Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! July 23, 2019

Monday, July 22, 2019 - 16:44 By Eric Olanowski

Share this article

Discussing the Oleg Karavaev, German Grand Prix and the Cadet World Championships. Also looking wrestle-off news surrounding Russia and Japan. 

1. Oleg Karavaev Begins Friday
The top-four freestyle and women's wrestling world championship seeds are cemented, and after this weekend, the top-four Greco-Roman seeds will be, too. The regular season closes out this weekend with the final Greco-Roman Ranking Series event, the Oleg Karavaev. The two-day tournament, which will be in Minsk, Belarus, will feature 175 wrestlers from 19 different nations.

Leading the nearly 200-man field is Emrah KUS (TUR), the reigning world runner-up and No. 1-ranked wrestler in the world at 82kg. Kus leads an entry list littered with 24 wrestlers who are ranked inside the top-20 of the latest Greco-Roman rankings. 

Kus' weight of 82kg will feature six ranked wrestlers -- which is the most top-20 guys in one bracket. A pair of other stacked weight classes to pay close attention to are 67kg and 130kg. Both of these weight classes house at least four top-20 competitors.

ENTRIES: Click Here for full entries. 

2. Cadet World Championships Start This Upcoming Monday 
It’s officially world championship season! The 2019 Cadet World Championships begin in less than one week in Sofia, Bulgaria. 

The first set of brackets will come out on Sunday night, but freestyle action kicks off on Monday. Women’s wrestling takes over center stage on Wednesday, and Greco-Roman closes out the first World Championships of the year beginning on Friday. 

Here is the full schedule for the Cadet World Championships.

Nanami IRIE joined her sister on Japan's world team after she defeated Haruna OKUNO 3-1. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

3. Japan’s World Team Set 
After what felt like months of wrestle-offs, Japan has their world team set after the conclusion of the non-Olympic weight wrestle-offs which took place in Tokyo last weekend. 

For the second time in two weeks, a reigning world champion was knocked off Japan's team to this year's World Championships. And for the second time, the conqueror was a wrestler named Irie.

Nanami IRIE earned a place alongside older sister Yuki on the plane to Kazakhstan when she defeated Haruna OKUNO 3-1 in a playoff for the women's 55kg berth on the Japanese squad.

Irie, a former world junior and cadet champion, scored a takedown off a counter early in the second period and held on to beat Okuno, the 2018 world champion at 53kg who missed out on the world team in that weight class.

Meanwhile, Rio 2016 silver medalist Shinobu OTA showed he could handle the extra weight at Greco 63kg when he crushed national champion Yoshiki YAMADA by 11-0 technical fall as he eyes winning his first senior world medal.

Japan National Team
Freestyle
57kg - Yuki TAKAHASHI
61kg -Kaiki YAMAGUCHI
65kg- Takuto OTOGURO
70kg - Kojiro SHIGA
74kg- Mao OKUI
79kg- Yudai TAKAHASHI
86kg- Sosuke TAKATANI
92kg -Tkuma OTSU
97kg -Naoya AKAGUMA
125 kg - Nobuyoshi ARAKIDA

Greco-Roman
55kg - Shota OGAWA
60kg - Kenichiro FUMITA
63kg - Shinobu OTA
67kg -  Shogo TAKAHASHI
72kg - Tomohiro INOUE
77kg - Shohei YABIKU
82kg - Yuya OKAJIMA
87kg - Masato SUMI
97kg - Yuta NARA
130kg - Arata SONODA

Women's Wrestling
50kg - Yuki IRIE
53kg - Mayu MUKAIDA
55kg - Nanami IRIE
57kg - Risako KAWAI
59kg - Yuzuka INAGAKI
62kg - Yukako KAWAI
65kg - Naomi RUIKE
68kg - Sara DOSHO
72kg - Masako FURUICHI
76kg - Hiroe MINAGAWA

Click here to read Ken Marantz' full wrap of the non-Olympic weight wrestle-offs. 

Reigning 74kg world champion Zaurbek SIDAKOV will have to outplace 2016 world champion Magomed KURBANALIEV at the Poland Open in order to make Russia's Nur-Sultan world team. (Photo: Gabor Martin) 

4. Russia's 86kg Wrestle-Off Scheduled for Poland Open 
Next week’s Ziolkowski - Pytlasinski Tournament in Warsaw, Poland will double up as the host site for the Russian Federation’s special wrestle-offs at 86kg between Dauren KURUGLIEV and Artur NAIFONOV. 

Kurugliev, the European Games champion, was released from the Russian National Championships where Naifonov, the 2018 European champion, was the winner of the 86kg bracket. The other weights that were excused from the National Championships were 57kg, 65kg, 74kg, 97kg and 125kg. But, those weights will not be contested at the Poland Open. 

The standard in years past at these special wrestle-offs has been that the highest placer at each weight will go on to represent Russia at their respective weight at the World Championships. That is expected to be the case again at 86kg. After the conclusion of the Poland Open and the final five wrestle-offs, the Russian coaching staff will announce their Nur-Sultan world team representatives in late-August.

Remaining Wrestle-Offs 
57kg - Zaur UGUEV vs. Ramiz GAMZATOV or Aryian TYUTRIN
65kg - Akhmed CHAKAEV vs. Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV
74kg - Zaurbek SIDAKOV vs. Magomed KURBANALIEV
97kg - Abdulrashid SADULAEV vs. Vladislav BAITSAEV
125kg - ANZOR KHIZRIEV vs. Alan KHUGAEV

Three-time world champion Frank STAEBLER (GER) will be making his first appearance down at 67kg at next weekend's German Grand Prix. (Photo: Max Rose-Fyne)

5. Staebler Makes 67kg Return, Four World or Olympic Champions to Compete at German GP 
Germany’s three-time world champion Frank STAEBLER will be making his first appearance down to 67kg next weekend at the 36th Annual German Grand Prix in Dortmund, Germany (August 3-4). 

Stebler, the reigning 72kg world champion, is dropping down to 67kg in preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games where he’s eyeing his first Olympic medal. The German Grand Prix will be the first time Staebler has competed down at 67kg (previously 66kg) since taking seventh place at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. He'll be looking to win his fourth career German GP title, but first since 2016. He didn’t compete in the tournament in 2017 but fell to Toni OJALA (FIN) in last year’s finals. 

The German Grand Prix is also set to feature four Olympic medalists and two other reigning world champions. 

Olympic champions Roman VLASOV (RUS) and Davit CHAKVETADZE (RUS) will compete at 77kg and 87kg, respectively, while Rio bronze Stig Andre BERGE (NOR) and London runner-up Heiki NABI (EST) will take part in the tournament at 60kg and 130kg, respectively. 

In addition to all the Olympic medalists in action, returning world champions Artem SURKOV (RUS) and Musa EVLOEV (RUS) will take the mat in Germany, too. 

Surkov will compete at 67kg, where he’s the reigning world champion. Evloev will also compete at the weight where he’s the reigning world champion, 97kg. 

ENTRIES: https://www.ringen.de/

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media 

1. Big Move Monday -- @snyderman45 -- Yasar Dogu Ranking Series 2019
2. Here are the final top-four rankings heading into the #WrestleNurSultan World Championships. Who are your ? to win a world?in Kazakhstan ??? 
3. United World Wrestling Joins World Taekwondo for Historic Event at Azraq Refugee Camp.
4. Instead of a #THROWBackThursday, lets throw it forward to the the 2050 European Championships!
5. Are you coming to support your wrestlers in #WrestleNurSultan? Buy your tickets!

#WrestleParis

Youngest wrestlers heading to Paris 2024

Monday, July 15, 2024 - 12:18 By Eric Olanowski

Share this article

PARIS, France (July 15) — As we approach the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (August 5-11), fans' attention will be split between the already-established stars and a promising new wave of Olympians aiming to make their mark in history.

Out of the 290 athletes (288 athletes + 2 refugees) bound for Paris 2024, 19 wrestlers under 21 can potentially become some of the youngest Olympic champions ever. Here’s how they break down by age:

18 years old: 1 wrestler
19 years old: 1 wrestler
20 years old: 5 wrestlers
21 years old: 12 wrestlers

Women’s wrestling dominates the youth spotlight, boasting the six youngest wrestlers in the field. There are 19 competitors under 21 years old, with freestyle and Greco-Roman each having seven wrestlers under this age bracket.

Xu WANG (CHN) remains the youngest-ever Olympic champion in women’s wrestling, a record now standing for over two decades. Wang clinched the 72kg gold at the Athens 2004  Games at just 18 years, 10 months and 27 days old.

