2024 Olympic Preview: 74 kg Men's Freestyle
It’s late July which means the 2024 Olympic Games are right around the corner. Over the next two weeks, InterMat will bring you individual weight class previews for each of the 18 weights contested at the Olympic Games.
The 2024 version has already been slightly different from years past. Earlier in the summer, United World Wrestling announced a list of wrestlers from Belarus and Russia who would not be permitted to compete due to their support of the war with Ukraine. After this decision, Russia decided to withdraw all of its entries for wrestling. That led to replacements being named earlier this month.
With all of the moving parts, and a field that wasn’t confirmed until later in the game, previewing the action had to take a back seat since we weren’t sure who would actually be in Paris.
UWW has recently published entry lists for each of the three styles, so we are good to go.
Our next weight class preview comes back to men’s freestyle at 74 kg.
This weight class probably has the best path to a gold medal from any of our men’s freestyle competitors. Kyle Dake comes in as the top seed and has earned a medal at every world/Olympic level event he’s entered since 2018 - four of them being gold medals. Even though Dake’s the favorite at this weight, there are still plenty of competitors who could trip him up if he’s not on his game.
74kg entries
Chermen Valiev (ALB)
Turan Bayramov (AZE)
Feng Lu (CHN)
Geandry Garzon Caballero (CUB)
Amr Hussen (EGY)
Iman Mahdavi (EOR)
Bacar Ndum (GBS)
Georgios Kougioumtsidis (GRE)
Yones Emami (IRI)
Frank Chamizo (ITA)
Daichi Takatani (JPN)
Ali Arsalan (SRB)
Tajmuraz Salkazanov (SVK)
Viktor Rassadin (TJK)
Kyle Dake (USA)
Razambek Jamalov (UZB)
Anthony Montero Chirinos (VEN)
Seeds
1. Kyle Dake (USA)
2. Turan Bayramov (Azerbaijan)
3. Georgios Kougioumtsidis (Greece)
4. Daichi Takatani (Japan)
5. Feng Lu (China)
6. Tajmuraz Salkazanov (Slovakia)
7. Bacar Ndum (Guinea-Bissau)
8. Yones Emami (Iran)
Past Senior World/Olympic Medalists:(7) Arsalan (x2)*, Chamizo (x6), Dake (x7), Emami (x2), Garzon Caballero (x4), Salkazanov (x3), Takatani
2020(1) Olympic Medalists (74 kg)
Gold: Zaurbek Sidakov (Russia)
Silver: Mahamedkhabib Kadzimahamedau (Belarus)
Bronze: Kyle Dake (USA)
Bronze:Bekzod Abdurakhmanov (Uzbekistan)
2023 World Medalists (74 kg)
Gold: Zaurbek Sidakov (Russia)
Silver: Kyle Dake (USA)
Bronze: Daichi Takatani (Japan)
Bronze: Khetik Tsabolov (Serbia)
How they qualified:
2023 World Championships: Dake, Kougioumtsidis, Takatani, Tsabolov (Arsalan)
Asian Qualifier: Abdurakhmanov (Jamalov), Emami
African/Oceania Qualifier: Hussen, Ndum
European Qualifier: Bayramov
Pan-American Qualifier: Garzon Caballero, Montero
World OG Qualifier: Rassadin, Salkazanov, Valiev
Reallocated Quotas: Chamizo, Lu
Key Recent (ish) Matches between Qualifiers
2024 Last Chance World OG Qualifier semifinals: Rassadin over Valiev (3-2)
2024 Last Chance World OG Qualifier quarterfinals: Valiev over Chamizo (5-5)
2024 Last Chance World OG Qualifier Round of 32: Chamizo over Lu (10-8)
2024 European Olympic Qualifier semifinals: Bayramov over Chamizo (8-8)
2024 European Championships semifinals: Salkazanov over Bayramov (7-1)
2023 Asian Games quarterfinals: Emami over Lu (10-2)
2023 World Championship Olympic wrestle-off: Kougioumtsidis over Bayramov (9-8)
2023 World Championship bronze medal match: Takatani over Kougioumtsidis (Fall 3:38)
2023 World Championship semifinals: Dake over Kougioumtsidis (4-1)
2023 World Championship quarterfinals: Dake over Takatani (6-4)
2023 World Championship quarterfinals: Kougioumtsidis over Salkazanov (4-3)
2023 World Championship Round of 64: Takatani over Chamizo (7-2)
The American Entry: Kyle Dake
For those who might enjoy placing an occasional wager, Kyle Dake happens to be the largest favorite out of any of the six men’s freestyle weights. Dake comes into Paris seeking his eighth world/Olympic medal. You’ll probably remember the 2020 Olympics when a Dake/Sidakov matchup was one of the most anticipated bouts of the tournament. Unfortunately, Dake was upset before the finals and had to scramble to come away with a bronze medal.
