Wrestling 2020 Discussion Thread

[MHSN 3,625]

[ChandlerMne 1,037]

https://www.rt.com/sport/478157-wrestling-mass-brawl-instanbul/

 

Not a nice thing to start a thread with.

Edited January 15, 2020 by ChandlerMne

[phelps 7,680]

2 hours ago, ChandlerMne said:

https://www.rt.com/sport/478157-wrestling-mass-brawl-instanbul/

 

Not a nice thing to start a thread with.

 

naaa..it's quite entertaining...

 

I saw something similar in the Italian Parliament...more than once, actually!

[phelps 7,680]

2020 UWW Ranking Series, Matteo Pellicone Tournament (Ostia, ITA)

 

The first stop on the road to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games travels through Rome, Italy, for the first of two Ranking Series events, the Matteo Pellicone.

 

The four-day tournament kicks off January 15-18 in Ostia, a port city of ancient Rome, located 30km away from the city center.

 

The stacked entry list includes seven reigning world champions, all three 2019 Wrestlers of the Year and over 30 world medal holders from the 2019 World Championships.

 

Freestyle boasts nine world medalists, one of which is a two-time world champion.

 

Greco-Roman features four podium finishers from Nur-Sultan, and women's wrestling rounds out the tournament with an astonishing six reigning world champs and 18 medalists from Kazakhstan.

 

World Champions That Are Registered:

FS 74kg - Kyle Douglas DAKE (USA) – two-time world champion at 79kg
WW 57kg - Linda MORAIS (CAN) – world champion at 59kg
WW 62kg - Inna TRAZHUKOVA (RUS) – world champion at 65kg 
WW 62kg - Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ)
WW 69kg - Tamyra Mariama MENSAH (USA)
WW 76kg - Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) – world champion at 72kg 
WW 76kg - Adeline Maria GRAY (USA)

 

Trio of Wrestlers of the Year Entered

The trio of United World Wrestling's 2019 Wrestlers of the Year Frank CHAMIZO (ITA), Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) and Tamyra MENSAH-STOCK (USA) will all be in action at the Matteo Pellicone. 

 

 Frank Chamizo, the Freestyle Wrestler of the Year and two-time world champion, is searching for his third Ranking Series title since 2018.

He competed in three Ranking Series events last season and captured gold at the City of Sassari Tournament in front of a friendly Italian crowd.

He also finished with a silver medal at the Yasar Dogu and a bronze at the Dan Kolov before dropping his world finals match to Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RUS).

 

Viktor Lorincz, Greco-Roman's Wrestler of the Year, is making his sixth Ranking Series appearance of his storied career.

Through his five previous showings, the 2019 world runner-up has tallied a perfect 19-0 record while reaching the top of the podium in each outing.

 

Tamyra Mensah-Stock, the 2019 Women's Wrestler of the Year and reigning 68kg world champion, will scrap in her seventh career Ranking Series event.

Last year, she wrestled at three of the four Ranking Series events and claimed gold medals at the City of Sassari Tournament, Dan Kolov and Ivan Yariguin.

 

Potential Dake and Chamizo Matchup 

Some of the biggest personalities in the sport already reside at 74kg.

 

Well, Kyle DAKE (USA) just added his name to the likes of Jordan BURROUGHS (USA), Frank Chamizo and Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RUS), among many others.

 

The weight gained massive depth after Dake announced he's moving down from 79kg, a weight where he's the reigning two-time world champion.

The timing of Dake's move couldn’t have come at a better time for wrestling fans, especially heading into the Matteo Pellicone where there’s a long list of renowned wrestlers entered, including Italy's own Frank Chamizo.

Dake and Chamizo is a must-see potential matchup that wrestling fans can't miss.

Although Dake is fairly defensive at times, he is one of the best offensive wrestlers on earth when it comes to unconventional positions.

Coupling that with Chamizo being one of the toughest wrestlers to score on because of his unorthodox defensive style of wrestling; it’s a match that could light up the scoreboard.

 

In addition to the above-mentioned pair of two-time world champions, 74kg will also feature Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR), James GREEN (USA) and Yones EMAMICHOGHAEI (IRI).

 

Demirtas is a Rio bronze medalist, Green is a two-time world medalist, and Emamichoghaei is a reigning world bronze medalist, though that was down at 70kg.

 

Indian Stars Making the Trip to Rome 

Reigning world medalists Kumar RAVI, Bajrang BAJRANG, and Deepak PUNIA will lead a loaded freestyle squad into the Matteo Pellicone.

 

Ravi qualified India for the 2020 Olympic Games at 57kg with a bronze-medal finish in Nur-Sultan and quite possibly has the toughest road to gold in Rome.

Ravi's road could weave through a trio of seasoned American wrestlers with past senior or age-group world medals and a 2020 Olympian.

 

The United States is sending Joseph COLON (USA), Daton FIX (USA) and Thomas GILMAN (USA). 

 

Colon medaled (bronze) at 61kg in 2018, while Gilman was a 2017 world runner-up in Paris and finished in fifth place in 2018.

 

But it's the youngster Fix who is the leading man at the weight for the Stars and Stripes after downing Gilman for the world championship starting sport.

 

Fix was a junior world champion back in 2017

 

Serbia's Stevan MICIC will also be competing at 57kg.

Micic became his nation's first freestyle Olympian after finishing in fifth place at the 2019 World Championships. 

 

Bajrang, a 2018 word silver medalist and 2019 world bronze-medal finisher, could see Iran's reigning world bronze medalist Behnam EHSANPOOR on his road to a potential fourth career Ranking Series gold. 

 

India’s inserted junior world champion Deepak Punia at 86kg.

The 2019 Junior Wrestler of the Year qualified India for the Olympic Games after finishing the 2019 World Championships with a silver medal.

 

Punia's toughest competition at the weight will be 2018 world silver medalist Fatih ERDIN (TUR) and 2020 Olympian Myles AMINE (SMR).

 

U23 World Champion Nickal Moving up to Challenge Snyder at 97kg 

Three months after bulldozing his way to a U23 world title at 92kg, Bo NICKAL (USA) is bumping up to the Olympic weight of 97kg with hopes of dethroning two-time world and Rio Olympic champion Kyle SNYDER (USA) for the starting spot.

 

Snyder, known by American fans as "Captain America," qualified the weight for the 2020 Olympic Games with a bronze-medal finish in Nur-Sultan.

He's been America's starter since 2015 when he became the youngest American to win a world title.

 

Six of Ten Women's Wrestling World Champs Set to Scrap in Rome

Over a handful of women's world champions from Nur-Sultan will be in action in Rome – six to be exact – but of those six reigning champs, there's a trio of women moving from non-Olympic weights to Olympic weight in preparation for a run at Olympic gold. 

 

The six Nur-Sultan winners are: Linda MORAIS (CAN), Inna TRAZHUKOVA (RUS), Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ), Tamyra Mariama MENSAH (USA), Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) and Adeline Maria GRAY (USA).

 

But Morais, Trazhukova and Vorobeva will all be moving from their non-Olympic winning weights to Olympic weight classes. 

 

Morais, who won world gold in 2019 at 59kg, is on her way down to already stacked 57kg.

In early December, Morais defeated Hannah TAYLOR (CAN) in two straight matches at the Canada Wrestling Trials and will be Canada’s starter for the 2020 season.

 

The addition of Morais bolsters a weight class that now features three-time world and Olympic champion Risako KAWAI (JPN) and RONG Ningning (CHN), who fell short of defending her 2018 world title in this year's gold-medal bout.

 

Although Kawai won't be in action in Rome, Rong will be.

 

Another star who competed at 59kg in Kazakhstan, Pooja DHANDA (IND), will also be making her descent down to 57kg.

Dhanda was a bronze medalist at 57kg back in 2018 but moved up to 59kg in 2019, where she finished in fifth place at the World Championships. 

