InterMat Staff

Wrestling at the 2016 Olympic Games(Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) We just made it through a busy seven days with the lead up to the Olympics, the post-Fargo/Cadet World Championship-hangover, and plenty of other topics to discuss. Since so much ground was covered, you may have missed something. Here are links to all of our releases from last Sunday to Friday. Enjoy! July 25th 2020 Olympic Preview: Greco-Roman (60, 67, 77kg) Willie's Best Bets in Tokyo July 26th 2020 Olympic Preview: Greco-Roman (87, 97, 130kg) Tokyo Watch: Ravi Kumar (India) Profile July 27th How did Big Ten Recruits Fare in Fargo Drexel Adds David McFadden to the Coaching Staff 2020 Olympic Preview: Women's Freestyle (50, 53, 57kg) The Unbalanced Bracket NWHOF Announces Regional Dave Schultz Award Winners Tokyo Watch: Sharif Sharifov (Azerbaijan) Profile July 28th Where Could the Big 12 Programs End Up? Post-Fargo Stock-Up Report Tokyo Watch: Abdulrashid Sadulaev (Russia) Profile 2020 Olympic Preview: Women's Freestyle (62, 68, 76 kg) July 29th A Look at the Rivalry between Kyle Snyder and Abdulrashid Sadulaev 2020 Olympic Preview: Men's Freestyle (57, 65, 74kg) Tokyo Watch: Suleyman Atli (Turkey) Profile July 30th Willie's Olympic-Themed Mailbag The Wrestling Fans Guide to the MMA Weekend 2020 Olympic Preview: Men's Freestyle (86, 97, 125kg Fantasy Wrestling Guide for the Olympic Games July 31st 2020 Olympic Day One Brackets and Top Matchups

Adeline Gray at the 2020 Olympic Trials (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Brackets for the first day of the 2020 Olympic Games have been released. Men's Greco-Roman 60 kg and 130 kg, as well as, 76 kg in women's freestyle will be conducted on day one of the wrestling competition. Below are all three brackets and information about the first-round opponent for each American entrant. 60 kg Men's Greco-Roman American Entry - Ildar Hafizov 1st Round Opponent: Luis Orta Sanchez (Cuba) - 2019 Pan-American Games Bronze Medalist, 2019 Pan-American Champion, 2019 Cerro Pelado Champion, 2018 Pan-American Champion, 2018 Cerro Pelado Champion Top 1st Round Matches: Elmurat Tasmuradov (Uzbekistan) - 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist/3x World Medalist vs. Lenur Temirov (Ukraine) - 2018 World Bronze Medalist Alireza Nejati (Iran) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist vs. Armen Melikyan (Armenia) - 2019 U23 World Champion Victor Ciobanu (Moldova) - 2018 World Silver Medalist vs. Kerem Kamal (Turkey) - 3x Junior World Champion Zholaman Sharshenbekov (Kyrgyzstan) - 2018 World Silver Medalist vs. Meirambek Ainagulov (Kazakhstan) - 2x World Medalist 130 kg Men's Greco-Roman American Entry - None Top 1st Round Matches: Amin Mirzazadeh (Iran) - 2018 Junior World Champion vs. Min-Seok Kim (South Korea) 2018 World Bronze Medalist Iakob Kajaia (Georgia) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist vs. Elias Kousmanen (Finland) - 2017 U23 World Silver Medalist 76 kg Women's Freestyle American Entry - Adeline Gray 1st Round Opponent: Zaineb Sghaier (Tunisia) - 5x African Champion, 2018 Youth Olympic Games 7th Top 1st Round Matches: Aline de Silva Ferreira (Brazil) - 2014 World Silver Medalist vs. Yasemin Adar (Turkey) - 2017 World Champion Hiroe Minigawa (Japan) - 3x World Medalist vs. Burmaa Ochirtbat (Mongolia) - 3x World Medalist Erica Wiebe (Canada) - 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist vs. Epp Mae (Estonia) - 2x World Medalist Vasilisa Marzaliuk (Belarus) - 4x World Medalist vs. Aline Rotter Focken (Germany) - 2014 World Champion/4x World Medalist

The Olympics are set to begin in Tokyo, with Greco and women's freestyle beginning on August 1st and men's freestyle kicking off on August 4th. Want to play fantasy while you watch? You can on Fantasy Fight League. How it works: You select a wrestler at each weight in each style. However many points your athletes score gets added to your username. That moves you up the leaderboard. The top ten finishers on this month's leaderboard win prizes. Scoring: 80 points for gold, 60 points for silver, 40 points for bronze. Prizes: 1st: A pair of whichever Rudis shoes you want 2nd: A Blue Chip Team USA singlet 3rd: A Green Drop compression sleeve 4th: Richie Lewis' Aper Fitness USA jersey 5th: A Rokfin subscription 6th: An Intermat subscription 7th: A StaleMates subscription 8th: An Open Mat subscription 9th: A Team USA headband from Wrestling Mart What to know: You have the ability to play as many games as you want for $5 per month, cancel any time. Where to play: HERE

David Taylor (left), Kyle Snyder (center), and Gable Steveson (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Over the last six days, we have brought you weight class previews for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Each preview includes three Olympic weights. They will highlight notable past achievements of the competitors in each weight, the American entry, and what to look for during the competition. Today we'll finish with the final three weights from the men's freestyle portion of the competition (86, 97, 125 kg). If you missed our earlier previews, they are below. Women's Part One (50, 53, 57kg) Women's Part Two (62, 68, 76kg) Greco-Roman Part One (60, 67, 77kg) Greco-Roman Part Two (87, 97, 130kg) Men's Freestyle Part One (57, 65, 74kg) 86 kg Men's Freestyle Ekerekeme Agiomor (Nigeria) - 2018 African Champion Pool Ambrocio (Peru) - 2x Pan-American Silver Medalist Myles Amine (San Marino) - 2019 World fifth-place finisher, 2020 European Silver Medalist Fateh Benferdjallah (Algeria) - 2020 African Bronze Medalist Osman Gocen (Turkey) - 2019 U23 World Bronze Medalist Carlos Izquierdo Mendez (Colombia) - 2016 Olympian Zushen Lin (China) - Boris Makoev (Slovakia) - 2017 World Silver Medalist, 2020 European Bronze Medalist Artur Naifonov (Russia) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist, 2018 U23 World Silver Medalist, 2017 Junior World Champion, 3x European Champion Deepak Punia (India) - 2019 World Silver Medalist, 2021 Asian Silver Medalist Stefan Reichmuth (Switzerland) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist Ali Shabanov (Belarus) - 4x World Bronze Medalist, 2012 Olympian, 2x European Bronze Medalist Javrail Shapiev (Uzbekistan) - Sosuke Takatani (Japan) - 2014 World Silver Medalist, 2016 Olympian Hassan Yazdani Charati (Iran) - 2016 Olympic Champion, 2x World Champion, 4x World Medalist, 2x Asian Champion The Seeds 1) Yazdani Charati (Iran) 2) Punia (India) 3) Amine (San Marino) 4) Naifonov (Russia) The American Entry David Taylor - This will be the Olympic debut for David Taylor, who has been a top contender for the team dating back to his days at Penn State. Taylor was a favorite to claim the spot in 2016, but did not make the finals and ended up third. He finally broke through in 2018 and made a world team, at this weight, and proceeded to dominate the field en route to a world title. Taylor won his title with an impressive 12-2 tech in the finals. That was Taylor's only Senior world-level tournament as he suffered a knee injury in 2019 that forced him to miss the Trials. With Taylor out of the picture, Patrick Downey competed at the World Championships, but did not qualify America for the Olympics. That job fell to Taylor at the 2020 Pan-American Championships, where he made his return and shut out his two opponents on the way to the finals. In April, Taylor clinched a spot on the Olympic team by holding off fellow Penn State alum and Hodge Trophy Winner Bo Nickal. Since the Trials, Taylor has participated in and won the 2021 Pan-American Championships. That event did not contain any Olympic opponents. It's hard to gauge where Taylor fits into the weight class since it's been years since his last significant international competition. If he's anywhere near his peak, he'll come away with the gold. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 2 (Taylor, Yazdani Charati) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 8 (Makoev, Naifonov, Punia, Reichmuth, Shabanov, Takatani, Taylor, Yazdani Charati). It would be a significant upset to see anyone other than Taylor or Hassan Yazdani come away with the gold medal. Both seem to have a substantial gap between them and the rest of the field. Since Taylor is unseeded, we could see another early-round match with him and the Iranian, similar to the 2018 World Championships. The pair met in round one. Yazdani jumped out to an early lead, but was worn down by Taylor. If a similar bracketing situation would occur, that would bode well for Michigan's four-time All-American Myles Amine, who is on the other half as the three seed. He continues to evolve at the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club, while competing for San Marino. Amine, along with second-seeded Deepak Punia, a 2019 World Silver medalist, would be the favorites to advance from the bottom half of the bracket. Unseeded, but always dangerous is veteran Ali Shabanov, who has competed at the Games before and owns four world bronze medals. 97 kg Men's Freestyle Abraham Conyedo Ruano (Italy) - 2018 World Bronze Medalist, 2015 Pan-American Silver Medalist Mohamed Fardj (Algeria) - 2020 African Champion Aleksandr Hushtyn (Belarus) - 2020 Individual World Cup Silver Medal, 3x European Silver Medalist Magomed Ibragimov (Uzbekistan) - 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 2x Asian Champion Suleyman Karadeniz (Turkey) - 2020 European Champion Mohammad Mohammadian (Iran) - 2014 World Bronze Medalist, 2015 Asian Champion Magomedgadzhi Nurov (North Macedonia) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist Elizbar Odikadze (Georgia) - 2018 World Bronze Medalist, 6x European Bronze Medalist Mohamed Saadaoui (Tunisia) - 4x African Champion, 2016 Olympian Abdulrashid Sadulaev (Russia) - 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist, 4x World Champion, 4x European Champion Reineris Salas Perez (Cuba) - 3x World Medalist Albert Saritov (Romania) - 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 2011 World Bronze Medalist Sharif Sharifov (Azerbaijan) - 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist, 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 2011 World Champion, 3x World Medalist, 2019 European Champion Jordan Steen (Canada) - 2x Pan-American Bronze Medalist Alisher Yergali (Kazakhstan) - 2021 Asian Silver Medalist The Seeds 1) Sadulaev 2) Snyder 3) Yergali 4) Nurov The American Entry Kyle Snyder - The last time Kyle Snyder competed at the Olympic Games, he became the youngest American to ever win a gold medal. Now he's attempting to join the elite of the elite and become the first American since John Smith to win multiple golds. After the 2016 Olympics, Snyder faced an incredible test from fellow gold medalist Abdulrashid Sadulaev, who bumped up from 86 kg. In one of the most highly anticipated matches in recent history, Snyder downed the Russian, which helped the US win a men's freestyle team title, too. The two met the following year in the world finals and Sadulaev evened the score with a quick fall. In 2021, it seems as if Snyder would have his most competition domestically, as two-time world champion J'den Cox was sent to move up to 97kg for the Olympic Trials. Of course, Cox did not weigh-in and one of the most unusual saga's in the Trials history was born. Snyder ended up meeting former Ohio State teammate Kollin Moore in the best-of-three finals and cruised to his second Olympic Team. Since the Trials, Snyder went and captured a title at the Pan-American Championships. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 3 (Sadulaev, Sharifov, Snyder) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 10 (Conyedo Ruano, Ibragimov, Mohammadian, Nurov, Odikadze, Sadulaev, Salas Perez, Saritov, Sharifov, Snyder) For American wrestling fans used to seeding at major tournaments, it's great to seed Sadulaev and Snyder on opposite halves of the bracket as the top-two at 97 kg. Could we see the third installment of their rivalry in Tokyo? Of course, 97 kg features the most returning world medalist of any men's freestyle weight, so there are plenty of entrants who could prevent such as super-match. One of those is unseeded veteran Sharif Sharifov, the competitor who knocked off Snyder at the World Championships in 2019. The Iranian entry, Mohammadian, is also capable of a deep run. He has a semi-recent win over Snyder at the 2020 Matteo Pellicone. As we go up in weight, speed is less of a factor and we see older, grizzled competitors. 97 kg has plenty of these capable veterans like Ibragimov, Odikadze, and Saritov that have been there before and can hang with the best. 125 kg Men's Freestyle Diaaeldin Abdelmottaleb (Egypt) - 3x African Champion, 2016 Olympian Taha Akgul (Turkey) - 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist, 2x World Champion, 5x World Medalist, 7x European Champion Yusup Batirmurzaev (Kazakhstan) - 2019 U23 World Bronze Medalist, 2020 Asian Champion Djahid Berrahal (Algeria) - 2020 African Silver Medalist Gennadij Cudinovic (Germany) - Zhiwei Deng (China) - 2x World Medalist, 2016 Olympian, 2019 Asian Silver Medalist Amar Dhesi (Canada) - 2020 Pan-American Silver Medal Dzianis Khramiankov (Belarus) - 2x U23 World Medalist Aleksander Khotsianivski (Ukraine) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist, 2019 European Bronze Medalist Sergey Kozyrev (Russia) - 2021 European Champion, 2014 Youth Olympic Games Gold Medalist Aiaal Lazarev (Kyrgyzstan) - 2020 Individual World Cup Bronze Medalist, 2015 Asian Champion Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur (Mongolia) - 2019 U23 World Bronze Medalist Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) - 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 3x World Champion, 5x World Medalist, 2x European Champion Egzon Shala (Kosovo) - Amir Zare (Iran) - 2019 U23 World Champion The Seeds 1) Petriashvili 2) Batirmurzaev 3) Akgul 4) Khotsianivsky The American Entry Gable Steveson - Rarely in sports does the actual substance of an athlete live up to, or even exceed the hype. Coming out of high school, Gable Steveson was billed as perhaps the best recruit EVER! Or at least since Steve Mocco twenty years before him. With two years of college eligibility available (if he chooses to use them), Steveson has already won a share of the Hodge Trophy and made an Olympic Team. Steveson didn't “just” make the team; he dominated two-time world bronze medalist Nick Gwiazdowski in the best-of-three finals. Rarely has Gwiazdowski been beaten the way he was by Steveson, which leads many American fans to believe that Gable can win a gold medal...this year! Steveson has his share of international experience. He won back-to-back Cadet World titles in 2015 and 2016, then moved up to the Junior division a year later and did the same. There isn't much recent data to go off of for Steveson on the Senior level. After making the team, he went to the Pan-American Championships and eviscerated the field, though there were no 2020 Olympians in the mix. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 2 (Akgul, Petriashvili) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 4 (Akgul, Deng, Khotsianivski, Petriashvili) Since 2014, every 125 kg world/Olympic championship has been won by either Taha Akgul or Geno Petriashvili. Akgul took home gold from 2014-16, while Petriashvili has grabbed the next three. These two have generally been head and shoulders above the competition and, for the most part, their only losses during this span have come to each other. They are on separate halves of the bracket, so another meeting between the two could come in the Olympic finals. A trio of young upstarts could be the only two capable of stopping this clash of titans. We've already discussed the American sensation, Steveson, but Iran's Amir Zare and Russia's Sergey Kozyrev seem ready to take the next step. Zare is a monstrous heavyweight that was a Junior World silver medalist in 2019 and a U23 champion the same year. Just three years ago, Kozyrev was a Youth Olympic Games champion. Watch where the three young guns get placed in the brackets, as they are most likely to cause chaos here.

