Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! December 31, 2018

By Eric Olanowski

Reviewing the release of tomorrow's Best Wrestler of Year award and the revamped Ranking Series structure. Also taking a look at the potential Snyder and Sadulaev round three matchup at the Ivan Yarygin in three weeks. 

1. Best Wrestler of the Year Award to be Released on January 1 
United World Wrestling will open up the new year by releasing the “2018 Best Wrestler of the Year” award for one wrestler from freestyle, Greco-Roman, and women’s wrestling. 

The winners of the Best Wrestler of the Year award were each 2018 world champions that accumulated the highest number of points during the year with the newly approved calculation of points. 

The freestyle award winner finished the year with 112 points, two Ranking Series titles, a Pan-American gold medal and reached the top of the podium for the first time at the World Championships. 

The Greco-Roman Best Wrestler of the Year had 82 points, medaled at a pair of Ranking Series events, and won the world title for the second time. 

The Women's Wrestling Best Wrestler of the Year wrapped up the 2018 season with 110 points and won gold medals at the Klippan Lady Open, the European Championships, and the World Championships. 

2. Wrestling Revamps Ranking Series System, Names 2019 Host Locations
The United World Wrestling Bureau has approved new regulations for the 2019 Ranking Series. The recommendations were brought forward by the Technical Commission at a meeting last week in Belgrade.

The most important changes to the 2019 Ranking Series centered around the allocation of points at world championships, continental championships, and Ranking Series events. The points were rebalanced to emphasize participation, and success, at the world and continental championships.

New worldwide rankings have been updated on the United World Wrestling website. The 2018 World Championships results are the basis of the rankings, as each year the world championships results will be the first points for the following year.

The seeding process for the World Championships and Olympic Games will now also include a field of the top four wrestlers in each weight category with lower seeded athletes bumping up, should one of the top four not participate in the world championships. The previous version of the world championships did not replace top seeds when they were absent of the competition.

Click HERE to see locations for the freestyle, Greco-Roman, and women's wrestling Ranking Series events.

4. Ivan Yarygin Kicks Off Ranking Series Events In Three Weeks 
The Ranking Series events will kick off in a little over three weeks on January 24 with the Ivan Yarygin in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, a competition long hailed as the “Toughest Wrestling Tournament in the World.” The 2019 edition is already creating a response, with top-level wrestlers from around the world committed to the competition, including 97kg rivals Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS) and Kyle SNYDER (USA).

Though they won't be official entries until 24 hours before competition, the early list will be released after registration closes in 10 days.

5. Potential Snyder and Sadulaev Round 3 Set for Ivan Yarygin 
The wrestling world patiently waited over a year for one of the most anticipated matchups of 2018 between the four-time world and Olympic champion Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS) and three-time world and Olympic champion Kyle SNYDER (USA). 

That doesn't seem to be the case heading into 2019 after Snyder took to Instagram to inform Sadulaev that he's heading to Krasnoyarsk to compete at the Ivan Yarygin with hopes of a rematch after getting pinned by "The Tank" in the 97kg gold-medal bout of the 2018 World Championships. 

Snyder tagged Sadulaev in that post with the comment, “Round 3. Lets do it. Krasnoyarsk, Russia." Sadulaev quickly responded, saying, ”Buddy Snyder, I understand your condition, but I advise you to approach the trilogy with a cool head. And then suddenly the psyche will suffer. On the way to Tokyo 2020 we will meet again.”

The pair of superstars are each returning Yarygin champions. Snyder won his second Yarygin title a season ago at 97kg, while Sadulaev also won his second title, but down at 92kg. If they were to meet in the finals of the Yarygin, it would be at 97kg. 

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media 
1. Big Move Monday !
2. Top-10 2018 amateur video? Тоp-10 любительских видео 2018 года✊
3. #SundaySmiles ? horses_dag05 <<Ко лбу лошади привязано добро до Судного дня>> Подписывайтесь братья группа о лошадях в Дагестане ?
4. #ScoreThat - Who came out on top of this exchange? Was it red or was it blue?
5. Over this week @unitedworldwrestling will share our most popular videos and photos from 2018 В течении этой недели мы будем делиться с вами лучшими публикациями 2018 года. #thebestof2018 #лучшееиз2018

#WrestleBratislava

Losonczi downs Olympic champ Novikov for 87kg European gold

By Vinay Siwach

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (April 12) -- David LOSONCZI (HUN) had his task cut out at the European Championships.

