Weekly FIVE! November 5, 2019

Tuesday, November 5, 2019 - 14:29 By Eric Olanowski

Reviewing results from the U23 World Championships and previewing the upcoming Women's Wrestling and Greco-Roman World Cups.

1. Egypt's Rising Star El Sayed Defends U23 World Title
Ten days. That’s how long it took for Mohamed EL SAYED (EGY) to bolster his resume by a pair of world titles. In just under two weeks, the 21-year-old Egyptian rising star steamrolled his way to the top of the podium at the U23 World Championships and World Military Games.

El Sayed kick-started his impressive two-week run on October 23, taking out five wrestlers in Wuhan, China, to win the World Military Games title at 67kg. Then, El Sayed downed five foes in Hungary last weekend and defended his U23 world gold medal from a year ago.

The Nur-Sultan world fifth-place finisher capped off his world-title run by obliterating Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (BLR), 8-0, in the 67kg finals. In addition to his finals win, the man who qualified Egypt for the Olympic Games at 67kg, scored perhaps his most significant win of the tournament when he bested Katsuaki ENDO (JPN) in the semifinals. The Egyptian wrestler came out on top of that matchup between returning U23 world champions, 7-5.

Egypt won't compete at the 2019 Greco-Roman World Cup, so the next time wrestling fans can catch El Sayed in action could be at January's Matteo Pellicone, which is the first Ranking Series event of 2020.

Taylor Miller's Greco-Roman Wraps:
Novikov Avenges European C’Ships Loss to Defend U23 World Title
Elsayed Collects Second World Title in Less than Two Weeks at #WrestleBudapest

Greco-Roman Finals Results
55kg - Shota OGAWA (JPN) df. Emin Narimanovitch SEFERSHAEV (RUS), 4-3
60kg - Armen MELIKYAN (ARM) df. Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ), 11-7
63kg - Meysam Karamali DALKHANI (IRI) df. Levani KAVJARADZE (GEO), 7-6
67kg - Mohamed Ibrahim Elsayed Ibrahi ELSAYED (EGY) df. Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (BLR), 9-0
72kg - Mohammadreza Abdolhamid GERAEI (IRI) df. Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE), 7-0
77kg - Islam OPIEV (RUS) df. Kodai SAKURABA (JPN), 3-1
82kg - Milad Valerikovitch ALIRZAEV (RUS) df. Vjekoslav LUBURIC (CRO), 8-0
87kg - Semen NOVIKOV (UKR) df. Gurami KHETSURIANI (GEO), 6-1
97kg - Arvi Martin SAVOLAINEN (FIN) df. Giorgi MELIA (GEO), 5-3
130kg - Aliakbar Hossein YOUSOFIAHMADCHALI (IRI) df. Zviadi PATARIDZE (GEO), via inj. def.

Haruna OKUNO (JPN) was one of seven Japanese wrestlers to win a U23 women's wrestling title. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

2. Japanese Women Seize Seven of Ten U23 World Golds
The Japanese women’s wrestling team capped off an extraordinary run to a U23 team world title with a 37-3 record, which culminated in ten medals – seven of which were golds. They finished 125 points ahead of second-place China, who finished with 105 points.

In total, Japan’s U23 women’s world team had seven champions, two runner-ups, and a bronze-medal finisher.

Japan’s domination at the U23 World Championships solidifies the island nation’s spot atop the ranks in women’s wrestling after they swept the four major World Championships in 2019. The Far East country took home the team trophy at the cadet, junior, U23 and senior world championships – while grabbing at least six medals at every World Championships. Furthermore, they finished with six champions at the cadet, junior and U23 world championships.

Taylor Miller's Women's Wrestling Wraps Wraps:
Marin Potrille Takes Down Senior World Medalist for U23 World Title
Furuichi Wins Seventh World Gold, Paliha Defends U23 World Title at #WrestleBudapest

2019 U23 World Champions:
50kg - Kika KAGATA (JPN)
53kg - Haruna OKUNO (JPN)
55kg - Sae NANJO (JPN)
59kg - Yumeka TANABE (JPN)
62kg - Yuzuka INAGAKI (JPN)
65kg - Misuzu ENOMOTO (JPN)
68kg - Masako FURUICHI (JPN)

2019 World Championships Medal Breakdown:
Cadet – Six gold and three bronze – nine medals
Junior – Eight gold and two bronze – ten medals
U23 – Seven gold, two silver and one bronze – ten medals
Senior – One gold, three silver and two bronze – six medals

Razambek ZHAMALOV (RUS) helped Russia claim their fourth freestyle world title across all divisions with an 8-1 victory over Mohammad Ashghar NOKHODILARIMI (IRI) in the 74kg finals. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

3. Russia Edges Iran at U23 Worlds, Sweeps Freestyle World Championships
The Russia Federation hoisted a freestyle 2019 team trophy for the fourth time this year at the World Championships after edging second-place Iran by six points at the U23 World Championships.

