Weekly FIVE! January 21, 2019

Monday, January 21, 2019 - 15:22 By Eric Olanowski

In a Russia-heavy week, we review the Mindiashvili Grand Prix and Russian Greco-Roman National Championship results. We also review this week's first Ranking Series event of the year, the Ivan Yariguin.

1. Final Yariguin Qualification Tournament, Mindiashvili Concludes in Krasnoyarsk
In order to qualify for the Ivan Yariguin as a Russian wrestler, you had to be a 2018 world team member, an Alany Tournament champion or a Mindiashvili finalist.

This weekend, the final qualification tournament for the Ivan Yariguin, the Mindiashvili Grand Prix, concluded in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, just three days before the first Ranking Series event begins in Siberia. The Mindiashvili finalists locked up their spot at the Yariguin and placed heavy importance on the Ranking Series event later this week, only wrestling four of the ten finals matches. The four matches that were wrestled were the 61kg, 65kg, 74kg, and 86kg gold-medal bouts.

Of the four finals matches, the most notable match came at 65kg. Nachyin KUULAR (RUS), the 2017 U23 world champion and 2018 U23 world runner-up, avenged his 2-1 loss Alay loss to Kurban SHIRAEV (RUS) and grabbed the Mindiashvili gold medal with a 3-2 victory.

RESULTS
57kg – Aryian TYUTRIN df. Amirkhan GUVAZHOKOV, via forfeit
61kg – Eduard GRIGOREY df. DONGAK, 6-1
65kg – Nachyin KUULAR df. Kurban SHIRAEV, 3-2
70kg – Razambek ZHAMALOV df. Anzor ZAKUEV, via forfeit
74kg – Nikita SUCHKOV df. Arslan BUDAZHAPOV, 5-3
79kg – Alan ZASSEEV df. Khalil AMINOV, via forfeit
86kg – Soslan KTSOEV df. Omar ZIYAUTDIOV, 10-0
92kg – Alikhan ZHABRAILOV df. Magomed KURBANOV, via forfeit
97kg – Magomedov df. Tamerlan RASUEV, via forfeit
125kg – Pavel KRIVTSOV df. Zelimkhan KHIZRIEV, via forfeit

2. Olympic Champions Vlasov and Chakvetadze win Russian Greco-Roman Nationals
The Russian Federation wrapped up their 2019 Russian Greco-Roman National Championships in Kaliningrad, Russia, and the pair Olympic champions, Roman VLASOV and Davit CHAKVETADZE, inched closer to regaining their top position on the Russian Greco-Roman ladder after winning the 77kg and 87kg gold medals respectively.

The six current Greco-Roman world champions, Sergey EMELIN, Stepan MARYANIAN, Artem SURKOV, Alexander CHEKHIRKIN, Musa EVLOEV, and Sergey SEMENOV, were exempt from the Russian Greco-Roman National Championships and will take on last weekend's winners at a later date for a trip to the 2019 World and European Championships.

For Vlasov to regain the 77kg spot, he’ll have to defeat reigning world champion Alexander Chekhirkin, while 87kg didn’t have a world medalist, so Chakvetadze will represent Russia at the World and European Championship.

Another interesting note coming out of the Greco-Roman National Championships, Alexander KOMAROV, the four-time age-level world champion, made his domestic debut on the senior-level and beat Vaah MARGARYAN, 8-1 in the 82kg gold-medal bout.

RESULTS
55kg – Vitaly KABALOEV df. Victor VEDERNIKOV, 5-1
60kg – Zambolat Lokyaev df. Dmitry Lyustrickski, 7-3
63kg – Marat GARIPOV df. Alexey TADYKIN, 10-3
67kg - Alexey KIANKIN df. Saur KABALOEV, 4-2
72kg – Abuazid MANCIGOV df. Adam KURAK, 7-1
77kg – Roman VLASOV df. Islam OPIEV, 8-0
82kg – Alexander KOMAROV df. Vaah MARGARYAN, 8-1
87kg – Davit CHAKVETADZE df. Sosruko KODZOKOV, via fall
97kg – Alexander GOLOVIN df. Nikita MELNIKOV, 1-1
130kg – Vitaly SHCHUR df. Rafael Tsistuashvili, 2-0

The first Ranking Series event of the year, the Ivan Yariguin, begins Thursday. (Photo: Max Rose-Fyne)

3. Ivan Yariguin Begins Thursday
The 30th Annual Ivan Yariguin, United World Wrestling's first freestyle and women's wrestling Ranking Series event of the year, begins this Thursday in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.

