Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! Yarygin, Takhti and Burroughs or Chamizo

Monday, January 22, 2018 - 13:29 By Eric Olanowski

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What happened last week? 
74kg No. 1 Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) v. 70kg No . 1 Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) 

Are you interested in sparking an international wrestling debate? Start by challenging a two-time world champion to a match. That is, if you're willing to wrestle him, which Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) is willing to do. 

Burroughs took to twitter to say "I’m inspired to wrestle a super match/world #1 now. What do you say @ChamizoFrank ? Shall we?"

Chamizo quickly responded via Instagram by saying "Hey my friend @alliseeisgold are you sure you want this battle? Do you think you can handle my defense? ?? I think it would be a great battle. ??????.."  

Burroughs then posted a photo of the two with the caption "who ya got?" 

After seeing the social media exchange, and if the match happens, "who ya got?" 

What's New Around The Wrestling World? 
In order to promote more active and offensive, United World Wrestling announced rule modifications to Greco-Roman wrestling. 

The recently announced rule modifications that went into effect on January 1, 2018 were updated with hopes to discontinue "negative wrestling, which includes things such as blocking, pushing, and interlocking fingers." 

Looking Forward To This Week
Two of United World Wrestling’s major ranking series events begin later this week. The Ivan Yarygin starts Friday in Krasnoarsk, Russia, and the Takhti Cup begins Thursday in Mahshahr, Iran.

The top five finishers for non-continental or world championship rankings series tournaments will be award eight points for first place, six points for second place, four points for third place and two points for fifth place.

THE IVAN YARYGIN
The Ivan Yarygin, which is widely regarded as the toughest freestyle tournament in the world is the first of the four freestyle specialty ranking tournaments. The additional specialty tournaments include the Tbilisi GP (GEO), South Africa Open (RSA) and the Medved (BLR). 

Schedule
Friday, January 26:
Women's wrestling: 50kg, 55kg, 59kg and 65 kg.
Freestyle: 57kg, 61kg and 70kg

Saturday, January 27:
Women's wrestling: 53kg, 57kg, 62kg and  68 kg. 
Freestyle: 65kg,79kg and 125kg

Sunday, January 28:
Women's wrestling: 72kg and 76kg.
Freestyle:  74kg, 86kg, 92kg and 97kg

TAKHTI CUP 
Mahshahr, Iran will host the 38th annual Takhti Cup, which is the first Greco-Roman specialty ranking tournament of the year. The other three tournaments are the Granma y Cerro Pelado (CUB), Hungarian GP (HUN) and Vehbi Emre (TUR). 

SCHEDULE
Thursday, January 25:
Qualification rounds until semi-finals for all weight categories. 

Friday, January 26: 
Repechage and final matches. 

TWEETS OF THE WEEK! 

#UWWAwards

UWW's 2024 Wrestlers of the Year: Petriashvili, Tosun, Kusaka

Monday, December 16, 2024 - 16:45 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 16) -- United World Wrestling has announced the wrestlers of the year in Freestyle, Women's Wrestling and Greco-Roman. UWW’s 2024 Wrestler of the Year award winners are Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO), Buse TOSUN (TUR) and Nao KUSAKA (JPN).

Freestyle: Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO)

The 30-year-old Georgian finished with a style-best 68,200 Ranking Series points through his finishes at the four point-based events of the year -- Olympic Games, European Championships, Croatian and Hungarian Ranking Series -- in which he collected a 13-4 record with 8 wins coming against top 20 ranked opponents.

Petriashvili’s 2024 season didn’t start well, as he finished in fifth place with a 3-2 record at the Croatian Ranking Series. This marked Petriashvili’s sixth consecutive full season in which he started on a losing note before regaining focus and peaking at the most opportune times.

In his next outing, Petriashvili scored three wins before reaching the European finals for the seventh time in his career. However, he fell short against career rival Taha AKGUL (TUR) for silver.

The three-time world champion then went to Hungary for the final tune-up before the Paris Olympics. While at the second Ranking Series event of the year, Petriashvili grabbed three wins, but not before falling to Yusup BATIRMURZAEV (KAZ) in the semifinals while nursing a left elbow injury.

Petriashvili headed to Paris hungry to improve his 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medal. The father of two did exactly that, picking up four victories including a 10-9 shock win over two-time reigning world champion Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI), becoming Georgia’s third-ever freestyle Olympic gold medalist.
 
Greco-Roman: Nao KUSAKA (JPN)

23-year-old Nao KUSAKA (JPN), finished with a Greco-Roman best 79,200 Ranking Series points after winning golds at the Olympics, Asian Championships, and Hungarian Ranking Series events while also winning a bronze at the Croatian Ranking Series event at the beginning of the season.

After falling in the semifinals of his first competition of the year, Kusaka rallied off 14 consecutive victories -- four of which came against former world champions Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR), Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA), Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) and Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) -- on his way to winning golds in Paris, Bishkek and Budapest.

Kusaka’s win in Paris at 77kg, alongside his fellow teammate Kenichiro FUMITA’s gold, ended Japan’s 40-year Greco-Roman Olympic gold-medal drought.

Women's Wrestling: Buse TOSUN (TUR)

Buse TOSUN (TUR) is UWW’s Women’s wrestler of the year after topping the rankings with a style best 60,200 points. She narrowly edged Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) by 200 points for the coveted award.

Tosun, the reigning world champion at 68kg, finished 2024 with an impressive 11-2 record. Of those 11 wins during the season, a staggering eight came against wrestlers in the top 15 of the world rankings.

She dropped her first match of the season to Feng ZHOU (CHN) but went on to win 11 of her remaining 12 bouts, falling only at the Paris Olympics to eventual champion Amit ELOR (USA), en route to winning an Olympic bronze which was just Turkiye's second-ever women’s wrestling Olympic medal.

United World Wrestling congratulates Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO), Nao KUSAKA (JPN), and Buse TOSUN (TUR) for their incredible achievements this year and for being named the 2024 Wrestlers of the Year.