With an absurd resume that includes four NCAA titles at four different weights and four world titles, the only thing missing from Dake’s record is an Olympic gold medal. Even without it, Dake is still one of the most decorated American wrestlers of all time.
Last year, Dake finally got that elusive matchup versus Sidakov and fell in the finals of the World Championships, 10-7. That was his first loss since the Olympic setback. Because UWW ruled Sidakov ineligible to compete, we might never see a rematch. Either way, that’s none of Dake’s concern in the immediate future.
For the first straight tournament, Kyle Dake has earned a spot on the World or Olympic team at 74 kg. He unseated the great Jordan Burroughs at the 2020(1) Olympic Trials and hasn’t looked back. He hasn’t been beaten by a domestic foe since losing to Burroughs at the 2017 Trials. That record was kept intact by a pair of wins over Nittany Lion Wrestling Club teammate Jason Nolf at this year’s Olympic Trials - the same opponent he defeated last year at Final X.
While Dake is a huge favorite over the rest of this field, don’t expect him to just steamroll the competition. A few of the notable contenders have kept it close with him. As we know by now, Dake is comfortable in those matches and can control the matchup, even if he isn’t posting tech falls.
photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com
The X-Factor: Frank Chamizo (Italy)
American fans are probably pretty familiar with Chamizo after his battles with Burroughs and Dake over the years. He’s even spent significant time in American training. Chamizo is a six-time World/Olympic medalist and a three-time Olympian. He has medalled at the Olympic Games; however, that took place in 2016. In fact, five of Chamizo’s medals have come from 2019 or before.
Chamizo did not qualify for the Olympics through typical measures. He fell in the Round of 64 at the 2023 World Championships and did not come close through that avenue. In the European Olympic Qualifier, Chamizo advanced to the semifinals but was defeated 8-8 in the very controversial match to Turan Bayramov. After the tournament, Chamizo disclosed that he turned down a significant monetary payment to purposely throw the bout. A few weeks later, the referees associated with his match were suspended; however, the result remained.
Later, at the Last Chance World OG Qualifier, Chamizo was beaten by Cherman Valiev of Albania in the quarterfinals and was eliminated from repechage and qualification when Valiev lost in the semifinals.
After the Russian Federation said their wrestlers would not compete in Paris, and Belarus’ Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov was barred from competing, Chamizo was one of two wrestlers added to the bracket.
Chamizo will not be seeded and is probably not in world/Olympic champion-level threat status anymore, he still is a difficult matchup and is close with many of the top contenders.
The Bracket: For now, the bracket appears to be slightly tougher on the top half. Kyle Dake is the best wrestler at this weight and has earned the top seed. He has his 2023 World quarterfinals opponent, Takatani, as the fourth seed. Takatani fell to him 6-4 a year ago and went on to grab a bronze medal. Before a Takatani matchup, Dake would have to get through the Iranian, Emami, in the quarterfinals. Emami might be the second or third-best guy at this weight, in this bracket.
The second and third seeds belong to a pair of younger entrants, Bayramov and Kougiomtsidis, who have yet to have earned Senior medals, but have good wins and are ever-improving.
Analysis:
One unique dynamic of this weight is that most of the guys that have the credentials at this weight are…..let’s say, getting up there in age for Senior-level wrestling. Cuba’s Geandry Garzon Caballero is indeed a four-time world medalist, but he’s also 40 and his most recent medal came in 2010!!! For reference, the American in his weight that year was Brent Metcalf.
Something fun to monitor is the progress of Serbia’s Ali Arsalan. Arsalan is a 2022 world champion and a two-time world medalist; however, both have come in Greco-Roman. Khetik Tsabalov earned a world bronze medal for Serbia at this weight in 2023 and qualified for the Olympics, but he’s since gone down with an injury and Arsalan will be sent in his place. So, there is technically a world champion (aside from Dake) at this weight, but it was in Greco.
Apparently, the push to allow Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov to compete is still ongoing. He was the opponent who unexpectedly upset Dake at the 2020 Olympics. Should he be permitted to compete, he’d immediately jump to favorite status.
But for now, Dake is the lone favorite at this weight class. Should he compete in a manner we’ve been accustomed to seeing from him, he should come away with the gold.
Previous Olympic Previews:
Men's Freestyle 57 kg
Men's Freestyle 65 kg
Women's Freestyle 50 kg
Women's Freestyle 53 kg
Men's Greco-Roman 60 kg
Men's Greco-Roman 67 kg