This will be the first Ranking Series event where the revamped point structure will be used. This tournament is especially important because the seeding process at the 2019 Astana World Championships takes into account the number of points competitors accumulate from last year's World Championships, along with the Continental Championships and the Ranking Series events.

2019 Ranking Series Point Structure
GOLD - 8 points
SILVER - 6 points
BRONZE - 4
Fifth - 2

*The number of points awarded at a competition will also be impacted by the number of wrestlers entered in each bracket. For weight categories with 10 or fewer entries, an additional six (6) points will be added. For categories with 11-20 wrestlers entered an additional eight (8) points will be added. Ten (10) points will be added to any weight category with more than 20 entries.

SCHEDULE (Local time)

January 23 (Wednesday)
08.00 - Arrival of delegations
15.30 - Referees clinic
15.30 - Press conference with the Organizing Committee representatives, main referees body, team leaders and coaches
16.30 - Draw: Women: cat: 50,55,59,65 kg Men: cat: 57,61,70 kg

January 24 (Thursday)
08:30 - Medical examination and weigh-in cat: Women: 50,55,59,65 kg Men: 57,61,70 kg
11.00 - Elimination rounds cat: Women: 50,55,59,65 kg Men: 57,61,70 kg
16.00 - Draw cat: Women: 53,57,62,68 kg Men: 65,79,125kg
17.00 -1⁄2 finale cat: Women: 50,55,59,65 kg Men: 57,61,70 kg

January 25 (Friday)
08:15 - Weigh-in cat: Women: 50,55,59,65 kg Men: 57,61,70 kg
08:30 - Medical examination and weigh-in cat: Women: 53,57,62,68 kg Men: 65,79,125kg
11.00 - Elimination rounds and 1⁄2 finale cat: Women: 53,57,62,68 kg Men: 65,79,125kg - Repechage cat: Women: 50,55,59,65 kg Men: 57,61,70 kg
16.30 - Draw cat: Women: 72,76 kg Men: 74,86,92,97 kg
16.00 - Opening ceremony
17.00 - Finals cat: Women: 50,55,59,65 kg Men: 57,61,70 kg

January 26 (Saturday)
08:15 - Weigh-in cat: Women: 53,57,62,68 kg Men: 65,79,125kg
08:30 - Medical examination and weigh-in cat: Women: 72,76 kg Men: 74,86,92,97 kg
11.00 - Elimination rounds and 1⁄2 finale cat: Women: 72,76 kg Men: 74,86,92,97 kg - Repechage cat: Women: 53,57,62,68 kg Men: 65,79,125kg
18.00 - Finals cat: Women: 53,57,62,68 kg Men: 65,79,125kg

January 27 (Sunday)
09:00 - Weigh-in cat: Women: 72,76 kg Men: 74,86,92,97 kg
11.00 - Repechage cat: Women: 72,76 kg Men: 74,86,92,97 kg
13.00 - Finals cat: Women: 72,76 kg Men: 74,86,92,97 kg

January 28 (Monday)
Until 12.00 - Departure of delegations

China's 2018 world champion RONG Ningning kicked off her year by winning the Ivan Yariguin. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

4. Yariguin Rewind: Chinese Women Claim Five Gold Medals
United World Wrestling's first Ranking Series event of 2019 kicks off in three days with the Ivan Yariguin Grand Prix. While women's wrestling was featured in 2018, it was not a Ranking Series event. Fast forward a year and the 2019 edition will see women's wrestlers competing for sought after ranking points.

Four different nations claimed a women’s wrestling gold medal at last year’s Ivan Yariguin, but the Chinese women made the best of their trip to Krasnoyarsk and put seven wrestlers in the finals and finished with five champions. Of the five Chinese champions, Asian champion ZHOU Qian was the only Yariguin champion who didn’t represent China at the 2018 World Championships.

Rising star RONG Ningning captained the Chinese success in Krasnoyarsk. The 2018 Ivan Yariguin was a coming out party for Rong, who was relatively unknown coming into last year’s tournament. Rong, the Yariguin rookie, kick-started her year by knocking off reigning world runner-up Allison RAGAN (USA), 10-0 in the 59kg gold-medal bout. She later dropped down to 57kg and continued her dominance, winning the Asian Championships, the China and Poland Opens, and the 2018 Budapest World Championships. In addition to her title-winning performances at the above-mentioned tournaments, Rong was also a U23 world runner-up and an Alexander Medved Prizes bronze medalist.