 

Also in the field at 57kg are past world medalists Emese BARKA (HUN), Iryna CHYKHRADZE KHARIV (UKR) and Allison RAGAN (USA).

 

Inna TRAZHUKOVA (RUS) is the second world champion that's switching weights.

She was the 65kg world champion but has decided that moving down to 62kg gives her the best shot at making Russia’s Olympic team.

 

But Trazhukova won't have to wait long to see how she stacks up against the world's best at the weight as Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) is set to make an appearance at the first Ranking Series event of the year.

Tynybekova, the reigning 62kg world champion, was named a United World Wrestling History Maker after becoming the first wrestler from Kyrgyzstan to win a senior-level world title. 

 

Marianna SASTIN (HUN) and Yuliia TKACH OSTAPCHUK (UKR), who both have world gold on their resumes, will also compete at 62kg. 

 

Sastin, a four-time world medalist, won her world gold in 2013, while Tkach Ostapchuk, who is also a four-time world medalist, won her world title in 2014. 

 

Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) is the third and final reigning world champion leaping from a non-Olympic weight class to an Olympic weight.

The 2019 Comeback Wrestler of the Year is moving from 72kg up to 76kg. 

 

Vorobeva joins fellow Olympic champion Erica WIEBE (CAN) on the entry list at 76kg. 

 

But it isn't either of the Olympic champions who are the favorite coming into Rome.

 

The clear favorite to win the weight is Adeline GRAY (USA), who made United States history by winning her unprecedented fifth world title at the Nur-Sultan World Championships late last year.

 

Past, Present and Future Greco-Roman Stars Set to Compete at Matteo Pellicone

Although Greco-Roman lacks the presence of a reigning world champion in the entries, there isn't a shortage of current and future stars that'll be looking to make some noise in Rome.

 

World runner-ups Aram VARDANYAN (UZB) and Viktor Lorincz will wrestle at 72kg and 87kg, respectively. 

 

Meanwhile, rising stars Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY), Kerem KAMAL (TUR) and Semen NOVIKOV (UKR) are looking to make some noise on the senior-level after climbing to the summit of world ranks at the age-group World Championships in 2019.

 

El Sayed, who is wrestling at 67kg, has been extremely active since qualifying Egypt for the 2020 Olympic Games at arguably the toughest weight class in Nur-Sultan, 67kg.

Shortly after the 21-year-old finished in fifth place at the 2019 World Championships, he won gold at the World Military Games then tacked on a second U23 world title to his resume. 

 

Kerem Kamal, who was named United World Wrestling's Junior Greco-Roman Wrestler of the Year after winning his third consecutive junior world title, is entered at 60kg.

The young Turkish spark plug is no stranger to the senior level.

Last year, he won the Grand Prix of Zagreb, which was a Ranking Series event.

He finished with a bronze medal at the European Championships before representing Turkey at the World Championships in Kazakhstan.

Kamal's most significant competition at 60kg will be China's Sailike WALIHAN, who was a world bronze medalist in 2018. 

 

Semen Novikov, a 2019 U23 world champion, rounds out the Greco-Roman rising stars that are on the entry list.

 

He'll be accompanied at 97kg by three-time 2019 Ranking Series medalist Tracy Gangelo HANCOCK (USA).

Last season, Hancock won the Grand Prix of Hungary, took second place at the City of Sassari Tournament and third place at the Grand Prix of Zagreb.

At the World Championships, Hanock fell to France's 2014 world champion Mélonin NOUMONVI, who is also plugged in at 97kg. 

 

The Matteo Pellicone begins on January 15-18 and can be followed at www.unitedworldwrestling.org or flowrestling.org. 

