. Also looking at Punia's win over Aliyev and the first Greco-Roman Ranking Series event of the season. 
 

1. Russia Sweeps Freestyle Competition at Ivan Yariguin 
The stars more than aligned for the Russian Federation as they erupted for an impressive ten out of ten freestyle gold medals at the first Ranking Series even of the year, the Ivan Yariguin, and won the team title 118 points ahead of second place Mongolia. 

The region of Dagestan led the way to a mind-blowing seven gold medalists. Anzor KHIZRIEV (125kg) and Muslim SADULAEV (57kg) handed Chechnya their pair of gold medals while reigning world champion Zaurbek SIDAKOV gave Ossetia the remaining gold medal. 

Outside of Russia's dominating performance, one of the biggest storylines came at 97kg when two-time world champion and Rio Olympic gold medalist Kyle SNYDER (USA) failed to medal. Snyder was upset by Rasul MAGOMEDOV (RUS), 6-5 in the opening round, and was knocked out of the tournament after Magomedov lost to Mongolia’s ULZIISAIKHAN Batzul in the quarterfinals. 

Final Wraps 
Day One 
Day Two 
Day Three 
Day Four 

Team Scores
GOLD - Russia (250 points)
SILVER - Mongolia (118 points) 
BRONZE - Turkey (83 points) 
FOURTH - United States (64 points) 
FIFTH - China (53 points)

FINALS RESULTS 
57kg - Muslim SADULAEV (RUS) df. Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (RUS), 4-4 
61kg - Magomedrasul IDRISOV (RUS) df. Nikolai OKHLOPKOV (ROU), 7-0 
65kg - Akhmed CHAKAEV (RUS) df. Nachyn KUULAR (RUS), 2-1 
70kg - Magomedrasul GAZIMAGOMEDOV (RUS) df. Mandakhnaran GANZORIG (MGL), 10-0 
74kg - Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RUS) df. Yakup GOR (TUR), 5-4 
79kg - Akhmed GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (RUS) df. Magomed RAMAZANOV (RUS), 6-2 
86kg - Dauren KURUGLIEV (RUS) df. Fatih ERDIN (TUR), 12-1 
92kg - Magomed KURBANOV (RUS) df. BAASANTSOGT Ulziisaikhan (MGL), 13-2 (Round 4) 
97kg - Shamil MUSAEV (RUS) df. Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (BLR), 11-9 
125kg - Anzor KHIZRIEV (RUS) df. Taha AKGUL (TUR), 7-3 


Viktoriia VAULINA (55kg) smiles on her way to recieve her 55kg gold medal (Phot: Sachiko Hotaka) 

2. Russian Women Claim Three Golds, Yariguin Team Title 
The host nation Russia matched their freestyle countrymen's performance at the Ivan Yariguin and also claimed the women’s wrestling team title,  finishing 38 points ahead of second place Mongolia. 

Russian, along with Japan finished with a trio of women's wrestling champions, while Mongolia and the United States had a pair of gold medalists. 

Arguably, the most notable storyline from women’s wrestling came from the United States’ Tamyra MENSAH-STOCK (USA), who scored a first-period fall over Japan’s Yuka KAGAMI (JPN) in the 72kg gold-medal bout and became the first American wrestler across any division to win three Yariguin titles. 

Final Wraps 
Day One 
Day Two 
Day Three 
Day Four 

FINALS RESULTS 
50kg - Kika KAGATA (JPN) df. Anzhelika VETOSHKINA (RUS), 10-0 
53kg - Sarah Ann HILDEBRANDT (USA) df. Natalia MALYSHEVA (RUS), 6-4 
55kg - Viktoriia VAULINA (RUS) df. Nao TANIYAMA (JPN), 7-0 
57kg - Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL) df. Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS), 10-5 
59kg - Yuzuka INAGAKI (JPN) df. Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS), 4-3 
63kg - Anzhela FOMENKO (RUS) df. Anna SHCHERBAKOVA (RUS), inj. def. 
65kg - Mariia KUZNETSOVA (RUS) df. Misuzu ENOMOTO (JPN), 11-4 
68kg - SORONZONBOLD Battsetseg (MGL) df. Davaanasan ENKH AMAR (MGL), 4-0 
72kg - Tamyra Mariama MENSAH (USA) df. Yuka KAGAMI (JPN), 4-0 
76kg - Hiroe MINAGAWA SUZUKI (JPN) df. Vasilisa MARZALIUK (BLR), 3-1 

Team Scores
GOLD - Russia (191 points)
SILVER - Mongolia (153 points) 
BRONZE - Japan (145 points) 
FOURTH - United States (79 points) 
FIFTH - Uzbekistan (57 points)

3. Punia Knocks Off Three-Time World Champion Aliyev 
India’s 2018 world runner-up Bajrang PUNIA (IND) knocked off three-time world champion Haji ALIYEV (AZE), 8-6 in the India Pro League as returning PWL champions NCR Punjab Royals prevailed over M.P Yodah.  

