Weekly FIVE! January 21, 2020

Monday, January 20, 2020 - 10:42 By Eric Olanowski

Reviewing Mohammadian's magical Matteo Pellicone run, Lorincz winning his sixth Ranking Series title and Zhou's eight-point comeback on Mensah-Stock. Also looking at the Russian Greco-Roman National Championships and results from Sweden's Klippan Lady Open.

1. Mohammadian Has Magical Run at Matteo Pellicone; Dake Wins in Debut at 74kg
Mohammadhossein MOHAMMADIAN (IRI) had a magical run to the 97kg title at the Matteo Pellicone. Mohammadian’s five victories included a fall over an Olympic champion, and wins over a U23 world champion, a world bronze medalist, a world fifth-place finisher and a European runner-up.

Mohammadian kickstarted his day by crushing Alisher YERGALI (KAZ), a fifth-place finish in Nur-Sultan. The Iranian downed the man who qualified Kazakhstan for the 2020 Olympic Games, 11-0. He followed up that hot start with a second technical superiority victory. This time, he thumped reigning U23 world champion Bo NICKAL (USA), 10-0.

In the quarterfinals, Mohammadian picked up arguably the biggest win of his career when he flattened Olympian champion, Kyle Snyder while commanding an 8-0 lead. An 11-0 showing against 2018 world bronze-medal finisher Abraham de Jesus CONYEDO RUANO (ITA) inserted the Iranian into the finals, where he met Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (BLR) for the 97kg title. He capped off his dominant run to a Matteo Pellicone gold medal, where he outscored his five opponents 41-0, with a 9-0 blanking of Hushtyn and brought home his first career Rankings Series title.

Kyle DAKE (USA) dismantled a world and Olympic bronze medalist in 35 seconds in the gold-medal match of his debut at 74kg. Dake, who was one of three American freestyle champions, defeated Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR) in his debut down at the Olympic weight of 74kg and joined Thomas GILMAN (USA) and Zahid VALENCIA (USA) on their way to the top of the freestyle podium at the Matteo Pellicone.

In the finals, Dake led 7-0, 16 seconds into the first period, and after his Turkish opponent was hit with a fleeing-the-hold call, the American went back on top in par terre. A pair of gut wrenches less than 20 seconds left gave Dake the 11-0 technical superiority victory and a second Ranking Series title.

Matteo Pellicone Freestyle Recaps:
RECAP: Mohammadian Mauls Snyder En Route to Matteo Pellicone Title
RECAP: Dake Dismantles Demirtas in Debut at 74kg; USA Wins Trio of Day Four Golds

Interviews:
Post-Match Interviews with the Freestyle Champions

RESULTS
57kg - Thomas Patrick GILMAN (USA) df. Joseph Daniel COLON (USA), 4-3
61kg - (Nordic Style) - Kumar RAVI (IND) df. Nurislam SANAYEV (KAZ), 6-0
65kg - Bajrang BAJRANG (IND) df. Jordan Michael OLIVER (USA), 4-3
74kg - Kyle Douglas DAKE (USA) df. Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR), 11-0
86kg - Zahid VALENCIA (USA) df. Alexander David DIERINGER (USA), 7-5
97kg - Mohammadhossein MOHAMMADIAN (IRI) df. Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (BLR), 9-0
125kg - Amir Hossein Abbas ZARE (IRI) df. Bilial MAKHOV (RUS), 5-3

Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) edged Kumar SUNIL (IND), 2-1, at 87kg and became the first wrestler to win six Ranking Series titles. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

2. Lorincz Becomes First Wrestler to win Six Ranking Series Golds
Coming into the Matteo Pellicone, Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) already owned a Ranking Series title for every finger on one hand. The 2019 Greco-Roman Wrestler of the Year now has to move to a second hand to count his Ranking Series gold medals after he captured his sixth career Ranking Series title on Wednesday night in the Roman seaside town of Ostia.

The Hungarian tallied 19 wins in his previous five Ranking Series appearances. With his quartet of wins on Wednesday, Lorincz improved his Ranking Series record to a perfect 23-0 with a 2-1 win over last year’s Asian silver medalist Kumar SUNIL (IND) in the 87kg finals.