 

SCHEDULE

 

Wednesday (January 15)

08:00 - Medical Examination, Weigh-in & Draw GR55-60-63-67-87-97-130kg 
10:30 - Qualification rounds & repechage GR – 55-60-63-67-87-97-130kg 
17:00 - Opening Ceremony 
18:00 - Finals GR – 55-60-63-67-87-97-130kg / Award ceremonies

 

Thursday (January 16)

08.00 -  Medical Examination, Weigh-in and Draw GR – 72-77-82kg & WW – 57-62-68-76kg
10.30 - Qualification rounds & repechage GR – 72-77-82kg & WW – 57-62-68-76kg 
18:00 -  Finals GR – 72-77-82kg & WW – 57-62-68-76kg  / Award ceremonies 

 

Friday (January 17)

08:00 - Medical Examination, Weigh-in and Draw WW – 50-53-55-59-65-72kg & FS – 97-125kg 
10:30 - Qualification rounds & repechage WW – 50-53-55-59-65-72kg & FS – 97-125kg 
18:00 - Finals WW – 50-53-55-59-65-72kg & FS – 97-125kg / Award ceremonies 

 

Saturday (January 18)

08:00 - Medical Examination, Weigh-in and Draw FS – 57-61-65-70-74-79-86-92kg 
10:30 - Qualification rounds & repechage FS – 57-61-65-70-74-79-86-92kg 
18:00 - Finals FS – 57-61-65-70-74-79-86-92kg / Award ceremonies

 

ENTRIES

 

https://unitedworldwrestling.org/article/matteo-pellicone-entries

[phelps 7,680]

Matteo Pellicone Tournament (Ostia, ITA)

 

Day #1 (Men's Greco-Roman Wrestling) Recap

 

Lorincz Locks up Sixth Career Ranking Series Gold Medal

 

Coming into the Matteo Pellicone, Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) already owned a Ranking Series title for every finger on one hand.

The 2019 Greco-Roman Wrestler of the Year now has to move to a second hand to count his Ranking Series gold medals after he captured his sixth career Ranking Series title on Wednesday night in the Roman seaside town of Ostia.

The Hungarian tallied 19 wins in his previous five Ranking Series appearances.

With his quartet of wins on Wednesday, Lorincz improved his Ranking Series record to a perfect 23-0 with a 2-1 win over last year’s Asian silver medalist Kumar SUNIL (IND) in the 87kg finals.

“I am very happy to win this tournament. I want to continue this very good series for me. I want to win the last two qualifications (European Championships and Poland Open) because it helps my seed for the Olympic Games,” said Lorincz.

In the finals, Lorincz, a 2019 world runner-up, picked up an inactivity point and a stepout in the first period.

He had his lead cut to a single point after he was dinged for an inactivity point himself.

The Hungarian hung on to win his unprecedented sixth Ranking Series title, 2-1.

“I came here to win. I had some hard matches, and I’m not where I want to be. I want to (build) my strength and power for the other tournaments.” 

 

Kakhelashvili Wins Second Ranking Series Gold on Home Soil

Last year’s City of Sassari champion Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA) edged Felix BALDAUF (NOR) in the 97kg finals and won his second Ranking Series title on home soil.

“I’m so happy that I won in my country,” Kakhelashvili said. “Today was a big tournament. I think it’s good that I won, and I felt very strong. Now I hope to win the European Championships.”

In the 97kg gold-medal bout, Kakhelashvili jumped out to a five-point opening period lead, but fought off a late flurry of points from the Norwegian wrestler and won his finals match, 5-4.

“I was a little bit nervous. I thought it was a touché, but I won the match, so everything is okay.” 

 

Walihan and Bakhshilloev Claim Final Pair of Olympic Weight Golds

The final pair of Olympic weight gold medals of the day went to Sailike WALIHAN (CHN) and Makhmud BAKHSHILLOEV’s (UZB), who won gold medals at 60kg and 67kg, respectively.

 

At 60kg, Walihan was 70 seconds away from seeing his hopes of winning a first Ranking Series gold disappear after he allowed a three-point second-period lead dwindle to nothing against Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB).

But in the end, a late flurry allowed the Chinese wrestler to score a stepout, which in turn, gave him the one-point victory.

Walihan, a 2018 world bronze medalist, scored an inactivity point and a gut wrench and carried the 3-0 lead late into the second.