Russia’s run to a fourth consecutive freestyle team trophy came on the back of Razambek ZHAMALOV’S 74kg title-winning effort. Zhamalov, a 2018 junior world runner-up, became a world champion for the first time in his career with a smothering 8-1 victory over Mohammad Ashghar NOKHODILARIMI (IRI) in the 74kg finals. Four other Russians joined Zhamalov in the finals, but that quartet settled for silver medals after falling in their respective gold-medal matches. The Russian Federation also had a pair of bronze medalists – bringing their overall medal count to seven.

Russia finished six points ahead of second-place Iran and 34 points ahead of third-place Azerbaijan.

Taylor Miller's Freestyle Wraps:
Zholdoshbekov Claims First Men’s Freestyle World Title for Kyrgyzstan Since 2005
Andreu Ortega and Goleij Claim Second U23 World Titles at #WrestleBudapest

Freestyle Finals Results
57kg - Reineri ANDREU ORTEGA (CUB) df. Adlan ASKAROV (KAZ), 10-0
61kg - Ulukbek ZHOLDOSHBEKOV (KGZ) df. Ravinder RAVINDER (IND), 5-3
65kg - Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) df. Takuma TANIYAMA (JPN), 3-2
70kg - Mirza SKHULUKHIA (GEO) df. Chermen VALIEV (RUS), 7-5
74kg - Razambek ZHAMALOV (RUS) df. Mohammad Ashghar NOKHODILARIMI (IRI), 8-2
79kg - Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO) df. Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE), via fall
86kg - Kamran Ghorban GHASEMPOUR (IRI) df. Gadzhimurad MAGOMEDSAIDOV (AZE), 9-3
92kg - Bo Dean NICKAL (USA) df. Batyrbek TCAKULOV (RUS), 12-2
97kg - Mojtaba Mohammadshafie GOLEIJ (IRI) df. Shamil Alievitch MUSAEV (RUS), 8-2
125kg - Amir Hossein Abbas ZARE (IRI) df. Vitalii GOLOEV (RUS), 10-0

Three-time world and Rio Olympic champ Risako KAWAI (JPN) will compete at 57kg at the Women's Wrestling World Cup. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

4. Japan Gearing up to Host Women's World Cup (November 16-17)
For the sixth time in its 18-year run, the Women’s Wrestling World Cup returns to the winningest women’s wrestling country in the world, Japan. The four-time defending World Cup champions will host the annual dual meet event November 16-17 at the Nakadai Sports & Recreation Park Gymnasium in Narita, Japan.

Risako KAWAI (JPN) and Adeline Maria GRAY (USA) headline a group of five reigning world champions and 19 total medalists that'll compete in Narita.

Kawai and Gray, who combine for eight world titles and a Rio Olympic gold medal, are unquestionably the most dominant women's wrestlers in the world. Kawai, who'll scrap at 57kg, has won three consecutive world titles after claiming gold in Rio de Janerio at the 2016 Olympic Games. Gray, who is coming off winning her American history-making fifth women's wrestling world title, will wrestle at 76kg.

Jacarra Gwenisha WINCHESTER (USA), Inna TRAZHUKOVA (RUS) and Tamyra Mariama MENSAH (USA) are the trio of newly-minted world champs that'll join Kawai and Gray at the World Cup.

The Women's Wrestling World Cup starts on November 16 and will be streamed live on www.unitedworldwrestling.org.

Reigning World Champions Entered
55kg - Jacarra Gwenisha WINCHESTER (USA)
57kg - Risako KAWAI (JPN)
62kg - Inna TRAZHUKOVA (RUS)
68kg - Tamyra Mariama MENSAH (USA)
76kg - Adeline Maria GRAY (USA)

Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

5. Loaded Field Entered into Greco-Roman World Cup (November 28-29)
The Azadi Stadium in Iran's capital city of Tehran will welcome a loaded field of top-level talent to the 2019 Greco-Roman World Cup from November 28-29. Six reigning world gold medalists will travel to Tehran to compete in the Greco-Roman World Cup, but 67kg will be the weight-to-watch, as a potential Olympic finals rematch between Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) and Shinobu OTA (JPN) could be looming on the horizion.

Borrero and Ota both won world titles in Nur-Sultan, but the Japanese wrestler will begin his ascent from his title-winning non-Olympic weight of 63kg to the Olympic weight of 67kg, where the Cuban wrestler is the current world-title holder. Shortly after winning his world title last month, Ota announced that he'll climb up 4kg to 67kg to make a run at improving his silver medal from the Rio Olympic Games where he fell to Borrero in the finals.

In addition to Borrero and Ota, the Greco-Roman World Cup will also welcome four other world champs. The returning world champs are: Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO), Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN), Abuiazid MANTSIGOV (RUS) and Lasha GOBADZE (GEO).

