The Americans did win their final match of the 2014 Greco-Roman World Cup when they defeated a depleted Armenian side. However, the more telling statistic is that the Americans haven't earned a medal in over four years.
The last American World medalist in Greco-Roman was Dremiel Byers, who earned a silver medal in 2009 at 125 kilos. India, a country that only started their Greco-Roman program last decade, has a more recent medalist with Sandeep Tulsi Yadav (66 kilos) taking a bronze at least year's World Championships.
Still, there is hope for the American side. In 2007 the United States won the team title at the World Championships with a silver-medal performance by Brad Vering and bronze-medal finishes by Justin Lester and Byers.
The Americans can always surprise the world, but heading into the 2014 World Championships the odds are long and history is stacked against the Stars and Stripes.
59 kilos: Spenser Mango
Gold: 5 percent
Medal: 10 percent
Spenser Mango won his sixth U.S. Open title this year (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Standing in his way is an Asian contingent that is as good a grouping as any region can muster for a weight class. In addition to defending World champion Won Choi Yun (North Korea), the weight class also returns runner-up Choi Gyu-Jin (Korea) and the man who beat them both at this year's Asian Championships, Elmurat Tasmuradov (Uzbekistan). As if that weren't enough firepower, the weight class also includes 2012 Olympic Champion Hamid Soryan (Iran) and a handful of Europeans looking to win their first World title, including No. 1-ranked Aleksandar Kostadinov (Bulgaria)
The odds are stacked heavily against Mango both to make the finals and medal.
Top wrestlers: Hamid Soryan (Iran), Shinobu Ota (Japan), Aleksandar Kostadinov (Bulgaria), Won Choi Yun (North Korea), Choi Gyu-Jin (Korea) and Elmurat Tasmuradov (Uzbekistan)
66 kilos: RaVaughn Perkins
Gold: 5 percent
Medal: 5 percent
The new wunderkind of USA Greco-Roman wrestling, Perkins has matched an aggressive, risk-taking style with an emerging maturity that allows him to also grind out wins.
Known best for his wins over Ellis Coleman, Perkins could benefit from a streaky World Championships. Like most competitors, if Perkins finds the right hole in the bracket he can make a run before falling to a sure-fire finalist. The wrestleback rounds might be his best friends, as he showed at the World Cup with gutsy wins over Gevorg Sahakyan (Armenia) and Basar Enes (Turkey) -- both by fall.
However streaky and capable of finding a fall, if Perkins is to place he will be facing a mighty uphill battle against a stacked field of competitors at 66 kilos. Leading the group is world No.1 Adam Kurak (Russia), who has been unbeatable in 2014 and is a heavy favorite to win the World title. Also in the weight class is defending World champion Ryu Han-Soo (Korea), Olympic champion Omid noroozi (Iran) and Georgian strongman Rezav Lashkhi.
Top wrestlers: Adam Kurak (Russia), Hasan Aliyev (Azerbaijan), Ryu Han-Soo (Korea), Revaz Lashkhi (Georgia), Davor Stefanek (Serbia), Omid Noroozi (Iran)
75 kilos: Andy Bisek
Gold: 5 percent
Medal: 35 percent
Tough-nosed and position-crazed, Bisek is one of Team USA's emotional and performance leaders. He's one of the only guys on the roster to earn international titles, taking home the Happaranda Cup and Pan American Championships in 2012.
Bisek's World Cup wasn't impressive, but it also wasn't hugely disappointing. He earned a nice 6-0 win over Turkey's Furkan Bayrak and a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Karapet Chalyan (Armenia), while also dropping a close match to world No. 11 Laszlo Szabo (Hungary), 4-3.
Bisek can place, but he will need the right matchups and scouting to make it past at least one former World or Olympic champion. The top wrestlers at the weight class include the World or Olympic champion from each of the past four years (Kim, Vlasov, Abdavali) and a field that can be difficult to bully and even tougher to take down.
Top wrestlers: Kim Hyeon-Woo (Korea), Arsen Julfalakyan (Armenia), Roman Vlasov (Russia), Mark Madsen (Denmark), Saeid Mourad Abdvali (Iran)
85 kilos: Jordan Holm
Gold: 5 percent
Medal: 50 percent
Jordan Holm will be competing in his second straight Worlds (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Holm is America's best chance to medal at the 2014 World Championships. Consistent, strong ad courageous on the mat, Holm is assisted on his quest for a World medal by enjoying one of the weakest weight classes. The top wrestler is Ukraines Zhan Belenyuk who used an incredible array of throws to the win the European Championships, and the two guys he bested. Defending World champion Taelb Nematpour is out due to a drug suspension and the remaining top guys are talented but old.
Holm is a 50/50 shot to make the podium and that's about as good as it will get for the Americans in 2014.
Top wrestlers: Zhan Belenyuk (Ukraine), Rami Hietaniemi (Finland), Damian Janikowski (Poland), Alexej Mishin (Russia)
98 kilos: Caylor Williams
Gold: 5 percent
Medal: 5 percent
Not much is known about what Caylor Williams can do on the world stage. A recent addition to the U.S. squad he hasn't won much overseas, though he's been dominant at home. His three years competing at the senior level have been relatively light -- though a lack of exposure may provide him some advantage over a very static field of competitors.
No matter his background, Williams will face stiff competition from the world's upperweights. Leading this year's run will be defending World champion Nikita Melnikov (Russia) and current world No. 1 Artur Aleksanyan (Armenia), who has been on a mission in 2014. Also in the run will be Hungary's Balasz Kiss who owns a win over Melnikov in 2014.
Top wrestlers: Artur Aleksanyan (Armenia), Cenk Ildem (Turkey), Balasz Kiss (Hungary), Nikita Melnikov (Russia)
130 kilos: Robby Smith
Gold: 10 percent
Medal: 60 percent
Robby Smith is currently ranked No. 20 in the world (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)The only ranked wrestler for the United States at No. 20, Smith picked up a few wins at the World Cup, besting Vachik Yeghiazaryan (Armenia) by fall and Yessenkeidi Zhalgasbayev (Kazakhstan) by technical fall, 8-0. He also earned a mild upset over world No. 16 Vitalii Ilnitskii (Russia), 5-3.
Though the wins are nice, Smith's biggest success might have been dropping one-point matches to world No. 4 Attila Guzel (Turkey) and No. 12 Balint Lam (Hungary). Those showed that he can keep it close with anyone, a talent that can help him in Tashkent.
Smith has the ability to place. He would have a tough time with world No. 1 Riza Kayaalp, but matches up well with the aforementioned Tukish wrestler and the Swedish monster, world No. 3 Johan Magnus Euren.
Top wrestlers: Riza Kayaalp (Turkey), Mijain Lopez Nunez (Cuba), Johan Magnus Euren (Sweden), Attila Guzel (Turkey), Mindaugas Mizgaitis (Lithuania)
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now