#WrestleTokyo

#WrestleTokyo Olympic Games Preview: 130kg

Thursday, July 22, 2021 - 14:40 By Andrew Hipps

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TOKYO, Japan (July 22) – Mijain LOPEZ NUNEZ (CUB) will look to make history at the Tokyo Olympics. The Cuban wrestling legend, who enters unseeded, has a chance to become the first four-time Olympic champion in Greco-Roman and the second wrestler in any style to accomplish the feat. (At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Japan's Kaori ICHO became the first four-time Olympic champion wrestler in any style.) The 38-year-old Lopez is not only unbeaten at the Olympic Games since 2008, but he has won five world titles and three world silver medals. Two of his three losses in world championship competition have come to Riza KAYAALP (TUR), who enters the Tokyo Olympics as the top seed at 130kg.

The 31-year-old Kayaalp has compiled an international wrestling resume that puts him among the greatest Greco-Roman heavyweights ever. He is a four-time world champion and a three-time Olympic medalist. The only accomplishment that has eluded him is an Olympic gold medal. His only losses at the Olympic Games have come to Lopez. At the 2012 London Olympics, Lopez defeated Kayaalp in the semifinals. Four years later, the two met for the gold medal at the Rio Olympics, with Lopez earning a 6-0 victory. He has defeated Lopez in two world championship finals, 2011 and 2015. In April, Kayaalp won his 10th senior European Championships title in Warsaw, Poland.

World champion Sergey SEMENOV (RUS) will be after his second Olympic medal. He won a bronze medal at the Rio Olympics, with his only loss coming to Lopez in the semifinals. Two years later, Semenov won a gold medal at the 2018 World Wrestling Championships in Budapest, Hungary. In December, Semenov won gold at the Individual World Cup in Belgrade.

Second-seeded Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY) won a silver medal at the Matteo Pellicone Tournament in March. He won gold at the African and Oceania Olympic Games Qualifier in early April.

Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB), seeded No.3, is competing in his third straight Olympics. He has won multiple medals at the Asian Championships and a gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games.

Fourth-seeded Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI), a past junior world champion, won gold at the 2020 Asian Championships. In June, Mirzazadeh won gold at the Wladyslaw Pytlasinski Cup.

World bronze medalist Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) is a medal contender in the weight category. He reached the finals of the European Championships this year before falling to Kayaalp. Kajaia was a gold medalist at the 2019 European Games.

Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ (CHI) won a bronze medal at the 2017 World Championships. He was a gold medalist at the Grand Prix de France Henri Deglane in January.

Eduard POPP (GER) reached the semifinals of the 2016 Olympics in Rio before placing fifth.

Another past world medalist to watch is Minseok KIM (KOR). He was a bronze medalist at the 2018 World Championships.

Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU) and Elias KUOSMANEN (FIN) have won multiple medals at the European Championships. Alexuc Ciurariu, a 2020 European champion, will be competing in his third Olympics.

130kg
No. 1 Riza KAYAALP (TUR)
No. 2 Abdellatif Mohamed Ahmed MOHAMED (EGY)
No. 3 Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB)
No. 4 Amin Mohammadzaman MIRZAZADEH (IRI)
Mijain LOPEZ NUNEZ (CUB)
Artur VITITIN (EST)
Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO)
Eduard POPP (GER)
Amine GUENNICHI (TUN)
Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ (CHI)
Eduard SOGHOMONYAN (BRA)
Sergey SEMENOV (RUS)
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
Minseok KIM (KOR)
Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU)
Elias KUOSMANEN (FIN)

#WrestlingHistory

Wrestling History: Who was Ivan Yarygin?

Monday, March 24, 2025 - 11:49 By United World Wrestling Press

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For most, a trip to Krasnoyarsk, Siberia on the last weekend of January each year would sound chilling. Afterall, it is one of the coldest regions on the planet.

But for the past 35 years, wrestlers from around the world attend the Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix in January, the tournament which kicks off the season for most countries.

The prestigious tournament sees close to 1000 wrestlers vying for the gold medals in Freestyle and Women's Wrestling. But who was Ivan Yarygin after whom the tournament is named?

Born in Kemerovo, Soviet Union on November 7, 1948, Yarygin was a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a world champion who went on to became the coach of the Soviet Union team and later the Russian national team.

In 1966, aged 18, Yarygin was stationed in Krasnoyarsk with the army and began training with legendary coach Dmitry MINDIASHVILI to polish his technique.

Famous for winning his Olympic bouts via fall, Yarygin won seven bouts at the 1972 Games in just over seven minutes. Those were days when a bout could extend till nine minutes. He pinned all seven wrestlers before time and no one has come close to matching that record.

How did Yarygin begin training in wrestling?

Yarygin played football in his village. His big built made him a perfect goalkeeper, a position he continued to play during his driving school training in Abakan. Vladimir CHARKOV, a wrestling club trainer, saw Yarygin and asked him to try wrestling. And just by chance, Yarygin began his wrestling career.

The Freestyle wrestler primarily competed at 100kg and was known for his dynamic training and ditching traditional methods in wrestling. He quickly rose through the ranks in Soviet wrestling circles. He debuted internationally in 1970 at the European Championships and finished with a silver medal. Ahmet AYIK (TUR) defeated him in the 100kg final. But Yarygin won the European gold in 1972, the first of his three continental titles.

Later that year, Yarygin participated in the 1972 Munich Olympic Games and won gold medal in 100kg without giving up a single point in seven bouts. He defeated Khorloo BAYANMUNKH (MGL) and Jozsef CSATARI (HUN) in the finals round.

His results dipped after the Munich Olympics, with 1974 being a humbling year, Yarygin moved back to village. "I trained in the village every day like a peasant," Yarygin had famously said. "I chopped enough firewood for three winters ahead."

Yarygin returned and made sure he was still the winner. The gold medal in Montreal was not as simple as Munich but there was still no match for Yarygin. He went on to win the gold medal in 1976, his second in Olympic Games.

In the first bout of the 1976 Games, Yarygin faced Harald BUTTNER who had defeated him in the European Championships. However, Yarygin managed to keep Buttner at bay and won 13-5.

Yarygin's results soon declined and he failed to top the standings in USSR. He would finally make way for younger generation before the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

After his retirement, Yarygin tried his hand at coaching and administration. Yarygin was the coach of the Soviet Freestyle team from 1982 to 1992 and later became the president of the wrestling federation from 1993 to 1997. Russia hosted the 1997 World Championships in Krasnoyarsk which Yarygin led in organization.

Yarygin died on October 11, 1997 in a car accident. United World Wrestling inducted him into the UWW Hall of Fame in 2010.