“I am very happy to win this tournament. I want to continue this very good series for me. I want to win the last two qualifications (European Championships and Poland Open) because it helps my seed for the Olympic Games,” said Lorincz.

In the finals, Lorincz, last year's world runner-up, picked up an inactivity point and a stepout in the first period. He had his lead cut to a single point when he was dinged for an inactivity point himself. But the Hungarian Hammer relied on his world-renowned defensive skills and hung on to win an unprecedented sixth Ranking Series title, 2-1.

“I came here to win. I had some hard matches, and I’m not where I want to be. I want to (build) my strength and power for the other tournaments.”

Matteo Pellicone Greco-Roman Recap:
RECAP: Lorincz Locks up Sixth Career Ranking Series Gold Medal

Interviews:
Post-Match Interviews with the Greco-Roman Champions

RESULTS
55kg - (Nordic Style) - Dogus AYAZCI (TUR) df. Max Emiliano NOWRY (USA), 9-0
60kg - Sailike WALIHAN (CHN) df. Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB), 4-3
63kg - (Nordic Style) -  Andres MONTANO ARROYO (VEN) df. Stig-Andre BERGE (NOR), 11-0
67kg -  Makhmud BAKHSHILLOEV (UZB) df. Abouhalima ABOUHALIMA (EGY), 3-1
72kg -  Mohamed Ibrahim Elsayed Ibrahi ELSAYED (EGY) df. Selcuk CAN (TUR), via fall
77kg - Zotlan LEVAI (HUN) df. Yunus Emre BASAR (TUR), via fall
82kg - Singh GURPREET (IND) df. Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR), 8-5
87kg - Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) df. Kumar SUNIL (IND), 2-1
97kg - Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA) df. Felix BALDAUF (NOR), 5-4
130kg - Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY) df. Moises PEREZ HELLBURG (VEN), via fall

3. Zhou Shocks Mensah with Eight-Point Comback
It's no secret that ZHOU Feng (CHN) was the underdog coming into her Matteo Pellicone finals against reigning world champion Tamyra MENSAH (USA), and though she fell behind by eight points, she remained composed enough to erase an 8-0 second-period deficit to win the 68kg gold medal. Zhou’s shocking win stopped Mensah, the 2019 Women's Wrestler of the Year, from winning her fourth consecutive Ranking Series title.

“For the first period, I didn’t feel prepared or ready, but I didn’t give up,” said Zhou. At that point of the match, Zhou surrendered three takedowns and a trapped arm gut and trailed 8-0. “I was thinking the match is not finished and I didn’t give up.”

Zhou, a two-time world medalist, kickstarted her unexpected comeback with two points from a defensive stop, which ended in a takedown. She tacked on six additional points from three gut wrenches and closed out the match on top, 8-8.

After her remarkable come-from-behind win, Zhou said, “I’m happy and excited. From this competition, most of (these wrestlers) will participate in the Olympic Games, so to get the gold medal makes me very happy.”

Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA) dropped down from 53kg to 50kg and won the Matteo Pellicone title with a 4-2 come-from-behind win over reigning world silver medalist Emilia VUC (ROU). (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

If there were any questions surrounding Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA) moving down to 50kg coming into Rome – they’ve been answered on Friday night. Hildebrandt scored a takedown with two seconds left and stole the gold medal from Emilia VUC (ROU) in the 50kg finals battle that featured a pair of past world silver medalists. With a smile on her face from ear-to-ear, Hildebrandt said, “I like the sound of that, 50kg champ!”

The American, who was down 2-1 with under 10 seconds left, said she told herself, “You’re not going to win because I'm not going to lose.” And that’s exactly what happened.

The 2018 world silver medalist used an underhook throw by with under ten seconds left to get to the body of her Romanian opponent. Then, she snaked her left arm out, and barley scored the takedown as time expired to win her second Ranking Series title, 4-2.

