Weekly FIVE!

Weekly Five! November 19, 2019

By Eric Olanowski

Discussing results from Women's World Cup, four matches you may have missed, and the top-three upsets. Also, looking at Snyder's run to a Bill Farrell title and the upcoming Greco-Roman World Cup. 

1. Japan Wins Fifth Consecutive World Cup 
Japan won its fifth consecutive Women’s World Cup and tied China (2007-’11) for the annual dual meet event’s longest win streak. The host nation defeated the United States in the gold-medal dual after taking out rival China and a young Ukrainian team in pool play. 

The four-time defending champions kick-started their day with an impressive 9-1 routing of Ukraine. Japan won the first seven matches before Alla BELINSKA, a 2019 World Military Games bronze medalist, put Ukraine on the board with a fall over Mei SHINDO (JPN) in their 72kg meeting. Japan’s domination in the dual was highlighted by Sae NANJO’s (JPN) 10-0 blanking of last year’s U23 world bronze medalist, Olena KREMZER (UKR). 

Japan’s win over Ukraine set up an all-star dual between them and China – who combine for 17 of the 18 Women’s World Cup titles. 

Yui SUSAKI (JPN), a two-time world champion, returned to Japan’s lineup with a massive bang -- taking down world champion and Rio Olympic bronze medalist, Yanan SUN (CHN), 3-2. Japan followed Susaki’s 3-2 victory over Sun by winning five straight matches before dropping the final four matches. Japan's strong early lead cemented their spot in the finals against the USA with the 6-4 advantage over China. 

In the gold-medal dual, Japan won seven of ten matches and captured their fifth straight Women’s World Cup title -- tying China’s run, which lasted from 2007-’11.

The only three losses Japan suffered in the finals came from the Stars and Stripes trio of world champions, Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA), Tamyra MENSAH (USA) and Adeline GRAY (USA). 

China closed out the tournament with a 7-3 win over Mongolia in the bronze-medal match, and Ukraine edged Russia, 5-5 on criteria, in the fifth-place match. 

Japan df. The United States, 7-3 
50kg: Yui SUSAKI (JPN) df. Whitney CONDER (USA) by TF, 10-0, 3:17
53kg: Haruna OKUNO (JPN) df. Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA) by TF, 10-0, 5:32
55kg: Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) df. Akie HANAI (JPN), 5-1
57kg: Risako KAWAI (JPN) df. Kelsey CAMPBELL (USA) by TF, 11-0, 4:10
59kg: Yuzuka INAGAKI (JPN) df. Desiree ZAVALA (USA) by TF, 10-0, 4:12
62kg: Yukako KAWAI (JPN) df. Macey KILTY (USA), 7-0
65kg: Naomi RUIKE (JPN) df. Forrest MOLINARI (USA), 5-1
68kg: Tamyra MENSAH-STOCK (USA) df. Naruha MATSUYUKI (JPN), 8-1
72kg: Yuka KAGAMI (JPN) df. Victoria FRANCIS (USA), 3-1
76kg: Adeline GRAY (USA) df. Hiroe MINAGAWA (JPN) by Fall, 5:04 (3-1) 

Yui SUSAKI (JPN) and Yanan SUN (CHN) trade gifts before clashing at the 2019 Women's World Cup. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

2. Four Women’s World Cup Matches You May Have Missed 
With 17 returning world medalists entered at this weekend’s Women’s World Cup, it wasn’t a question if there would be good matches; the question is when they would take place. 

Yui SUSAKI (JPN) df. Yanan SUN (CHN), 3-2 
Yui SUSAKI (JPN) downed Yanan SUN (CHN) for the second time in three years at the Women’s World Cup and improved her career record against the Chinese world champion to 3-0. Outside of their two World Cup meetings, their third meeting came at the 2017 Asian Championships, where Susaki defeated Sun 9-4 in the quarterfinals. She ultimately went on to grab the continental title. 

Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA) df. Milana DADASHEVA (RUS), 10-7
Maybe one of the most confusing endings to a match that I’ve ever seen, but after a challenge that lasted nearly five minutes, Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA) defeated Milana DADASHEVA (RUS), 10-7. 

The 2018 world runner-up fought off a late flurry of attacks and scored the three-point victory over last year's U23 world silver medalist, Milana Dadasheva. 

Adeline Maria GRAY (USA) df. Hiroe MINAGAWA SUZUKI (JPN), via fall 
One of the most highly anticipated matches coming into the tournaments that left wrestling fans licking their chops was the potential 76kg world finals rematch between Adeline Maria GRAY (USA) and Hiroe MINAGAWA SUZUKI (JPN). 

Both Japan and the United States went undefeated in pool play, which set up the Gray and Minagawa matchup that we were all waiting for. But, this match was much different than the six-point match the two put in the world finals. In their World Cup matchup last weekend, Gray went big early and scored the fall over Minagawa and handed the United States their third win of the dual. 

Adeline GRAY (USA) df. Ekaterina BUKINA (RUS), 11-6 
Adeline Gray may have more world medals than Ekaterina BUKINA (RUS), but the Russian has one thing that the American is still searching for -- an Olympic medal. But that wasn’t on Gray's mind this weekend when the two heavyweights closed out the United States and Russian dual with an impressive back and forth 17-point showing. 

3. Top-Three Upsets from the Women’s World Cup 
1. Bolortuya BAT OCHIR (MGL) df. Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA), via fall 
The four reigning world champions who wrestled in Narita last weekend went 10-1, and the only wrestler who scored a victory over a Nur-Sultan gold medalist was BAT OCHIR Bolortuya (MGL). Bat Ochir, this year's world bronze medalist, stuck 55kg world champion Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA). 

Bat Ochir gave up a takedown but strung together a pair of step-outs and trailed 2-2 on criteria mid-way through the first period. A second American takedown put the Mongolian down 4-2, but Bat Ochir remained calm and caught Winchester on her heels during an underhook throw by attempt -- pancaking the world champion to her back for the fall. 

2. Yuzuka INAGAKI (JPN) df. Ningning RONG (CHN), 2-0 
Although it wasn’t flashy or high scoring, high schooler Yuzuka INAGAKI (JPN) struck down reigning two-time world finalist RONG Ningning (CHN), 2-0, in their 59kg meeting. 

Inagaki, this year’s junior and U23 world champion, scored both points while the Chinese wrestler was on the activity clock and picked up the 2-0 win.

It should be noted, to avoid a 57kg world finals rematch with rival Risako KAWAI (JPN), the three-time world and Olympic champion, Rong bumped up to 59kg from her Nur-Sultan world silver-medal winning weight of 57kg. 

3. ZHOU Qian (CHN) df. Hiroe MINAGAWA SUZUKI (JPN), 7-0 
ZHOU Qian (CHN) and Hiroe MINAGAWA SUZUKI (JPN) have been going back and forth for years, and after the Chinese wrestler “upset” the Japanese wrestler last weekend, it doesn’t look like the rivalry is dying down anytime soon. 

Zhou lost to Minagawa 3-1 in the quarterfinals of the World Championships but avenged her loss with a 7-0 shutout win in the second round at the Women’s World Cup. 

4. Snyder Highlights Bill Farrell Memorial Champions 
The first Olympic Team Trial qualification tournament, the Bill Farrell Memorial, wrapped up at the historic New York Athletic Club and the two-time world and Olympic champion Kyle SNYDER (USA) highlighted the list of six American champions. 

Kyle SNYDER (USA) highlighted the list of six American Bill Farrell Memorial champions. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

Snyder only needed just over two and a half minutes to demolish Michael MACCHIAVELLO (USA), 10-0,  in the 97kg finals.

He kicked off the match with monstrous double to his feet for the opening takedown then quickly extended his lead to six points with a pair of right side gut wrenches. The Rio Olympic used a counter-offensive spin behind to push his lead to eight points before closing the match out with an uncharacteristic open double leg. 

