#worldcupiowacity

Five Must-Watch Matches From the #WorldCupIowaCity

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1.Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO) df. Iderkhuu GANTULGA (MGL), 22-17.
This 39-point match took place during the fifth and sixth place dual between Georgia and Mongolia. After six lead changes, Gaphrindashvili erased a 16-10 deficit and ended the match on a 12-1 run. 

2. Taiki YAMAMOTO (JPN) df. Yudenny ALPAJON ESTEVEZ (CUB), 6-5. 
This was arguably the most important match of the entire tournament. After Cuba stormed back to win four of the last six bouts, Japan’s hopes of winning a bronze for the first time since 1985 were placed on the back of their final wrestler, Taiki Yamamoto (JPN). 

Yamamoto trailed 5-4 heading into the final 30 seconds of the match. He got to a high crotch on the right side and ended up taking the lead on criteria after driving Alpajon Este out of bounds to pick up the step out point. After Cuba’s failed challenge and a late flurry from Alpajon Este, Yamamoto hung on to win the match, 6-5. 

3. Dato MARSAGISHVILI (GEO) df. J'Den Michael COX (USA), 5-0. 
This was a battle of London Olympic bronze medalist v. Rio Olympic bronze medalist. Marsagishvili's shutout of Cox gave Georgia one of only two wins during the entire USA dual. 

Marsagishvili, Georgia's only undefeated wrestler on the weekend also defeated world No. 1 Turtogtokh LUVSANDORJ (MGL) and finished the World Cup without surrendering an offensive point while outscoring his opponents 30-0. 

4. Logan Jeffery STIEBER (USA) df. Haji ALIYEV (AZE), 6-2. 
A battle of former 61kg worlds champions who recently made the move up to 65kg. Logan Stieber the 2016 61kg world champion took on Haji Aliyev, the three-time world champion, and Olympic bronze medalist.

After this weekend, Aliyev admitted to the struggles that he's faced at 65kg, saying “I changed weight categories and moved up to 65kg. It’s different, it’s difficult. I need to focus, but I think I’ll be fine…I changed to 65kg three months ago and just need to train more."

5. Daichi TAKATANI (JPN) df. Alejandro Enrique VALDES TOBIER (CUB), 10-8. 
It took Takatani all he had to stop a gut wrench that would have given Valdes Tobier's the 10-0 technical superiority victory in period number one. 

When asked about falling behind 8-0, Takatani said: "I knew I was down 8-0, but I also knew that it was time for my Japanese pride to kick it." That Japanese pride kicked in to the tune of a Takatani 10-8 run to end the match and gave Japan the 3-0 lead heading into the fourth bout of the dual. 

#worldcupiowacity

Complete Freestyle World Cup Rosters Released

By Eric Olanowski

Iowa, United States (April 5) - Although India does not arrive until Friday morning, each of the eight participating nations have submitted their finalized rosters for the 2018 Freestyle World Cup which begins April 7.

The eight teams have been split into two groups for the dual-meet based events which is an annual highlight of the international wrestling calendar. Group A will be comprised of the United States, Georgia, Japan and India, while Group B will be Azerbaijan, Cuba, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia.

Azerbaijan
57kg Giorgi EDISHERASHVILI 
57kg - Afgan KHASHALOV     
61kg - Akhmednabi GVARZATILOV   
65kg - Haji ALIYEV     
65kg - Aghahuseyn MUSTAFAYEV    
70kg - Joshgun AZIMOV        
74kg - Gadzhimurad OMAROV         
79kg - Jabrayil HASANOV      
86kg - Aleksandr GOSTIYEV  
92kg - Aslanbek ALBOROV    
97kg - Nurmagomed GADZHIYEV     
97kg - Roman BAKIROV        
125kg - Jamaladdin MAGOMEDOV   

Cuba
57kg - Reineri ANDREU ORTEGA      
61kg - Yowlys BONNE RODRIGUEZ  
65kg - Alejandro Enrique VALDES TOBIER    
70kg - Franklin MAREN CASTILLO     
74kg - Livan LOPEZ AZCUY    
79kg - Yoan Adrian ZULUETA MORALES       
86kg - Yurieski TORREBLANCA QUERALTA   
92kg - Lazaro Daniel HERNANDEZ LUIS        
97kg - Reineris SALAS PEREZ CUB
125kg - Yudenny ALPAJON ESTEVEZ 

Georgia
57kg - Teimuraz VANISHVILI 
61kg - Lasha LOMTADZE       
65kg - Magamed SAIDOVI     
70kg - Levan KELEKHSASHVILI           
74kg - Tarzan MAISURADZE 
79kg - Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI      
86kg - Davit KHUTSISHVILI   
92kg - Dato MARSAGISHVILI
97kg - Givi MATCHARASHVILI
125kg - Zviad METREVELI      

