Weekly FIVE! May 14, 2018

Monday, May 14, 2018 - 12:31 By

Reviewing Thursday's Beat the Streets, the Youth Olympic Games qualifiers and Yazdani making Iran's world team.

1. Cadet European Championships Begin Monday
The 2018 Cadet European Championships begin Monday, May 14 in Skopje, Macedonia.

The second cadet continental championship will serve as a qualifier for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games which take place this October.

The first place finisher in freestyle and Greco-Roman will qualify their countries spot in the five designated weight classes, while the first and second place finishers in women's wrestling will qualify their nations spot for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.

European Championship Schedule

Youth Olympic Weight Classes
Freestyle - 48kg, 55kg, 65kg, 80kg, and 110kg
Greco-Roman - 45kg, 51kg, 60kg, 71kg, and 92kg
Women's Wrestling - 43kg, 49kg, 57kg, 65kg, and 73kg

Amir ZARE (IRI) closes out the 2018 Cadet Asian Championship with a 10-0 win over Kumar ANIRUDH (IND). (Photo by Sachiko Hotaka)

2. Iran's Cadets Illuminate Uzbekistan
Iranian freestyle wrestlers left the 2018 Cadet Asian Championships with medals in all but one weight class.

Iran claimed an impressive six golds and three bronzes to close out the first cadet continental championship of the year.

Even more impressive, in their six finals bouts, Iranian wrestlers picked up four technical superiority wins and averaged nearly ten points a match!

Full Cadet Asian Championship Results

3. Beat the Streets Match-up Order Announced
The wait is almost over!

Three Olympic champions in Togrul ASGAROV (AZE), Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) and Helen MAROULIS (USA) are set to compete at Beat the Streets which begins this Thursday, May 17 at 2:30 PM in New York, New York.

The final two duals, USA vs. Nigeria and USA vs. Cuba start at 6:30 PM.

Women's Freestyle
USA vs. Nigeria
57kg: Helen MAROULIS (USA) vs. Odunayo ADEKUROYE (NGR)
59 kg: Alli RAGAN (USA) vs. Adeniyi AMINAT (NGR)
68 kg: Tamyra STOCK (USA) vs. Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR)

FREESTYLE
USA vs. Cuba
57kg – Josh RODRIGUEZ (USA) vs. Reineri ORTEGA (CUB)
70kg – James GREEN (USA) vs. Franklin MAREN CASTILLO (CUB)
79kg – Kyle DAKE (USA) vs. Livan LOPEZ AZCUY (CUB)
92kg – J’den COX (USA) vs. Yurieski TORREBLANCA QUERALTA (CUB)
97kg – Kyle SNYDER (USA) vs. Reineris SALAS PEREZ (CUB)
125kg– Nick GWIAZDOWSKI (USA) vs. Yudenny ESTEVEZ (CUB)

Age-level Match-up - Patrick GLORY (USA) vs. Gavin TEASDALE (USA)

Co-Main Event – Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) vs. Frank CHAMIZO (ITA)
Main Event – Jordan OLIVER (USA) vs. Togrul ASGAROV (AZE)

4. Olympic Champion, Yazdani Locks up Another Iranian World Team Spot
The world and Olympic champion, Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) defeated 2018 Takhti Cup champion, Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) twice in the best of three series to make Iran’s 2018 Asian Games and 2018 World Championship roster.

In the first match-up, Yazdani was tested early, giving up the first two points. The reigning world champion came back to outscore Ghasempour, 8-0 to take the first match, 8-2.

The Olympic champion remained undefeated in Iran for the fourth consecutive year with a 5-0 victory in the second match.

FULL RESULTS

5. Youth Olympic Qualifications by Country
The 2018 Youth Olympic Games will take place October 12-14 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The highest placing athlete from the Asian Championships qualified their countries spot for the Games in both freestyle and Greco-Roman.

In women's wrestling, the top two athletes from the Asian Championships qualified their nations spot for the Buenos Aires Games.

Qualifiers After the Cadet Asian Championships
Freestyle
48kg - UZB
55kg - JPN
65kg - IRI
80kg - IRI
110kg - IRI

Greco-Roman
45kg - IRI
51kg - JPN
60kg - UZB
71kg - JPN
92kg - IRI

Women's Wrestling
43kg - JPN and MGL
49kg - JPN and UZB
57kg - JPN and IND
65kg - JPN and CHN
73kg - JPN and UZB

Full Cadet Asian Championship Results

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media

1. Big Move Monday! @vlasovroma90 #kaspeuro2018
2. Happy Mother’s Day, wrestling fans!
3. One of the most anticipated matches in years will go down May 17th in NYC. If you live in the area go ahead and support @beatthestreets, which provides wrestling opportunities to disadvantaged youth around the city. —>http://bit.ly/rotr-tix
4. Preparing for the match #wrestling #sportsgirl #cadet #asia #борьба
5. A few Black and Whites from the 2018 European Championships Kaspiysk. #wrestling #kaspiysk2018 #unitedworldwrestling

Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! June 25, 2018

Monday, June 25, 2018 - 16:07 By Eric Olanowski

Reviewing results from the China Open, Hungarian Grand Prix, and Final X. Also looking at the best-of-three match between Susaki and Irie, along with the relocation of Russian Nationals to Moscow.

1. China Boasts Depth, Wins Four China Open Titles
China boasted their depth last weekend in Taiyuan, China, winning four championships and fifteen overall medals at United World Wrestling's third women's wrestling Ranking Series event of the year, the China Open.

The most impressive Chinese performance came at 57kg where RONG Ningning thumped the competition for the third time this year, winning her third gold medal in as many competitions. This time, it was down 2kg from her Ivan Yaryin and Asian Championship weight of 59kg.

After the competition, Rong said “The 2kg difference was not hard to make. It was just a few extra runs. But, I felt light, and this is going to be my weight moving forward to the Asian Games and the World Championships.”

FULL CHINA OPEN RESULTS

J'den Cox, 2016 Olympic bronze medalist (Photo by Tony Rotundo)

2. USA’s World Championship Team Set
The third installment of the United States’ world team selection process, Final X competed in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania with the final three freestyle spots being claimed by 2017 world bronze medalists J’den COX and Nick GWIAZDOWSKI (USA) along with first-time world team member, Nashon GARRETT (USA).

Also of note, three-time world and Olympic champion Helen MAROULIS (USA) withdrew from Final X due to an unspecified injury and has been granted a wrestle-off for a time to be later determined.

USA’s World Team Line-up
57kg – Thoman GILMAN (USA)
61kg – Nashon GARRETT (USA)
65KG – Logan STIEBER (USA)
70kg – James GREEN (USA)
74kg – Jordan BURROUGHS (USA)
79kg – Kyle DAKE (USA)
86kg – David TAYLOR (USA)
92kg – J’den COX (USA)
97kg – Kyle SNYDER (USA)
125kg – Nick GWIAZDOWSKI (USA)

FINAL X – Bethlehem Results

3. Hungarian Grand Prix Wraps up in Gyor
United World Wrestling’s third Greco-Roman Ranking Series event of the year, the Hungarian Grand Prix wrapped up in Gyor, Hungary, and four different nations had wrestlers claim gold medals.

Kazakhstan was the front-runner, winning four gold medals, while the host nation finished with three champions. Iran’s duo of Mohsen HAJI POUR (IRI) and Yousef GHADERIAN (IRI) each claimed gold medals, with the tenth and final gold medal going to Kyrgyzstan’s Kanybek ZHOLCHUBEKOV.

FULL HUNGARIAN OPEN RESULTS

2017 world champion, Yui SUSAKI (JPN). (Photo by Tony Rotundo)

4. Susaki and Irie Wrestle-off Set for July 7
Defending world champion Yui SUSAKI (JPN) and Yuki IRIE’s (JPN) world team spot match-up has been set for July 7. Japan's playoff process for the 2018 World Championships is between the Emperor's Cup and Meiji Cup champions, which happens to be Susaki and Irie at 50kg.

Irie, Japan's Asian Championship representative defeated Susaki in December by technical fall in the Emperor’s Cup semifinals, but Susaki claimed revenge and returned the favor by flattening Irie at the Meiji Cup two weeks ago, evening "the series" at one apiece.

Though Irie, the winner of the Emperor’s Cup will represent Japan at the 2018 Asian Games, the winner of the third match-up since December will seal their spot on Japan's world championship team.
Three-time world and Olympic champion, Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS). (Photo by Martin Gabor)

5. Russian Nationals Relocated to Moscow
The Russian National Championships were set to take place in Sochi, Russia, but have since been moved to Moscow, Russia.

The extremely expensive hotel and venue prices for August on the Black Sea in the tourist city of Sochi, the host site for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games have forced the Russian Federation to relocate their National Championships.