Men's freestyle GOAT

[Booger]

17 minutes ago, 11986 said:

@fishbane wasn't there a Canadian wrestler who beat Fadzaev once or twice? World Cup maybe? 

Chris Wilson.

Wilson defeated Fadzaev twice, most notably at the 1990 Goodwill Games, where he won by points. According to a profile in Sports Illustrated from 1992, Wilson was the only wrestler to have defeated Fadzaev at that point in his career. 

[AgaveMaria]

Can a wrestler with only 3 Titles be in the conversation?

Two world & one Olympic Gold?

Suppposedly 189-0 in his International career and never taken down.

Osamy Watanabe of Japan.

Anyone have more information on his career or saw him in competition?

[nhs67]

15 hours ago, AgaveMaria said:

Can a wrestler with only 3 Titles be in the conversation?

Two world & one Olympic Gold?

Suppposedly 189-0 in his International career and never taken down.

Osamy Watanabe of Japan.

Anyone have more information on his career or saw him in competition?

189 is impressive and deserves mention.  That said, 189 in three years at that time gives me Goldberg persona.  I don't buy it.

[lu1979]

21 hours ago, AgaveMaria said:

Can a wrestler with only 3 Titles be in the conversation?

Two world & one Olympic Gold?

Suppposedly 189-0 in his International career and never taken down.

Osamy Watanabe of Japan.

Anyone have more information on his career or saw him in competition?

I never saw him compete but he did come to Lehigh when I was a junior - he demonstrated his shoulder throw and headlock for our team.  A teammate who was Japanese=American translated for him during the clinic.  I remember he was very short with a barrel chest and huge legs.   

[mspart]

6 hours ago, lu1979 said:

I never saw him compete but he did come to Lehigh when I was a junior - he demonstrated his shoulder throw and headlock for our team.  A teammate who was Japanese=American translated for him during the clinic.  I remember he was very short with a barrel chest and huge legs.   

A very small Sumo!!

mspart

[Truzzcat]

I think its Satiev but I would respect Khadartsev or Medved if that is your cup of tea.

[Truzzcat]

I will add that I think it is worth noting that if David Taylor did not exist Hassan Yazdani would be mentioned here and for that fact I think DT deserves a mention since he is 5-1 against him. He also has wins over Ghasempour,Hidlay,Zahid,Cox (in bo3 setting) 54-4 once he made his first team and wins over 4 previous or future world champs. 

I understand the Valencia and Hidlay wins were not peak version but they did both occur last year.

 

Beating David and Kyle to me is the biggest feather in JB's cap I will not say he did not beat the best version of Kyle because I think Kyle would have won world titles if not for JB but I think its safer to say he never beat the best version of DT.

[GrandOlm]

On 10/13/2025 at 8:35 PM, Truzzcat said:

I will add that I think it is worth noting that if David Taylor did not exist Hassan Yazdani would be mentioned here and for that fact I think DT deserves a mention since he is 5-1 against him. He also has wins over Ghasempour,Hidlay,Zahid,Cox (in bo3 setting) 54-4 once he made his first team and wins over 4 previous or future world champs. 

I understand the Valencia and Hidlay wins were not peak version but they did both occur last year.

 

Beating David and Kyle to me is the biggest feather in JB's cap I will not say he did not beat the best version of Kyle because I think Kyle would have won world titles if not for JB but I think its safer to say he never beat the best version of DT.

Taylor doesn't have enough medals to be in contention, with so many losses. 

His domestic losses when he wasn't making teams still count. Him getting crushed by Sadulaev is another big mark against him. 

I'm just going to say it, but his weight class had people like Myles Amine and Deepak Punia medaling. 

[GrandOlm]

On 10/9/2025 at 6:55 AM, nhs67 said:

189 is impressive and deserves mention.  That said, 189 in three years at that time gives me Goldberg persona.  I don't buy it.

All these records are a bit suspect, since wrestling doesn't have a professional league. For all we know, these numbers that get thrown around could include hundreds of wins from a local club tournament . 

[MJD]

Saitiev is the freestyle GOAT, no question. Burroughs isn't even the American GOAT, so I don't know why he's mentioned there. Top 3 Americans are:

1) John Smith

2) Bruce Baumgartner

3) Jordan Burroughs

[Booger]

1 hour ago, MJD said:

Saitiev is the freestyle GOAT, no question. Burroughs isn't even the American GOAT, so I don't know why he's mentioned there. Top 3 Americans are:

1) John Smith

2) Bruce Baumgartner

3) Jordan Burroughs

For the longevity and number of medals (Olympics + Worlds... ) on the American side, Bruce has my vote.
D3

Edited October 31, 2025 by Booger

[El Luchador]

Sergi B and B. Satiev are really hard to choose from for me.  Both we insanely technical and diverse. Smith and J.B. were narrow in their styles and Belogozav and Satiev were dangerous in more ways than you could prepare for. If you were a coach you would train guys to wrestle like the Russians and hope you could get a Smith or Boroughs to come through your room. 

The era or the iron curtain was crazy competitive. Many great programs no longer exists due to many circumstances and to me that weakens the status of recent accomplishments.

[GrandOlm]

On 10/31/2025 at 8:02 PM, El Luchador said:

 

The era or the iron curtain was crazy competitive. Many great programs no longer exists due to many circumstances and to me that weakens the status of recent accomplishments.

Turkey has gotten worse for sure. And they are a traditional freestyle power. Cuba is bankrupt. Bulgaria's success was founded on their Turkish population and they haven't had anyone good since?????

Competitive level continental european freestyle wrestling doesn't really exist anymore. You'll occasionally see one of a ukrainian, Belarusian or Pole that on his best day could win a bronze at a given worlds, but that's about it.  Caucus transfers are winning under fake representations. 

I think it's still worse in Greco. Part of the reason why Iran is putting up such impressive numbers.