The Greco-Roman World Cup starts on November 28 and will be streamed live on www.unitedworldwrestling.org.

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 -- Akmataliev E. @akmataliev_ernazar -- U23 Worlds 2019
2. SEFERSHAEV (RUS) gets the win in a crazy match against HALAKURKI (IND) ? .
3. Big throws by FENG (CHN) ?? ? ?‍♂️
4. GHASEMPOUR (IRI) defeats SADOWIK (POL) will he win the gold again? ? ?? ?
5. Back and forth match between IBRAGIMOV (AZE) and PANTALEO (USA) with IBRAGIMOV grabbing the 9-8 win ?? ? ?

Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! March 10, 2020

Tuesday, March 10, 2020 - 13:43 By Eric Olanowski

Discussing the list of Olympic champions entered into the Tokyo Olympic qualification events and Greco-Roman world runner-up Pino HInds winning freestyle bronze at the Pan-Am C'ships. Also looking at Japan's special wrestle-offs for the Olympic spot.

1. Aliyev and "King Vlad" Entered into European Qualifier at 65kg
Lightweight superstars Haji ALIYEV (AZE) and Vladimer KHINCHEGASHVILI (GEO) entered the European Olympic Qualifier in Budapest, Hungary (March 19 – 22), with hopes of qualifying Azerbaijan and Georgia for the Olympic Games at 65kg.

The pair of past world champions and Rio Olympic medalists suffered uncharacteristic early-round losses at the Nur-Sultan World Championships and missed out on qualifying their nations for the Olympic Games.

Aliyev, a three-time world champion, failed to qualify Azerbaijan for the Olympics at 65kg. The Rio Olympic bronze medalist dropped his opening round match at the World Championships to eventual world champion Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS). Aliyev scored a 10-1 win over Reda HUSSEN (EGY) in his first repechage match but fell to 2018 world champion Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) in a heartbreaking 11-9 match. He was knocked out of the tournament after his second loss and finished in 12th place.

Khinchegashvili, a Rio Olympic champion and London silver medalist, also failed to qualify his nation for the Toyko Olympic Games. The Georgian opened up his 2019 World Championships campaign with a 4-0 win over YUN Junsik (KOR), but lost 5-1 in his next match to eventual bronze medalist Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN). The Hungarian dropped a 3-2 nail biter against Rashidov -- knocking Khinchegashvili out of the tournament with a 22nd-place finish.

If either fails to make the finals in Budapest, their last opportunity will be the World Olympic Qualifier in Sofia, Bulgaria (April 30 – May 03).

Qualified Nation – Qualifying Wrestler
RUS via Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (Europe)
KAZ via Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (Asia)
IND via Bajrang BAJRANG (Asia)
HUN via Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (Europe)
JPN via Takuto OTOGURO (Asia)
MGL via Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (Asia)

2. Olympic Champs Maroulis and Wiebe Entered into Pan-American Qualifier
The road for Helen MAROULIS (USA) and Erica WIEBE (CAN) to repeat as Olympic champions runs through this week's Pan-American Qualifiers in Ottawa, Canada.

The pair needed the post-world championship qualifiers in 2016 to earn berths to the Olympics and find themselves in eerily similar situations heading into the Tokyo Olympic Games. In 2016, Maroulis qualified for the Olympics with a gold-medal performance at the 1st OG World Qualifying Tournament, while Wiebe punched her ticket to Rio after winning the 2016 Pan-American Olympic Qualifier.

They'll compete at this week's Pan-American Qualifiers to try to qualify their nations for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, which will kick start their journey to try to become the first non-Japanese wrestlers to win a pair of Olympic titles.

Since women's wrestling inception into the Olympic Games in 2004, Japan has claimed 11 of the 18 Olympic gold medals. But, of the seven non-Japanese women whose resume boasts an Olympic gold, surprisingly enough, there's never been a non-Japanese two-time Olympic champion.

Maroulis, America's first women's wrestling Olympic champion, returns to USA's lineup for the first time since falling to a 21st-place finish at the 2018 World Championships. She's faced difficulties with concussions over the last two seasons but locked up her spot on the Pan-American Qualifier team with two straight pins against Nur-Sultan world team member, Jenna BURKERT (USA).

She's wrestling at arguably the deepest weight in the world, 57kg, and is joined by reigning 59kg world champion Linda MORAIS (CAN) and 2019 Pan-American champion Lissette ANTES (ECU).

Wiebe enters the Pan-American Championships as the favorite to the 76kg weight category. Especially with the absence of her archrival Adeline GRAY (USA), who qualified the United States for the Tokyo Olympics with her American history-breaking fifth world title. Her biggest threat at 76kg is Genesis REASCO (ECU), who was last year's Pan-American runner-up.