2016 World Team member Chris Gonzalez (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Even with the Olympics in full swing, the MMA world continues to roll on with multiple events. That means that InterMat is back once again with a look at the former wrestlers who will be competing. UFC Vegas 33 Ryan Benoit was a three-time Texas state champion for McKinney North and wrestled one year of college wrestling before starting his MMA career. He will likely need a win over Zarrukh Adashev this Saturday to keep his spot in the UFC after dropping his last two bouts against Heili Alateng and Time Elliott. Kai Kamaka III was a Hawaii state champion in high school before continuing his wrestling career for NAIA Midland University. He will be looking to get back on track against Danny Chavez in a featherweight bout. Orion Cosce wrestled for Hoopa High School in the Humboldt region of California. He has not strayed too far from his roots as he entered the 2015 U.S. Open in Greco. Cosce holds an undefeated 7-0 record and will be making his UFC debut against Philip Rowe after winning a contract with Dana White's Contender Series. UFC Vegas 33 takes place Saturday night in Las Vegas. The main card starts at 9:00pm ET, and the preliminary card begins at 6:00pm ET. The entire event airs live on ESPN and ESPN+. Bellator 263 AJ McKee takes on Patricio Pitbull in what has been described as the biggest fight in Bellator history. While McKee is certainly a well-rounded fighter, he did come up as a wrestler. He was a standout wrestler at CIF Southern Sectional champion for Long Beach Poly before going on to wrestle for Notre Dame College and Cerritos College. While at Cerritos, he picked up a CCCA state championship. McKee might be wise to go to his wrestling against Pitbull as he did have trouble in that department against Joe Warren and Daniel Straus. Chris Gonzalez represented the U.S. at the 2016 non-Olympic World Championships in Greco. He then followed that up with a silver medal at the 2017 U.S. Open. He originally planned to continue wrestling while fighting in MMA , but he has been focusing on MMA recently. Gonzalez holds an undefeated 6-0 record, but that will undoubtedly be put to the test against Goiti Yamauchi. Yamauchi is by far the best fighter Gonzalez has faced, and his submission skills on the floor will make wrestling dangerous. Bellator 263 airs live from Los Angeles on Saturday. The preliminary card goes down at 7:00pm ET on YouTube, while the main card starts at 9:00pm ET on Showtime. XMMA 2 Kenny Robertson was the last NCAA qualifier for the Eastern Illinois program before it was dropped. During his time on campus, he was a two-time NCAA West Regional champion. Robertson went 4-5 across multiple stints in the UFC and was released in 2016. He looks to turn things around this weekend against PFL veteran Chris Curtis. Cody Gibson wrestled collegiately for both Bakersfield College and Menlo College. The MMA veteran last fought in the UFC in 2015, but he has gone 4-1 in his last five fights. He takes on 8-2 fighter Louie Sanoudaki. XMMA 2 takes place Friday night at 7:00pm ET in Greenville, S.C. Legacy Fighting Alliance 113 Thomas Peterson was the 2017 NJCAA heavyweight champion for Iowa Central, and he also spent time at North Dakota State. He signed with LFA in 2020 after only one professional fight and now holds a 4-0 record. He takes a big step up in competition here against Bellator veteran Vernon Lewis in a heavyweight title fight. The main card of the LFA 113 airs live on UFC Fight Pass at 9:00pm ET on Friday. Fighting Alliance Championship 9 Nyle Bartling spent one year at Ohio State before transferring to Nebraska. He never really cracked the starting lineup, but the Nebraska native went 13-3 at heavyweight as a senior. Bartling made his professional MMA debut in 2019 and currently holds a 3-0 record. He takes on Max McNeely on the card. Isaac Dulgarian spent time in college at both Notre Dame College and Nebraska-Kearney. He made his professional debut this past march for this promotion and now holds a 2-0 record at featherweight. He will face Jessy Ebrecht, who is 2-3. FCA 9 takes place Friday night in Independence, Mo., with the main card airing live on UFC Fight Pass at 10:00pm ET.

The 2020 US Women's Freestyle Olympic Team (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) We're on the eve of the (delayed) Olympics and man, it feels good to have wrestling back. The Cadet World Championships were the first “Worlds” of any kind in wrestling since the Senior competition in Nur-Sultan. But I have a warning. Just like I have a warning before every Senior Worlds or Olympics… Hope for the best, but brace yourself for some measure of disappointment. We spend almost all of our wrestling-watching on our own Americans. We've seen David Taylor be a prodigy since youth. We've watched Kyle Dake win 4 NCAA titles and Tamyra Mensah-Stock go from up-and-coming talent to World Champ. In that way, our familiarity, and allegiances, and bias all converge to the greatest of expectations. But, I promise you, someone's gonna break your heart. Wrestling is a world sport. The United States is good. Not dominant, but good. And this is the oddest of circumstances. With so many delays and cancellations, there's really much less data than ever. We don't know how good Nurislam Sanayev is wrestling right now. We don't know where Haji Aliev, or Artur Aleksanyan or Risako Kawai are in their training. It all leads to so much uncertainty. No one wants the USA to crush the competition more than I do. But I'm also experienced enough and realistic enough to know that some in the field will overperform and some will underperform. There will be matches decided late, or on one sequence, or on one video review. And some of those athletes affected will be representing the stars and stripes. Root like hell. But understand this is the toughest tournament in the world, under the craziest conditions, with little data, and random draws. Expect the unexpected. Side Note: UWW Media - led by my predecessor of this column, TR Foley - has done a tremendous job with coverage, previews, and resources. The most comprehensive 2020Olympic Guide I've ever seen. Watch Live: Another great and easy resource is NBC's schedule and live links Bookmark it: Every one of your questions involved the Olympics, so let me just give you my thoughts on what I'm looking forward to the most… David Taylor, USA, 86kg MFS I think it's a two-horse race with him and Yazdani (IRI). And frankly, I'm worried about it. Generally speaking, I think the American fan base is ‘over' that ‘rivalry.' David beat him in both bouts they wrestled. But they were both fights. And they were both long ago. David had a long layoff. Does he still have the horsepower and stamina to go along with his 1st class skills? Perhaps he does. Heck, perhaps it's Yazdani that should worry if he still ‘got it.' But I'm nervous. I'm more nervous for that match-up than any other. Bring it home, Magic Man! Mijain Lopez, CUB, 130kg GR Quite simply one of the most prolific and dominant wrestlers the world has ever seen. He's lost just 4 times since 2004. 2004! He's reached 11 World/OLY finals and won 8 of them. And yet it was Riza Kayaalp (TUR), who is the top seed in this field, who dealt Mijain 2 of his 3 finals losses. Mijain has beaten Kayaalp three times as well, including the last two Olympics. By far the most established rivalry of these Games, the next, and perhaps the last chapter will be written next week. I'm not sure who to root for. I kinda lean with Mijain 1) because I love to root for the tiny, under-funded nation and 2) because this might be the last time he laces him up. Tamyra Mensah-Stock, USA, 68kg WFS You know how much I like to be right, right? So much so that I almost get on my own nerves. But it was years ago - long before Tamyra was winning tournaments left and right - when I first saw her compete and thought, ‘she's going to be the next great one.' Well, here we are. Mensah-Stock is the reigning World Champion and the only woman in US history to win Yarygin - twice. She's the #1 seed and roundly accepted as the favorite. But as good as she is, I still worry. In 2016 she won the Olympic Trials but failed to qualify the weight for Rio. And she's lost four times in the last three years and all four of those women are in the bracket. There are times (like at the Olympic Trials this year) where, in my opinion, she gets nervous, not allowing her to open up. Like David Taylor, I could be worrying about nothing. Maybe it's a defense mechanism whereby I'm trying to curb my excitement. Let's go, Tamyra! Jacarra Winchester, USA, 53kg, WFS The World Champion at 55kg in 2019, I'm so curious to see how Jacarra does down a weight. She's lost in both appearances at 53 so far - in the finals of the Pan Am qualifier to Cuba, and at DeGlane in January. Those results explain why she's not getting as much chatter as a title contender. But I really think she is. And she's one of my favorite athletes to watch with a great combo of athleticism and grit. She will be pivotal in… The Women's Team Race Alright, alright. I know. I led the column with ‘chill out, you overzealous American fans.' And yet here I am positioning a Women's Team title to be won in the home country of the most one of the most dominant programs in any sport. Look, there are just six weights. We have favorites in two of them: Adeline and Tamyra. We have a reigning World Champ in Jacarra and 2018 Silver Sarah Hildebrandt. Kayla Miracle is young but very internationally experienced. And oh, yeah, Helen beat the GOAT. I'm not saying they are gonna win the team title. I'm saying there's a chance. And it's one of the things I'm dialed in on the most. How Good is Gable, and Then What? We all know that Gable is good. We all know that he has more big-time offers - perhaps bigger and more apparent than any wrestler ever - waiting for him after wrestling. What we don't know is how he truly stacks up with the International field. The eyeball test says he's going to be very, very competitive. But you can't be the man, until you beat the man. And Geno Petriashivili (GEO) and Taha Akgul (TUR) are definitely ‘the man.' It's been six years since anyone other than those two have won Worlds or Olympics. And then after we see how Gable measures up - then what? Does he win gold and say ‘I've accomplished everything”? Does he take bronze and say he has one more cycle in him? Does it matter how he does? Maybe there's just too much money on the table. Questions linger on both his ability and his future and it's captivating. Must watch. 65kg - The Entire Bracket There's a chance this bracket is a complete trainwreck. And, with no American in the field, I'm totally here for it. 65kg is annually one of the most hotly contested, high octane, and unpredictable weights. In 2016, and in his last meaningful competition, Togrul Asgarov (AZE), the 2012 Olympic Champ, proved he still had it by reaching the Rio finals. Can Haji Aliev, also of Azerbaijan, capture that old man spirit in Tokyo? Does Bajrang (IND) finally get his title? Or will it be Otoguro (JPN), the 2018 World Champ who beat Bajrang in the finals there and in this year's Asian Championship? And we didn't even get to the favorite yet. Rashidov (RUS) has made SR World finals for three years running. He lost to Otoguro in the ‘18 finals and beat Daulet Niyazbekov (KAZ) in the finals in ‘19 after Niyazbekov beat Bajrang. It all makes for a wonderful field and my favorite to watch in MFS.

Two-time world medalist Suleyman Atli (Turkey) (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) As of today, we under 50 days from the start of wrestling at the Olympic Games. Over the next 50 days, we'll bring you one profile per day of a decorated international contender. Make sure you get to know the wrestlers that Team USA will compete against in Tokyo. 7/29/21 - Abdulrashid Sadulaev (Russia) 7/27/21 - Sharif Sharifov (Azerbaijan) 7/26/21 - Ravi Kumar (India) 7/20/21 - Zaurbek Sidakov (Russia) 7/15/21 - Taha Akgul (Turkey) 7/13/21 - Artur Naifonov (Russia) 7/11/21 - Vazgen Tevanyan (Armenia) 7/10/21 - Khadzhimurad Ghadzhiev (Azerbaijan) 7/8/21 - Ali Shabanov (Belarus) 7/7/21 - Gadzhimurad Rashidov (Russia) 7/6/21 - Suleyman Karadeniz (Turkey) 7/5/21 - Frank Chamizo (Italy) 7/3/21 - Yui Susaki (Japan) 7/1/21 - Amir Zare (Iran) 6/28/21 - Zavur Uguev (Russia) 6/27/21 - Zhan Beleniuk (Ukraine) 6/26/21 - Sergey Kozyrev (Russia) 6/24/21 - Kenchiro Fumita (Japan) 6/23/21 - Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (Belarus) 6/22/21 - Erica Wiebe (Canada) 6/21/21 - Myles Amine (San Marino) 6/20/21 - Sofia Mattsson (Sweden) 6/19/21 - Hassan Yazdani Charati (Iran) 6/18/21 - Tamas Lorincz (Hungary) 6/17/21 - Takuro Otoguro (Japan) 6/16/21 - Elizbar Odikadze (Georgia) 6/15/21 - Koumba Larroque (France) 6/14/21 - Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan) 6/13/21 - Ningning Rong (China) 6/12/21 - Bajrang Punia (India) 6/11/21 - Frank Staebler (Germany) 6/10/21 - Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) #2 Suleyman Atli of Turkey has emerged as a perennial title contender at 57 KG going into the Tokyo Olympics. Steady improvement throughout the 2016-2020 quad saw Atli mature and grow from a dangerous, but inconsistent contender, to a full-blown title threat that, along with reigning two-time world champion #1 Zavur Uguev (RUS), is the class of the weight. Today's Olympic profile will cover the career of 2019 57 KG world runner-up #2 Suleyman Atli of Turkey. The Stats #2 Suleyman Atli (TUR)- 2019 world runner-up, 2018 world bronze medalist, 2020 European runner-up, 2021 European champion, 2017 U-23 European champion, 2017 U-23 world bronze medalist, 2013 50 KG Junior European champion, 2013 50 KG Junior world runner-up 2018 Tbilisi GP champion, 2016 Yasar Dogu champion, 2017 Yasar Dogu champion, 2017 European championships bronze medalist, 2018 Yasar Dogu bronze medalist, 2019 European champion, 2019 Dan Kolov runner-up, 2019 European Games bronze medalist, 2021 61 KG Matteo Pellicone runner-up. Key Wins: #1 Zavur Uguev (2017 Yasar Dogu), #3 Nachyn Mongush (2021 European championship finals) #4 Azamat Tuskaev (2017 U-23 European championships), #8 Bekhbayar Erdenebat (2016 World Cup), Mikyay Salim Naim (2021 European championships), Kamal Kerymov (2021 European championships), #9 Gulomyon Abdullaev (2019 Dan Kolov semifinals), Thomas Gilman (2018 world bronze medal match), Andrey Yatsenko (2018 Tbilisi GP finals), Donduk-Ool Khuresh Ool (2018 Tbilisi GP), Makhir Amiraslanov (2017 Yasar Dogu finals), Vasyl Shuptar (2016 European Olympic qualifier), Giorgi Edisherashvili (2016 Yasar Dogu), Tsgotbaatar Damdinbazar (2016 Yasar Dogu finals), #3 (61) Beka Lomtadze (2017 world championships) Key Losses: #1 Zavur Uguev (2019 world finals, 2013 50 KG Junior world finals), Thomas Gilman (2018 Yasar Dogu), #8 (61) Nurislam Sanayev (2018 world championships), Andrei Dukov ( 2015 Yasar Dogu qualification round, 2017 European championships), Ivan Guidea (2016 Olympics), #1 (65) Gadzhimurad Rashidov (2016 world cup), Vladimir Khinchegashvili (2016 World Cup), #8 Bekhbayar Erdenebat (2017 world championships), Beka Bujiashvili (2019 Dan Kolov finals), #20 Stevan Micic (2019 European Games), #16 (61) Adlan Askarov (2021 Matteo Pelicone finals), #4 Azamat Tuskaev (2020 European championships finals), Mikyay Salim Naim (2017 U-23 world championships), Garnik Mnatsakyan (2016 European Olympic Qualifier), Georgi Vangelov (2016 European championships), Fumitaka Morishita (2014 Yasar Dogu qualification round). 2011-2016 Beginning his career in 2011 at the 46 KG Cadet European Championships, Atli took seventh in the field and it would be two years before he would place at his first international competition, winning the 50 KG Junior European Championships with victories over #10 Aryan Tyutrin (BLR) and Ruslan Gasimov (AZE). At the Junior World Championships, Atli originally lost by tech fall to two-time Cadet world champion #1 Zavur Uguev of Russia, but after Uguev tested positive for diuretics, that title was given to Atli and Uguev was banned for two years. Atli would compete only once in 2014 and 2015, both times at the Yasar Dogu, where he'd take 26th and 22nd after losses to Fumitaka Morishita (JPN) and Andrei Dukov (ROU). 2016 began with a title at the Yasar Dogu with wins over 2013 European champion Giorgi Edisherashvili (AZE) and Tsgotbaatar Damdinbaazar (MGL), followed up by a 12th place finish at the European Championships for Atli at the Senior continental championships after an opening-round loss to Georgi Vangelov of Bulgaria. With his strong showing at the Yasar Dogu, Atli was selected as Turkey's representative for the Olympic qualifiers. In a shocking turn of events, Atli would upset returning 61 KG world bronze medalist Vasyl Shuptar (UKR) in a barn burner of a match and looked well on his way to breakthrough the bracket and qualify for the Rio Olympics. But an untimely pin loss off a failed shot to Garnik Mnatsakanyan (ARM) would mean Atli would continue to have to fight on to the next qualifier. Atli's next competition, at the next Olympic qualifier, would be golden as he beat out 2015 54 KG Cadet Asian runner-up Abbos Rakhmonov of Uzbekistan. Rakhmonov had upset 2015 61 KG world bronze medalist Vasyl Shuptar of Ukraine like Atli had earlier. Now having qualified for Rio, Atli would really begin his breakthrough. The World Cup would be Atli's chance at facing the best competition in the world in returning world finalists Hassan Rahimi (IRI), Vladimir Khinchegashvili (GEO), world bronze medalist #8 Bekhbayar Erdenebat (MGL) and European champion #1 (65) Gadzhimurad Rashidov (RUS). In this loaded field, it was sink or swim for Atli. To begin, Atli would go against Erdenebat, a 2012 Junior world champion and 2015 world bronze medalist for Mongolia. Atli was excellent in a dominant tech fall win over the Mongolian standout for the biggest win of his career. Next on the schedule for Atli was reigning European champion Rashidov. While Atli managed a stunning lat drop in the opening of the match to take the lead, Rashidov stormed back for a 10-4 win over the talented Turk. In his final match of the World Cup, Atli would face off against reigning world champion Vladimir Khinchegashvili. The Georgian standout was too much, too soon, for the Turk and his crisp low shots and scrambling won him the 7-1 win and ended Atli's tournament run with a 1-2 mark. Expected to have an outside shot at contending in Rio, Atli would end his 2016 with a shocking 8-3 opening-round loss to Ivan Guidea of Moldova and was eliminated from competition after Guidea would lose by 10-0 tech fall in his next match to 2015 61 KG world bronze medalist Vladimir Dubov (BUL). Ending the 2012-2016 quad, Atli was in a prime position to breakthrough. 