I believe people here are more interested in the Olympic weights so I drop the non-Olympic weights even though based on the number of wrestlers you can see they are still matter and we see something like 25-30 wrestlers in each one of them.
keep in mind Russian wrestlers are out of competition for a while. they had their own tournaments but I know some of them didn't train 100% since they weren't sure if they are coming or not. so they might underperform badly.
57kg
to me Higuchi is the #1 favorite and he is in the top half alongside Harutyunyan, both of them have some problems with cutting weight. if they do that properly I believe Higuchi is going to win the whole thing. Atli is there too
the bottom half is much much tougher, with Uguev Micic, Aman, Abakarov and couple more guys like Abdullaev, Richards, Rzazade and the Mongolian. our wrestler is here too but he is just a kid and most probably will lose in the 1st or 2nd round. if Uguev is in a good shape (which I doubt) he is my pick for the silver medal. I also can't wait to see IND/ALB match in the 2nd round. Abakarov is technically great but Aman can beat everybody by making them dead tired. if Abakarov really makes it to the SF he will be really tired against Uguev.
my picks for the quota:
65kg
the top half is just brutal with our World Champion Amouzad, Olympic Champ Otoguro and Russian new sensation Mamedov (they consider him VERY good) I don't give a chance to everybody else but still we have some other big names like Lee (USA) and Musukaev (the best wrestler in the world if it was just 2 minutes ) Otoguro and Mamedov will meet first and the winner will get Amouzad. so if Amouzad wins that will eliminate one of those guys which is a great news for the rest. because I believe they are top 3 of this weight.
in bottom half we will have an interesting match between Haji Aliyev and Tulga (MGL) in the 3rd round. and the winner will get Tevanyan. I'm going to drop the great Aliyev because he is aging but he is a great wrestler and he can always beat anybody. the 4th quarter looks too easy and we will have one lucky semifinalist.
my picks for the quota:
74kg
top and bottom halves look equal but you can see some big names next to each other in the 2nd quarter. Olympic Champ Sidakov has to win 3 back to back matches against former world medalists to make it to the SF. I have a feeling he is not that physically prepared for that. so I hope our guy Emami can beat him in the 1/8 final. and the winner will get former World Champ Tsabolov Sidakov couldn't ask for a more difficult draw. still you can't underestimate an Olympic Champion, I believe he will go to the final but it's highly possible if he loses to one of these guys (hopefully to ours )
bottom half is no easy too. we have less big names but there are 4 very big names there! I believe we will see two very interesting quarterfinals between Salkazanov/Kadimagomedov and Chamizo/Dake. great matches, but Dake is my favorite to win the whole thing. he lost badly to this Kadi guy at the Olympics and I'm sure he is waiting for a re-match. Salkazanov is a tough guy, I don't know how his match up will work with Kadi. Salkazanov is stronger, Kadi is more technically gifted. I go with Salkazanov simply because Kadi didn't wrestle much recently. maybe out of shape a bit ?
my picks for the quota:
86kg
this weight is always easier, Yazdani and Taylor will meet in the final and only a miracle (or an injury) can change that. it's hard to pick the bronze medal winner from the top half. I can't see a favorite , even for the 5th quota. I think that will be between Makoev and someone from the top half (Gocen maybe ?) which will be a close match. Makoev is lucky that he can lose to Taylor early, if he was in the 3rd quarter (which is more balanced) he could lose to KAZ or AZE and I won't be surprised if any of these 2 guys upset the new Russian guy. he wasn't impressive from what I saw
my picks for the quota:
97kg
top 3 medal favorites are in the same half! our guy Goleij has to beat Sadulaev in the 3rd round to stand a chance. personally I consider Sadulaev the best wrestler of all time but he looked completely out of shape in his recent matches. but I think underestimating him is a crime. he is always #1 favorite unless proven otherwise. Sadulaev has to beat Baitsaev first and then Goleij to meet his old rival Snyder in the semis. I hope he wins and brings back our guy to the repechage but I have a feeling Snyder has the upper hand this time, yet I can't predict Sadulaev losing, just can't
bottom half is indeed easier, we have both European finalists from AZE and GEO and I believe Magomedov will win this time. hard to see anybody beating these two guys, but BLR maybe ? or Yergali (moving back from 125kg) or maybe slim chance for Nurov.
my picks for the quota:
125kg
we have 3 favorites and I think all 3 of them will easily make it to the SF. I'm a bit biased so I pick our guy Zare to win the whole thing. Zare and Akgul are in the top half and the loser will take the bronze medal but their match is also important to determine who is going to finish 5th from the top half. at the bottom half Geno lost to this big Mongolian guy last year but I believe it won't happen again. he is going to win the semifinal against no matter who. 3rd quarter is more balanced, I think it will be between the Mongolian and Parris. I go with the experience
5th place match will be interesting too. if Geno goes to the final the winner of POL/RUS match most probably will finish 5th and has to face probably either UKR or BLR (depends on the semifinal result)
my picks for the quota: