FILA World Wrestling Championships
September 19: Day Three, GR 120, FS 55, 60
[[By Jason Bryant]]
[[jbryant@intermatwrestle.com]]
Ramazanov tops Sevdimov
It was a google search that cleared up a confusing country code in a 2-0, 1-0 victory by Macedonia's Murat Ramazanov in the opening round. Ramazanov scored two quick exposures, but was only awarded one at 60kg against Azerbaijans's Namik Sevidimov.
Iraq picks up a W
Ali Jassim of Iraq was solid in his opening round match against outgunned Aldo Parimango Arros of Peru. The Iraqi scored a solid blast double to highlight his first period win and then cruised to advance.
Near miss
Only one weight is left in Greco-Roman, and the heavyweights (120kg) will share mat time today with the freestylers. Azerbaijan's Anton Botev was getting dominated by former World Champion Mijail Lopez of Cuba until Botev powered Lopez to his back and nearly pick up the fall and the upset. Once Lopez's shoulders were out of bounds and there was a re-start, the Cuban put things away with a dominant barrage of gutwrenches from the top position. You only get that chance once, and Lopez escaped the scare.
Gimme Five
American heavyweight Dremiel Byers scored one of the few five-point throws in his opening round match against Serbia's Radomir Petkovic. Byers won the first period by stepping over on Petkovic's lock and exposing him for two. Byers then hit a beautiful skying five-pointer just four seconds into the second period, ending the match and giving Byers the 2-0, 5-0 win.
What's in a name? A victory.
The head Greco-Roman coach at the USOEC at Northern Michigan is a man by the name of Ivan Ivanov. The entry at heavyweight for Bulgaria is a man named Ivan Ivanov. The Bulgarian wasn't expected to see too much of the mat as he faced Turkey's Ismail Guzel in the opening round. Guzel won the first period with a three-point throw from a front headlock and then another two on the exposure. In the second, the Bulgarian scored from the top position with a gut wrench to force a decisive third period. What happened next was something you don't see at this level of international wrestling. Guzel went ahead 1-0 when Ivanov could not score from his lock. Guzel then scored three points on a lift and throw to take a 4-0 lead with 12 seconds to go. On the restart, Ivanov charged into Guzel, drove him to his back and nearly pinned Guzel. The end result was three points for the throw, one point for the hold and a victory. Amazing.
Byers moves on, faces big Greek
The only American still in the championship bracket, Dremiel Byers picked up a three-period victory over Bulgarian Ivan Ivanov to advance to the quarterfinals at 120kg to face Greece's P. Papodopolous. Should Byers move past the Greek, he'll face Russia's dominanting Khasan Baroev in the semifinals.
Team Race
Believe it or not, the U.S. is still in the hunt for a team title in Greco-Roman. South Korea, Russia, Iran and the U.S. are in a tight battle, but Byers is looking to push the U.S. over the top.
Byers makes semis, falls to Russian
Well, Dremiel Byers did take out Greece's P. Papodopoulous, but had his run to the finals stopped by Russian Khasan Baroev at 120kg. Baroev will face Mijail Lopez of Cuba in the finals, who has been dominant all tournament long. Baroev, though, is the favorite for a variety of factors, but should we see the real Lopez in tonight's final, it will be one to watch.
Prizreni falls in semis
Albanian Sahit Prizreni fell in the semifinals at 60kg to Bulgaria's Anatoli Guidea and eliminated American Mike Zadick from medal contention. Folks might recognize Prizreni's name -- he frequently works out with the New York Athletic Club. He was a finalist at the 2007 Dave Schultz Memorial Open in Colorado Springs where he lost 1-1, 6-1 to Travis Lee. Americans might also recognize the names of some folks Prizreni has wins over -- Shawn Bunch, Angel Cejudo, Bulgaria's Radoslav Velikov -- to name a few.
Two freestyle finals are set
Forgive the reference, but do you know when the Mongols ruled China? Well, Keanu Reeves' best acting performance aside, Mongolian Bayaraa Naranbaatar reached the finals at 55kg with four straight victories and will face Russian Besik Kudukhov. Narabataar topped Belarus' Rizvan Gadshiev 2-0, 1-1, 1-1 while Kudukhov topped 2005 world champion Dilshod Mansurov of Uzbekistan 3-2, 5-0.
60 kilos
A second Russian made the finals in as many weights as 2004 Olympic Champion Mavlet Batirov will face Bulgaria's Anatoli Guidea at 60kg in Wednesday's final. Guidea's best finish in a senior-level international event was in April at the European Championships when he was second to Ukraine's Vasyl Fedorishin. Batirov didn't compete, but his brother Adam did, and finished fifth.
USA Greco ... a world power?
It's going to take some re-calculation, but ultimately, the United States has clinched it's best ever World Championship finish with no worse than second. While FILA's numbers and USA Wrestling's numbers differ on places 1-3, it looks like if Dremiel Byers wins, the U.S. would edge Russia by a point (assuming Baroev wins). That's quite a feat considering only three weights coming into today were qualified for the Olympics and 2006 World Champion Joe Warren wasn't on the squad.
The details at 55kg
Henry Cejudo's first World Championships was short-lived as Iranian Taghi Dadashi beat the 20-year-old American 1-0, 4-0 at 55kg. The first period saw Cejudo push the pace but stay limited in his shot selection. Dadashi's only score was mid-to-late in the period, using a front headlock, and posting on Cejudo's chin for a spin-behind. In the second, Cejudo tried to score twice on inside trip attempts, but the lanky Iranian stepped out of both. As time wound down with no score, Cejudo appeared to try another inside trip, but switched off to a pass-by and was caught off-balance and Dadashi countered him to the mat for three and one point for the hold for the 4-0 second period outcome. Cejudo left the mat in disbelief and as Dadashi lost in the following round, the tournament was over. USA Coach Terry Brands said after the match, "He overwrestled."
The details at 60kg
As mentioned earlier, Albanian Sahit Prizreni topped American Mike Zadick in the opening round 1-1, 1-0. Zadick scored early in the first with a pushout and was controlling the tempo fairly well, but Prizreni hit a slick duckunder for the final score of the period to win the first. Zadick, wearing a FILA-approved chest pad as he was protection for a cracked sternum sustained at least two years ago, battled Prizreni to a scoreless draw in the second, which led to the always cumbersome leg clinch. Prizreni won the toss and quickly snatched up Zadick's leg, but only momentarily dropped him to his backside as Zadick recovered quickly, but the officials awarded the point to Prizreni.
Byers wins Bronze, Lopez beats Baroev:
U.S. Wins first World Championship
Two things had to happen, and they both did. Dremiel Byers picked up a 1-1, 2-0, 2-1 victory over Yannick Szczepaniak of France to claim the Bronze Medal at 120kg and Cuban Mijail Lopez beat Khasan Bareov 1-1, 1-1 to win the Gold Medal. The end result, a World Championship for the United States in Greco-Roman. Coming into the finals, the team scores on the FILA site changed to reflect an added point for Russia due to a match wrestled to determine a place point and an Olympic qualifiying berth. Had Byers lost, the U.S. would have been eliminated from contention. But after his win, a victory by Baroev would have forced a tie for the team championship with the U.S. and Russia and the Russian contingent would have won via the most champions tie-breaker.
Byers lost the first period as neither wrestler scored and Szczepaniak won by scoring the last point of the period. Byers scored a 2-0 win with a pushout late in the first minute then neither scored from their lock positions. In the third, it was a pushout during Byers lock position and a lock defense.
In the finals, Lopez won both tosses as neither wrestler scored from neutral or the lock positions.
Kukukhov's late takedown wins title
Russia claimed the first freestyle title of the tournament as Besik Kudukhov picked up a two-period victory over Mongolia's Bayaraa Naranbaatar at 55kg. Kudukhov scored his win in the first period countering a front-headlock roll and exposed Narabataar to the mat. In the second period, Kudukhov notched a 1-1 victory, giving up a takedown on a nice sweep single by Naranbataar, but as time ticked down, Kudukhov pushed the pace, nearly scored a pushout but as Naranbaatar fought to stay in bounds, Kudukhov snapped and spun to score the final takedown and win the world title.
Russia takes second title at 60kg
Mavlet Batirov claimed Russia's second freestyle title in as many weights with a two-period victory over Bulgaria's Anatoli Guidea. Batirov notched a 1-0, 1-0 victory and shot the Russian squad into a strong lead heading into Thursday's three weight classes.