Other notable Bill Farrell Memorial champions were Alex DIERINGER (USA) and Gable STEVESON (USA). 

Dieringer, the Alexander Medved, Dan Kolov and Yasar Dogu champion added a second Bill Farrell Memorial gold medal to his resume after taking down Myles MARTIN (USA), 7-2, in the 86kg finals, which is a weight up from his normal weight of 79kg. 

At 125kg, Gable STEVESON (USA), a three-time age-group world champion, won his first senior-level gold medal with a three-point finals win over Dominique BRADLEY (USA). 

The highest finisher at each weight class qualified their spot for April's Olympic Trials. In cases where the highest finished already qualified for the Olympic Trials (97kg), the next highest finisher earned the qualification spot. 

RESULTS
57kg - Seth GROSS (USA) df. Nathan TOMASELLO (USA), 11-1 
65kg - Jordan OLIVER (USA) df. Frank MOLINARO (USA), 8-6 
74kg - Isaiah MARTINEZ (USA) df. Jason NOLF (USA), 12-0 

86kg - Alex DIERINGER (USA) df. Myles MARTIN (USA), 7-2 
97kg - Kyle SNYDER df. Michael MACCHIAVELLO (USA), 10-0 
125kg - Gable STEVESON (USA) df. Dominique BRADLEY (USA), 4-1 

Two-time world and Olympic champion BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) highlights the entries for the 2019 Greco-Roman World Cup. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

5. Greco-Roman World Cup Begins Next Friday
The third and final World Cup begins next Friday (November 28-29) in Tehran, Iran's Azadi Stadium. As the entries sit heading into this week, there are six reigning world gold medalists who will travel to Tehran to compete in the Greco-Roman World Cup. 

The schedule and the full set of entries for the Greco-Roman World Cup will be released later this week. 

Reigning World Champions Entered
55kg - Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO)
60kg - Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) 
67kg - Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB)
67kg - Shinobu OTA (JPN)
72kg - Abuiazid MANTSIGOV (RUS)
82kg - Lasha GOBADZE (GEO)

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media

1. Big Move Monday -- Wang J. (CHN) -- Women's World Cup 2019 #wrestlenarita
2. World Championship Highlights: Mariya STADNIK (AZE)
3. Two trips to the World Championships. Two gold medals for @kyledake444.
4. 1/2 Final Matches | Women's Wrestling World Cup 2019
5. ‪Happy Friday, wrestling fans!

Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! August 20, 2019

By Eric Olanowski

Discussing Japan's eight gold-medal performance at Junior Worlds and Kamal claiming his third consecutive junior world title. Also looking at Russia's final wrestle-offs, Dake downing Dieringer, and counting down until the first whistle at the World Championships. 

1. Japanese Women Win Eight of Ten World Golds 
Japan’s women’s wrestling team went eight-for-eight in world title bouts -- claiming an unheard-of eight of ten gold medals at the 2019 Junior World Championships last week in Tallinn, Estonia. They also added on a pair of bronze medals and brought their tournament grand total medal count to ten on their way to doubling Russia’s second place team score. Japan finished the tournament with 230 points, while the Russian Federation, who finished in second place, had 115 points. Ukraine (91 points) rounded out the top three 139 points behind the Japanese women. 

The team champions were led by the pair of two-time senior-level world champions Yui SUSAKI (50kg) and Haruno OKUNO (53kg). 

Susaki claimed back-to-back junior world titles after seizing a 10-0 victory over 2016 cadet world silver medalist Daria KHVOSTOVA (RUS) in the 50kg finals.

With her win last week, Susaki brought her grand total to seven overall world gold medals since appearing at her first World Championships in 2014. When asked where this world title stacks up on her list, Susaki said, “My final goal is an Olympic gold medal. I will do my best and I will try to practice towards my final goal.” 