Japan, Mongolia, and the United States were the other nations who had at least one wrestler reach the top of the podium at the 2018 Ivan Yariguin.

Japan, who had five finalists, grabbed gold medals from Yuki IRIE, Yu MIYAHARA, and Andoriahanako SAWA (JPN), while Mongolia's PUREVDORJ Orkhon and the United States' Tamyra MENSAH-STOCK gave their nation a solo gold medalist.

With just four days left to register, Mensah-Stock is the only returning champion registered to wrestle in Krasnoyarsk, where she'll be looking for her third Ivan Yarigiun title.

2018 WOMEN'S WRESTLING RESULTS
50kg – Yuki IRIE (JPN) df. Sonhyang KIM (PRK), 9-8
53kg – Yu MIYAHARA (JPN) df. Stalvira ORSHUSH (RUS), 4-4
55kg – Andoriahanako SAWA (JPN) df. Mengyu XIE (CHN), 10-8
57kg – ZHANG Qi (CHN) df. Gantuya ENKHBAT (MGL), 6-4
59kg – RONG Ningning (CHN) df. Allison Mackenzie RAGAN (USA), 10-0
62kg – PUREVDORJ Orkhon (MGL) df. Kiwa SAKAE (JPN), 10-0
65kg – TANG Chuying (CHN) df. Yulia PRONTSEVITCH (RUS), 4-1
68kg – Tamyra MENSAH-STOCK (USA) df. HAN Yue (CHN), 3-3
72kg – WANG Juan (CHN) df. Masako FURUICHI (JPN), 4-1
76kg – ZHOU Qian (CHN) df. Ekaterina BUKINA (RUS), via injury default

David Taylor was one of three wrestlers to win the Ivan Yariguin and the World Championships. (Photo by Tony Rotundo)

5. Yariguin Rewind: Six Yariguin Medalists Eventually Won Budapest World Titles
The 30th Annual Ivan Yariguin, United World Wrestling’s first Ranking Series event of the year, begins 8 days from today (on January 24), in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Seven eventual world champions made the trip to Siberia twelve months ago to compete at the “Toughest Tournament in the World,“ but only six left with a medal.

The seven Budapest gold medalists who competed at the 2018 Ivan Yariguin were Zaur UGUEV (RUS) (57kg), Yowles BONNE RODRIGUES (CUB) (61kg), Magomedrasul GAZIMAGOMEDOV (RUS) (70kg), Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RUS) (74kg), Kyle DAKE (USA) (79kg), David TAYLOR (USA) (86kg), and Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS) (97kg).

Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) (65kg), J’den COX (USA) (92kg), and Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO)(125kg) were the three world champions who missed last year's Yariguin.

Uguev, Taylor, and Sadulaev were the only three wrestlers to win gold medals at both the Yariguin and World Championships. Uguev and Taylor won their Yariguin titles at their World Championship weights, while Sadualev won his Yariguin title at 92kg and his world title at 97kg.

Zaurbek Sidakov, Magomedrasul Gazimagomedov, and Kyle Dake were the trio of Yariguin silver medalists who traveled to Budapest and claimed world titles.

On the flip side, Gadzhimurad Rashidov and Kyle Snyder won titles in Krasnoyarsk but fell short in the Budapest World Championship finals.

Cuba’s Yolwes Bonnes Rodrigues was the only 2018 world champion to depart the 2018 Yariguin empty-handed. It should be noted that Bonne competed at 65kg, 4kg heavier than his Budapest World Championship weight of 61kg.

Bonne went 1-1 and lost to Mongolia’s BATCHULUUN Batmagnai, who fell to Ilias BEKBULATOV (RUS) and Nachyn KUULAR (RUS) and finished in fifth-place.

Early registration for the 2019 Ivan Yariguin closed last week but has since reopened. The updated deadline for registrations is January 21.

Results
57kg - Zavur UGUEV (RUS) df. Azamat TUSKAEV (RUS), 4-1
61kg - Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS)df. Ismail MUSUKAEV (RUS), 3-2
65kg - Ilias BEKBULATOV (RUS)df. Akhmed CHAKAEV (RUS), 3-3
70kg - Magomed KURBANALIEV (RUS)df. Magomedrasul GAZIMAGOMEDOV (RUS), 2 - 2
74kg - Khetik TSABOLOV (RUS)df. Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RUS), 3-1
79kg - Akhmed GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (RUS) df. Kyle DAKE (USA), 8-2
86kg - David TAYLOR III (USA) df. Fatih ERDIN (TUR), via fall.
92kg - Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS) df. Anzor URISHEV (RUS), 6-0
97kg - Kyle Frederick SNYDER (USA) df. Rasul Magomedovitch MAGOMEDOV (RUS), 4-1
125kg - Muradin KUSHKHOV (RUS) df. Anzor Ruslanovitch KHIZRIEV (RUS), 1-1

*2018 world champion are in bold.

Weekly FIVE in Social Media

1. Big Move Monday -- BONNE Y. (CUB) -- 2018 Ivan Yariguin #wrestling #wrestler #monday #motivation #throw #takedown #mma
2. Yariguin Rewind: Akhmed GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (RUS) used a six-point opening-period and a second-period takedown to defeat eventual world champion Kyle DAKE (USA), 8-2 in the 79kg finals.
3. Thanks for the #SundaySmiles, @pascal.eisele.
4. #ScoreThat - Before watching, who do you think comes out on top of this exchange? Was it red or was it blue? ?: @krakatauf
5. Yariguin Rewind: In the All-Russian 74kg finals, 2017 world runner-up Khetik TSABOLOV (RUS) stopped eventual 74kg world champion @zaurbek_sidakov from winning his second Yariguin title.

Weekly FIVE!

Weekly Five! November 26, 2019

Tuesday, November 26, 2019 - 12:43 By Eric Olanowski

Reviewing Sweden's trio of newly-named Olympians, and previewing the upcoming Alrosa Cup and Canadian Wrestling Trails.

1. Three Swedish Wrestlers Olympic Spots Confirmed
Sweden confirmed that Jenny FRANSSON, Henna JOHANSSON and Alexandros KESSIDIS earned their spot on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic team. Fransson and Kessidis were world silver medalists this year, and Johansson was a bronze-medal finisher.

Fransson, this year's 68kg world runner-up, announced on her Instagram, saying, "I'm so proud that today we were officially selected to represent Sweden in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics."

The 32-year-old's confirmation on the Tokyo Olympic team means she's now a four-time Olympian. The world runner-up finished in ninth place at the Beijing and London Olympic Games before finding the podium with a bronze-medal finish at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

On a side note, Fransson has a career Olympic Games record of 4-5, but three of those losses came against two eventual champions and a silver medalist. Wang JIAO (CHN) and Sara DOSHO (JPN) went on to win gold medals at the 2008 and 2016 Olympic Games, respectively, while Stanka HRISTOVA (BUL) was a runner-up at the 2012 Olympics.

Henna Johansson, the 62kg women's wrestling world bronze medalist, will be making her third appearance at the Olympic Games. She;s finished in tenth place at the London and Rio Olympic Games.

Kessidis, who dropped the 77kg Greco-Roman world finals, will make his first trip to the Olympic Games next August. The 24-year-old will be Sweden's leading candidate to win their 21st Greco-Roman Olympic title, but first since Mikael LJUNGBERG's did so at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

Bilyal MAKHOV (RUS) will wrestle this weekend at the Alrosa Cup in Moscow, Russia. This is only the fourth time the Olympic silver medalist has wrestled since the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

2. Makhov Set to Compete at Alrosa Cup (November 28-30)
Bilyal MAKHOV (RUS) continues his quest to improve his Olympic silver medal on November 28 when he’ll lace up at the Alrosa Cup in Moscow, Russia.

The Alrosa Cup will be Makhov's fourth competition since the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and the second time he's competed in 2019. Most recently, Makhov returned to the mat after a 21-month hiatus at the Poland Open, where he finished in second place.

After August's Poland Open silver-medal finish, Makhov was rumored to be one-of-two replacement candidates for the 2019 World Championships after Russia's starting heavyweight Anzor KHIZRIEV (RUS) suffered an arm injury during a training camp leading up to Nur-Sultan. Instead, Russia ultimately inserted Alan KHUGAEV, who finished in 11th place in Kazakhstan.

Earlier this year, the three-time world champion and former London Olympic bronze medalist had his medal upgraded. Makhov was awarded the silver medal after Artur TAYMAZOV (UZB) was stripped of his 2012 London Olympic gold medal by the IOC Disciplinary Commission (DC) after a reanalysis of his anti-doping test at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Olympic Erica WIEBE (CAN) could square off with world champion Justina Di STASIO (CAN) for a potential opportunity to wrestle at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

3. Canadian Wrestling Trials Begin December 5-7
The Canadian Wrestling Team trials kick off December 5-7 in Niagara, Ontario, Canada, and Erica WIEBE and Justina Di STASIO highlight the premier weight-to-watch, 76kg.

Wiebe, a Rio Olympic champion, is looking to become the first-ever non-Japanese women's wrestler to win a pair of Olympic titles. But to do so, she'll first have to get through 2018 world champion, Justina Di Stasio, in a best two-of-three match. That is, of course, if they both make the finals.

Though official seeds won't be released until a few days before the competition begins, Wiebe and Di Stasio are expected to be the first and second-seeded wrestlers, respectively. If the colossal match were to happen, it'd take place Saturday night.

The pair of stars met earlier this year in the finals of 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.

Other notable Canadian stars that'll be in action at the Canadian Wrestling Team Trials are Danielle LAPPAGE, Linda MORAIS, Alex TOWN and Diana WEICKER.

Morais, who is coming off winning a world title at the non-Olympic weight of 59kg, is set to move down to 57kg, where Hannah TAYLOR and Alexandra TOWN will challenge her. 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.

Lappage and Weicker, the pair of 2018 world medalists, will also be in action in Ontario. Lappage, the 2018 world runner-up, will wrestle at 68kg, while Weicker, the Budapest bronze medalist, will wrestle at 53kg.

The winners of the Canadian Wrestling Team Trails cement their spot on Canada's Pan-American Championship/Qualifier teams. Furthermore, they'll lock up their place on Canada's 2020 Tokyo Olympic team if they qualify Canada for the Olympic Games at the world or continental qualifier.

Event Page
Trials Clarification

Said ABDVALI (IRI) was expected to lead Iran's team at the 2019 Greco-Roman World Cup. The tournament has since been postponed. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

4. Greco-Roman World Cup Postponed
In response to the current instability in Iran, the 2019 Greco-Roman World Cup, originally slated to be held next weekend in Tehran, has been postponed.

The UWW Executive Committee held a meeting yesterday in Istanbul and assessed a variety of sources including the associated Foreign Ministries recommendations to travellers in Iran and the recent decision of other sports. It was also acknowledged by the Executive Committee that two teams had already withdrawn their participation due to the recommendations of their nations.

"Considering its responsibility towards athletes and teams; and that the situation has not reached a satisfactory degree of stability for the holding of such an international event; and with a concern for avoiding any risk on our athletes, the Executive Committee has decided to postpone the holding of the World Cup GR until further notice," wrote United World Wrestling general secretary Micheal DUSSON, in a letter to concerned national federations.

Two-time world champion Yui SUSAKI (JPN) has to win the Emperor's Cup in order to lock up her spot on Japan's Asian Olympic qualifier team. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

5. Japan's 50kg Asian Olympic Qualifier Spot to be Determined at Emperor's Cup
Shortly after winning her second consecutive senior world title a season ago in Budapest, Yui SUSAKI (JPN) was looked at by many as one of the best pound-for-pound wrestlers in the world. Through her first two senior World Championships, Susaki was a perfect 9-0 and scored an impressive seven technical superiority victories and a fall en route to her pair of world titles.

But the seven-time world champion (three cadet, two junior and two senior) was dealt a stunning loss to Yuki IRIE (JPN) and failed to make Japan's Nur-Sultan world team. Susaki was in danger of missing the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, but her rival Irie dropped her quarterfinals match in Nur-Sultan to SUN Yanan (CHN), who ended up falling to eventual champion Mariya STADNIK (AZE) in the semifinals, and left the door wide open for Susaki to return to Japan's lineup prior to the Olympic Games.

Japan's focus at 50kg moves to December 19-22 Emperor's Cup. The winner of the 50kg weight class, which will feature Irie, Susaki and Rio Olympic champion Erie TOSAKA (JPN), will travel to Xi'an, China, to try to secure Japan's spot at the 2020 Olympic Games.

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media
1. Big Move Monday -- Euren J. (SWE) -- Greco-Roman World Cup 2015
2. Wrestle Like A Girl ?‍♀️ #uww #unitedworldwrestling #wrestlelikeagirl
3. Rashidov Wins Long-Awaited World Title
4. Akgul, Burroughs, Sadulaev and Yazdani are among the freestyle superstars who already have an Olympic title on their resume. Which medalist do you think will medal at the #Tokyo2020 Olympic Games?
5. On the Line: Match Winners

Weekly FIVE! January 21, 2019

Weekly FIVE in Social Media

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Weekly Five! November 26, 2019