2017-2021 Starting off 2017, Atli would compete at the Yasar Dogu looking for his second title at the event. In a match between the two hottest commodities at 57 KG, Atli faced off against reigning Yarygin champion Uguev, in a rematch of their 2013 50 KG Junior world finals match won by Uguev. Uguev had been on a spectacular tear domestically in Russia, charging his way to the top spot with victories over elites the likes of Nariman Israpilov (RUS), Artem Gebek (RUS), #9 Aryan Tyutrin (BLR) and Magomedrasul Idrisov (RUS). Uguev was on top of the clouds, but Atli would bring him back to Earth and with a 7-5 victory to advance on to the gold medal match. High off the win over Uguev, Atli bulldozed 2015 Junior world champion Makhir Amirslanov (AZE) 10-0 for his second Yasar Dogu title. The U-23 European championships would be next on the agenda for Atli and pushing through to the finals, the Turk was faced with two-time Russian Nationals bronze medalist #4 Azamat Tuskaev of Russia. Building off the momentum he had from the Yasar Dogu, Atli defeated another Russian standout in Tuskaev to walk away with gold. The Senior European championships would be another chance for Atli to shine and through to the semifinals. Atli looked the part of the champion to be. Andrei Dukov was coming off a runner-up finish at the Dan Kolov where he'd upset Makhir Amiraslanov (AZE), but while the Romanian was game, Atli was seen as too much. Dukov was not to be doubted, and a huge headlock in the second period of their European championship semifinal match would punch the Romanian through to the finals with a 7-6 win. Rebounding from the upset loss to Dukov, Atli took bronze by 11-0 tech fall over Levan Metrevelli Vartanov of Spain. Opening the World Championships, Atli was paired against returning 61 KG world runner-up #3 (61) Beka Lomtadze (GEO). In one of the best matches of the whole tournament, Atli was able to come away with a razor-thin 8-8 win on criteria over the Georgian veteran. Next for Atli would be a rematch against 2015 world bronze medalist Erdenebat, who'd Atli made his name off of with a tech fall win at the 2016 World Cup. Erdenebat was a different animal than the first time they wrestled and Atli was his prey, taking a bruising 7-0 loss to the eventual bronze medalist and being eliminated from competition. Punching his way through to the semifinals of the inaugural U-23 European championships with a 5-4 win over 2016 Junior world runner-up Khasanhussein Badrudinov (RUS), Atli faced 60 KG Junior European champion Mikyay Salim Naim (BUL). Atli, having taken wins over proven Senior elites, the likes of #1 Zavur Uguev (RUS) and #3 (61) Beka Lomtadze (GEO) was expected to beat Salim Naim and make the finals with no issue. Salim Naim made it known right away that Atli was not the man destined for the finals, as right from the get-go, he countered the offense of the Turk to pull away with a stunning 11-4 upset win. Concluding his tumultuous 2017, Atli finished with bronze at the U-23 World Championships by way of a 6-3 win over Wanhao Zou of China. 2018 would be a late start for Atli as he wouldn't make his return to competition until July at the Tbilisi Grand Prix. Atli made the most of it, though, looking exceptional with wins over Russian Nationals runner-up Donduk-Ool Khuresh-Ool (RUS) and returning world bronze medalist Andrey Yatsenko (UKR) to take his first gold of the season. At the end of July, Atli would compete again at the Yasar Dogu, looking to win his third title. In his quarterfinal match against returning world runner-up Thomas Gilman (USA), Atli would fall victim to the American's punishing style of wrestling and take a 7-5 loss. With Gilman going on to make the finals and win gold over Dimchik Rinchinov (BLR), Atli would be pulled into repechage where he won bronze 10-6 #7 (61) Taras Markovych (UKR). Atli would look excellent to begin the 2018 World Championships, outscoring 2017 European runner-up Dukov and 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games runner-up #18 Nodiryun Safarov (UZB) 26-5 in two tech fall wins to make the quarterfinals against 61 KG Asian champion #8 (61) Nurislam Sanayev (KAZ). Sanayev was on another level, pushing through Atli and handling the Turk's best offense to pull away with an 11-6 win to move onto the semifinals, where he tech falled returning world runner-up Thomas Gilman (USA) 11-0 to make the finals. Getting his chance of revenge against Gilman from the Yasar Dogu, Atli would stand up to the American's pressure and use a late score to take a 5-4 win and win world bronze. 2019 began with a strong run to the finals at the Dan Kolov for Atli, avenging his 2016 loss to Georgi Vangelov (BUL) and beating #9 Gulomyon Abdullaev (UZB). Facing Beka Bujiashvili of Georgia in the finals, Atli pushed his signature high attack rate, but the Georgian, well known for his counter offense based on his chest wrap, pulled away with an exposure heavy 6-4 win over the returning world medalist. Atli's follow-up performance at the European championships would reestablish himself as a title contender, winning gold with victories over Yarygin champion Muslim Sadulaev (RUS), Georgi Vangelov (BUL), and Amiraslanov. The European Games would be Atli's chance of a rubber match against reigning world champion Uguev, but in a shocking turn of events, both men suffered upsets to the likes of Amiraslanov for Uguev in the semis and 2018 European championships bronze medalist #20 Stevan Micic (SRB) for Atli. Atli would take bronze by 12-9 win #7 (61) Taras Markovych (UKR) and Uguev bronze with a 10-2 win over Georgi Vangelov (BUL). The finals saw a resurgent Amiraslanov bully Micic for the 9-1 win and European gold. At the World Championships, looking to improve from his bronze from the year before, Atli marched on to the world finals with wins avenging in the quarterfinals and semifinals avenging losses to Micic and Sanayev. A close opening period against returning world champion Uguev (RUS) gave way to a powerful takedown and explosive series of exposures from par-terre for Uguev to take a dominant 13-3 win over Atli for gold. Atli was believed to be the man capable of shutting down Uguev, but Uguev had jumped levels from his loss to Amiraslanov, separated himself from the pack. With the breakthrough of Indian contender #5 Ravi Kumar, who took bronze as a future challenge for Uguev, Atli's status as a potential champion in Tokyo was in jeopardy. 2020 began for Atli at the European championships, looking to double up after having won gold over Muslim Sadulaev of Russia the year prior. Micic, Mihran Jaburyan (ARM) and Dukov would lead Atli to his finals match opposite Yarygin champion Tuskaev. In a rematch from their 2017 U-23 European finals, Tuskaev proved himself to have the upper hand over Atli and walked away with European gold by way of a 3-1 win. Atli finished his 2020 with a fifth-place finish at 65 KG in November at the Ziolkowski. Making the cut back down from foray at 65 KG at the end of 2020, Atli made the finals of the 61 KG Matteo Pellicone to start 2021. In the finals, facing 2019 U-23 World runner-up #16 (61) Adlan Askarov (KAZ), Atli took silver to Askarov after an opening-round 8-3 loss in round-robin action. Concluding his 2021 campaign before Tokyo at the European Championships, Atli made the return to 57 KG and captured gold by an electrifying 6-5 win over Russian Nationals runner-up #3 Nachyn Mongush (RUS). As the consensus number two in the world behind reigning two-time world champion #1 Zavur Uguev, Atli is still very much a threat for the rest of the field in Tokyo. With the breakthrough of contenders, the likes of #9 Gulomyon Abdullaev (UZB), Kumar, along with the ever-present threat of old rival Micic, Atli will be pushed to the limit in Tokyo to medal.

Thomas Gilman (left) and Kyle Dake (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Over the next six days, we will bring you weight class previews for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Each preview will include three Olympic weights. They will highlight notable past achievements of the competitors in each weight, the American entry, and what to look for during the competition. Today we'll move on to the men's freestyle portion of the competition and study the first three weights (57, 65, 74 kg). If you missed our earlier previews, they are below. Women's Part One (50, 53, 57kg) Women's Part Two (62, 68, 76kg) Greco-Roman Part One (60, 67, 77kg) Greco-Roman Part Two (87, 97, 130kg) 57 kg Men's Freestyle Gulomyon Abdullaev (Uzbekistan) - Suleyman Atli (Turkey) - 2x World Medalist, 2x European Champion, 2013 Junior World Champion Reza Atrinagharchi (Iran) - 2019 World fifth-place, 2019 Asian Champion Bekhbayar Erdenebat (Mongolia) - 2x World Bronze Medalist, 2015 Asian Champion Arsen Harutyunyan (Armenia) - 2020 European Bronze Medalist, 2x Junior World Bronze Medalist Diamantino Iuna Fafe (Guinea-Bissau) - 2020 Africian Silver Medalist Ravi Kumar (India) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist, 2x Asian Champion Abdelhak Kherbache (Algeria) - 3x Africian Champion Minghu Liu (China) - 2018 U23 World Bronze Medalist, 2019 Asian Silver Medalist Stevan Micic (Serbia) - 2019 World fifth-place, 2x European Bronze Medalist Nurislam Sanayev (Kazakhstan) - 2x World Medalist, 2018 Asian Champion Yuki Takahashi (Japan) - 2017 World Champion, 2x World Medalist, 2017 Asian Champion Oscar Tigreros Urbano (Colombia) - 2x Pan-American Silver Medalist Zavur Uguev (Russia) - 2x World Champion, 2018 European Silver Medalist Georgi Vangelov (Bulgaria) - 2016 European Bronze Medalist The Seeds 1) Micic 2) Uguev 3) Atli 4) Kumar The American Entry Thomas Gilman - Thomas Gilman is back on the world scene! Gilman made the world team in 2017, just a few months removed from the conclusion of his collegiate career at Iowa. That year he captured a world silver medal. In 2018, Gilman made a second world team and fell in a bronze medal match. He would fall short in 2019, after getting edged two-matches-to one to Daton Fix at Final X Lincoln. In the months that followed, Gilman decided to leave Iowa in order to train at Penn State's Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. Since Fix did not wrestle for a medal in 2019, the weight needed qualifying at the 2020 Pan-American Olympic Qualifier. Gilman was given the duty and was victorious in the quarterfinals over Reineri Ortega (Cuba), his most formidable opponent of the event. After defeating Ortega, Gilman scored a tech fall in the semis and clinched a place at the Games for Team USA. The next step for Gilman was making the team, himself. Gilman earned a place in the Trials finals by teching Zane Richards and former World bronze medalist Joe Colon. To lock up the Olympic bid, Gilman swept a best-of-three series against Cornell All-American Vito Arujau. Gilman pinned Arujau in the first bout, then prevailed via criteria, 2-2. After the Trials, Gilman suffered a minor injury and has been held out of action. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 2 (Takahashi, Uguev) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 7 (Atli, Erdenebat, Gilman, Kumar, Sanayev, Takahashi, Uguev) A gold medal at the World Championships in 2018 solidified Zavur Uguev's spot at this weight class. He proved he was the real deal and a moderate favorite to win Olympic gold by repeating in 2019. Uguev heads into Tokyo as the second seed. The top seed belongs to Michigan's three-time All-American Stevan Micic, who represents Serbia. Provided seeds hold up, Micic could get a test in the semis from 2019 World bronze medalist Ravi Kumar, the fourth seed. 2017 world champion Yuki Takahashi and Nurislam Sanayev are two unseeded wrestlers that have legitimate gold medal aspirations. Provided he is healthy, Gilman should throw himself into the mix of title contenders, as well. 65 kg Men's Freestyle Arnazar Akhmataliev (Kyrgyzstan) - Haji Aliev (Azerbaijan) - 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 3x World Champion, 3x European Champion Haitem Dakhlaoui (Tunisia) - 2020 African Champion Agustin Destribates (Argentina) - 2x Pan-American Bronze Medalist Adama Diatta (Senegal) - 9x African Champion, 2x Olympian Magomedmurad Gadzhiev (Poland) - 2x World Medalist, 2x European Champion Morteza Ghiasi Cheka (Iran) - 2021 Asian Bronze Medalist Ismail Muszukajev (Hungary) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist, 2013 Junior World Silver Medalist Daulet Niyazbekov (Kazakhstan) - 2019 World Silver Medalist, 2012 Olympic fifth-place, 3x Asian Champion Takuto Otoguro (Japan) - 2018 World Champion, 2x Asian Champion, 2015 Cadet World Champion Georgios Pilidis (Greece) - 2x Cadet World Silver Medalist Bajrang Punia (India) - 3x World Medalist, 2x Asian Champion Gadzhimurad Rashidov (Russia) - 2019 World Champion, 3x World Medalist, 2x European Champion Vazgen Tevanyan (Armenia) - 2020 Individual World Cup Champion Tulga Tumur-Ochir (Mongolia) - 2019 World fifth-place Alejandro Valdes Tobier (Cuba) - 2x World Medalist, 2019 Pan-American Champion The Seeds 1) Rashidov 2) Punia 3) Niyazbekov 4) Muszukajev (Hungary) The American Entry None - 65/66 kg has been difficult for the Americans since Bill Zadick's world title in 2006. Despite having remarkable collegiate superstars at the weight, no American has won a world medal at the Olympics or Worlds since Zadick. Zain Retherford made his second world team in 2019, but bowed out of the World Championships in 26th place. Retherford then was tasked with qualifying the weight in Ottawa at the Pan-American Qualifier in early 2020. He wasn't able to do as and was shocked by Agustin Destribates, who pinned him in the semifinals. At the Olympic Trials, it was Jordan Oliver who prevailed and captured the championship at 65 kg. Oliver had long been near the top of the heap at the weight, but had yet to have made a World/Olympic team. Less than a month after the Trials, Oliver went to Bulgaria to attempt to qualify the weight for Tokyo. Oliver was stopped in the semifinals by former World medalist Magomedmurad Gadzhiev, who was able to stymie Oliver's offense for the bulk of the bout. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 3 (Aliev, Otoguro, Rashidov) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 8 (Aliev, Gadzhiev, Muszukajev, Niyazbekov, Otoguro, Punia, Rashidov, Valdes Tobier) 65 kg is probably the most wide-open weight class at the Olympic Games, at least on the men's freestyle side. The Russian, 2019 world champion Ghadzimurad Rashidov, is the favorite and the top seed, but there's a plethora of others that could win on their best day. Takuto Otoguro won a title the year before and is still in his prime. Speaking of primes, Haji Aliev is probably past his, but is dangerous in a single match setting, though his best results have come at 61 kg. The always-entertaining Bajrang Punia and Ismail Muszukajev are both capable. The two tend to shine at opposite times, Punia at the end of matches, while Muszukajev is best in the early going. The other seeded (3rd) wrestler at this weight is also a returning world silver medalist in Daulet Niyazbekov. A wild card here could be Armenia's Vazgen Tevanyan, who should be considered a contender after winning a 2020 Individual World Cup bracket that included Muszukajev, Rashidov, and Aliev. 74 kg Men's Freestyle Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (Uzbekistan) - 2x World Bronze Medalist, 2x Asian Champion Frank Chamizo (Italy) - 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 2x World Champion, 3x World Medalist, 4x European Champion Khadzimurad Gadzhiev (Azerbaijan) - 2018 Junior World Champion Geandry Garzon Caballero (Cuba) - 4x World Medalist Franklin Gomez (Puerto Rico) - 2011 World Silver Medalist, 2x Olympian, 2011 Pan-American Champion Moustafa Hosseinkhani (Iran) - 2016 World Bronze Medalist, 2x Asian Champion Amr Hussein (Egypt) - 2019 African Champion Mahmedkhabib Kadzimahamedau (Belarus) - 2020 European Champion Daniar Kaisanov (Kazakhstan) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist, 2x Asian Champion Avtandil Kentchadze (Georgia) - 2018 World Silver Medalist, 2019 European Bronze Medalist Augusto Midana (Guinea-Bissau) - 3x Olympian, 6x African Champion Vasil Mykhailov (Ukraine) - Keisuke Otoguro (Japan) - Kamil Rybicki (Poland) - Zaurbek Sidakov (Russia) - 2x World Champion The Seeds 1) Chamizo 2) Kaisanov 3) Sidakov 4) Hosseinkhani The American Entry Kyle Dake - Finally, Kyle Dake toppled Jordan Burroughs and made the Olympic Team. Dake and Burroughs had met in World Team Trials on three previous occasions and in 2017, he was dangerously close to dethroning the king. Four year later, Dake did the deed and dropped Burroughs 3-0 and 3-2 in two consecutive bouts. Dake moved up from the non-Olympic weight, 79 kg, a class he had dominated since its inception. He won world championships in 2018 and 2019 at the weight. During his run to the 2018 world title, Dake outscored his competition 37-0. During the Covid Pandemic in 2020, Dake was able to compete in a one-off event where he defeated the top-seed, Frank Chamizo. While another win over Chamizo is certainly possible, maybe even probable, both were not in top form for the match. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 3 (Chamizo, Dake, Sidakov) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 9 (Abdurakhmonov, Chamizo, Dake, Garzon Caballero, Gomez, Hosseinkhani, Kaisanov, Kentchadze, Sidakov) It will be a shocker if anyone outside the big three of Chamizo, Dake, and Zaurbek Sidakov comes away with the gold medal. Each of this trio currently had a pair of world championships on their resume. Only Chamizo has competed at the Olympics before. He took bronze in 2016 at 65 kg, by defeating American Frank Molinaro. Watch the bracketing here as Dake will come in unseeded, though the other two are on opposite sides. While we only see one of three wrestlers coming away with the gold, a handful of others could challenge for bronze. After the Chamizo/Dake/Sidakov triumvirate, there are six others in the bracket that own world medals. Two notables that American fans will remember are Clarion All-American Bekzod Abdurakhmanov and Franklin Gomez, an NCAA Champion from Michigan State.

Kyle Snyder (left) and Abdulrashid Sadulaev (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) After winning the 2015 World Championships and 2016 Olympics at 97 kg, Kyle Snyder was well on the way to having an argument as the top pound-for-pound wrestler in the World. In early 2017, news broke that multiple-time World champion Abdulrashid Sadulaev would move up from 86 kg to challenge Snyder at 97 kg. Snyder won their first meeting in the finals of the 2017 World Championships. However, Sadualev would win the rematch and has had the better results since. The following looks at the history between the two and looks forward to a potential match at the current Games. The 2017 match was wild from the start. Snyder tried to establish a physical edge and pushed Sadulaev to the boundary. However, the Russian had other ideas. He dropped under that pressure and finished a shot on the edge to take a 2-0 lead. Snyder got on the board with a step out. Sadulaev then got in on a standing single, but he was forced to settle for one point and a 3-1 lead as they went out of bounds. Snyder went ahead 3-3 on criteria as he scored his first takedown by spinning behind before the end of the first period. About a minute into the second, Sadulaev got in on a shot and appeared to secure a step out. However, he continued to track it down and collected the second leg for a takedown and a 5-3 lead. With 40 seconds left in the match, Snyder cut the lead to 5-4 as he forced a double attempt off the mat. He continued to come forward with pressure, which forced Sadulaev into a lackluster effort. Snyder spun behind for the takedown and held on to the 6-5 lead to win the World title. The rematch came in the finals of the following year's World Championships, and this match was much less of a rollercoaster. Sadulaev shot in on a single and appeared to be stuffed. However, he reached back, trapped Snyder's arm and turned it into a pinning combination. The fall came only 1:12 into the match. Obviously, Snyder was looking for yet another rematch against Sadualev, but his 2019 campaign got off to a rough start. He dropped his first match at the Ivan Yarygin against Rasul Magomedov. Snyder did bounce back with gold medal performances at the Kolov-Petrov, Pan American Championships/Games and Yasar Dogu before returning to the World Championships. Another match against Sadulaev was expected for the finals, but Snyder suffered an upset against Sadulaev's longtime friend and training partner Sharif Sharifov. The Ohio State product fought his way back for bronze to become a five-time World/Olympic medalist. About a month later, Snyder announced his move to the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. He settled for bronze at the 2020 Matteo Pellicone after losing to Iran's Mohammad Hossein Mohammadian and finished sixth at the 2020 U.S. Nationals after suffering an injury. Snyder was expected to have a tough test against fellow World champion J'den Cox at the Olympic Trials. However, Cox did not make it past the weigh-in. Snyder would go on to defeat Gabe Dean (at an NLWC event), Nate Jackson and Scottie Boykin before knocking off former Ohio State teammate Kollin Moore at the Trials to make his second Olympic team. Since winning the 2019 gold, Sadulaev has entered four tournaments. As one might expect, he won all four of the events, including the 2020 European Championships, the 2020 Russian Nationals, the 2020 Individual World Cup and the 2021 Ali Aliev Memorial. In Seth Petarra's most recent International Men's Freestyle Rankings on InterMat, Sadulaev held the number-one spot. It would seem fair to call him the favorite heading into the tournament. As of Wednesday afternoon, the DraftKings sportsbook had the Russian wrestler listed as -250. On the other hand, Snyder was ranked third in that release, behind both Sadulaev and Iran's Mohammadian. DraftKings has the same top three as Snyder is listed at +450 behind the reigning champion and Mohammadian (+400). The lack of the expected match between Snyder and Cox at the Trials has left many unanswered questions. While Snyder has taken a few more losses than fans have been accustomed to, he has also been able to blitz competition when he had a clear advantage. There are also questions swirling around Sadulaev. He suffered through the coronavirus and admitted he "really underestimated the disease." Sadulaev returned to action at the Ali Aliyev this past June. While he did score a victory over Vladislav Baitcaev, who is currently ranked fourth, he scored only one match-termination victory in his four matches. At this point, Sadulaev is the favorite to return to the top of the podium and best Snyder in a potential rematch. A match with Cox at the Trials would have said a lot about where Snyder is these days. However, that did not happen. He has the skills, experience and physicality to defeat Sadulaev in the rubber match. That being said, it will certainly be an uphill climb.

Kayla Miracle (left), Tamyra Mensah-Stock (center), and Adeline Gray (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Over the next six days, we will bring you weight class previews for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Each preview will include three Olympic weights. They will highlight notable past achievements of the competitors in each weight, the American entry, and what to look for during the competition. Today we'll move on to the final three women's freestyle weights (62, 68, and 76 kg). If you missed our earlier previews, they are below. Women's Part One (50, 53, 57kg) Greco-Roman Part One (60, 67, 77kg) Greco-Roman Part Two (87, 97, 130kg) 62 kg Women's Freestyle Aminat Adeniyi (Nigeria) - 2016 Olympian, 3x African Champion Marwa Amri (Tunisia) - 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 2017 World Silver Medalist, 11x African Champion Khurelkhuugiin Bolortuyaa (Mongolia) - 2021 Asian Silver Medalist Anastasija Grigorjeva (Latvia) - 2x World Medalist, 2x Olympian, 4x European Champion Kriszta Incze (Romania) - 2019 European Silver Medalist Henna Johansson (Sweden) - 2x World Medalist, 2x Olympian, 2012 European Champion Yukako Kawai (Japan) - 2x World Medalist, 2020 Asian Champion Iryna Koliadenko (Ukraine) - 2019 World Silver Medalist, 2x U23 World Bronze Medalist, 2021 European Champion Jia Long (China) - Sonam Malik (India) - 2x Cadet World Champion Lais Nunes de Oliveira (Brazil) - 2016 Olympian, 2x Pan-American Champion Lyubov Ovcharova (Russia) - 2019 World Silver Medalist, 2x Junior World Champion, 2017 European Champion Marianna Sastin (Hungary) - 2013 World Champion, 3x World Medalist, 3x Olympian, 2x European Silver Medalist Aisuluu Tynybekova (Kyrgyzstan) - 2019 World Champion, 2x World Medalist, 2x Olympian, 4x Asian Champion Taybe Yusein (Bulgaria) - 2018 World Champion, 6x World Medalist, 2x European Champion The Seeds 1) Tynybekova 2) Yusein 3) Kawai 4) ???? The American Entry Kayla Miracle - While Kayla Miracle has plenty of experience on the age-group level, she is still the youngest member of the American women's team and is making only her second Senior world/Olympic team. The five others have at least three on their resumes. Miracle grew up a star at each stage, winning world medals at the Cadet, Junior, and U23 World level, along with four national titles for Campbellsville. The next box to check is the Senior level. Miracle made her first Senior world team in 2019, but came up short of a medal and finished eighth at worlds. That placement did not qualify the US for the 2020 Olympics, so Miracle was forced to head to the 2020 Pan-American Olympic Qualifier. In Ottawa, Miracle demolished the field, including two-time Olympic medalist Jackeline Renteria-Castillo (Colombia). The wins allowed Miracle to receive a bye to the finals of the Olympic Trials in April. There she was met with a tough challenge from another young phenom, Macey Kilty. The pair split the first two bouts and went to a third contest for the Olympic berth. Unfortunately, Kilty went down with an injury and couldn't continue, which gave Miracle the spot. Miracle has competed once since the Olympic Trials, where she was victorious at the Pan-American Championships. That tournament contained one opponent from the 2020 Olympic field, Lais Nunes de Oliveira (Brazil). Miracle has the goods to compete with, and beat, anyone at this weight; she just needs to put it all together on the mat. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 3 (Sastin, Tynybekova, Yusein) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 9 (Amri, Grigorjeva, Johansson, Kawai, Koliadenko, Ovcharova, Sastin, Tynybekova, Yusein) This bracket might be the most wide-open of any of the six women's weights. Any number of women could win here on their best days. Top-seeded Aisuluu Tynybekova became the first woman from Kyrgyzstan to wrestle in the Olympics in 2012; now, she's attempting to win their first gold medal in women's wrestling. She comes in on a roll after winning world's in 2019 and the Individual World Cup in 2020. This weight should see some movement with seeds as Yulia Tkach (Ukraine) originally earned the third seed; however, she is not Ukraine's entry. That distinction belongs to 2019 World silver medalist Iryna Koliadenko. She will not be seeded, nor will another silver medalist from 2019, Lyubov Ovcharova. They are some of the top unseeded threats, but there are plenty throughout this weight. 68 kg Women's Freestyle Soronzonboldyn Battsetseg (Mongolia) - 2012 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 2x World Champion, 4x World Medalist, 2017 Asian Champion Alla Cherkasova (Ukraine) - 2018 World Champion, 2x World Medalist, 2019 European Champion Sara Dosho (Japan) - 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist, 2017 World Champion, 4x World Medalist, 4x Asian Champion Mimi Hristova (Bulgaria) - 2016 Olympian, 2020 European Champion Danielle Lappage (Canada) - 2018 World Silver Medalist, 2016 Olympian Koumba Larroque (France) - 2x World Medalist, 2017 U23 World Champion, 2021 European Champion Elis Manolova (Azerbaijan) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist, 2018 U23 World Silver Medalist, 2019 European Champion Enas Mostafa (Egypt) - 2x African Champion Blessing Oborududu (Nigeria) - 2x Olympian, 10x African Champion Yudaris Sanchez Rodriguez (Cuba) - 2018 U23 World Champion, 2x Pan-American Champion Anna Schell (Germany) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist, 2019 European Silver Medalist Khanum Velieva (Russia) - 2018 U23 World Bronze Medalist, 2020 European Champion Agnieszka Wieszczek-Kordus (Poland) - 2008 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 2x Olympian, 4x European Bronze Medalist Feng Zhou (China) - 2015 World Silver Medalist, 2016 Olympian, 2012 Junior World Champion, 2x Asian Champion Meerim Zhumanazarova (Kyrgyzstan) - 2019 World Silver Medalist, 2x Asian Bronze Medalist The Seeds 1) Mensah-Stock 2) Oborududu 3) Larroque 4) Schell The American Entry Tamyra Mensah-Stock - One of the two American women to hold the number one seed at their respective weight is Tamyra Mensah-Stock. Though she was an Olympic Trials winner in 2016, this will be Mensah-Stock's first time competing in the Games. The weight was not qualified before the 2016 Trials and she wasn't able to do so afterward. Since then, Mensah-Stock is a completely different wrestler. She claimed world bronze in 2018 and followed it up with a dominating run to a world title the following year. That world title reserved a spot in the Olympics for the Americans at 68 kg. Mensah-Stock's continued growth as separated her from the rest of the 68 kg class domestically. She faced upstart high school sensation Kennedy Blades in the Olympic Trials finals and, while starting slow, ended up with wins of 12-4 and 8-1 to clinch her place on the 2020 team. Since 2019, Mensah-Stock has only suffered one loss during international competition. That came at the 2020 Matteo Pellicone to China's Feng Zhou. She captured a title at that event in 2021, along with the Henri DeGlane and Pan-American Championships. Those helped her obtain the top seed at 68 kgs. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 4 (Battsetseg, Cherkasova, Dosho, Mensah-Stock) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 11 (Battsetseg, Cherkasova, Dosho, Lappage, Larroque, Manolova, Mensah-Stock, Schell, Wieszczek-Kordus, Zhou, Zhumanazarova) We've already discussed Mensah-Stock, who is the top seed and should be considered the favorite at this weight. There's no shortage of potential bumps in the road as 11 of the 16 entrants at this weight own a world or Olympic medal on the senior level. Interestingly enough, the second seed, Blessing Oborududu, is one of the five remaining who have not medaled. That means, there's a 75% chance that Mensah-Stock will see a returning world medalist in her opening bout. Now looking deeper into the accomplishments of the field and when they occurred, most of Battsetseg and Wieszczek-Kordus' success came around a decade ago, so they may be past their primes, a bit. Though this is a talented field, the gambling lines have Mensah-Stock as the second-best odds (-200 per Barstool) of any woman, across all six weights. 76 kg Women's Freestyle Yasemin Adar (Turkey) - 2017 World Champion, 2x World Medalist, 4x European Champion Alla Belinska (Ukraine) - 2021 European Champion Samar Hamza (Egypt) - 2018 World fifth-place, 2016 Olympian, 4x African Champion Epp Mae (Estonia) - 2x World Medalist, 2021 European Champion Vasilisa Marzaliuk (Belarus) - 4x World Medalist, 2x Olympic fifth-place, 2x European Silver Medalist Aiperi Medet Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan) - 2x Asian Silver Medalist Hiroe Minigawa (Japan) - 3x World Medalist, 3x Asian Champion Burmaa Ochirtbat (Mongolia) - 3x World Medalist, 2x Olympian, 2016 Asian Champion Aline Rotter Focken (Germany) - 2014 World Champion, 4x World Medalist, 3x European Champion Zaineb Sghaier (Tunisia) - 2020 Africian Champion Aline de Silva Ferreira (Brazil) - 2014 World Silver Medalist, 2x Pan-American Silver Medalist Elmira Syzdykova (Kazakhstan) - 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 2021 Asian Champion Natalya Vorobieva (Russia) - 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist, 2x Olympic Medalist, 2x World Champion, 4x World Medalist, 3x European Champion Erica Wiebe (Canada) - 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist, 2018 World Bronze Medalist Qian Zhou (China) - 2x World Medalist, 2018 Asian Champion The Seeds 1) Gray 2) Rotter-Focken 3) Minigawa 4) Syzdykova The American Entry Adeline Gray - The legendary Adeline Gray had done it all during her long, storied international career, except winning an Olympic gold medal. All signs pointed towards Gray winning in 2016, as she has rolled to world titles in each of the previous two years. Once again, we head into the Games with Adeline coming off gold medals from the 2018 and 2019 World Championships. This will be her 10th world/Olympic team. Gray is already in a category of her own as the only American (man or woman) to own five world titles. At the Trials, Gray squared off with upstart, high schooler Kylie Welker. Like many before her, Welker didn't pose much of a threat and Gray teched her 10-0 and 11-0. After winning the Trials, Gray went and won a title at the Pan-American Championships. She brought home her second career gold medal at the event and shut out 2014 World silver medalist Aline de Silva Ferreira of Brazil. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 5 (Adar, Gray, Rotter Focken, Vorobieva, Wiebe) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 12 (Adar, Gray, Mae, Marzaliuk, Minigawa, Ochirtbat, Rotter Focken, de Silva Ferreira, Syzdykova, Vorobieva, Wiebe, Zhou) The American fanbase hopes that Gray puts the cherry on top of an already Hall of Fame-worthy career and comes away with the gold. There's certainly a strong possibility that it happens. There are plenty of worthy adversaries for her along the way. Vorobieva and Wiebe are past Olympic gold medalists. This bracket will contain more past world medalists than any other women's weight class. Every match at this weight will be world semi's/world finals-worthy. Gray has the top seed, but with the depth of this weight, it really doesn't matter. She's only the other half from Rotter-Focken and Minigawa, but there's still plenty of landmines she could run into. There will be three world/Olympic champions coming in unseeded. Get your popcorn ready!

Five-time World/Olympic champion Abdulrashid Sadulaev (Russia) (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) As of today, we under 50 days from the start of wrestling at the Olympic Games. Over the next 50 days, we'll bring you one profile per day of a decorated international contender. Make sure you get to know the wrestlers that Team USA will compete against in Tokyo. 7/27/21 - Sharif Sharifov (Azerbaijan) 7/26/21 - Ravi Kumar (India) 7/20/21 - Zaurbek Sidakov (Russia) 7/15/21 - Taha Akgul (Turkey) 7/13/21 - Artur Naifonov (Russia) 7/11/21 - Vazgen Tevanyan (Armenia) 7/10/21 - Khadzhimurad Ghadzhiev (Azerbaijan) 7/8/21 - Ali Shabanov (Belarus) 7/7/21 - Gadzhimurad Rashidov (Russia) 7/6/21 - Suleyman Karadeniz (Turkey) 7/5/21 - Frank Chamizo (Italy) 7/3/21 - Yui Susaki (Japan) 7/1/21 - Amir Zare (Iran) 6/28/21 - Zavur Uguev (Russia) 6/27/21 - Zhan Beleniuk (Ukraine) 6/26/21 - Sergey Kozyrev (Russia) 6/24/21 - Kenchiro Fumita (Japan) 6/23/21 - Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (Belarus) 6/22/21 - Erica Wiebe (Canada) 6/21/21 - Myles Amine (San Marino) 6/20/21 - Sofia Mattsson (Sweden) 6/19/21 - Hassan Yazdani Charati (Iran) 6/18/21 - Tamas Lorincz (Hungary) 6/17/21 - Takuro Otoguro (Japan) 6/16/21 - Elizbar Odikadze (Georgia) 6/15/21 - Koumba Larroque (France) 6/14/21 - Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan) 6/13/21 - Ningning Rong (China) 6/12/21 - Bajrang Punia (India) 6/11/21 - Frank Staebler (Germany) 6/10/21 - Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) Just a few days away from a chance at a sixth World/Olympic title and a spot among the all-time elite upperweight greats, five-time World/Olympic champion #1 Abdulrashid Sadulaev of Russia's career deserves a revisit to understand just as the scale of greatness that has unfolded. Today's Olympic profile will cover five-time World/Olympic champion #1 Abdulrashid Sadulaev of Russia. The Stats #1 Abdulrashid Sadulaev (RUS)- 2014 86 KG World championships gold medalist, 2015 86 KG world champion, 2016 86 KG Olympic champion, 2017 97 KG world runner-up, 2018 97 KG world champion, 2019 97 KG world champion, 2020 97 KG Individual World Cup champion 4x European champion ('14, '18, '19, '20), 2x European Games champion ('15, '19), 2x Yarygin champion ('14,' 18), 2013 84 KG Baku GGP bronze medalist, 2012 84 KG Ali Aliyev bronze medalist, 2013 85 KG cadet world championships gold medalist, 2012 75 KG Cadet world championships gold medalist, Key Wins: Reineris Salas Perez (2014 86 KG world finals, 2017 97 KG worlds), Georgi Ketoev (2017 97 KG worlds), Phil Keddy (2014 Yasar Dogu), #3 (92) Javad Ebrahimi (2014 Yasar Dogu, 2014 Ziolkowski), #6 (92) Selim Yasar (2015 world finals, 2014 worlds, 2016 Olympics), #12 Sharif Sharifov (2016 86 KG Olympics, 2018 92 KG European Finals, 2019 97 KG world finals), #14 (92) Irakli Mtsituri (2016 86 KG U-23 Euros, 2018 92 KG Dan Kolov finals, 2018 92 KG European Championships semis), #10 Aleksandr Husthyn (2015 86 KG Medved, 2016 86 KG Ziolkowski, 2016 U-23 86 KG European championships, 2019 97 KG European championships finals), #3 Kyle Snyder (2018 97 KG World finals), #18 Magomed Ibragimov (2018 97 KG world championships), Magomedgadzhi Nurov (2018 97 KG World championships, 2019 97 KG European championships, 2019 97 KG world championships, 2020 97 KG European championships ), #7 Elizbar Odikadze (2015 97 KG Alrosa Cup, 2017 97 KG Worlds, 2018 97 KG world semis, 2020 97 KG European championships), #4 Vladislav Baitsaev (2017 97 KG Russian National finals, 2018 97 KG Russian Nationals finals, 2021 97 KG Ali Aliev), Shamil Kudiyamagomedov (2014 86 KG Yarygin finals, 2015 86 KG Russian Nationals finals, 2014 86 KG Russian Nationals finals), #4 (86) Dauren Kurugliev (2014 86 KG Yarygin, 2014 86 KG Russian Nationals), #5 (92) Anzor Urishev (2014 86 KG Yarygin, 2015 86 KG Russian Nationals, 2018 92 KG Yarygin), Georgi Rubaev (2015 Russian Nationals), Ahmed Magomedov (2015 Russian Nationals), Soslan Ktsoev (2014 Yarygin, 2014 Russian Nationals), #7 (92) Zbigniew Baranowski (2016 Ziolkowski), Nurmagomed Gadzhiev (2015 European Games, 2019 European championships), #9 Alireza Karimiachiani (2015 97 KG worlds), Mihail Ganev (2014 worlds, 2015 worlds). Key Losses: Shamil Kudiyamagomedov (2012 Ali Aliyev), Gamzat Osmanov (2013 Baku GGP), #3 Kyle Snyder (2017 world finals) 2012-2017 Sadulaev's career began alternating starts at the Cadet and Senior level competition, beginning in 2012 with a buzz saw performance at the 76 KG Cadet World Championships for gold and ending the year with a bronze medal finish at the 84 KG Ali Aliev behind Junior world bronze medalist Shamil Kudiyamagomedov of Russia. Making the full-time move up to 84 KG in 2013, Sadulaev would capture his second Cadet World title and conclude his year competing at the prestigious Baku Golden Grand Prix against some of the best on the Senior level. As dominant as Sadulaev had shown himself at the Cadet levels, there were still levels to the Senior level that the young Dagestani still had to feel to grow. One of these would be his first actual loss, the type that makes or breaks you. Gamzat Osmanov (AZE) would be the man to handle that and thrashed the young Sadulaev in a tech fall win that included a big four-point move. Rebounding from that, Sadulaev showed his true mettle and took bronze over 2009 74 KG Russian Nationals bronze medalist Alexander Gostiev (AZE). The loss to Osmanov, at the end of 2013, would change Sadulaev's career. Now a full-time Senior level athlete at the start of 2014, Sadulaev entered the prestigious Ivan Yarygin Memorial tournament that was legendary for fielding brackets that rivaled and even surpassed the difficulties of the World/Olympic championships. In what was the biggest test of the young Sadulaev's career, he passed with flying colors beating past Russian Nationals champions #5 (92) Anzor Urishev (RUS) and Shamil Kudiyamagomedov (ITA) along with Russian Nationals medalists #4 (86) Dauren Kurugliev (RUS) and #15 (92) Soslan Ktsoev (RUS). The follow up to Sadulaev's impressive run through the top challengers Russia had to offer at the Yarygin would be a gold medal at the Yasar Dogu over Phil Keddy of the United States, where he picked up a big win along the way over #3 (92) Javad Ebrahimi (IRI), a 2012 Junior world champion. The European championships would be Sadulaev's next conquest, tech falling his way through the finals with impressive wins over 2013 world bronze medalist Istvan Vereb (HUN) in the quarterfinals and two-time World/Olympic medalist Dato Marsagishvili (GEO) in the semis. In the finals, facing off against Murad Gaidarov of Belarus, Sadulaev would have to wrestle a hard-fought technically sound match against the wild man Gaidarov who punched, clubbed, and choked the young Sadulaev in a highly physical match that the Dagestani phenom would walk away from the 5-2 winner for European gold. Sadulaev's first Senior Russian Nationals was a closer victory for him than the offensive showcase he put on display at the Yarygin. Defeating #4 (86) Dauren Kurugliev (RUS) 5-2 in the quarterfinals and 2010 world bronze medalist #15 (92) Soslan Ktsoev (RUS) 4-3 in the semifinals, Sadulaev faced the returning national champion Kudiyamagomedov for gold. In the matchup between the two uncrowned kings of the 84 KG weight class, it would be Sadulaev who'd prevail over Kudiyamagomedov in a 3-1 match for his first Russian Nationals title. The Ziolkowski would be Sadulaev's final competition before his first Senior World Championships and the competition he faced was fierce. Winning over Ebrahimi, #20 (92) Radoslaw Marcinkiewicz (POL), #7 (92) Zbigniew Baranowski (POL), #10 Aleksandr Hushtyn (BLR) and Vereb. At his first world championships, Sadulaev was absolutely sensational. A 51-3 scoring difference sealed the gold medal and it all began with a 9-2 victory over #6 (92) Selim Yasar (TUR). An 11-1 win over Dzhambuli Tsotadze (UKR) followed with a throttling 11-0 quarterfinal win over 2010 world champion Mihail Ganev (BUL). Aslan Kakhidze (KAZ) was high off a win over two-time World/Olympic medalist Marsagishvili, but he was beaten down by Sadulaev 10-0 to make the finals. Against the powerful Reineris Salas Perez (CUB), the returning world runner-up with lethal reattacks and legendary strength that had humbled the most powerful at 86 KG, Sadulaev shone brighter than ever using a lethal fireman's carry to put away the Cuban with a flawless 10-0 tech fall win, but not without showing off his iron chin after a heavy slap from the Cuban tried to rock Sadulaev. At only 18 years old, Sadulaev had not only won the world championships but made the world's best look like amateurs, like a lion playing with its prey. Making his 2015 debut at the Medved, Sadulaev bulldozed #10 Aleksandr Hushtyn (BLR) in the finals for a tech fall win and gold. The Russian Nationals championships would be Sadulaev's next competition and gold came by way of wins over Urishev, Akhmed Magomedov (RUS), and a 4-0 finals victory over returning national runner-up Kudiyamagomedov. At the European Games, it would be hyperbole to say that Sadulaev went untouched. Sure he tech falled his way through the bracket for gold, but to his opponent's credit, they did score a point. A single-point was scored by Nurmagomed Gadzhiev of Azerbaijan in his 11-1 tech fall loss to Sadulaev. No one else could match that feat from Gadzhiev, not #20 (92) Radoslaw Marcinkiewicz (POL), Tudor Ziz (ITA) or Piotr Ianulov (MDA), with all of them combining losing to Sadulaev 41-1. It wasn't a question of if someone could beat Sadulaev at the world championships. That was a pipe dream; no, the real question would be, could anybody score on him? The dominance that Sadulaev had shown at the European Games was just a taste of things to come at the World Championships. Sadulaev did two cartwheels in the process of beating Atsushi Matsumoto (JPN) in an 11-0 opening win. David Radchenko (ISR) was a pin win for Sadulaev off a 4 point fireman's carry. Uitemen Orgodol (MGL) was a 10-0 tech fall in the round of 16. Ganev was another 10-0 win in the quarterfinals. The only man to even have a chance at pushing Sadulaev was #9 Alireza Karimimachiani (IRI), the 2014 Junior world champ who's carved out a reputation as a fearsome bruiser, who crushed the will of his opponents with powerful hand fighting and a mean double leg and short offense. The posterboy of the highly physical Iranian style of wrestling, Karimi was able to hold Sadulaev to a 2-1 opening period and score a pushout, but in the second, Sadulaev would open up the scoring to take a 6-2 win over the Iranian with the only points being scored against him behind pushouts. 41-2 was now the difference between Sadulaev and the field. Returning world bronze medalist Yasar was another stat, this time a 6-0 win for Sadulaev to run up his tally to 47-2 for world title number two. Concluding his 2015, Sadulaev competed up at 97 KG for the Alrosa Cup, where he got the chance to wrestle against 2015 97 KG European Games runner-up Odikadze. A huge chest-wrap for Sadulaev and his patented lefty swing single put together a crushing tech fall win over the Georgian standout to prove that his dominance didn't discriminate based on weight. Beginning 2016 as the now reigning two-time world champion who'd outscored his competition 98-5 across two world titles, Sadulaev blew through the U-23 European championships beating #10 Hushtyn and #15 (92) Irakli Mtsituri (GEO) with the closest thing he had coming to a loss being an opening round 4-point arm throw he gave up to Mtsituri in the finals that would quickly turn around into a 15-4 tech fall win for Sadulaev. Having won the past two world championships in unbelievably dominant fashion, Sadulaev was exempt from competing at Russian Nationals as he had already locked up the spot for the Rio Olympics. In his final competition before Rio, Sadulaev took home his second Ziolkowski title with wins over Baranowski and Hushtyn. The 2016 Olympics would see the dominance of Sadulaev somewhat hampered, as he only scored one tech fall the whole competition over Vereb. Still, wins over Pedro Ceballos Fuentes (VEN) and returning Olympic champion #12 Sharif Sharifov (AZE) put the reigning two-time world champion in the finals against an old foe in 2x World/Olympic medalist Yasar of Turkey. In the finals, it would be the clean sweep single of Sadulaev and crushing par-terre that would carry him to the Olympic title with a 5-0 win over Yasar. The beginning of the 2016-2020 quad would see a significant change for the now reigning three-time 86 KG World/Olympic champion #1 Abdulrashid Sadulaev moved up to 97 KG to start 2017. Competing at only two major competitions on the year, Sadulaev looked in strong form on his way to the Russian National finals outscoring his competition 44-0 to face 2015 Russian Nationals runner-up #4 Vladislav Baitsaev (RUS) in the finals. In what would be a shocking turn of events, an ill-fated chest wrap attempt from Sadulaev off a Baitsaev double leg would put him behind early and in threat of being pinned. Rallying back against the massive North-Ossetian, Sadulaev fought and clawed his way to his third Russian Nationals title with an 8-7 win. The close match against Baitsaev in the Russian Nationals finals would be a sign of trouble on the water for Sadulaev going into the world championships. The usually dominant Sadulaev looked sluggish and tentative throughout the whole tournament on his way to the finals, and while he beat Odikadze and Mateusz Filipczak (POL) by tech fall, he was only able to get by Reineris Salas Perez (CUB) 3-0 in the opening round and a razor-thin 2-0 win over Georgi Ketoev (ARM) in the semifinals. In the finals, facing two-time 97 KG World/Olympic champion #3 Kyle Snyder (USA), Sadulaev was notably smaller than the powerhouse American. Countering a Snyder headlock for a single leg takedown in the first 15 seconds of the match, Sadulaev went up 2-0 to start the action, but a Snyder step out cut the deficit for the American to 2-1. Sadulaev countered a Snyder snatch single with a reattack head inside single and drove it out of the bounds for the 3-1 lead, but a go behind for Snyder in the final minute of the match gave him the 3-3 lead on criteria going into the second period. In the first minute of the second period, a single leg for Sadulaev scored to give him the 5-3 outright lead. With 40 seconds left in the match, Snyder drove through on a double leg on the edge to cut the deficit to 5-4. As he had done for the entirety of the match, Snyder continued to wear on the head of Sadulaev with heavy collar ties and get him moving with shot takes and in the final 30 seconds of the match, Snyder pulled away with a go behind to seal the win over a visually defeated Sadulaev and hand the dominant Russian his first loss in four years. 