Matteo Pellicone Women's Wrestling Recaps:
Zhou Erases Eight-Point Deficit, Downs World Champ Mensah

Interviews:
Post-Match Interviews with the Women's Wrestling Champions

RESULTS
50kg - Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA) df. Emilia Alina VUC (ROU), 4-2
53kg -  Vinesh VINESH (IND) df. Luisa Elizabeth VALVERDE MELENDRES (ECU), 4-0
55kg - (Nordic Style) - Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (BLR) df. Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR), 10-0
57kg - Odunayo Folasade ADEKUOROYE (NGR) df. Anshu ANSHU (IND), 10-0
59kg - (Nordic Style) -  Anhelina LYSAK (UKR) df. Yuliya PISARENKA (BLR), via fall
62kg - Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) df. Liubov OVCHAROVA (RUS), via injury default
65kg - (Nordic Style) - Inna TRAZHUKOVA (RUS) df. Oksana KUKHTA HERHEL (UKR), 5-0
68kg - Feng ZHOU (CHN) df. Tamyra Mariama MENSAH (USA), 8-8
72kg - (Nordic Style) - Maria SELMAIER (GER) df. Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (BLR), 8-6
76kg -  Erica Elizabeth WIEBE (CAN) df. Qian ZHOU (CHN), 10-0

Davit CHAKVETADZE defeated Alexander KOMAROV, 4-2, in the 87kg Greco-Roman Russian National fInals. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

4. Russian Greco-Roman National Championships Wrap up in Novosibirsk
The southwestern Siberian city Novosibirsk, known for breeding two of the most feared Greco-Roman wrestlers in Olympic history, Aleksandr KARELIN (RUS) and Roman VLASOV (RUS), hosted the 2020 Russian Greco-Roman National Championships over the weekend.

Rio Olympic champion Davit CHAKVETADZE reemerged as the favorite to represent Russia at the continental representative at 87kg, while Sergey SEMENOV showed that he’s back to his winning ways after a disappointing 2019 campaign.

Chakvetadze, who defeated Alexander KOMAROV, 4-2, in the finals, was triumphant in his quest to win a second 87kg national title in the last three years and may have cemented himself as Russia’s European Championship representative. And though Chakvetadze was the reigning 87kg national champion, he finished behind Komarov at the 2019 Grand Prix of Germany, which kept him off of Russia’s 2019 Nur-Sultan team. And after Komarov’s 11th-place finish in Kazakhstan, whoever Russia elects to roll with moving forward, whether it’ll be Chakvetadze or Komarov, will have to qualify their nation for the 2020 Olympic Games at 87kg.

At 130kg, 2018 world champion Sergey Semenov sealed up at 3-0 win over Zurabi GEDEHAURI and got back to his winning ways after he failed to lock up an Olympic qualification spot with a disappointing 17th-place in Nur-Sultan.

According to www.wrestrus.ru ’s correspondent Tigran AVANIAN, Russia’s lineup for the 2020 European Championships is scheduled to be released on February 6.

It should be noted that the following wrestlers were released from the 2020 Russian National Championships:
60kg – Sergey EMELIN (2018 world champion, 2019 world silver)
60kg – Stepan MARYANYAN (2018 world champion, 2019 world silver)
67kg – Artem SURKOV (2018 world champion, 2019 world silver)
77kg – Roman VLASOV (Two-time Olympic champion)
97kg – Musa EVLOEV (2019 and ‘18 world champion)

RESULTS
55kg - Vitaly KABALOEV df. Emin SEFERSAEV, 3-2
60kg – Zambolat LOKIYAEV df. Artur PETROSYAN, 7-0
63kg – Ibrahim LABAZANOV df. Marat MARIPOV, 5-5
67kg - Alain MIRZOYAN df. Nazir ABDULAEV - 5: 6
72kg - Adam KURAK df. Magomed YARILBOV, 3-0
77kg - Alexander CHEKHIRKIN df. Islam OPIEV, 7-0
82kg - Shamil OZHAEV df. Ruslan VARDANYAN, 6-2
87kg - Davit CHAKVETADZE df. Alexander KOMAROV, 4-2
97kg - Alexander GOLOVIN df. Nikita MELNIKOV, 3-1
130kg - Sergey SEMENOV df. Zurabi GEDEHAURI, 3-0

5. Japan Wins Five Klippan Lady Open Golds; Bullen Wrestles in Italy and Sweden Days Apart
Japan won five of nine gold medals at the Klippan Lady Open, while Grace BULLEN (NOR) grabbed gold in Sweden days after competing in Italy at the Matteo Pellicone.

Umi ITO (JPN), Rino KATAOKA (JPN), Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN) and Yuka KAGAMI (JPN) won their respective traditional brackets as Ami ISHII (JPN) won the 65kg Nordic style bracket.

Ita and Kataoka, who won the 50kg and 53kg titles, respectively, each ended their matches early with 10-0 shutout wins. Ito blanked Felicia GALLO (FRA) and Kataoka shutout Ellen RIESTERER (GER).

Sakurai scored the biggest win for Japan when she snuck past seven-time world and Olympic medalist, Sofia MATTSSON (SWE), 4-2, for the gold at 55kg.

Japan’s final gold medalist was Yuka Kagami, who edged Dymond GUILFORD (USA), 2-1, in the 76kg gold medal bout.

Meanwhile, Norway’s Grace Bullen won gold at 59kg at the Klippan Lady Open days after going wrestling in Italy at the Matteo Pellicone. In Italy, Bullen went 2-2 but fell to eventual 57kg silver and bronze medalists, respectively, Anshu ANSHU (IND) and Linda MORAIS (CAN). In Sweden, the 2018 U23 world champion throttled Abigail NETTE (USA), 10-0, in the finals at 59kg.

RESULTS
50kg - Umi ITO (JPN) df. Felicia GALLO (FRA), 10-0
53kg - Rino KATAOKA (JPN) df. Ellen RIESTERER (GER), 10-0
55kg - Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN) df. Sofia MATTSSON (SWE), 4-2
57kg - (Nordic Style) - Lauren LOUIVE (USA) df. Cameron GUERIN (USA), 8-0
59kg - Grace BULLEN (NOR) df. Abigail NETTE (USA), 10-0
62kg - Jennifer PAGE (USA) df. Emma JOHANSSON (SWE), via fall
65 kg - (Nordic Style) - Ami ISHII (JPN) df. Rin TERAMOTO (JPN), 8-3
72 kg - (Nordic Style) - Danuté DOMIKAITYE (LTU) df. Mizuki NAGASHIMA (JPN), 13-3
76kg - Yuka KAGAMI (JPN) df. Dymond GUILFORD (USA), 2-1

Weekly FIVE In Social Media

1. Big Move Monday -- Temirtassova A. (KAZ) -- Senior Worlds 2019 #WrestleNursultan
2. We want to thank all 400k wrestling fans for the continued support. ? ? #unitedworldwrestling
3. Behind the scenes at #wrestlerome
4. @frankchamizo92 talks about why he's sitting out of Matteo Pellicone and potential matchups with Dake, Burroughs and Sidakov ??? // Full interview on our Instagram bio
5. Big Move Of Day 3 at #WrestleRome Ranking Series Matteo Pellicone!

Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! October 1, 2019

Monday, September 30, 2019 - 18:09 By Eric Olanowski

Discussing the #WrestleNurSultan World Championships and October's Veteran and U23 World Championships.

1. Russia Wins Second Consecutive Freestyle World Title After Five Individuals Claim Gold
The Russian Federation strengthened its stronghold on the freestyle competition by winning its second consecutive team world title. Led by their four-time world and Olympic champion Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS), Russia finished 83 points ahead of second-place Kazakhstan. They medaled in nine of ten weights and capped off the World Championships with five freestyle gold medalists. They also had a silver-medal finisher and three wrestlers who won bronze medals. More importantly, five of Russia's nine medals came in Olympic weight classes -- which helped them qualify five of the six freestyle weights for the 2020 Olympic Games.

Zaur UGUEV (57kg), Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (65kg), David BAEV (70kg), Zaurbek SIDAKOV (74kg) and Abdulrashid Sadulaev (97kg) were the five Russian champions.

Uguev, Sidakov and Sadulaev each repeated their title-winning performances from the 2018 Budapest World Championships, while Rashidov and Baev captured their first career world golds.

Uguev, the 57kg champ, went 5-0 and rounded out his tournament with a 13-3 routing of European champion Suleyman ATLI (TUR) in the gold-medal match. He also scored a 4-3 win over European Games champion Mahir AMIRASLANOV (AZE) -- avenging his only loss of the season.

Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RUS) scored a step out against four-time world and Olympic champion Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) en rout to winning his second consecutive 74kg title. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

At 74kg, for the second consecutive year, Zaurbek Sidakov forged back-to-back wins over four-time world and Olympic champion Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) and two-time world champion Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) on his road to claiming the 74kg world title.

