The 2024 Olympic Games came to an end last Sunday. Since there was so much action going on for the last week, you're sure to have missed something along the way. We'll go through each weight class and have a wrap-up for each, which includes results and some notable facts related to the weight.
Past weight classes
Round of 16
Aaron Brooks (USA) over Azamat Dauletbekov (Kazakhstan) 4-3
Hayato Ishiguro (Japan) over Fateh Benferdjallah (Algeria) 11-0
Magomed Ramazanov (Bulgaria) over Alexander Moore (Canada) 12-2
Javrail Shapiev (Uzbekistan) over Vladimiri Gamkrelidze (Georgia) 5-1
Myles Amine (San Marino) over Vasyl Mykhailov (Ukraine) 7-4
Osman Nurmagomedov (Azerbaijan) over Bat Erdene Byambasuren (Mongolia) 11-2
Dauren Kurugliev (Greece) over Ethan Ramos (Puerto Rico) 11-0
Hassan Yazdani (Iran) over Jayden Lawrence (Australia) 10-0
Quarterfinals
Aaron Brooks (USA) over Hayato Ishiguro (Japan) 11-1
Magomed Ramazanov (Bulgaria) over Javrail Shapiev (Uzbekistan) Fall 3:39
Myles Amine (San Marino) over Osman Nurmagomedov (Azerbaijan) 16-12
Hassan Yazdani (Iran) over Dauren Kurugliev (Greece) 9-4
Semifinals
Magomed Ramazanov (Bulgaria) over Aaron Brooks (USA) 4-3
Hassan Yazdani (Iran) over Myles Amine (San Marino) 7-1
Repechage
Javrail Shapiev (Uzbekistan) over Alexander Moore (Canada) 6-1
Dauren Kurugliev (Greece) over Jayden Lawrence (Australia) 10-0
Bronze Medal Matches
Aaron Brooks (USA) over Javrail Shapiev (Uzbekistan) 5-0
Dauren Kurugliev (Greece) over Myles Amine (San Marino) 5-4
Gold Medal Match
Magomed Ramazanov (Bulgaria) over Hassan Yazdani (Iran) 7-1
Notes:
Magomed Ramazanov is the first Bulgarian to win an Olympic gold medal in men’s freestyle since the legendary Valentin Jordanov in 1996 at 52 kg.
Ramazanov was the first Olympic medalist of any sort for Bulgaria in men’s freestyle since 2008 when Radoslav Velikov (55 kg) and Kiril Terziev (74 kg) both earned bronze medals.
At 31 years old, Ramazanov was the oldest wrestler to win an Olympic gold medal in men’s freestyle this Olympic Games.
Because of his previous affiliation with Russia, this was the first time that Ramazanov appeared at an Olympic Games or World Championship event.
Hassan Yazdani was injured and barely made it through the gold medal match. Even so, he was able to claim his third Olympic medal (1 gold - 2 silver) and his 10th World/Olympic medal.
Yazdani has now earned a medal at every World/Olympic event dating back to 2015.
Yazdani was one of five wrestlers in this bracket with prior Olympic experience. He was the only one to have appeared in more than two Olympic Games.
For the second straight year, Yazdani and Myles Amine met in the semifinals - in 2023 it was at the World Championships, but in both instances, Yazdani prevailed.
Yazdani was the only medal winner from the 2020 Games to get back to the stand in 2024. Amine was the only other 2020 medals that was in the field.
Amine and Dauren Kurugliev clashed in a bronze medal matchup. It was their third meeting in just over a year. Each one has been via an excruciatingly close, one-point margin. Amine was victorious at the 2023 Hungarian Ranking Series event, Kurugliev took this meeting and the 2024 European Championships.
Kurugliev’s bronze medal is the first for Greece in men’s freestyle since the 2000 Olympic Games when Amiran Kardanov took bronze at 54 kg.
Aaron Brooks joined Gable Steveson, J’den Cox, and Kyle Snyder as recent Olympic medalists who also competed in college during the Olympic year.
With Brooks’ bronze medal, it marks the third straight Olympics that a wrestle from Maryland came away with a medal in men’s freestyle (Kyle Snyder in 2016/20).
Brooks’ medal also gives the top-two recruits from the high school Class of 2018 Olympic medals. Brooks was considered #2 and Gable Steveson was #1.
Since 2020, a Penn State grad has captured a medal at 86 kg in every World/Olympic event. Taylor (2020-23) and Brooks (2024).
86 kg is the only weight class in men’s freestyle where the Americans have medaled in each of the last three Olympic Games. (Brooks/2024/bronze), (Taylor/2020/gold), (Cox/2016/bronze).
In each of the last three years, Azamat Dauletbekov (Kazakhstan) has been knocked out from gold medal contention by an American. In Paris, he was beaten by Brooks in the opening round. At the last two World Championship events, Dauletbekov was defeated by Taylor in the semifinals.
This weight class featured three DI All-Americans with Brooks, Amine (San Marino/Michigan), and Ethan Ramos (Puerto Rico/North Carolina).
The quarterfinal bout between Amine and Osman Nurmagomedov (Azerbaijan) was the second-highest scoring bout of the entire men’s freestyle tournament. 16-12 in favor of Amine and 28 total points.
photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com
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