The Indian wrestler was the aggressor in the opening period and grabbed an activity point and a takedown and commanded the 3-0 lead before Aliyev returned the favor and grabbed a takedown of his own. Punia led 3-2 with less than a minute until the break. Punia increased his lead to three points with a head-inside single and took the 5-2 lead into the final three minutes.  

In the second period, it was Aliyev who scored first, transitioning from a double to a single leg and converted the attack into two points, yet Punia still led 5-4. The pair traded takedowns, but the Indian wrestler controlled the 7-6 advantage with 50 seconds left. Punia received a point after the Azeri clearly pulled his singlet, and closed out the match with an 8-6 victory. 

Click here to watch Punia defeat Aliyev in the Indian Pro League. 


Aaron BROOKS (USA), 2017 cadet world champion, won the 79kg gold medal at the Dave Schultz, which was his first senior-level competition. (Photo: Max Rose-Fyne) 

4. Dave Schultz Concludes in Colorado Springs 
The Dave Schultz Memorial wrapped up in Colorado Springs, Co, USA, and the United States won nine of the ten gold medals. Moldova’s Anatolii BURUIAN was the lone non-American gold medalist. 

Of the eight American champions, two U23 world medalists and an age-level world champion were among the victors. 

Aaron BROOKS (USA), the 2017 cadet world champion and 2018 junior world finalist, captured the 79kg gold medal with a dominating 13-0 victory over Nathan JACKSON (USA) to win his first senior-level tournament. 

Richard LEWIS (USA), the 2017 U23 world champion at 70kg scored a 10-0 technical superiority win over Dan VALLIMONT (USA) in the 74kg finalists, while Ty WALZ (USA), the 2017 U23 world bronze medalist, scored the 11-0 shutout win over Blaize CABELL (USA) to win the 97kg title.

Another interesting note, Frank MOLINARO (USA), the 2016 Olympian,  returned to individual competition for the third time since falling to Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) in the bronze-medal bout at the Rio Olympic Games. Molinaro beat Brandon SORENSEN (USA), 3-1 and claimed the 70kg gold medal. 

Final results
57kg - Anatolii BURUIAN (MDA) df. Steven TAKAHASHI (CAN), 14-4
61kg - Cody BREWER (USA) df. Samat NADYRBEK UULU (KGZ), 10-0
65 kg - Bernard FUTRELL (USA) df. Evan HENDERSON (USA), 10-0
70 kg - Frank MOLINARO (USA) df. Brandon SORENSEN (USA), 3-1
74 kg - Richie LEWIS (USA) df. Dan VALLIMONT (USA), 10-0
79 kg - Aaron BROOKS (USA) df. Nathan JACKSON (USA), 13-0
86 kg - Pat DOWNEY (USA) df.  Kenneth COURTS (USA), 12-2
92 kg - Timothy DUDLEY (USA) df. Scottie BOYKIN (USA), 8-6
97 kg - Ty WALZ (USA) df. Blaize CABELL (USA), 11-0
125 kg - Michael KOSOY (USA) df. Jere HEINO (FIN), 10-0 

5. First Greco-Roman Ranking Series Event, Grand Prix Zagreb Open Begins February 9 
The first Greco-Roman Ranking Series event of the year, the Grand Prix Zagreb Open begins February 9-10 in Zagreb, Croatia and over 150 of the worlds best Greco-Roman wrestlers are registered to compete for the all-important Ranking Series points. 

The early registration Grand Prix Zagreb Open is closed and the preliminary entry list is set to be released later this week. 

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media 

1. Day 3 warm-up of #yariguin2019 #uww #wrestling #krasnoyarsk
2. MAGOMEDOV (RUS) defeats SNYDER (USA) #yariguin2019 . #krasnoyarsk #uww #wrestling
3. FOCKEN (GER) gets the 4 pointer #yariguin2019 . #uww #wrestling #krasnoyarsk
4.GOR (TUR) is on fire ??? #yariguin2019 #uww #wrestling #krasnoyarsk
5. Clean technique puts two Russian wrestlers into the final of the 79KG weight class #Yariguin2019 #uww #wrestling #krasnoyarsk