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

Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! June 18, 2018

By Eric Olanowski

Discussing Yui SUSAKI(JPN) avenging her loss against Yuki IRIE (JPN) and Rio WATARI (JPN) winning her battle against cancer. Also taking a look at USA's 2018 world team, along with two rankings series events that kick off this weekend. 

1. Susaki Strikes Back, Avenges Loss to Irie to Grab 50kg Title at Meiji Cup
Yui SUSAKI(JPN), 2017 world champion avenged her devastating December technical fall loss to Yuki IRIE (JPN) in the Emperor’s Cup by claiming the 50kg Meiji Cup title this past weekend. 

Susaki got the revenge she sought and the second chance she needs in her continued quest to defend her world title as the two will now face each other again in a winner-take-all playoff for the berth on the Japanese team in Budapest.


Rio WATARI (JPN) gets emotional after defeating cancer and making Japan's 2018 world team. (Photo by Sachiko Hotaka)

2. Watari Wins Meiji Cup after Defeating Cancer 
Rio WATARI (JPN) capped her remarkable recovery from Hodgkin lymphoma, winning the women’s 68kg title with a 3-2 victory over Chiaki SEKI (JPN) at the All-Japan Invitational Championships in Tokyo,  earning a place on Japan’s team at the world championships in Budapest.

3. Adeline Gray Set to Make World Championship Return After Winning Final X
Adeline GRAY (USA), the three-time world champion made her seventh world team after taking the best-of-three series in two matches against Korinahe BULLOCK (USA). Gray will make her world championship return for the first time since 2015 when she won the gold medal. 

Logan STIEBER (USA),the  2016 world champion locked up his third world team spot, while Kyle DAKE (USA) and David TAYLOR (USA) each made their first world team. 

Freestyle
65kg - Logan STIEBER (USA)  
79 kg - Kyle DAKE (USA)
86 kg - David TAYLOR (USA)

Women's Wrestling 
62 kg - Mallory VELTE (USA)  
72 kg - Erin CLODGO (USA) 
76 kg - Adeline GRAY (USA) 

FINAL X - STATE COLLEGE RESULTS

4. China Open Begins Friday 
The China Open, United World Wrestling's third women's wrestling ranking series event of the year kicks off June 22-23 in Taiyuan, China. 

RANKING SERIES EVENTS
Klippan Lady Open (SWE), February             
Mongolia Open (MGL), June           
China Open (CHN), June                  
Poland Open (POL), September    

5. Hungarian Grand Prix, the Third Greco-Roman Ranking Series Event Starts This Weekend 

The third Greco-Roman ranking series event of the year, the Hungarian Grand Prix kicks off June 23-24 in Gyor, Hungary. 

RANKING SERIES EVENTS
Takhti Cup (IRI), January                             
Granma y Cerro Pelado (CUB), February        
Hungarian GP (HUN), June                    
Vehbi Emre (TUR), July            

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media 

1. Big Move Monday ! FIJLKAM // Jacopo SANDRON, #italia#lotta @fijlkam_official @jacopo_sandron

2. Have a good day! Всем хорошего дня! ??
#wrestling#sport#saturday#uww#arturaleksanyan#olympics#суббота#артуралексанян#олимпиада#спорт#борьба

3. Happy Friday, wrestling fans!  Всем хорошей пятницы! #wrestling#friday#happiness#olympics#олимпиада#пятница#радость#борьба

4. This is historic photo. Guess when and where it was taken? Это историческое фото! Угадате где и когда оно было сделано. #guess#historicphoto#wrestling#womenswrestling#борьба#историческоефото#борьба#женскаяборьба

5. ?? #wrestlingairlines ? @geoffriccio