Over the years, his performance at different competitions of two-day formats saw a dip on the second day. So Hungary coach Viktor LORINCZ told him to be focused for six minutes.

Losonczi was up against Olympic champion Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) in the 87kg final of the European Championships in Bratislava in Saturday. The two had recently met in the Paris Olympic semifinal which Novikov won.

But the final in European Championships was a different story.

Losonczi wrapped his arm around Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) and scored a takedown in the first 30 seconds to take a 2-0 lead. Novikov locked Losonczi around the chest and tried to shift to a seatbelt position but the Hungarian pushed Novikov out-of-bounds with his head to lead 3-0. Novikov was put in par terre which gave Losonczi one more point but he failed to score from par terre and settled for the 4-0 lead.

Novikov's chance came in the second period when he got the par terre position. He turned Losonczi one time but when he tried the second time, both wrestlers were out of bounds. Losonczi led 4-3 with 1:31 left on the clock.

There was no comeback for Novikov in the final. Earlier in the tournament, Novikov had won two bouts in thrilling fashion, scoring late, one time with only one second left.

"During the break I told him that just three more minute and you can be the European champion. So this pushed him," Lorincz said.

After the loss, Novikov said that he made a few which cost him dearly in the final.

"This is still the beginning of the season and I am not 100 percent, especially after winning the Paris Olympics. I think, mentally I am not ready. Olympics was different," Novikov said. "My goal is the World Championships. I am European champion and Olympic champion. I want to be world champion. More work and hope and I will be world champion. I was much better in the final than yesterday. I gifted him two positions after locking him. I made mistakes and you can't make mistakes at this level. Before the Olympics, I knew that any thing is possible. But after Olympic, I know that everything is possible. All you need is belief in yourself."

At 63kg, Kerem KAMAL (TUR) earned his second European title with big win in the final. Kamal came out with a takedown and suplex for a 6-0 lead. Armenia challenged the call asking for a foul hold below the legs from Kamal but it lost the challenge on review to give Kamal another point.

Aslanyan got one back when Turkiye challenged for a throw which was adjudged a risk action from Aslanyan who got a point for lost challenge. Both wrestlers were without any challenges after that.

In the second period, Aslanyan pushed the pace but failed to break Kamal. A stepout got him the second point which cut the lead to 7-2 with a minute left in the final.

At 55kg, Emin SEFERSHAEV (UWW) denied Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) his third European title by beating the Azerbaijan wrestler 1-1 in the final.

Sefershaev got the benefit of the new Greco-Roman rule that United World Wrestling is testing at the European Championships which awards the wrestler who got the first point the win if the match ends 1-1.

The former European champion got the first par terre advantage but failed to score any points. However, he defended his par terre position when Azizli got the advantage in the second period and kept his 1-1 lead for the gold, his second at the European Championships.

Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) did not need any par terre advantages in his 77kg final against Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO) as he scored a arm-drag takedown for two points in the second period and won his fourth straight European title.

This was Amoyan's first tournament since winning a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics and he did not show any sings of being away from the mat.

At 130kg, Sergei SEMENOV (UWW) defended his title with a 1-1 criteria win over Hamza BAKIR (TUR).

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Emin SEFERSHAEV (UWW) df. Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE), 1-1

BRONZE: Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO) df. Manvel KHACHATRYAN (ARM), 8-1
BRONZE: Artiom DELEANU (MDA) df. Arnold MEGALY (SVK), 8-0

63kg
GOLD: Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Karen ASLANYAN (ARM), 7-2

BRONZE: Mairbek SALIMOV (POL) df. Andrii SEMENCHUK (UKR), 10-0
BRONZE: Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA) df. Murad MAMMADOV (AZE), via fall

77kg
GOLD: Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) df. Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO), 4-3

BRONZE: Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR) df. Albin OLOFSSON (SWE), via fall
BRONZE: Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA) df. Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL), 3-1

87kg
GOLD: David LOSONCZI (HUN) df. Semen NOVIKOV (BUL), 4-3

BRONZE: Islam ABBASOV (AZE) df. Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR), 2-1
BRONZE: Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB) df. Hannes WAGNER (GER), 3-1

130kg
GOLD: Sergei SEMENOV (UWW) df. Hamza BAKIR (TUR), 1-1

BRONZE: Darius VITEK (HUN) df. Dzmitry ZARUBSKI (UWW), 6-0
BRONZE: Jello KRAHMER (GER) df. Beka KANDELAKI (AZE), 1-1