That all changed when Walihan’s opponent, Bakhramov, a four-time Ranking Series finalist, gained the 3-3 lead on criteria after he scored an inactivity point that was quickly followed by a two-point tight low-level gut wrench.

Like a savvy veteran would do, Walihan quickly responded.

He scored a stepout with just under a minute left and hung on to win his first Ranking Series gold medal, 4-3.

 

In the finals at 67kg, junior world champion Bakshilloev's sealed up a 3-1 win over Rio Olympian Abouhalima ABOUHALIMA (EGY) by scoring a first-period inactivity point and gut wrench.

Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY), the two-time Ranking Series finalist, joined Mohamed EL SAYED as the only Egyptian Ranking Series champion after sticking Moises Salvador PEREZ HELLBURG (VEN) in the opening period of the 130kg finals. 

 

Ayazci and Montano Arroyo Win Nordic Golds

Dogus AYAZCI (TUR) and Andres Roberto MONTANO ARROYO (ECU) claimed the final two opening-day golds, which both came in Nordic-style brackets.

 

Their wins came in the non-Olympic weight classes of 55kg and 63kg, respectively.

 

Ayazci outscored his three opponents 22-0 en route to the 55kg gold medal, while Montano Arroya’s 11-0 thumping of Rio Olympic bronze medalist Stig-Andre BERGE (NOR) highlighted his run to the 63kg title.

 

Results

 

50kg 
GOLD - Dogus AYAZCI (TUR) 
SILVER - Max NOWRY (USA)
BRONZE - Andrii SEMENCHUK (UKR)

 

60kg 
GOLD - Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB) vs. Sailike WALIHAN (CHN)
BRONZE - Erbatu TUO (CHN) vs. Kerem KAMAL (TUR), 7-1 
BRONZE - Firuz TUKHTAEV (UZB) df. Sachin RANA (IND), 9-0 

 

63kg 
GOLD – Andres Roberto MONTANO ARROYO (ECU)
SILVER – Stig-Andre BERGE (NOR)
BRONZE – Erik TORBA (HUN)

 

67kg 
GOLD - Makhmud BAKHSHILLOEV (UZB) df. Abouhalima ABOUHALIMA (EGY), 3-2
BRONZE - Qiye TIAN (CHN) df. Ashu ASHU (IND), 9-0 
BRONZE - Anthony PALENCIA PUENTES (VEN) df. Ruben MARVICE (ITA), 10-1

 

87kg 
GOLD - Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) df. Kumar SUNIL (IND), 2-1 
BRONZE - Ali CENGIZ (TUR) df. Josef Patrick RAU (USA), 9-0 
BRONZE - Luis Eduardo AVENDANO ROJAS (VEN) df. Patrick Anthony MARTINEZ (USA), 4-1 

 

97kg
GOLD - Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA)df. Felix BALDAUF (NOR), 5-4
BRONZE - Mélonin NOUMONVI (FRA) df. Matti Elias KUOSMANEN (FIN), 3-2
BRONZE - Gangelo HANCOCK (USA) df. Semen NOVIKOV (UKR), 10-0

 

130kg 
GOLD - Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY) vdf Moises PEREZ HELLBURG (VEN), via fall (4:37)
BRONZE - Lingzhe MENG (CHN) df. Adam Jacob COON (USA), 4-2 
BRONZE – Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) df. Oskar MARVIK (NOR), 3-3

Edited January 15, 2020 by phelps

[ChandlerMne 1,037]

18 minutes ago, phelps said:

 

naaa..it's quite entertaining...

 

I saw something similar in the Italian Parliament...more than once, actually!

Scene where +120kg wrestler hits 60kg opponent is really something else.

I thought that Italian parliament is free from that kind of argumentation. 

Unlike Ukraine or Turkey where fights are common thing.

[MHSN 3,625]

I watched few of Greco matches today, the level doesn't look great (unlike freestyle when we have lots of big names in the entry list) but still there were some big names.