2018-2021 Coming off his first loss in four years, Sadulaev was in a time of questioning about what his next move for the quad would be. With the emergence of the new Non-Olympic weight classes of 79 KG and 92 KG, Sadulaev had found his answer. Able to not have to completely drain himself for the cut down to 86 but not be dwarfed at 97 KG, Sadulaev could compete at his natural weight while he could have time to grow into 97 KG come time for the end of the quad to qualify for Russia. Sadulaev's first competition at the new weight class of 92 KG would see him return to his old stomping grounds of the Ivan Yarygin Memorial, where he first made his name as an 18-year-old phenom. Making the finals with punishing tech falls over Nick Heflin (USA) and Turtogtokh Luvsandorj (MGL), Sadulaev was faced with an old rival in two-time Russian Nationals champion Urishev. Against the veteran, Sadulaev would look like the Russian Tank of old, with his swing single and underhook series looking crisp as ever in a commanding 6-0 win. Sadulev's next conquest would be gold at the Dan Kolov, dominating his way through the tournament and capping it off with a 10-0 win over #15 (92) Irakli Mtsituri (GEO) in the finals. The dominance of the rejuvenated Sadulaev continued at the European Championships, crushing his first three opponents 33-2 to make the finals where he'd see 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Sharifov. In a highly physical rematch from their 86 KG semifinal match from Rio, it would be a step-out point and a shot clock violation that would win the day for Sadulaev in a 2-1 victory for European gold. Making the move back up to 97 KG for Russian Nationals, Sadulaev dispatched Zaynulla Kurbanov (RUS), Georgi Gogaev (RUS) and #18 (125) Batraz Gazzaev (RUS) out by a margin of 27-2 to make the finals against #4 Vladislav Baitsaev (RUS). The Sadulaev, who barely got by Baitsaev, was a man long gone and in his place came the return of the Russian Tank who ran over Baitsaev 8-1 in an absolute thrashing for Russian National title number four. The dominance on display from Sadulaev at the World Championships harkened back to his brutalizing 51-3 run through the 2015 world championships. Magomedgadzhi Nurov (MKD) was an 11-0 win in the opening round. Marat Ibragimov (KAZ) was the only man to score on Sadulaev and his reward was a 14-3 tech fall loss. 2016 Olympic bronze medalist #18 Magomed Ibragimov (UZB) was taken apart by Sadulaev 10-0 to make the semifinals. Odikadze was made to look amateur the way Sadulaev rag-dolled him in his 10-0 win. 45-3 was the margin of victory for Sadulaev and the only man standing between him and World/Olympic title #4 was reigning world champion Snyder. What had been a legendary bout, that saw Sadulaev struggle with the power of Snyder the year before, didn't even make it out of the first minute as Sadulaev effortlessly pinned Sadulaev with a roll through from under Snyder's front headlock. A legendary struggle that would be marked down in the history books had been suddenly turned to in under a year the wrestling equivalent of a one-punch knockout. Sadulaev had come for 97 KG and the weight class was now his and he wasn't letting it go. Now back at the top, Sadulaev began his 2019 with European title #5 with victories over Hushtyn and Nurmagomed Gadzhiev (AZE). Sadulaev's 6th European Championships/Game title would come with a scoring difference of 23-0, taking victories of Magomedgadzhi Nurov (MKD) and Hushtyn before winning gold by forfeit over Nurmagomed Gadzhiev (AZE). Winning his wrestle-off at the Russian national team world team camp against Russian Nationals champion #4 Vladislav Batisaev (RUS) by tech fall, Sadulaev would go into the 2019 world championships to take World/Olympic title number five. Beating Nurov, Nicolae Ceban (MDA), and Alisher Yergali (KAZ) by a margin of 26-2, Sadulaev would get his rubber match against #12 Sharif Sharifov (AZE) in the world finals after Sharifov had upset returning world runner-up #3 Kyle Snyder (USA) 5-2 in the semis. Taking his third win over Sharifov by a 4-0 margin, Sadulaev won his fifth World/Olympic title and cemented himself as the favorite to win his second Olympic title up at 97 KG. Sadulaev would compete twice in the truncated 2020 season, taking gold after a tumultuous run at the European Championships that saw him survive a pin scare to Ibragim Bolukbasi in the round of 16 and give up 10 points going into the finals, more than he had given up in total from 2015-2016. Sadulaev still won gold over 2016 Olympic bronze medalist #15 Albert Saritov (ROU) 6-0 in the finals. Competing for his fifth Russian Nationals title, Sadulaev outscored his competition 28-2 across three matches, beating 2018 92 KG U-23 world runner-up #19 Aslanbek Sotiev (RUS) in the finals. The Individual World Cup would conclude 2020 for Sadulaev with another dominant showing, shutting out the competition 32-3 with victories over #7 Suleyman Karadeniz (TUR) and 2012 Olympic runner-up Valerii Andriitsev (UKR) before taking a forfeit in the finals from Hushtyn. Sadulaev's return in 2021 saw him make the finals of the Ali Aliev with wins over #4 Vladislav Baitsaev (RUS), #20 Magomedkhan Magomedov (RUS), Mojitaba Goleij (IRI) and David Kabisov (RUS) before forfeiting in the finals to #18 Magomed Ibragimov (UZB) due to a minor knee injury. Going into the Tokyo Olympics, #1 Abdulrashid Sadulaev is looking to continue to build upon his legacy as one of the most dominant upperweights in modern history. With 7x World/Olympic champion Makharbek Khadartsev (RUS) setting the standard, Sadulaev is right there to take the title from the North Ossetian great. Taking on the resurgent contender #2 Mohammad Mohammadian (IRI) along with old rivals in #12 Sharif Sharifov (AZE) and #3 Kyle Snyder (USA) will have his path taken through the hardest road.

Junior National Champion TJ Stewart (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Fargo has come and gone and, as usual, there was a trail of chaos left in its wake. On Monday, Willie at MatScouts did his best to make sense of the carnage and posted his new high school rankings. With updated rankings and a set of eyes on the actual competition, we've been able to target ten wrestlers from the Junior Men's tournament that sharply improved their stock in Fargo. Remember, improvement doesn't always equate to a breakout performance. Some of the wrestlers we noted were already household names for high school wrestling followers; they just continued to move up the ranks. Kannon Webster (Illinois) Give Mike Poeta and the Illinois staff credit. They got in early on Kannon Webster. The rising junior gave the Illini a verbal commitment in late April, less than a week after Poeta was elevated to head coach at Illinois. At that time, the move seemed like a solid pickup as the school has had issues with keeping the cream of the crop in-state. After Fargo, it could be a monumental addition. Webster largely dominated a talented field at 120 lbs to claim a Junior National freestyle title. Along the way, he claimed wins over former Fargo finalists Mitch Neiner (Washington), Jett Strickenberger (Colorado), and Yusief Lillie (Washington). All three of those wins came via tech. Perhaps his most significant win came in the quarterfinals over top-seeded Virginia Tech signee, Cooper Flynn. Though there was some controversy surrounding the final point awarded, Webster pushed the pace for most of the second period and had Flynn on the defensive. After winning Junior freestyle, Webster also entered the Greco tournament. He would suffer a one-point loss to Paul Kelly (California) in the Round of 16 and rather than bagging it and resting on his freestyle accomplishments, Webster battled back with six straight wins to take third. Along the way, he turned the tables on Kelly with an 8-3 win. His win streak also included another win over his freestyle finals opponent, Lillie. Nasir Bailey (Illinois) Alongside fellow Illinois native Kannon Webster, Nasir Bailey became the only rising juniors at 120 lbs or above to capture Junior freestyle titles in Fargo. Bailey was undoubtedly a long shot to come home with the stop sign considering he was in a weight class that featured the pound-for-pound #1 Nic Bouzakis (Wyoming Seminary, PA) and plenty of others. In round two, Bailey downed a top-50 graduated senior in South Dakota State signee Derrick Cardinal. Cardinal didn't even make it out of the first period against Bailey. Two matches later, in the Round of 16, Bailey teched Virginia signee Kyren Butler, a past 16U All-American in freestyle. The quarters saw him get by Bouzakis' teammate Gregor McNeil, 5-3. For a spot in the finals, Bailey upset the #10 overall senior, Zeke Seltzer (Indiana), 8-5. In the finals, it was Bailey who came up clutch and got a takedown over Emilio Ysaguirre (Arizona) in the final seconds to claim a 4-4 win on criteria. As the tournament progressed, college coaches flocked to Bailey matches and he will undoubtedly move up significantly from his ranking of #51 in the Class of 2021. Emilio Ysaguirre (Arizona) First of all, the entire Valiant Prep contingent could be on this list as the team had an incredible run in Fargo. Emilio Ysaguirre's run to the finals at 132 lbs was at the top of the list of best performances from the Arizona powerhouse. Ysaguirre pulled one of the biggest upsets of the entire week when he took out top-ranked Nic Bouzakis 10-5 in the quarterfinals. That wasn't it, though. Ysaguirre also scored notable wins over Hunter Mason (#11 in the Class of 2023) and Garrett Grice (#104 in the Class of 2022). As mentioned above, while Ysaguirre had the national title slip away by the narrowest of margins in his final bout with Bailey, he did lead for the entire match. Even though his actual ranking may not change significantly, Ysaguirre opened up plenty of fans and coaches' eyes at the tournament. Currently, he's ranked #41 in the senior class, but that should change after last week. Danny Wask (New Jersey) Before his freshman year at Blair Academy, Danny Wask burst onto the scene and placed in both styles in Fargo during the summer of 2018. Since then, Wask has moved up in weight and his results have not been quite as consistent. That notion could be a thing of the past after his performance in Fargo. Wask made the 152 lb Junior freestyle finals and scored three wins over ranked opponents in the process. In the Round of 16, Wask quickly distanced himself from then-#9 Nick Hamilton (Nebraska), with six second period points in a 13-8 win. Next up was #14 Logan Ours (Ohio). Wask only needed 1:25 to dispatch of him in an 11-0 tech. For a place in the finals, Wask needed another second-period rally, this time over then-#5 Erik Gibson (Pennsylvania). Wask outscored his future EIWA rival 8-2 in the final stanza. Both are members of the Class of 2022, with Wask committing to Navy and Gibson to Cornell. In the finals, Wask was on the wrong side of a 9-9 match against Virginia Tech recruit Caleb Henson (Georgia). It was truly a seesaw affair that saw seven lead changes before Henson survived. Wask went from being unranked to fourth in the nation after his Fargo. Jacob Gonzales (Michigan) Two-time Michigan state champion Jacob Gonzales has been on the cusp of the rankings before, but an All-American performance in Junior Freestyle pushed him into the top-25. Gonzales earned his biggest win of the tournament in the Round of 64, with emphasis on the word “earned.” He fell into a 5-0 hole early in the first period against Iowa State signee Paniro Johnson (Pennsylvania), a third-place finisher in both styles at the 16U age group in 2019. Both wrestlers threw the proverbial kitchen sink at each other, but it was Gonzales who pulled away in the final minute. In the last 60+ seconds, Gonzales scored 11 unanswered points to win 22-13. After a quarterfinal loss to Cael Swensen (Minnesota), 6-4, Gonzales was paired with Ohio's Connor Euton for a place on the podium. Euton was an undefeated Ohio state champion in 2021 and was ranked in the top-200 in the Class of 2022. While facing an early 3-0 deficit, Gonzales and Euton engaged in a prolonged scramble. Gonzales caught his opponent with a lat pull and bullied him straight to his back for a fall. The Colorado native punctuated his tournament by teching Dylan Elmore (Kansas), an opponent that pulled a handful of upsets, for seventh place. Brody Baumann (Indiana) Brody Baumann was a known commodity in Indiana prior to Fargo, as he was a state champion in 2021 at 160 lbs. Winning Indiana's one-class state tournament is typically good enough to get you on the radar. That helped Baumann earn a place in the top-25 (#21) before the tournament. Afterward, he got a nice boost because of a fifth-place finish in Junior freestyle. Not only did Baumann pick up some key wins, but he did so in dominating fashion. Baumann's biggest win came in the round that clinched All-American status for him, the quarterfinals. There he teched graduated senior, Evan Canoyer (Nebraska), a Cornell recruit, 17-6. In the match itself, Baumann found himself down 6-5 midway through the first period. He responded by outsourcing Canoyer 11-1 and securing a place in the semifinals. Baumann finished in fifth place in the 170 lb weight class. Codei Khawaja (Indiana) The wrestler that Baumann met in the fifth-place bout was fellow Indiana-native Codei Khawaja. Codei was a state qualifier at 170 lbs for Floyd Central High School. He was off the national radar before last week, but left Fargo placing sixth in both styles. In freestyle, Khawaja went down the Round of 64, but battled back with seven straight wins to place and eight in a row. His first big win came in the consi's over returning 16U double AA Bradley Gillum (Illinois). In the bloodround, Khawaja found himself down 8-2 to Canoyer, but kept his cool and pinned the Cornell recruit. A match later, he got by New Jersey runner-up Sabino Portella, 7-6, to lock up a berth in the top six. At the conclusion of the Junior Freestyle Championships, Khawaja was presented with an award for most falls in the least time (4 in 4:41). He would make the semifinals of the Greco tournament before falling to the eventual champion, Canoyer. For his trouble, Khawaja went from unranked to 18th in the nation at 170. TJ Stewart (Maryland) Many on this list went from unranked to ranked or got a boost from a ranking near the bottom of the top 25. TJ Stewart is the outlier of the group. He was a known commodity (#6 at 182 lbs) and deemed the #30 wrestler in the Class of 2022 coming into Fargo. Even with such lofty credentials, Stewart managed to raise his stock by winning the whole thing at 182 lbs over a loaded field. Though he was the tournament's one seed, he ran into an extremely dangerous Round of 16 matchup with North Dakota State signee, DeAnthony Parker (Illinois). While Parker tested Stewart, he managed to advance with a 6-3 win. In his next two contests, Stewart grabbed wins over Northern Iowa signee Jared Simma (Kansas) and then-#14 Hayden Walters (Oregon). That set up a meeting between Stewart and Brian Soldano (New Jersey) for all the marbles (and the big stop sign). Soldano was the top-ranked wrestler at the weight pre-Fargo. It only took :45 for Stewart to take a commanding lead after tossing Soldano with a lateral throw at the edge of the mat. Stewart methodically picked apart Soldano, as needed, with another takedown off a low-attack, late in the first. In the final period, he used his match IQ and avoided putting himself in any positions (chest wrap) that could have favored the New Jersey native. That final result was an 8-4 win and Stewart's second career Fargo title. He also moved into the pound-for-pound rankings for the first time, debuting at #13. ***Side Note*** Stewart's parents also deserve a tip of the cap for their resourcefulness. They flew into Minneapolis with the intention of renting a car and driving to Fargo. To their surprise, after landing, there were no more rental cars available. Stewart's mother, determined to watch her son, decided to rent a U-Haul and drive it to Fargo. Although they slightly embarrassed their son showing up to the Dome in a moving truck, they made it on time and got to see their boy earn the number one spot in the nation. Andrew Blackburn-Forst (Illinois) Based on the track record of Illinois in Fargo, it's always a safe assumption that the state will have a few breakout performers at the event, particularly in the upperweights. This year one of those new stars is Andrew Blackburn-Forst, who was a seventh-place finisher in Junior freestyle and a runner-up in Greco-Roman. In freestyle, Blackburn-Forst posted impressive victories over a pair of wrestlers that were already in the rankings, #12 Ashton Davis (Tennessee) and #18 Alex Semenenko (New York). During consolation action, he teched Semenenko 11-0 before scoring a fall over Davis. In Greco, Blackburn-Forst lit up the scoreboard, scoring 11 or more points in all of his pre-finals bouts. In the championship bout, it was Semenenko who prevailed 16-10. It was his second-time AA'ing in Fargo Greco, as he was fifth in 16U in 2019. Blackburn-Forst's performance took him to #15 in the nation. As a senior, he'll look to place at the Illinois state tournament for the third time after taking fifth as a sophomore and winning the IWCOA championship in 2021. Charles Crews III (Pennsylvania) At most tournaments, the upperweight brackets are not quite as deep as the lower and middleweights and Fargo is no exception. That isn't meant as a slight to the big guys, but just facts. But regardless of weight class numbers, getting onto the podium at Fargo puts you into the minds of college coaches and rankers, alike. That's extremely important for someone like Charles Crews III at 285 lbs. Crews III is going into his senior year at Williamsport High School, but has yet to make the state tournament, even while posting a 15-8 record in 2020-21. Regardless of credentials, Crews III went out there and got it done on the mat, placing fourth in Junior freestyle and going 3-1 in Greco before an injury cut short his tournament. In freestyle, Crews III scored wins over New York state qualifier Ryan Stein and West Virginia signee Tristan Kemp (Massachusetts). Kemp was a New England champion this year. He defeated Adolfo Betancur (Rhode Island) for the title, another opponent that Crews III defeated during his Fargo run. Crews III went from missing the PA state tournament to #25 in the national rankings with his performance.

