Though always a competitive tournament, the Yasar Dogu was only recently named a Ranking Series event, after South Africa announced in April that it was unable to host the event. With the last-minute change, the stream is being provided for free on Trackwrestling.com.
Due to the change, entry lists for the event have been difficult to find, but we do know of at least top-level matchups American fans will be excited to see: Jordan Burroughs vs. Frank Chamizo, Haji Aliyev vs. Logan Stieber and J'den Cox vs. Sharif Sharifov.
For Burroughs, a Chamizo rematch will be instructive on how they will compete against each other in Budapest. Burroughs' NYC Beat the Streets win was important, but did plenty of preparation, generous weight allowances and no other matches benefit Burroughs? We'll see. I tend to think it matters when they meet. On day one I could see it favoring Chamizo who wouldn't have cut as much weight.
That said, a second day finals matchup benefits Burroughs who tends to use the first match or two of the day to shake loose the competitive cobwebs and find his footing (literally in the case of BTS). I think that by the second day he'll have a real advantage over Chamizo.
Either way, it'll be fun wrestling to watch.
Ukraine, Turkey, and Azerbaijan are expected to show up with their starting world team lineups as is a questionable lineup from Iran.
Action starts Friday at 4 a.m. ET. You can see the full schedule here.
To your questions…
Helen Maroulis before competing at Beat the Streets' "Rumble on the River" event (Photo/Juan Garcia)Q: What's the status of Helen Maroulis? Has a wrestle-off date been set? Is there a chance she might be out for the World Championships?
-- Mike C.
Foley: From her social media, it looks like she's on the road to recovery. Injuries are tricky to report since the athlete reserves the right (as they should) to publish their own health information. Given what I'm hearing she has every plan to challenge for the spot, but I don't know that a date has been decided.
In my opinion anyone who bets against Helen is only playing themselves.
Anzor Boltukayev defeated multiple Olympic champs leading up to the Rio Games, including Jake VarnerQ: Leading up to the 2016 Olympics, there was a 10-12 month period from the 2015 World Championships to Rio where Anzor Boltukayev appeared to be the most ferocious 97-kilogram wrestler in the history of the weight class. In one calendar year he had victories over the following wrestlers: Kyle Snyder, Jake Varner (Snyder and Varner in the same tournament -- 2016 Yarygin), 2012 Olympic silver medalist Valerii Andriitsev, 2015 European silver medalist Elizbar Odikadze (Andriisev and Odikadze in the same tournament -- 2016 European Championships), and six-time world/Olympic champion Khadzhimurat Gatsalov at the 2016 Russian National Championships.
He gassed out in his first match in Rio and got knocked out of the tournament. Other than a world bronze in 2013 he hasn't done much on the world level. How do you explain someone like this exploding on to the scene and then seemingly dropping off the map just as fast? Injuries? Russian vitamins?
-- James R.
Foley: I remember it well. During Boltukayev's run I made a low-rent highlight film of him for UWW where he was helicoptering out of underhooks and massaging his beard and it combined for more than 500K views on Facebook and YouTube.
Boltukayev had all the trappings of a star wrestler: big frame, gnarly facial hair, and interesting backstory (Chechen Special Forces). Working against him was an issue of age and, as you saw, endurance.
His Olympic performance was justified by the Russian media as a case of food poisoning, but with the last-minute banning of Meldonium and the extra pre-Olympic tests of Russian athletes' rumors of the drug testing persisted. Who's to say?
However, that precipitous drop-off in attention was actually due to a real, positive drug test in April of 2017 for Higenamine, which is a Beta-2 Agonist. The ingestion was deemed accidental and Boltukayev completed his one-year suspension on April 5.
MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME
Link: WEEEEBZ Bringing the Truth
Chinese President Xi on hand for the opening of Senegal's newest wrestling stadium. Americans tend to express love for the military and want to see it in use, but in my opinion nothing can connect you faster to the people of a country and persuade outcomes better than a little humanitarian action. This isn't exactly humanitarian, but it'll continue to improve China's relationship with Africa and allow them preferential trade deals. Brilliant move.
Sport swap with Sofia Mattsson
Q: With Heath Eslinger resigning as Chattanooga's head wrestling coach, who do you see as potential candidates at UTC? Hearing any names?
-- Mike C.