Susaki pushed her total world championship record to 31-0 -- with 29 of those wins being shutout victories. Perhaps a more impressive stat is Susaki has now outscored her 31 world championship opponents 290-6 en route to reaching the top of the podium.

She believes the reason she’s so successful is because her strength and mind. She said, “The reason why I get the championships is my own strength and mind.” 

Haruno OKUNO was one of Japan's eight wrestlers who won a junior world title. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

Japan’s second two-time senior world champ to win junior world gold last week was Haruno Okuno, who won the 53kg title. 

Okuno said she keeps all of her world title belts at her parent’s ’house. Well, their house gained an additional world championship belt after their daughter claimed her fifth world title in as many tries. The reigning two-time senior-level world champion added her first junior world title to her list of accomplishments after expelling Anudari NANDINTSETSEG (MGL), 7-2 in the 53kg gold-medal bout. 

By watching Okuno’s four matches, where she outscored her opponents 35-2, you would have never been able to tell that she was facing extreme neck pain on her right side. After her finals match, she talked about having to work on her counter offensive attacks because of her pain, saying “Now I feel neck pain, so I didn’t try to (tackle). In this tournament, the counterattack was very nice for me.” 

In her finals match, the always calm and stoic Okuno shot a low-level attack and picked up the early two-point lead. Her counter offense came into play when she stopped a Nandintsetseg attack and used a fluid arm-drag to a head outside single leg to pick up four points – improving her lead to 6-0. She then surrendered her first points of the tournament, an inactivity point and a stepout, but was awarded a brutality point after her Mongolian opponent was warned several times for hands-to-the-face. Okuno closed out her run to her first junior world title with a 7-2 victory. 

When asked if there’s a difference between a junior world title and a senior world title, Okuno said, “There isn’t difference between junior and senior because it means the same. It a world championship.  I’m always feeling very happy to (wrestle) against the world’s wrestlers.” 

Japanese Medal Winners: 
50kg - Yui SUSAKI (GOLD)
53kg - Haruna OKUNO (GOLD) 
55kg - Saki IGARASHI (BRONZE) 
57kg - Akie HANAI (GOLD)
59kg - Sae NANJO (GOLD)
62kg - Yuzuka INAGAKI (GOLD)
65kg - Miwa MORIKAWA (GOLD) 
69kg - Naruha MATSUYUKI (GOLD)
72kg - Yuka KAGAMI (GOLD)
76kg - Yasuha MATSUYUKI (BRONZE)

2. Kamal Wins Third Straight Junior World Title
Kerem KAMAL (TUR) will represent Turkey in Nur-Sultan in mid-September at the World Championships, but first, he made the journey to Estonia and claimed his third straight junior world title. 

Kamal held up three fingers to the crowd, signaling his possession of a third consecutive junior world title after he defeated Sahak HOVHANNISYAN (ARM), 7-2 in the 60kg gold-medal bout. “I’m very happy to win the third gold medal in the junior category. I was before in the cadet finals three times and I lost,” said Kamal.  

In his gold-medal bout, the Turkish wrestler trailed after the first period, but he expected to be in that position. “The match plan was (to be) safe in the first (period)…Safety first.” The second period was pivotal for Kamal in picking up his third world. After playing it safe in the first period, Kamal said, “In the second period, I go full power.” That’s exactly what he did. In the final three minutes, Kamal got to work quickly, smothering Hovhannisyan with a right-side gut wrench follow by a four-point lift from the right side and commanded the 7-1 lead. He conceded a second-period point but ended up carrying the Turkish flag around the mat at a World Championships for the third consecutive year with a 7-2 victory. 

Kamal’s attention now shifts towards the Senior World Championships, where he’ll be Turkey’s 60kg world team representative. The new minted three-time junior world champ begins his quest to win a senior world gold on September 16. 

3. Russia’s Freestyle World Team Set 
The final wrestle-offs for Russia’s freestyle team took place last weekend, and a trio of world champions will be heading to Nur-Sultan looking to defend their world titles from last year’s Budapest World Championships. 

