TeamUSA Olympic Wrestling Schedule
Day 6, 8/19: Men’s Freestyle 57KG, 74KG
The “Wild Man” Daniel Dennis looks to put a dent in the Olympic field at the loaded MFS57KG weight class. He will compete alongside 4x World/Olympic Champion and 2014 World Bronze Jordan Burroughs.
Daniel Dennis made his first team a memorable one. After taking a long walk of sorts after a devastating loss in the 2010 NCAA finals, Daniel Dennis came back onto the scene in 2015, finding himself 2nd for TeamUSA at 61KG behind Reece Humphrey. In 2016, Dennis dropped to 57KG and unseated a former teammate and 2x-incumbent World teamer Tony Ramos to become an Olympian.
In June, Dennis was tested at the Freestyle World Cup when he faced 4x World medalist (including a 2013 World Gold and a 2015 World Silver) and current World No. 2 Hassan Rahimi of Iran and 3x World/Olympic finalist, defending World Champion, World No. 1 Vladimir Khinchegashvili of Georgia back-to-back. Though Dennis scored first on both the World Champions, they scored back and then some, Rahimi beating Dennis 7-2 and Khinchegashvili winning 8-6 FALL.
Dennis earned himself a World No. 15 ranking heading into the Games after earning the title at the German Grand Prix, beating World No. 17 Baris Kaya of Turkey 11-0 TF and World No. 12 Mirjalal Hasan-Zada of Azerbaijan 3-2 in a close final. The word is World No. 1 and 2x-defending World Champion (at the non-Olympic weight of 61KG) Haji Aliev of Azerbaijan will drop down to 57KG for the Olympic Games. We’ll see who gets fielded for the Azeris. Of course, we must mention World No. 7 Viktor Lebedev of Russia. After a drama-filled process of “winning” the 57KG spot at Russian Nationals over World No. 6 Ismail Musukaev and World No. 4 (at 61KG) Aleksander Bogomoev, Lebedev denied the Olympic spot… but continued to be the de facto representative for Russia. Lebedev almost got caught in yet another incident as part of the greater sanctions on Russia’s alleged(?) state-sponsored doping program, but will likely be the guy in Rio when all is said and done. Lebedev was a 2009 55KG World Bronze before capturing back-to-back World titles in 2010-11. He would miss the London Games when he lost the Olympic spot to eventual 2012 Olympic Champion Djamal Otarsultanov. Lebedev made the medal stand again in 2015 after a controversial performance, earning a World Bronze medal at 57KG.
The legendary Jordan Burroughs at 74KG carries the World No. 1 ranking heading into his second Olympic Games. Starting in 2011, Burroughs has taken home medals from every World/Olympic championships, all of them Gold except a 2014 Bronze. The main challenger to Burroughs is World No. 2 and 2015 World Bronze Aniuar Geduev of Russia, who fell to Burroughs 4-3 last year at Worlds. At the 2016 Yasar Dogu, Burroughs beat World No. 11 and 2015 World 5th Zelimkhan Khadjiev 14-3 TF. At his final tune-up prior to the Olympics, the German Grand Prix, Burroughs topped 2014 World Bronze, current World No. 10 Bekzod Abdurakhmonov of Uzbekistan, 9-3, and World No. 16 Martin Obst of Germany, 3-1.
A handful of others have proven themselves to either be dangerous (in the head-and-arm, 4pt-move type of way) or worthy to grace the mat with Burroughs. World No. 3 is Purevjav Unurbat of Mongolia, who met Burroughs in the finals last year. Despite eventually losing 10-0, it’s arguable that Purevjav scored a waived-off 4pt maneuver on the American World Champion. World No. 4 Hassan Yazdani Cherati of Iran is known for beating Aaron Pico in the 2014 Junior World finals as well as tech-falling 2016 Hodge Winner Alex Dieringer at the 2016 Freestyle World Cup. Yazdani captured a 2015 World Silver medal at 70KG, bumping up this year to the Olympic-weight of 74KG to try his hand against Jordan Burroughs. The aforementioned World No. 11 Zelimkhan Khadjiev of France is also dangerous, as he was 2pts away from a 2015 World Bronze. Leading 12-4, he would lose to current World No. 9 Narsingh Yadav of India when Yadav caught Khadjiev with a head-and-arm to a FALL to capture the bronze medal for himself.