Abdulrashid Sadulaev reached the top of the world podium for the fourth time in his career with a 4-0 shutout win over fellow Olympic champion Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE) in the 97kg finals. Sadulaev's win over Sharifov came after the Azeri halted #SnyderLaev3 by stopping the two-time world and Olympic champion Kyle SNYDER (USA) in the semifinals.

Gadzhimurad Rashidov and David Baev also claimed freestyle world titles in Nur-Sultan.

After a pair of deflating losses in the previous two world finals (Paris and Budapest), Rashidov finally captured his long-awaited world title. Two of Rashidov's wins came against former world champions. In the opening round, Rashidov edged three-time world champion Haji ALIYEV (AZE), 4-2. Then, he stopped 2018 world champion Takuto OTOGURO (JPN), 8-1, in the third round. Finally, Rashidov carried the Russian flag around the mat after thumping Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ), 11-0, in the 65kg finals.

Baev won the 70kg title with a 14-2 routing of Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ) in the 70kg gold-medal match.

The lone weight Russia failed to medal at was 125kg. Their expected world representative was Anzor KHIZRIEV (RUS). But the European Games champion was injured two weeks before the first whistle in Nur-Sultan and forced to pull out of the World Championships.

J'den COX (USA) defeated Alireza KARIMIMACHIANI (IRI), 4-0, in the 92kg and claimed his second world title. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

The host nation of Kazakhstan finished in second place with 103 points -- which came from a pair of second-place finishes and a bronze medalist.

The United States ended the team race in third place with 94 points. America's Kyle DAKE (79kg) and J'den COX (92kg) won gold for the second consecutive year and are now expected to drop down to Olympic weight classes.

Though it's not official, but Dake is expected to drop down to 74kg to challenge Jordan Burroughs, and Cox is expected to move to 86kg to square off with David TAYLOR (USA) for the Tokyo Olympic spot.

Iran's Olympic champion Hassan Yazdani came into the World Championships heavily favored and won his second world title and first since 2017. In addition to scoring an injury default win in the finals over India's Deepak PUNIA, Yazdani scored two wins via fall and a pair of technical superiority victories.

At 125kg, Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) defeated Olympic champion Taha AKGUL (TUR) in an epic heavyweight battle for the second time in the last three years. Petriashvili took down Akgul with under 20 seconds left to grab the 6-6 lead on criteria. The Georgian ultimatly held on to win his third consecutive world title.

RESULTS (Click link to watch gold-medal matches)
57kg - Zavur UGUEV (RUS) df. Suleyman ATLI (TUR), 13-3
61kg - Beka LOMTADZE (GEO) df. Magomedrasul IDRISOV (RUS), 12-2
65kg - Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS) df. Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ), 11-0
70kg - David BAEV (RUS) df. Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ), 14-2
74kg - Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RUS) df. Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA), 5-2
79kg - Kyle DAKE (USA) df. Jabrayil HASANOV (AZE), 10-4
86kg - Hassan YAZDANICHARATI (IRI) df. Deepak PUNIA (IND), via injury default
92kg - J'den COX (USA) df. Alireza KARIMIMACHIANI (IRI), 4-0
97kg - Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS) df. Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE), 4-0
125kg - Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) df. Taha AKGUL (TUR), 6-6

Musa EVLOEV (RUS) (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

2. Evloev's Second World Title Helps Russia Claim Team Gold
Though the Russian Federation failed to match their six gold-medal performance from last year’s Budapest World Championships, they did win two titles and had three wrestlers fall in gold-medal matches. Russia won the team title with 132 points -- which was 52 points ahead of second-place Uzbekistan. Russia's two Greco-Roman champions were Abuiazid MANTSIGOV (72kg) and Musa EVLOEV (97kg).

Of the five returning world champions that graced Russia’s Nur-Sultan lineup, Evloev was the only wrestler to win back-to-back world titles. He was handed the gold medal after three-time world and Olympic champion Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) injury defaulted out of the finals due to an apparent rib injury he suffered during his semifinals match.

Mantsigov took down Aram VARDANYAN (UZB), 9-0, in the gold-medal match in the non-Olympic weight of 72kg.

Uzbekistan had a silver medalist, a pair of bronzes and two fifth-place finishers and wrapped up their tournament in second place with 80 points.

Georgia rounded out the top three in the Greco-Roman team standings. Though they were at non-Olympic weights, Georgia’s Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO) and Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) claimed titles -- catapulting their nation to the third spot in the final standings with 79 points.

In the 55kg finals, Tsurtsumia dominated Khorlan ZHAKANSHA (KAZ), 9-0, and won his first career world title at the senior level after winning the U23 world title a year ago. Gobadze, the winner of the 82kg gold medal, edged Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE), 5-3, and won his first career world title in any division after medaling four times at age-group World Championships.

Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) will represent Japan at 60kg at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

Japan matched Russia's Greco-Roman gold-medal output by winning a pair of titles over reigning world champions.

Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) locked up his spot on Japan's Olympic team after upsetting the reigning world champion Sergey EMELIN (RUS) ,10-5, in the 60kg finals. Shinobu OTA (JPN) gave Japan their second upset win over a reigning world champion when he defeated Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS), 10-4, in the 63kg finals.

With Fumita locking up his spot on Japan's Olympic team at 60kg, Ota will be forced to move up to the Olympic weight of 67kg if he has hopes of bettering his Olympic silver medal from the Rio Olympic Games.

In arguably the most impressive run to a world title, Olympic champion Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) knocked off four world champions to establish himself as the best in the world at 67kg. The Cuban's Nur-Sultan gold-medal run went through three-time world champion Frank STAEBLER (GER), two-time world champion RYU Hansu (KOR), U23 world champion Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY), and finally, reigning world champion Artem SURKOV (RUS).

Borrero is now a two-time world and Olympic champion.

Turkey’s Riza KAYAALP won his fourth world title. The Turkish superstar improved on his 15th-place finish from last year’s World Championships where he was fell in the opening round. On his way to a fourth world title, Kayaalp navigated a road that went through three world medalists, Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ (CHI), Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) and Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB). Kayaalp topped off the finals with a 3-1 win over Cuba’s now-two-time world medalist Oscar Pino Hinds.

RESULTS (Click link to watch gold-medal matches)
55kg - Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO) df. Khorlan ZHAKANSHA (KAZ), 9-0
60kg - Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) df. Sergey EMELIN (RUS), 10-5
63kg - Shinobu OTA (JPN) df. Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS), 10-4
67kg - Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) df. Artem SURKOV (RUS) , 3-1
72kg - Abuiazid MANTSIGOV (RUS) df. Aram VARDANYAN (UZB), 9-0
77kg - Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) df. Alex KESSIDIS (SWE), 8-0
82kg - Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) df. Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE), 5-3
87kg - Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) df. Viktor LORINCZ (HUN), 2-1
97kg - Musa EVLOEV (RUS) df. Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM), via injury default
130kg - Riza KAYAALP (TUR) df. Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB), 3-1

Rio Olympic champion Risako KAWAI (JPN) celebrates winning her third world title. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

3. Kawai's Third World Title Pushes Japan Past Russia in Women's Wrestling Team Race
Per usual, Japan won the women’s wrestling team title. But it wasn’t in normal Japanese fashion. Usually, the most dominant women’s wrestling nation walks away with the team title, but they had to fight and claw their way to the team title in Nur-Sultan. Last year in Budapest, Japan had four champs and cruised to a 37 points advantage over second-place China. But this year, the margin of victory narrowed to only 29 points ahead of second-place Russia.

Risako KAWAI (JPN) was the lone Japanese woman to win a world title in Nur-Sultan. She furthered her case to be included in the discussion as the pound-for-pound top-ranked wrestler in the world. Since dropping the 2015 world finals, Kawai has won three world titles and a gold medal at the Rio Olympic Games. This is in addition to defeating four-time Olympic champion and arguably the greatest women’s wrestler ever, Kaori ICHO (JPN), to secure her spot on Japan’s Nur-Sultan world team.

Meanwhile, the United States had a trio of champions in Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA), Tamyra MENSAH (USA) and Adeline GRAY (USA). For Winchester (55kg) and Mensah (68kg), it was their first time winning a world title. But for Gray, this was the fifth time that she cemented herself as the top wrestler in the world at her respective weight class.

Mariya STADNIK (AZE), one of the most credentialed women’s wrestlers ever, finally won her second world title. Her win in Nur-Sultan came one decade after winning her first world title. The three-time Olympic medalist and six-time world medalist tallied a 13-0 win over Emilia VUC (ROU) in the 50kg finals.

RESULTS (Click link to watch gold-medal matches)
50kg - Mariya STADNIK (AZE) df. Emilia Alina VUC (ROU), 13-0
53kg - Yong Mi PAK (PRK) df. Mayu MUKAIDA (JPN), 12-1
55kg - Jacarra Gwenisha WINCHESTER (USA) df. Nanami IRIE (JPN), 5-3
57kg - Risako KAWAI (JPN) df. Ningning RONG (CHN), 9-6
59kg - Linda MORAIS (CAN) df. Liubov OVCHAROVA (RUS), via fall
62kg - Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) df. Taybe Mustafa YUSEIN (BUL), 5-3
65kg - Inna TRAZHUKOVA (RUS) df. Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR), 13-0
68kg - Tamyra MENSAH (USA) df. Jenny FRANSSON (SWE), 8-2
72kg - Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) df. Alina BEREZHNA STADNIK MAKHYNIA (UKR), 4-2
76kg - Adeline Maria GRAY (USA) df. Hiroe MINAGAWA SUZUKI (JPN) , 4-2

4. Five History-Making Performances From Nur-Sultan
The World Championships were filled with countless memorable moments, but there were five that top all others -- mainly because they were history-making performances.

In women’s wrestling, Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) and Yong Mi PAK (PRK) defeated reigning world champions and became their nation’s first-ever women’s wrestling world champions. Pak reached the top of the podium at 53kg and Tynybekova won the 62kg gold medal.

Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) defeated reigning world champion Taybe YUSEIN (BUL) and became Kyrgyzstan’s first-ever women's wrestling world champion. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

Tynybekova became Kyrgyzstan’s first medalist in Paris when she finished with a bronze medal. In Nur-Sultan, Tynybekova upset reigning world champion Taybe YUSEIN (BUL) with a late takedown and became Kyrgyzstan’s first world champion.

Yong Mi Pak also picked up an upset win over a reigning world champion to win her country’s first world title. Pak scored the stunning 12-1 win over two-time world champion Mayu MUKAIDA (JPN) in the 53kg finals and handed the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s their first women’s wrestling world title.

Myles AMINE (SMR) finished in fifth place at 86kg and locked up San Marino's first freestyle trip to the Olympic Games. (Photo: Tony Rotunod)

In freestyle, the duo of best friends who attend the University of Michigan, Stevan MICIC (SRB) and Myles AMINE (SMR), sealed up their nation’s first-ever freestyle Olympic Games berths after finishing in fifth place at 57kg and 86kg, respectively. Micic locked up Serbia's spot at the Olympic Games with an 8-0 win over Givi DAVIDOVI (ITA) in the repechage round. He ultimately fell short in the bronze-medal bout against reigning world runner-up Nurislam SANAYEV (KAZ). Amine handed San Marino their first trip to the Olympic Games with a 4-2 quarterfinals win over Germany's Ahmed DUDAROV.

Also in freestyle, Stefan REICHMUTH (SUI) made history for Switzerland after defeating Carlos IZQUIERDO (COL), 3-0, in the bronze-medal bout at 86kg. With his win over the Colombian wrestler, Reichmuth became the first Swiss wrestler to ever medal at a World Championships.

5. October to Feature Veteran and U23 World Championships
The Cadet, Junior and Senior World Championships are well behind us, but October is set to feature the Veteran and U23 World Championships. The Veteran World Championships will be up first. The six-day freestyle and Greco-Roman tournament will start on October 8 in Tbilisi, Georgia. The fifth and final World Championships, the U23 World Championships, will begin on October 23 in Budapest, Hungary.

As always, the final two World Championships can be followed live on www.unitedworldwrestling.org.

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media

1. Freestyle Olympic qualifiers
2. Women's Wrestling Olympic qualifiers
3. Greco-Roman Olympic qualifiers
4. Big Move Monday -- @melonin_97 (FRA) -- Senior Worlds 2019
5. #TBT - Olympic Champs SHARIFOV (AZE) and SNYDER (USA) Battle

Weekly FIVE! January 21, 2020

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Weekly FIVE! October 1, 2019

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media