The three world champs who hadn’t locked up their spot until last weekend were Zaur UGUEV (57kg), Zaurbek SIDAKOV (74kg) and Abdulrashid SADULAEV (97kg).

At 57kg, defending world champion Zaur Uguev was excused from the Russian National Championships after a bronze-medal finish at the European Games. 

To make his third straight world team, Uguev had to take out Arian TYUTRIN ​​​​to earn his spot on the world team. There were questions surrounding Ugev’s health coming into the match, but he clearly showed he’s the best 57kg wrestler in the most dominant freestyle nation on earth with a 10-0 win in his wrestle-off. 

In the 74kg wrestle-offs, defending world and European Games champion Zaurbek Sidakov, who was also granted a release from the Russian National Championships, earned his spot on this year’s team as he narrowly snuck got past 2016 world champion Magomed KURBANALIEV, 2-1. 

Four-time world and Olympic champion Abdulrashid Sadulaev was the final wrestler to cement his spot on the world team. The defending European champion and European Games gold medalist pulverized Vladislav BAITSAEV, 10-0 in their wrestle off. 

Sadualev’s win last weekend leaves hope for the wrestling community to see the rematch between the three-time world and Olympic champions “The Russian Tank” and Kyle “Captain America” Snyder in the 97kg finals. 

Russia’s Freestyle World Team: 
56kg – Zaur UGUEV 
61kg – Magomedrasul IDRISOV 
65kg – Gadzhimurad  RASHIDOV 
70kg – David BAEV
74kg – Zaurbek SIDAKOV
79kg – Gadzhi  NAVIEV
86kg – Artur NAIFONOV
92kg – Alikhan  JABRAILOV
97kg – Abdulrashid SADULAEV 
125kg – Anzor KHIZRIEV 

4. Dake Downs Dieinger in Two Straight Matches, Will Represent USA at 79kg 
Reigning 79kg world champion Kyle DAKE (USA) returned from injury and defeated Alex DIERINGER (USA) in two straight matches to make his second consecutive United States world team. Dake scored a tactical 3-2 victory in match one, then opened up a little in the second match and grabbed the 4-1 victory -- booking his ticket to the 2019 World Championships. 

Last year, in his World Championships debut, Dake outscored his opponents 37-0 en route to his first world title. After defeating Dierging in two straight matches last weekenk, Dake heads to Kazakhstan as the favorite to repeat in a weight depleted due to Olympic weight changes. 

USA’s Freestyle World Team: 
57kg - Daton FIX 
61kg - Tyler GRAFF

65kg - Yianni DIAKOMIHALIS / Zain RETHERFORD
70kg - James GREEN 
74kg - Jordan BURROUGHS 
79kg - Kyle DAKE 
86kg - Pat DOWNEY 
92kg - J'den COX 
97kg - Kyle SNYDER 
125kg - Nick
GWIAZDOWSKI 

5. The Countdown Begins to the World Championships
We’re officially under a month away from the start of the 2019 World Championships in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. Today marks the 25th day until the first whistle at the Barys Arena in Kazakhstan's capital city formally known as Astana.

This year’s World Championships will hold immense weight because the top-six wrestlers in each weight category will qualify their nation's spot for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. 

The schedule for this year’s Worlds is much different than that of the Budapest World Championships. Unlike last year, where Greco-Roman closed out the 2018 World Championships, Greco-Roman will instead kick things off this year -- beginning on September 14. Women’s wrestling will be sandwiched in between Greco-Roman and freestyle -- starting on September 17. Finally, freestyle will close out the World Championships, with the potential third match-up between the three-time world and Olympic champions Abdulrashid Sadualev and Kyle Snyder squaring off the 97kg gold medal. The pair have split the last two world titles at 97kg, with Snyder winning in Paris and Sadualev exacting revenge in Budapest by picking up the 70-second fall. 

Here is the World Championships SCHEDULE