 

I want to make a bold prediction, I won't be surprised if this guy Andres Montano from Ecuador wins a medal in Tokyo. he is really good even though still makes dumb mistakes sometimes. even in NurSultan he lost narrowly to the eventual gold medalists Fumita (while leading him most of the match) but apparently got injured and didn't wrestle the repechage.

 

today 97kg was better with some good wrestlers, @phelps any update on Kakhelashvili's situation ? I remember you told us only Conyedo is eligible to wrestle for Italy. Kudiamagomedov and Kakh had to wait , right ? he looked good today winning the gold medal beating some tough guys on the way, specially the Finnish kid Kuosmanen

 

looking forward to see the freestyle competition, we have a 4-man team here, they are our coach's candidate to wrestle at the Olympic qualifiers if they perform well here. mostly interested to see the youngster Zare who was amazing last year, winning Worlds U23 (despite being just 18) and he also beat Geno Petriashvili in a league match.

 

[phelps 7,680]

Just now, ChandlerMne said:

Scene where +120kg wrestler hits 60kg opponent is really something else.

I thought that Italian parliament is free from that kind of argumentation. 

Unlike Ukraine or Turkey where fights are common thing.

 

no, I'm really serious...

 

in the past years there have been quite a few furious fights also in the Italian Parliament, where you could see 120+ kg men hitting -60kg women, too...

 

luckily, it's quite some time that this has not happened anymore, but in the Berlusconi era (and earlier) it was quite normal to see scenes like that...

[phelps 7,680]

2 minutes ago, MHSN said:

I watched few of Greco matches today, the level doesn't look great (unlike freestyle when we have lots of big names in the entry list) but still there were some big names.

 

I want to make a bold prediction, I won't be surprised if this guy Andres Montano from Ecuador wins a medal in Tokyo. he is really good even though still makes dumb mistakes sometimes. even in NurSultan he lost narrowly to the eventual gold medalists Fumita (while leading him most of the match) but apparently got injured and didn't wrestle the repechage.

 

today 97kg was better with some good wrestlers, @phelps any update on Kakhelashvili's situation ? I remember you told us only Conyedo is eligible to wrestle for Italy. Kudiamagomedov and Kakh had to wait , right ? he looked good today winning the gold medal beating some tough guys on the way, specially the Finnish kid Kuosmanen

 

looking forward to see the freestyle competition, we have a 4-man team here, they are our coach's candidate to wrestle at the Olympic qualifiers if they perform well here. mostly interested to see the youngster Zare who was amazing last year, winning Worlds U23 (despite being just 18) and he also beat Geno Petriashvili in a league match.

 

 

no recent news about Nikoloz, unfortunately...

 

but I suspect he's also expecting not to be able to compete in the Olympic qualifiers, as earlier today he said that he hopes to win the European Champs and didn't mention the OQTs...

 

as I wrote before, at the moment the only "new" addition to our Olympic team is Conyedo, all the other guys coming from abroad still have to wait for their Italian passport (and it won't be a short wait, I fear)...

[MHSN 3,625]

3 minutes ago, phelps said:

 

no recent news about Nikoloz, unfortunately...

 

but I suspect he's also expecting not to be able to compete in the Olympic qualifiers, as earlier today he said that he hopes to win the European Champs and didn't mention the OQTs...

 

as I wrote before, at the moment the only "new" addition to our Olympic team is Conyedo, all the other guys coming from abroad still have to wait for their Italian passport (and it won't be a short wait, I fear)...

 

it's still confusing for me how he is able to participate at the World Championship without the Italian passport ! you should be at least a citizen of that country when you are going to the World Championship !

 

btw you should learn from the Uzbeks and how open minded (aka corrupt) they are they just give citizenship in a heartbeat . former European Champion Ilyas Bekbulatov is now representing Uzbekistan, that's some bad news for Asian wrestlers at 65kg. as usual when we get close to the Olympics, we will see some 2nd tier Russian wrestlers going to countries like Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan etc. even Slovakia and Romania won Olympic medals like that !