2021 NCAA All-American Jake Woodley (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) It was recently reported that OU and Texas are moving to the SEC, and now the college sports world is abuzz regarding conference realignment. Will more schools leave the Big 12? Where will they go? Will the conference fall apart? All of this is very speculative and who really knows what could happen? But I thought it would be interesting to take a look at logically where we could potentially see some of these schools wind up. Oklahoma-MAC/PAC 12/Big 12? /SoCon This is one school that will almost certainly be changing conferences. The SEC doesn't have wrestling and they'll need to find a new home soon. Mizzou went to the MAC when they moved to the SEC and are about to return to the Big 12. So that's a bit of a natural direction we could see OU going. The Pac-12 has also made a push to grow their wrestling profile and could make a move for OU, and I think there is one farfetched, but somewhat feasible scenario I could see them staying in the Big 12. If the conference stays alive but shifts dramatically. Hypothetical example. Texas Tech, West Virginia, Oklahoma State, Kansas, and Iowa State all bail for other power 5 conferences, and are replaced by Air Force, Navy, Houston, SMU, and Wyoming, then the total composition of the Big 12 will shift and the new powers that be may not mind having OU in the conference for wrestling as ultimately their exit will be a positive thing for them and their brand. But if it basically stays as it is, then there's almost no way I could see OU being allowed to stay in the Big 12. The final possibility I'll throw in is the SOCON. Hey, the SEC is in the south, right? To an extent, I have a hard time seeing this play out, though. Oklahoma State-Big Ten/Big 12/PAC 12 The Big Ten is the best situation for Oklahoma State across their entire athletic department, and I would argue it is the best situation for wrestling. A few extra high-profile televised duals every year with PSU, Ohio State, etc.… every few seasons, continued rivalries with Iowa, with an added edge of seeing them at the conference tournament every year. All the way around, it's a positive thing. The question is, does the Big Ten take them? They're currently in talks reportedly, but there are hurdles. OSU's certainly the most marketable program remaining in the conference and makes a lot of sense in the Big Ten, but who knows how that will play out? The Pac-12 may be where they wind up, but the Pac-12 is certainly not the wrestling power that is the Big Ten, and in many ways could be a slight step down from what a Big 12 with Oklahoma State, Missouri, OU, etc.… would have been. The final option would be the Big 12 holding in its current form and Oklahoma State staying put. There's maybe a very slight chance they could somehow wind up in the ACC, though that doesn't seem likely to me. But hey, all bets are off to an extent with this conference realignment stuff. Iowa State-Big Ten/Big 12/PAC 12 Iowa State's situation seems to almost mirror Oklahoma State's. You could naturally see them going to the Big Ten to join their in-state rival, Iowa. If the Big 12 stays together, that's a possibility, and the PAC 12 is also out there. If the Big Ten were to expand, Iowa State and Oklahoma State as a pair make a lot of sense, though Kansas is rumored to be a candidate also. West Virginia-ACC/Big 12 If the SEC picking up Texas and OU is a domino that starts conferences across the country doing more of the same, WVU to the ACC is a natural fit. Geographically, they don't make a ton of sense with their current conference in the Big 12, and they have already reached out to the ACC. It seems almost a given that if the Big 12 goes away, the ACC would be a natural landing spot for WVU. If the Big 12 holds, they may be one of the schools that stays. Missouri-MAC/PAC 12/Big 12 What a weird world? Mizzou comes back to the Big 12 as the conference seems on the verge of potential collapse. They could just jump back to the MAC potentially. The Pac-12 would seem to be an option, even though it's not a great geographical fit. Little Rock joined the Pac-12 and is nowhere near most of the other member schools. Then if the Big 12 holds in some form, they could stay. Northern Iowa-MAC/Big 12 If the Big 12 holds, Northern Iowa could easily stay; if it folds, a return to the MAC is a definite potential landing spot for Northern Iowa. If things break that way and Oklahoma, Missouri, and Northern Iowa all head that direction, the MAC suddenly becomes a very strong wrestling conference. Air Force, Wyoming, North Dakota State-Big 12/PAC 12 I have two schools of thought with these three teams and the Big 12. The conference could hold; they'll likely all stay as wrestling members. They're the only affiliate members I could see with formidable enough football programs to get picked up by the Big 12. There are so many different directions the main body of the Big 12 could go, but these three programs theoretically "could" find themselves as full members of the transformed Big 12 conference we may see come out of all this realignment. North Dakota State would need to move from FCS to FBS, but they are the powerhouse program of the FCS and have historically beaten FBS teams. Air Force has a strong following and is in the region not far from some Big 12 schools. If a few current Big 12 schools jump ship, maybe this is who replaces them? If that were to occur, that would be a definite shot in the arm for wrestling in the Big 12, because if schools bolt and are replaced by non-wrestling schools, it's going to be damaging for the sport in the conference. If those things don't happen and the Big 12, or at least wrestling in the conference folds, the Pac-12 would almost certainly be the landing spot for these three schools. Northern Colorado, South Dakota State, Utah Valley, Cal Baptist-Big 12/PAC 12 I think it's fairly straightforward with these. If the Big 12 stays, they probably remain in the Big 12. If it folds, the Pac-12 is probably their destination. Outside shot, South Dakota State could maybe go to the MAC. It's pretty centrally located between the two conferences. Ultimately no one knows how this thing is going to shake out and it's all pretty much speculation at this point, but there's almost certain to be some more shifts in the Big 12 conference after this initial domino with OU and Texas has fallen and it's interesting to wonder what's going to happen with the conference and their wrestling members.

2012 Olympic Gold Medalist Sharif Sharifov (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) As of today, we under 50 days from the start of wrestling at the Olympic Games. Over the next 50 days, we'll bring you one profile per day of a decorated international contender. Make sure you get to know the wrestlers that Team USA will compete against in Tokyo. 7/26/21 - Ravi Kumar (India) 7/20/21 - Zaurbek Sidakov (Russia) 7/15/21 - Taha Akgul (Turkey) 7/13/21 - Artur Naifonov (Russia) 7/11/21 - Vazgen Tevanyan (Armenia) 7/10/21 - Khadzhimurad Ghadzhiev (Azerbaijan) 7/8/21 - Ali Shabanov (Belarus) 7/7/21 - Gadzhimurad Rashidov (Russia) 7/6/21 - Suleyman Karadeniz (Turkey) 7/5/21 - Frank Chamizo (Italy) 7/3/21 - Yui Susaki (Japan) 7/1/21 - Amir Zare (Iran) 6/28/21 - Zavur Uguev (Russia) 6/27/21 - Zhan Beleniuk (Ukraine) 6/26/21 - Sergey Kozyrev (Russia) 6/24/21 - Kenchiro Fumita (Japan) 6/23/21 - Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (Belarus) 6/22/21 - Erica Wiebe (Canada) 6/21/21 - Myles Amine (San Marino) 6/20/21 - Sofia Mattsson (Sweden) 6/19/21 - Hassan Yazdani Charati (Iran) 6/18/21 - Tamas Lorincz (Hungary) 6/17/21 - Takuro Otoguro (Japan) 6/16/21 - Elizbar Odikadze (Georgia) 6/15/21 - Koumba Larroque (France) 6/14/21 - Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan) 6/13/21 - Ningning Rong (China) 6/12/21 - Bajrang Punia (India) 6/11/21 - Frank Staebler (Germany) 6/10/21 - Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) A two-time world champion from 2011-2012 at the 84 KG weight class, #12 Sharif Sharifov (AZE) was forced on the sidelines for the majority of 2012-2016 behind three-time Olympic medalist Khetag Gozyumov before dropping from 97 KG to take bronze at the 2016 86 KG Olympics. 2018 saw Sharifov debut at his third weight class in 92 KG and go in as a favorite to win gold in Budapest, only to be upset by #9 Alireza Karimimachiani (IRI) and be sent back to the drawing board. But a spectacular run through the World Championships as a replacement for Nurmagomed Gadzhiev (AZE), resulted in a resurgence in Sharifov's career with a World silver medal and his return as a title contender going into his third Olympics. Today's Olympic profile will cover the career of 2019 97 KG World runner-up #12 Sharif Sharifov (AZE). The Stats #12 Sharif Sharifov (AZE)- 2010 and 2011 84 KG European runner-up, 2011 84 KG Ali Aliyev champion, 2011 84 KG FILA test tournament champion, 2011 Baku Golden Grand Prix champion, 2013 96 KG Grand Prix of Spain bronze medalist, 2014 Ali Aliev runner-up, 2014 Dan Kolov champion, 2018 92 KG Alans bronze medalist, 2015 97 KG Medved runner-up, 2011 84 KG world champion, 2012 84 KG world champion, 2016 86 KG Olympic bronze medalist, 2017 86 KG Islamic Solidarity Games bronze medalist, 2017 97 KG Alans runner-up, 2019 97KG world runner-up 2017 Azerbaijan National champ (92), 2018 International Ukrainian champ (92), 2018 European Championship runner-up (92), 2018 Medved champ, 2019 92 KG Ali Aliev champion, 2019 92 KG Takhti Cup bronze medalist 2019 92 KG European champion Key Wins: #2 Mohammad Mohammadian (2015 97 KG Grand Prix of Paris), #3 Kyle Snyder (2019 97 KG world semis), #5 Alikhan Zhabrailov (2018 92 KG Medved finals, 2018 92 KG Kadyrov Cup) #7 Elizbar Odikadze (2019 97 KG world championships), #6 (92) Selim Yasar (2017 86 KG World Cup), #11 (92) J'den Cox (2016 86 KG Grand Prix of Paris, 2018 92 KG International Ukrainain tournament), Ibragim Aldatov (2011 84 KG world finals, 2011 84 KG Euros), Aslanbek Alborov (2015 97 KG Baku GGP), #8 (92) Zbigniew Baranowski (2016 86 KG Olympics), #14 (92) Irakli Mtsituri (2018 92 KG International Ukrainian tournament), #18 Magomed Ibragimov (2012 86 KG World Cup, 2011 84 KG Ali Aliev), #15 (92) Soslan Ktsoev (2011 84 KG FILA test tournament), Alireza Goudarzi (2011 84 KG worlds), Mihail Ganev (2011 84 KG Baku GGP), Cael Sanderson (2011 84 KG worlds), Yuri Belonovski (2017 97 KG Alans tournament, 2015 97 KG world cup), Jake Herbert (2012 84 KG Olympics), Dato Marsagishvili (2018 92 KG International Ukrainian tournament), Ibrahim Bolukbasi (2012 84 KG Olympics), Jaime Espinal (2012 84 KG Olympic finals), Albert Saritov (2011 84 KG worlds), Reza Yazdani (2015 97 KG world cup) ,Abdusalam Gadisov (2010 84 KG worlds), Ehsan Lashgari (2012 84 KG Olympics), Nurmagomed Gadzhiev (2015&16 Azerbaijan National Finals), #10 (92) Omargadzhi Magomedov ( 2012 World Cup, 2018 Medved semis). Key Losses: Yuri Belonovski (2014 Ali Aliyev finals), Khetag Gazumov (2015 Medved finals, 2012 Yasar Dogu, 2013 Baku GGP Finals, 2013 Grand Prix of Spain), Jake Herbert (2009 world championships, 2010 USA vs. Azerbaijan duel meet), #7 Elizbar Odikadze (2015 Baku GGP Finals), Fatih Cakiglou(2016 Yasar Dogu), #5 (92) Anzor Urishev (2011 84 KG European Championships, 2010 84 KG European Championships), Zaurbek Sokhiev (2009 Baku GGP), Reza Yazdani (2008 Baku GGP), #1 Abdulrashid Sadulaev(2016 86 KG Olympics, 2018 92 KG European finals, 2019 97 KG world finals), #9 (86) Vladislav Valiev (2017 86 KG world cup), David Khutsishvili (2017 world cup), #1 (86) David Taylor (2017 86 KG world cup), #2 (86) Hassan Yazdani Charati ( 2017 86 KG Islamic Solidarity Games), #4 Vladislav Baitsaev (2017 97 KG Alans tournament), Aslanbek Alborov (2018 97 KG Yasar Dogu), #9 Alireza Karimiachiani (2018 92 KG world championships), #13 Givi Matcharashvili (2021 97 KG Henri Deglane Grand Prix), #11 Abraham Conyedo Ruano (2021 97 KG Ziolkowski), #3 (92) Javad Ebrahimi (2019 92 KG Takhti Cup). 2009-2012 Sharifov, of Avar descent and claiming Gunukh, Dagestan as his place of origin, began his career competing for Russia at the 2009 Junior European Championships, where he took 12th at the 84 KG weight class. A transfer to Azerbaijan, in 2008, would see Sharifov take bronze at his sole competition of the year at the Baku Golden Grand Prix behind two-time world bronze medalist Reza Yazdani of Iran. Marking his return to competition a year later at the same Baku Golden Grand Prix, Sharifov would again take bronze, losing to that year's world champion Zaurbek Sokhiev of Uzbekistan. The 2009 World Championships would be a breakthrough for the young Sharifov, as after a loss to eventual world runner-up Jake Herbert of the United States, Sharifov put together wins over David Bichinashvili (GER) and Gokhan Yavaser (TUR) to face off against 2008 Junior World Champion Abdusalam Gadisov (RUS). Gadisov was the upperweight prospect at the start of the 2008-2012 quad, blazing through the field at Junior Worlds and Senior Russian Nationals and through to the Senior World semifinals before falling to Jake Herbert (USA). Sharifov was able to extinguish the fiery run of Gadisov over two periods for a 3-0 win and his first world bronze medal. 2010 began with Sharifov making the finals of the European championships with a win over Gheorghita Stefan (ROU) in the semifinals. Facing him in the finals would be 2009 Russian Nationals bronze medalist #5 (92) Anzor Urishev (RUS), who'd upset 2010 world champion Mihail Ganev (BUL) in the semifinals. Urishev was crisp throughout the match, able to match the physicality of Sharifov with smooth reattacks and low-level attacks to take home European gold and relegate the world bronze medalist Sharifov to the silver medal. Taking bronze at the Baku Golden Grand Prix on July 16th, Sharifov would compete only four days later in an Azerbaijan vs. USA dual meet against Jake Herbert (USA), losing to the American 1-1, and 1-0 across two periods. Naurez Temrezov would be sent to the World Championships instead of Sharifov on account of winning the Baku Golden Grand Prix, where Sharifov took bronze. Temrezov made it to the quarterfinals of the World Championships, where he lost across three periods 5-3 to eventual world bronze medalist #15 (92) Soslan Ktsoev (RUS). 