Foley: No names have been circulated, but I think the level of commitment from the alumni and university dictate that the next coach will be a formidable hire. Any coach who chooses to go south will certainly be in the position
Q: I generally enjoy your view of the positives of freestyle wrestling relative to folkstyle. You recently posted a video of Zare vs. Kerkvliet, and mentioned that Zare looked like he is on pace to be a monster at 125 kilograms. I watched the match, and if he is an example of great freestyle wrestling, I can't see how you advocate for the pushout score as better than the scoring in folkstyle.
Zare won 7-4. By my count, Kerkvliet had nine legitimate takedown attempts, not including his flurry in the closing seconds. Zare had one, and I'm being really generous with that. All Zare did was grab an underhook or two, lock it tight, and drive. Without a doubt, the strategy worked, and that is something Kerkvliet will need to work on if he plans on competing in international freestyle.
Perhaps the biggest joke was Kerkvliet getting a passivity warning 34 seconds into the match, 12 seconds after he had taken the only real offensive attempt of the match and gotten in deep enough to grab Zare's leg. I'm told that passivity is often hard to call, but the refs have to make a call if there is no scoring. The benefit of the doubt is given to the wrestler who seems to control the mat by keeping his (or her) butt toward the middle of the mat. This is the only possible explanation I can see for calling passivity on the guy who was trying to score. In that case, then Zare worked the system perfectly. If you notice, after each stoppage he returned to the center of the mat so that Kervliet was outside the center circle. In that way, if they tied up and nothing more happened, Kerkvliet would always be called for being passive just because of the starting position. If the butt-to-the-middle criterion is actually used, then they should use the folkstyle start with one foot on each line, so the wrestlers start in equal position.
Bottom line, I don't see any way that changing the folkstyle rules to encourage that kind of wrestling will help grow the sport. Zare might turn into a sumo-style monster, but I'll watch a sport where they try to score takedowns. I'd be happy to hear your thoughts.
-- Mike D.
Foley: I think that Zare was in control of the match from start-to-finish. While he wasn't as offensive in terms of shooting he controlled the match and chased Kerkvliet around the edge of the circle. In my experience, the referees like to see the wrestler who is working the edge to commit to tie-ups and good shots. The diving shots don't motivate many referees unless it's followed up with an attempt to engage.
Overall there are a few points to keep in mind when watching the match again (as I just did to make sure I understood fully what you meant). The Iranians are famous for underhooks and position and make it a centerpiece of their strategy. In that way it's not too dissimilar from the Iowa-style of wrestling we are used to seeing at the collegiate level -- heavy pressure leads to mistakes, stall calls or poor positioning. With only a handful of clearances on the edge by Kerkvliet (including a takedown) the tempo was dominated by Zare.
Note also that it is illegal to "push" an opponent out of bounds. Points can only be given as the result of a wrestling action. There are admittedly few calls for shoving, but the rule does exist.
Kerkvliet was pushed around a lot, but I don't agree that it was Zare's fault. Taken from the Iranian perspective the American just failed to engage and instead hung from an overhook for much of the second period. Improved hand fighting and clearing ties would've meant more opportunities for Kerkvliet to score from distance, or in transitioning out of positions like the underhook.
Last point, but sumo is legit. I can't overstate how strong, flexible and athletic those men are. It defies reason.
Q: Aside from Gable Steveson, who do you see as the best heavyweight prospect under the age of 20? Seems like there are a lot of talented young heavyweights like Greg Kerkvliet, Cohlton Schultz, Seth Nevills, Anthony Cassioppi and Mason Paris.
-- Mike C.
Foley: The best NCAA prospect: Greg Kerkvliet. The best international prospect: Mason Paris. The best sumo prospect: Seth Nevills.
No prediction will land, but I do feel this might be the best generation of heavyweights we've ever seen in the United States. A few weeks ago I wrote that an increase in competitions and visibility may have helped earn these wrestlers more acclaim than some of their predecessors. I still think that it's true, but after watching some of the matches from Fargo and the Cadet World Championships I think that we are seeing something special.
Where do they all land? Unclear. I think that Gable and Co. will swap NCAA trophies with each other but also begin to assert real dominance on the international stage between 2020 and 2028. I'll go one step further and lay 2-1 odds that an American wins the Olympic gold medal at heavyweight in 2024 or 2028.
Fact of the Week
By @GiantBallofOil
The Big Ten scooped the top four spots at 125 pounds and 184 pounds this year. That's only happened four times over the last twenty years (all Big Ten), and two were this year! 2018-125 2018-184 2017-165 2002-285. Big Ten wrestling is the best and still getting better.
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