India
57kg -  Amit KUMAR 
61kg -  Sandeep TOMAR       
65kg -  Sharvan SHARVAN     
70kg -  Kumar ARUN 
74kg -  Kumar Omprakash VINOD     
79kg -  Sachin GIRI    
86kg -  Pawan KUMAR          
92kg -  Deepak PUNIA
97kg -  Viky VIKY        
125kg - Singh PUSHPENDER  

Japan
57kg -  Yuki TAKAHASHI         
61kg -  Kazuya KOYANAGI     
61kg -  Rinya NAKAMURA     
65kg -  Daichi TAKATANI       
65kg -  Takuto OTOGURO     
70kg -  Keisuke OTOGURO    
70kg -  Kirin KINOSHITA         
74kg -  Ken HOSAKA  
74kg -  Yuhi FUJINAMI           
79kg -  Sohsuke TAKATANI    
86kg -  Shota SHIRAI  
86kg -  Masao MATSUSAKA  
92kg -  Takashi ISHIGURO     
97kg -  Takeshi YAMAGUCHI 
97kg -  Taira SONODA           
125kg -Nobuyoshi ARAKIDA  
125kg -Taiki YAMAMOTO      

Kazakhstan
57kg -  Mukhambet KUATBEK           
61kg -  Rassul KALIYEV          
65kg -  Sayatbek OKASSOV   
70kg -  Meirzhan ASHIROV    
74kg -  Daniyar KAISANOV    
79kg -  Saken AITZHANOV     
86kg -  Elkhan ASSADOV       
92kg -  Iliskhan CHILAYEV      
97kg -  Mamed IBRAGIMOV 
125kg -Daulet SHABANBAY   
125kg -Oleg BOLTIN  
125kg -Yermukambet INKAR 

Mongolia
57kg -  ERDENEBAT Bekhbayar         
61kg -  TUMENBILEG Tuvshintulga   
65kg -  BATCHULUUN Batmagnai     
70kg -  SANJAA Ganbayar     
74kg -  GANZORIG Mandakhnaran   
79kg -  GANTULGA Iderkhuu 
86kg -  ORGODOL Uitumen   
92kg - LUVSANDORJ Turtogtokh      
97kg - ULZIISAIKHAN Batzul 
125kg - NATSAGSUREN Zolboo 

United States
57kg -  Thomas Patrick GILMAN       
57kg -  Frank Vincent PERRELLI IV    
61kg -  Kendric Dwayne MAPLE         
61kg -  Joseph Daniel COLON
65kg -  Logan Jeffery STIEBER           
65kg -  Joseph Christopher MC KENNA         
70kg -  James Malcolm GREEN         
70kg -  Frank Aniello MOLINARO      
74kg -  Jordan Ernest BURROUGHS  
74kg -  Isaiah Alexander MARTINEZ 
79kg -  Kyle Douglas DAKE     
79kg -  Alexander David DIERINGER 
86kg -  David Morris TAYLOR III        
86kg -  Bo Dean NICKAL         
92kg -  J'Den Michael Tbory COX       
92kg -  Hayden Nicholas ZILLMER     
97kg -  Kyle Frederick SNYDER          
97kg -  Kyven Ross GADSON  USA
125kg - Nicholas Edward GWIAZDOWSKI    
125kg - Dominique Deshon BRADLEY

Freestyle World Cup Schedule
Saturday, April 7 (All Times, CST)

10:00 am: United States v. India (Mat A) // Mongolia v. Kazakhstan (Mat B)
11:15 am: Japan v. Georgia (Mat A) // Azerbaijan v. Cuba (Mat B)
2:00 pm: Opening Ceremonies 
2:30 pm: United States v. Japan (Mat A) 
4:30 pm: Mongolia v. Cuba (Mat B)
5:45 pm: India v. Georgia (Mat A) // Azerbaijan v. Kazakhstan (Mat B)

Sunday, April 8 (All Times, CST)
10:00 am: United States v. Georgia (Mat A) // Mongolia v. Azerbaijan (Mat B)
11:15am: India v. Japan (Mat A) // Kazakhstan v. Cuba (Mat B)
12:30pm: Fifth Place Match (Mat A) // Seventh Place Match (Mat B)
2:15 pm: Bronze Medal Match (Mat A)
4:00 pm: Gold Medal Match (Mat A)

TV Schedule
Saturday, April 7 (All Times, CST)

10:00 am: USA v. India — Olympic Channel
2:30 pm: USA v. Japan — NBCSN

Sunday, April 8 ((All Times, CST)
11:00 am: United States v. Georgia — Olympic Channel
4:00 pm: Gold Medal Match — NBCSN