Also in the field with ties to the US are past Clarion University All-American Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (aforementioned) and former Boise State Bronco, World No. 20 Georgi Ivanov.
Day 7, 8/20: Men’s Freestyle 86KG, 125KG
2x NCAA Champion J’Den Cox shocked the Men’s Freestyle scene, taking the Olympic spot at 86KG from career-freestylers and qualifying the weight with deceiving poise. Currently ranked World No. 9, Cox has had generally good results since storming onto the international freestyle scene. At the Freestyle World Cup, Cox topped World No. 5 Aleksander Gostiev of Azerbaijan, 3-2, World No. 13 and 2015 World Bronze Alireza Karimi of Iran, 6-2. He would lose to current World No. 12 Dato Marsagishvili of Georgia, 7-4. At the German Grand Prix, Cox dropped a match to World No. 15 Sharif Sharifov of Azerbaijan. Despite the losses, Cox has proven himself to be dangerous and I would say he’s right on the cusp of a medal at the Games.
Going to some wrestling math, American stud David Taylor notched wins over World No. 6 Orgodol Uitumen of Mongolia, 14-7, and World No. 16 Istvan Vereb of Hungary, 8-6, at the Spanish Grand Prix. To me, this means those guys are well within reach of J’Den Cox, evidence that he’s well in the hunt.
In J’Den Cox’s way includes the phenom Abdulrashid Sadulaev of Russia, current World No. 1 and 2x defending World Champion at 86KG. Sadulaev is one of the pound-for-pound best wrestlers on the planet. Also highly-touted is World No. 3 Reineris Salas Perez of Cuba, 3x World medalist and arch-nemesis of 2009 World Silver Jake Herbert.
2009 and 2014 World Bronze, 3x World/Olympic 5th at 125KG Tervel Dlagnev looks to right the wrong from London and capture his Olympic medal. The American Heavyweight has been a mainstay in the 125KG weight-class since he made the team in 2009. Les Sigman beat Dlagnev in two straight matches for the 2010 US World team spot at what was then 120KG, and Zach Rey was the representative in 2015 when Dlagnev was out with a back injury. But other than those two years, Dlagnev represented the US at the Worlds/Olympics and found himself in the Bronze medal match each of the five times.
What worries me is that Dlagnev’s health is a variable that could drastically alter the performance of our long-time high-level big man. He seems almost out the door as well, as it is assumed he is toward the end of his competitive career. Nonetheless, Dlagnev brings in the World No. 14 ranking into the Games and looks well in the mix for a medal. It will be hard to predict, though, as he hasn’t competed much internationally since the 2014 World Championships.
2x-defending World Champion Taha Akgul of Turkey is ranked World No. 4, and owns a victory over Dlagnev in the 2014 World quarter-finals, 4-2, in a close match. Earlier this year at the 2016 Paris Grand Prix, Dlagnev lost a first round match to World No. 6, 2014 World Silver Komeil Ghasemi, 3-2. Ghasemi also beat Dlagnev in the 2012 Olympic Bronze match. We’ll be looking for revenge, surely, in Rio. Dlagnev did pick up a win over World No. 12 Daniel Legeti of Hungary, 2-2 on criteria.
At the top of the 125KG rankings is World No. 1, 2x World Bronze Geno Petriashvili, who beat an injured Zach Rey, 6-2, at the Freestyle World Cup in June. World No. 2 is the 3x World Champion, 8x World medalist (both styles) Bilyal Makhov of Russia. As mentioned in the Greco-Roman team preview, he is known to the US fans for his meeting against Robby Smith in the Bronze medal match in 2015. World No. 3 is Parviz Hadi of Iran, a multiple-time Asian Champion, who beat a bumped-up Jake Varner, 3-1, also at the World Cup. Wrestling math would put Dlagnev well in the running. Fingers-crossed for the health of our heavyweight.