Among the Paris contenders, Sol Gum PAK (PRK) stands out as the only wrestler young enough to challenge Wang’s enduring record. Born on November 2, 2005, Pak will compete in the 68kg category on August 5, with a chance to break the record on August 6. If she reaches the gold-medal bout, she’ll be 18 years, 9 months and 4 days old, surpassing Wang by 1 month and 23 days.

While Pak aims for history, rising star Antim Antim (IND) can also make waves in women’s wrestling by potentially surpassing Kaori ICHO (JPN) with a gold medal in the 53kg category. 

Antim, at 19 years, 11 months and 8 days, would edge out Icho’s age of 20 years, 2 months and 10 days during her Athens 2004 victory.

Elsewhere, young talents and reigning world champions Amit ELOR (USA), Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) and Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) will also be looking to leave a last impression on the record books.

Fujinami, who heads into Paris with a 120+ match winning streak, is the third youngest women’s wrestler. If Fujinami, the two-time world champion, comes out on top as most expect, she’d move into the No. 4 slot on the list, just ahead of London 2012 champ Natalya VOROBIEVA (RUS), who won at 21 years, 2 months and 13 days old. 

Fujinami would be 21 years and 10 months old on the day of the 53kg finals.

If Elor, aged 20 years, 7 months, and 4 days, secures victory in the 68kg bracket on August 6, she will become the third-youngest women’s wrestling Olympic champion, beating Jiao WANG’s age by nine days (20 years, 7 months, and 13 days).

Ozaki is aiming for a top-five spot, potentially overtaking Risako KAWAI (JPN), who was 21 years, 8 months, and 28 days old during her Rio 2016 victory. Ozaki, at 21 years, 4 months, and 13 days, could achieve this if she triumphs in France.

In Greco-Roman wrestling, Islambek ALBIEV (RUS) holds the record as the youngest Olympic gold medalist, set at the Beijing 2008 Games at 19 years, 7 months and 15 days old. 

Saied ESMAEILI, turning 21 on July 15, is the youngest competitor in the Greco-Roman field for Paris 2024. While Esmaeili is “too old” to challenge the top six spots, he could potentially become the seventh-youngest Greco-Roman Olympic champion, surpassing Boris GUREVICH’s (URS) age of 21 years, 4 months, and 4 days if he wins the 67kg final on August 8.

In freestyle wrestling, Aman AMAN (IND), Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN), and Rahman AMOUZAD are the youngest contenders on the entry list. 

Aman, presently 20 years old but is turning 21 on July 16, is the youngest freestyle wrestler. He isn’t within reach of the youngest-ever title, currently held by Saban TRSTENA (YUG), who won gold at 19 years, 7 months and 9 days in Los Angeles 1984. But if Aman wins gold on August 9-10, aged 21 years, 0 months, and 25 days, he will rank as the 11th youngest Olympic champion, overtaking George DE RELWYSKOW (GBR), who won gold at the 1908 London Games at 21 years, 1 month and 6 days old.

While Amouzad is just out of reach of breaking into the top 15, Tazhudinov, who’ll be 21 years,  7 months and 24 days old on August 11, would steal the No. 14 spot from Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) by seven days.

Wrestling at the Paris Olympic Games starts Agust 5-11 and can be followed on www.uww.org.

Top-15 youngest Paris 2024 Entries:
1. Sol Gum PAK (DPRK) - 18 years old | November 2, 2005 |WW
2. Antim Antim (IND) - 19 years old | August 31, 2004 |WW
3. Amit ELOR (USA) - 20 years old | January 1, 2004 |WW
4. Akari FUJINAMI (JPN)- 20 years old | November 1, 2003 | WW
5. Kennedy BLADES (USA) - 20 years old | September 4, 2003| WW
6. Gabija DILYTE (LTU) - 20 years old | September 3, 2003 | WW
7. Aman AMAN (IND) - 20 years old | July 16, 2003 | FS
8. Saied ESMAEILI (IRI) - 21 years old  | July 15, 2003 | GR 
9. Aurora RUSSO (ITA) - 21 years old | June 3, 2003 | WW
10. Nonoka Ozaki (JPN) - 21 years old | March 23, 2003 | WW
11. Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) - 21 years old | January 25, 2003 | FS
12. Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI) - 21 years old | October 30, 2002 | GR 
13.Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) - 21 years old | October 5, 2002 | GR 
14. Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN) - 21 years old | September 25, 2002 | WW
15. Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI)- 22 years old | March 26, 2002 | FS