3. Greco-Roman World Silver Medalist Pino Hines Captures Pan-Am Freestyle Bronze
Cuban big man Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB), fresh off his Greco-Roman runner-up finish at the World Championships in Nur-Sultan, shifted to freestyle and captured the 125kg bronze medal at the Pan-American Championships.

Pino Hinds transitioned to freestyle after he took a backseat to Mijain LOPEZ (CUB), who is looking to become the first male wrestler ever to win four Olympic titles.

In his 2020 freestyle debut, Pino Hinds went 2-2 and scored wins over Charles MERRILL (PUR) and Brandon ANGUIANO (MEX) en route to his bronze-medal finish. His losses came against Anthony Robert NELSON (USA) and Amarveer DHESI (CAN), who finished in first and second, respectively, at 125kg.

Pino Hinds refocused his attention on joining Bilyal MAKHOV (RUS) as the only wrestlers since 2015 to qualify their nations for the Olympic Games in both freestyle and Greco-Roman. Although he fell in the finals at the World Championships, Pino Hinds qualified Cuba for the Tokyo Olympic Games at 130kg in Greco-Roman.

Hinds is wrestling freestyle again at the Pan-American Olympic Qualifier, which kicks off on Friday.

His toughest competition at the Pan-American OG Qualifier is the two-time world bronze medalist, Nicholas Edward GWIAZDOWSKI (USA). The pair met twice last year, with Gwiazdowski scoring a pair of technical superiority victories.

Pino Hinds led 1-1 on criteria in the second period but gave up two takedowns and four leg laces before ultimately finishing the tournament with a bronze medal. He also fell 10-0 in the Pan-American Games finals.

4. Russia Inserts Bukina into European Qualifier over Olympic Champ Vorobeva
The biggest question after the European Championships wrapped up: Who will Russia roll with at 76kg heading into the European Olympic Qualifier?

The Russian coaching staff had the insanely tough decision on whether to insert reigning European champion Ekaterina BUKINA (RUS) or replace her with the reigning 72kg world and European champion, Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS).

Ultimately, they elected to place the ball in Bukina's hand to earn Russia their berth to the Olympics at 76kg.

Bukina is coming off a successful European championship campaign where she went 5-0 and captured the 76kg gold medal. In Rome, she defeated 2017 world silver medalist Vasilisa MARZALIUK (BLR) in the semifinals, then downed 2017 world champion Yasemin ADAR (TUR) in the finals.

After winning her first continental title, Bukina, a Rio Olympic bronze medalist, was asked where she sees herself in the race to represent Russia at the Olympic Games. She said, "It depends on who will be in better shape. Right now, she is wrestling in the other weight category, but we will decide later when it's closer to the Olympics. It's too early to talk about it."

Vorobeva also won gold at the European Championships, but she did so at the non-Olympic weight of 72kg. When she was asked about the log jam between herself and Bukina at 76kg, she said, "I gave Bukina this place, and it's good for her that she used her chance. But if there is a need for me to wrestle at 76kg, we'll both go on the mat, wrestle and see who the best is."

It's not clear what Russia will do if Bukina qualifies her nation for the Olympics, but it seems like a special wrestle-off is almost certain.

5. Dosho Earns Shot at Olympic Repeat With Win in Japan Team Playoff
Having stuck it out through trying times since her triumph in Rio four years ago, Sara DOSHO (JPN) finally assured that she will be able to defend her Olympic crown at this summer's Tokyo Games.

Dosho edged world junior champion Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) 3-1 in a special playoff to fill the Olympic spot at 68kg that she herself secured for Japan by placing fifth at last year's World Championships in Nur-Sultan. Morikawa had forced the playoff by winning the All-Japan title last December, where she defeated Dosho 9-2 in the semifinals.

"I had a lot of injuries, but I was able to come back and be here today," Dosho said. "I want to be completely healthy for the Tokyo Olympics and wrestling at a high level. From the time I won in Rio, my aim was to win again in Tokyo. That has not changed. I'll do what I can to make that happen."

Meanwhile, Keisuke OTOGURO (JPN) will join younger brother Takuto on Japan's team at Tokyo 2020 after he chalked up a 5-2 victory over Mao OKUI (JPN) at freestyle 74kg in the other playoff held behind closed doors at the National Training Center in Tokyo. Okui had earned Japan's spot by finishing fifth at Nur-Sultan.

READ: Ken Marantz provides a full breakdown of Japan's special wrestlers-offs.

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media
1. Big Move Monday -- Grace BULLEN
2. Happy International Women’s Day!
3. ? points for 5x World champ @adelinegray
4. Olympic Champion Vorobeva’s New Title: Mother!
5. Outrageous first-round action at the Greco-Roman Pan Am Championships!

Weekly FIVE! November 5, 2019

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Weekly FIVE! March 10, 2020