Day 8, 8/21: Men’s Freestyle 65KG, 97KG
The final day of the Games will include two of the most interesting weight-classes across the 24 UWW weights. “Gorilla Hulk” Frank Molinaro will represent the US at MFS65KG and defending World 97KG champion, NCAA Heavyweight champion Kyle Snyder at MFS97KG.
65KG is a mine-field any given year, and Frank Molinaro comes into the Games at World No. 13. Molinaro, in a similar fashion to Daniel Dennis at 57KG, shocked the field at the Olympic Team Trials to make his first team. He would go through an odyssey to qualify the weight for the Olympic Games.
Molinaro dropped a 6-4 match to 2015 World Bronze and World No. 5 (both at 70KG) Yakup Gor of Turkey at the First World-Olympic Qualifier. At the Last Chance World-Olympic Qualifier, Molinaro navigated another loaded field a bit better, beating World No. 17 (at 65KG), 2013 66KG World Gold David Safaryan of Armenia, 3-2. Molinaro would drop a 5-2 match to World No. 8 Borislav Novachkov of Bulgaria (and California), before beating World No. 6 (at 70KG) Azamat Nurikov of Belarus, 5-2. At the Freestyle World Cup, he topped World No. 18 Magomed Muslimov of Azerbaijan, 4-1; World No.16, 2014 World Silver, and 2015 World Bronze Sayed Mohammadi of Iran, 4-3; and World No. 14 Zurabi Iakobishvili of Georgia, 4-4 on criteria. Molinaro suffered a loss to World No. 5 Togrul Asgarov in the German Grand Prix finals prior to the Olympics
What Frank the Tank has going for him is his ability to get takedowns and 4pters. In a weight where any given guy can turn a match into a criteria-wins affair, 4pters are huge.
The uber-talent, defending World Champion at 65KG Frank Chamizo of Italy is ranked World No. 1 and will be the man to beat. At World No. 2 is the 2014 World Champion, 2015 World Bronze Soslan Ramonov of Russia. Returning World Silver, World No. 7 Ikhtiyor Navruzov of Uzbekistan is also extremely dangerous. Michigan State NCAA Champion, 2011 World Silver, current World No. 10 Franklin Gomez of Puerto Rico is also in the field. The entire weight-class is stacked with hammers, it'll just be a matter of who can survive to the medal rounds.
The youngest World Champion in American history, World No. 4 Kyle Snyder looks to defend his title and pull a Kurt Angle going back-to-back with World/Olympic titles. In the 2015 World finals, Snyder topped current World No. 5 Abdusalam Gadisov, 5-5. The American champion suffered his first loss at the 2016 Ivan Yarygin to current World No. 1 Anzor Boltukaev of Russia, 0-3. At the 2016 Alexander Medved, Snyder beat World No. 16 Mamed Ibragimov of Kazakhstan, 7-0. He would drop a match to World No. 2 Khadjimurad Gatsalov of Russia, 2-5, however. Unfortunately for Russia, only one man gets to go to the Olympics. At the World Cup, Snyder topped World No. 6 Elizbar Odikadze of Georgia, 3-3 on criteria in a nail-biter. In his final tune up at the German Grand Prix, Snyder picked up quality wins over World No. 11 Nicolae Ceban of Moldova, 9-4, and World No. 18 Jose Daniel Diaz Robertti of Venezuela, 9-1. He lost a close match to current World No. 3 Khetag Gazyumov of Azerbaijan, 1-2.
Snyder has head-to-head losses to all three of the men ranked ahead of him, but I am not worried about his chances. If anything, the fact that he got hands on his potential opponents likely helps Snyder as he refines his skills to be ready to red-line in the Olympic tournament.
(Rankings based on UWW Pre-Olympic Men's Freestyle rankings)
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