Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! June 4, 2018

By Eric Olanowski

Reviewing the U23 European Championships and upcoming ranking series events. Also looking at USA's U23 World Team along with Russia's Cadet World Team. 

1. 2018 U23 European Championships Begins June 4
Europe's best wrestlers between the ages of 19 and 23 years old will prepare for the 2018 U23 World Championships by competing at the 2018 U23 European Championships which kick off June 4 in Istanbul, Turkey. 

Greco-Roman wrestling takes place Monday-Wednesday, followed by women's wrestling from Wednesday-Friday, and Freestyle closes out the tournament Friday-Sunday. 

SCHEDULE

2. Mongolia Open, Women's Ranking Event Starts This Weekend 
The second women's wrestling ranking series event of the year, the Mongolia Open (MGL)begins June 9-10 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. 

Freestyle action will also take place on Saturday and Sunday, but ranking series points will only be award to those competing in the women's wrestling portion of the tournament. 

​​​​​​SCHEDULE 
Saturday (Local time on June 9) 
10:30 AM Qualification round and repechage for FS - 57kg, 65kg,74kg,86kg,97kg and WW - 50kg, 55kg,59kg,65kg,72kg 

16:30 PM - Opening ceremony 
17:00 PM – Finals 

Sunday (Local time on June 10) 
10:30 AM - Qualification round and repechage FS - 61kg, 70kg, 79kg, 92kg,125kg and  WW - 53kg, 57kg, 62kg, 68kg, 76kg
15:30 PM – Finals 

China's Ningning RONG (CHN) enters the China Open as the second-ranked wrestler in the world (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne)

3. June's Upcoming Rankings Series Events 
Two ranking series events, the China Open and the Hungarian Grand Prix close out the month of June.

The China Open (CHN), which is the third women’s wrestling ranking event of the season begins June 22 in Taiyuan, China.

The third Greco-Roman ranking series event, the Hungarian GP (HUN) starts June 23 in Györ, Hungary. 

Points for all ranking series events will be awarded based on finish plus the number of competitors present in each weight category. Nations may only enter three athletes in any single weight class.

POINTS
GOLD - 8 Points 
SILVER - 6 Points 
BRONZE - 4 Points 
Fifth - 2 Points 

2017 Junior World bronze medalist, Kollin MOORE (USA). (Photo by Marion Stein)

4. The United States Holds U23 World Team Trials 
The United States U23 World Team Trails wrapped up this past weekend, and three former world medalist claimed their sport for November's 2018 U23 World Championships in Bucharest, Romania. 

The three Americans who will wrestle for the second world medal are Vitali Arujau (2016 cadet silver medalist), Mitch McKee (2017 Junior World silver medalist) and Kollin Moore (2017 Junior World bronze medalist). 

USA's U23 World Team 
57kg - Jack MUELLER (USA)
61kg - Vitali ARUJAU (USA)
65kg - Mitch MCKEE (USA)  
70kg - Hayden HIDLAY (USA) 
74kg - Alex SMYTHE (USA) 
79kg - David MCFADDEN (USA)
86kg - Myles MARTIN (USA)
92kg - Michael MACCHIAVELLO (USA) 
97kg -  Kollin MOORE (USA) 
125kg - Youssif HEMIDA (USA)  

5. Russia Cadet World Team Set 
In preparation for the 2018 Cadet World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, Russia held their Cadet Russian Nationals June 2-3 in Moscow, Russia. 

WATCH ALL FINALS MATCHES 

RUSSIAN CADET NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
45kg - SAGDY  
48kg - ANDROSOV 
51kg - BAITAZOV 
55kg - KIZINOV 
60kg - MAMEDOV 
65kg - SHERIEV 
71kg - MAGAMEDOV 
80kg - ELKANOV 
92kg - JIGKAEV 
110kg - KOZYREV 

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media 

1. Big Move Monday! The Most Famous Double-Leg in Slowmotion, by @alliseeisgold@usawrestling

2. Little, but strong! ? Маленький, но сильный! ? ? @zhenis_iskabay #wrestling#baby#kid#ребенок#малыш#борьба

3. Давид Чакветадзе:
"В жизни бывают очень тяжелые моменты. Когда ты устаешь и больше не хочешь продолжать работать. Когда тело тебе говорит: "Все хватит, заканчивай, ты устал". Тебе хочется сдаться, остановится, забить на все это и отдохнуть. Но вот что я вам скажу. Никогда не сдавайтесь! Никогда не опускайте руки! Чтобы не случилось, как бы тяжело не было, как бы сильно вы не устали. Боль временна. Рано или поздно она пройдет и все встанет на свои места. И вы получите то, что заслужили!"
@david_chakvetadze 
#wrestling#motivation#ДавидЧакветадзе#мотивация

4. What kind of exercise?  Как называется упражнение? Video by @davorstefanek 
#wrestling#training#workout#coolvideo#тренировка#борцы

5. It’s Friday. You should be flexing! ?

Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! April 2, 2019

By Eric Olanowski

This week's Weekly FIVE is dedicated to the 2019 European Championships, which begin April 8-14 in Bucharest, Romania. 

1. 22 Returning European Champions Set to Compete in Bucharest 
There will be 22 returning European champions competing at next week's 2019 European Championships in Bucharest, Romania. 

Greco-Roman and women’s wrestling each return eight of the ten Kaspisk gold medalists. 

In Greco-Roman, Adam KURAK (RUS) and Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) are two defending champions who’ll sit out in Bucharest, while the pair of women’s wrestling returning champions who won’t make the trip to Romania are reigning 50kg and 68kg gold medalists respectively, Mariya STADNIK (AZE) and Anastasia BRATCHIKOVA (RUS). 

The Freestyle competition is expected to feature six returning champions. The tournament will be without Russia’s Gadshimurad RASHIDOV, Artur NAIFONOV, Abdulrashid SADULAEV, and Turkey’s Soener DEMIRTAS.  

Returning European Champions 
Freestyle 
57kg - Giorgi EDISHERASHVILI (AZE)
65kg - Haji ALIYEV (AZE) 
74kg - Magomed KURBANALIEV (RUS) 
79kg - Akhmed GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (RUS)
97kg - Vladislav BAITSAEV (RUS)
125kg - Taha AKGUL (TUR) 

Greco-Roman 
55kg - Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)
60kg - Sergey EMELIN (RUS) 
63kg - Mihai MIHUT (ROU) 
67kg - Artem SURKOV (RUS) 
77kg - Roman VLASOV (RUS) 
87kg - Maksim MANUKYAN (ARM) 
87kg -  Roberti KOBLIASHVILI (GEO)
130kg - Riza KAYAALP (TUR) 

Women’s Wrestling 
53kg - Stalvira ORSHUSH (RUS) 
57kg - Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) 
57kg -Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)
59kg - Elif YESILIRMAK (TUR) 
62kg - Taybe YUSEIN (BUL) 
65kg - Petra OLLI (FIN) 
68kg - Anna FRANSSON (SWE) 
76kg - Yasemin ADAR (TUR) 

2. Olympic Champs Vlasov and Chakvetadze Added to Russia’s GR Lineup 
Just when the wrestling world thought the Russia Federation’s Greco-Roman lineup couldn’t get any better, they fill in their “holes” with the likes of Olympic champions Roman VLASOV and Davit CHAKVETADZE and four-time age-group world champion Aleksander KOMAROV. 

Vlasov, the two-time Olympic champion, pulled out of the World Championships two weeks prior after undergoing knee surgery. He gets reinserted into Russia’s lineup over his backup Aleksander CHERHIRKIN, who took advantage of Vlasov's absence by winning the 77kg world title in Budapest.

Olympic champion Chakvetadze takes the place of Bekkhan OZDOEV (RUS) at 87kg, and Komarov, takes over for Imil SHARAFETDINOV (RUS) at 82kg. 

With the additions of Vlasov, Chakvetadze, and Komarov, Russia’s lineup now features five returning world champions, two Olympic champions, a four-time age-group world champion, and a U23 world runner-up. The only wrestler without a world medal is Abuiazid MANTSIGOV, who fell in the 2018 bronze-medal bout at the 2018 World Championships. 

Russia’s Greco-Roman Lineup 
55kg - Vitalii KABALOEV - U23 world silver 
60kg - Sergey EMELIN - world champion
63kg - Stepan MARYANYAN - world champion
67kg - Artem SURKOV - world champion
72kg - Abuiazid MANTSIGOV
77kg - Roman VLASOV – two-time Olympic champion
82kg - Aleksandr KOMAROV – four-time world champion 
87kg - Davit CHAKVETADZE – Olympic champion 
97kg - Musa EVLOEV - world champion
130kg - Sergey SEMENOV – world champion 

3. Turkey Elects to go with Gor over Demirtas at 74kg 
Turkey elected to insert Yakup GOR into the European Championships at 74kg over three-time defending European champion Soener DEMIRTAS.

Gor, the two-time world bronze medalist, moved up to 74kg after finishing the 2017 Paris World Championships with a 70kg bronze medal but lost his starting spot to Demirtas in 2018. 

Gor comes into the European Championships ranked No. 6 in the world at 74. He has 28 Ranking Series points after his falling to defending world champion Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RUS) in the Ivan Yariguin finals, and a bronze-medal finish at the Dan Kolov. 

4. Poland Gives Zasina Nod Over Krawczyk at 53kg 
Poland made the difficult decision to roll with reigning 55kg European runner-up Roksana ZASINA (POL) over the world’s sixth-ranked 53kg wrestler, Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL). 

Zasina, the No. 16 ranked wrestler in the world and 2017 world bronze medalist, is dropping down from 55kg and takes the 53kg European spot from Krawczyk, who was a fifth-place finisher in Budapest and bronze medalist at the 2018 European Championships. 

The European Championships will be Zasina’s first appearance down at 53kg since her world podium run in Paris in 2017, where she finished with a bronze medal. 

5. World Champion Manukyan Moving up to 87kg 
Defending 82kg European champion Maksim MANUKYAN (ARM) will move up to 87kg for the European Championships. 

Manukyan, the 2017 80kg world champion, has bounced around over the past twelve months from 82kg to 87kg but has never competed above 82kg at a Continental or World Championships. Last season, Manukyan competed at 82kg in both Kasipiisk and Budapest. 

For Manukyan to win his second consecutive European title, he’ll have to upend reigning 87kg European champion, Roberti KOBLIASHVILI (GEO). 

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media 

1. #WrestleBucharest European C'ships, One Week To Go!
2. #OnThisDayHaji ALIYEV (AZE), the reigning 61kg world champion gave Azerbaijan their second straight gold medal of the night with a last-second takedown to defeat reigning 65kg European champion, Ilias BEKBULATOV (RUS), 8-7. 
#WrestleBucharest , 6 Days To Go ! 
3. Reigning 77kg European champion, @vlasovroma90. Does he repeat next week at the #WrestleBucharestEuropean Championships?
4. 300k!! A huge thank you to all our wrestling fans across the world ? ?‍♂️
5. Big Move Monday -- ALACA (TUR) -- 2018 Cadet Worlds