2011 began with a bronze medal performance for Urishev at the European Championships and although it was a lesser finish than his silver medal from 2010, he was able to improve his standing internationally with the wins he took. Beating 2009 world bronze medalist Ibragim Aldatov (UKR) in the second round, Sharifov followed it up with a win over 2000 69 KG European champion Emzarios Bentinidis (GRE) to make the semifinals against returning champion #5 (92) Anzor Urishev (RUS). Urishev defeated Sharifov 4-0 across two periods and Sharifov would conclude his European Championship run with 5-1 victory over Maciej Balewender of Poland. The Ali Aliev was next on the ledger for Sharifov and taking gold over 2009 Yarygin bronze medalist #18 Magomed Ibragimov (UZB) proved to be the shot in the arm for the Azeri. Sharifov maintained the momentum from his Ali Aliev title to take gold at the Baku Golden Grand Prix after three straight bronze medal finishes from 2008-2010. Sharifov beat 2010 world champion Mihail Ganev (BUL), Piotr Ianulov (MDA), lachiko Gitiashvili (GEO) and Serdar Boke (TUR) to take his final title of the year before the World Championships. Sharifov's first world championship title would come through an absolute ironman run across six matches. Beginning with an 8-0 win over Chan-Urk Yoon (KOR), Sharifov had the tall task of 2004 Olympic champion and 4x NCAA champion Cael Sanderson (USA) in his second-round match. Sanderson, who'd made his return after seven years in retirement, beat out longtime Sharifov rival Jake Herbert to make the US team and was in serious contention for world gold upon his return. Sharifov had jumped levels and it showed with a 7-2 win over the Olympic champion to move onto the round of 32. Ernek Baiduashev (KAZ) and Ziolkowski champion Alireza Goudarzi (IRI) would be smooth wins for Sharifov to make the semifinals opposite Albert Saritov (RUS). Beating out returning world bronze medalist #15 (92) Soslan Ktsoev (RUS) and 2x European champion #5 (92) Anzor Urishev (RUS), the Chechen contender, was seen as one of Sharifov's biggest tests of the world championships. In a back and forth match, it would be the more experienced Sharifov that would pull away with a 7-4 win over the Chechen standout to make the finals opposite Ibragim Aldatov (UKR). A 2006 world champion at 74 KG and world bronze at 84 KG in 2009, Aldatov had been one of the trailblazers of the middleweights from 2004-2016, well regarded for his impressive skill, especially his swim high crotch and lethal leg lace that could end a match at any moment. Against the Ukrainian legend, Sharifov secured his first world title with a 3-0 win across two periods and cemented himself as the favorite going into the 2012 Olympics. Sharifov concluded his landmark 2011 season with a title at the FILA test tournament over 2010 world bronze medalist, 2011 national runner-up #15 (92) Soslan Ktsoev of Russia. Sharifov made his 2012 debut all the way up at 96 KG, where he lost to teammate 2010 world champion Khetag Gozyumov of Azerbaijan in the finals of the Yasar Dogu. Sharifov's return to 84 KG would take place at the World Cup, where he finished in first place with wins over #10 (92) Amarhadzhi Magomedov (BLR), 2x World/Olympic medalist Ehsan Lashgari (IRI), Semyon Semenov (KAZ) and #18 Magomed Ibragimov (UZB). The Olympics had come and Sharifov was the man to beat. Sharifov was fantastic throughout his run, opening with an 8-4 win over Ibragim Bolukbasi (TUR) before putting on a clinic to avenge his past losses to Jake Herbert (USA) with a 10-1 victory. Facing Ehsan Lashgari (IRI), who'd come through the semifinals, by way of upset over 2x European champion #5 (92) Anzor Urishev (RUS), Sharifov was able to survive a 3-3 match against the Iranian powerhouse and move onto the Olympic finals. Facing Sharifov in the finals would be Jaime Espinal of Puerto Rico, who'd notched the biggest upset of the weight by defeating 2011 world bronze medalist Dato Marsagishvili of Georgia 13-5 across two periods in the quarterfinals. Sharifov would shut down the big moves of Espinal and take a convincing 8-1 victory and Olympic gold. Sharifov had proven himself to be the best man and it showed with back-to-back titles, but his return to gold would be a long road ahead. 2013-2016 The 2012-2016 quad saw Sharifov make the move up to the 96 KG weight class after he had outgrown the 84 KG weight class and the weight cut had proven to be too drastic. Returning to competition in the middle of 2013, Sharifov would take bronze at the Grand Prix of Spain behind 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Khetag Gozyumov (AZE). A runner-up finish at the Baku Golden Grand Prix for Sharifov would conclude his 2013 with a loss to world runner-up Khetag Gozyumov (AZE) in the finals. 2014 for Sharifov began with a title at the Dan Kolov over 2017 European champion Riza Yildirim (TUR) that was followed up by a runner-up finish to 2011 Russian Nationals runner-up Yuri Belonovski (RUS). 2015 saw Sharifov began to matriculate more at 97 KG as he started the year with a title at the Grand Prix of Paris over returning 84 KG world bronze medalist #3 Mohammad Mohammadian of Iran. The Medved would follow a similar script for Sharifov, as he'd finish runner-up behind returning world silver medalist Khetag Gozyumov (AZE) to take the number two spot for Azerbaijan. Proving himself still dangerous, Sharifov put together a fantastic performance at the World Cup with wins over Reza Yazdani (IRI), Yuri Belonovski (RUS), Ivan Yankouski (BLR), and Ibrahim Bolukbasi (TUR). Sharifov's international competition for 2015 would conclude at the Baku Golden Grand Prix, where he'd finish as runner-up behind European Games runner-up #7 Elizbar Odikadze (GEO). Making the cut down to 86 KG for Azerbaijani nationals, Sharifov took the title over 86 KG Baku GGP champion Nurmagomed Gadzhiev (AZE). To begin 2016, Sharifov returned back to 97 KG, where he finished in 16th place at the Yasar Dogu after an opening-round loss to Fatih Cakiroglu (TUR). Sharifov concluded his 97 KG run for the year before the Olympics with a 17th place finish at the European Championships after forfeiting out due to injury in the first round. Returning back to 86 KG ahead of the Olympics, forfeited in the finals of the Grand Prix of Germany to Nurmagomed Gadzhiev (AZE) after beating two-time 92 KG world champion #12 (92) J'den Cox (USA). Sharifov's Olympic run began with a tech fall win over Shengfeng Bi (CHN), followed up by a quarterfinal win over #8 (92) Zbigniew Baranowski (POL) to make the semifinals opposite two-time world champion #1 Abdulrashid Sadulaev of Russia. Sadulaev had been the revelation of the 2012-2016, an absolutely dominant wrecking machine that had carved through the 86 KG weight class, outscoring the field at the 2015 World Championships, 47-2. As the returning Olympic champion, it was expected that Sharifov could slow the terrifying run of Sadulaev and provide some relief to the rest of the field, but Sadulaev took apart Sharifov for an 8-1 win and a spot in the finals. In the bronze medal match against Pedro Ceballos Fuentes of Venezuela, Sharifov won a workman-like 5-1 victory for Olympic bronze. Concluding his year, Sharifov won his second Azerbaijani national title over Nurmagomed Gadzhiev (AZE). 2017-2021 2017 would be Sharifov's final year at 86 KG as the weight cut would prove to be far too drastic for him to wrestle up to the championship-caliber he had proven before. Beginning the year at the World Cup, Sharifov would put together a lackluster 1-3 record with losses to #1 (86) David Taylor (USA), #9 (86) Vladislav Valiev (RUS) and Davit Khutsishvili (GEO) to a sole win over 3x World/Olympic medalist #6 Selim Yasar (TUR). The Islamic Solidarity Games didn't fare much better for Sharifov, as while he did net a bronze medal, he was absolutely manhandled in a tech fall loss to 74 KG Olympic champion #2 (86) Hassan Yazdani Charati of Iran. Sharifov's year would conclude at his more natural weight class of 97 KG, where he'd make the finals of the prestigious Alans tournament against #4 Vladislav Baitsaev (RUS). In the finals, the size and power of Baitsaev would be too much for Sharifov and he would fall 1-1 to the North Ossetian Russian Nationals runner-up. 2018 saw the debut of the non-Olympic weight class categories of 79 and 92 KG that would provide more opportunities for those athletes who had been stuck between 74 and 86 KG and 86 and 97 who were too outsized or too sucked out from cutting too much weight. There would be a trio of 86 and 97 KG athletes that would make the move to 92 KG, Sharifov being one of them along with 3x World/Olympic champion #1 Abdulrashid Sadulaev (RUS) after finishing silver at the 97 KG world championships and 2x 86 KG World/Olympic medalist #14 (92) J'den Cox (USA). These three were the biggest names in the emerging weight class and along with the likes of #3 (92) Javad Ebrahimi (IRI), #4 Batyrbek Tsakulov (RUS), Dato Marsagishvili (GEO), and #9 Alireza Karimimachiani (IRI) would go on to define it in its inaugural year. Sharifov's debut at the 92 KG weight class would be in impressive fashion, taking gold at the International Ukrainian Tournament with victories over elite competitors the likes of two time World/Olympic medalist Dato Marsagishvili (GEO), 2019 world bronze medalist #14 Irakli Mtsituri (GEO), and two time World/Olympic bronze medalist #14 J'den Cox (USA). Tech falls over Nicolae Ceban (MDA) and Serdar Boke (TUR) secured Sharifov a spot in the European finals opposite the Russian Tank #1 Abdulrashid Sadulaev (RUS), who'd just come off a dominating showing at the Yarygin where he took gold over #5 (92) Anzor Urishev (RUS). Sharifov, not depleted as he was at 86 KG, in their first meeting at the 2016 Olympics, was able to hold off the dominant Sadulaev in a 2-1 loss for silver at the European Championships. After an upset loss in the opening round of the Yasar Dogu to returning 97 KG world bronze medalist Aslanbek Alborov (AZE), Sharifov set his sights for his final competition before the World Championships; Sharifov would compete at the Medved where he'd face Russian Nationals bronze medalist #5 Alikhan Zhabrailov (RUS). Against the dangerous Zhabrailov, Sharifov was able to take away a 6-4 win from the 2017 86 KG U-23 world champion for gold. Expected to be the favorite to win gold at the World championships with #1 Abdulrashid Sadulaev's return to 97 KG, Sharifov faced off against 97 KG Asian Games champion #9 Alireza Karimimachiani of Iran. Karimi, an absolute bull of a wrestler who'd broken the best of the best, proved that he was too much for Sharifov and upset the Azeri in a dominant 7-0 win. There was no shame in losing to Karimi as the Iranian was on another level at the World Championships, only losing to eventual champion J'den Cox 5-2 in the semis and beating Sharifov, 2x World/Olympic medalist Dato Marsagishvili (GEO) and 2019 U-23 world runner-up #4 (92) Batyrbek Tsakulov by a combined score of 33-2. Sharifov competed twice to end 2018, first at the Kadyrov Cup, where he was able to again defeat #4 Alikhan Zhabrailov (RUS), this time by tech fall and competing at the Alans after a runner-up finish at 97 KG the year prior. Opening up with a 7-3 against two time World/Olympic bronze medalist Marsagishvili, Sharifov continued on to the semifinals, where he'd meet Russian Nationals runner-up #5 (92) Anzor Urishev (RUS) for their rubber match and a chance at revenge from losses at the 2010 and 2011 84 KG European championships. Urishev proved once again that he was too much of a problem for Sharifov to handle and handed the talented Azeri a 5-1 loss and Sharifov would finish his run at the Alans with a bronze medal over Akhmed Bataev (BUL). 2019 would begin with a bronze medal finish at the Takhti Cup, where Sharifov fell to #3 (92) Javad Ebrahimi of Iran but was able to muster a win over #6 Suleyman Karadeniz (TUR) in his opening round match. The European Championships would be a much more successful campaign for Sharifov, winning his first European title with victories over #1 (92) Magomed Kurbanov (RUS), Ibrahim Bolukbasi (TUR) and #7 (92) Zbigniew Baranowski (POL). Going into the World Championships, Sharifov was not supposed to be the 97 KG rep. Sharifov was entered as the 92 KG rep and had been 92 since 2018 and really punched through a spot for himself as a world title contender and Nurmagomed Gadzhiev (AZE) was the rep who was expected to medal and qualify Azerbaijan for the Tokyo Olympics. Except Gadzhiev was out with a knee injury and Sharifov would have to make the last second move-up while 2018 U-23 world champion Shamil Zubairov took the 92 KG spot. Sharifov's last-second move-up would be one of the best decisions of his career. Competing against a group of massive 97's, Sharifov opened with an 11-4 victory over Minwon Seo (KOR) before facing 2012 Olympic runner-up Valerii Andriitsev of Ukraine, who fell to the Azerbaijani 4-0. Now in the quarterfinals, Sharifov faced off against returning world bronze medalist #7 Elizbar Odikadze (GEO) and put up another strong 6-0 win to make the semifinals. 3x World/Olympic champion #3 Kyle Snyder (USA) was the returning world runner-up at the weight and the only man to hand 4x World/Olympic champion #1 Abdulrashid Sadulaev (RUS) a loss in over four years. Snyder was supposedly too big and too strong, except he wasn't as fast as Sharifov, who was able to score off a crucial high crotch reattack to take a 5-2 win and his first World/Olympic finals appearance since 2012. In the finals, a controlled Sadulaev would put away Sharifov for a 4-0 victory and World/Olympic title number five. Sharifov's 2019 conclusion to 2019 would be at the Alrosa Cup and the German Pro League. At the Alrosa Cup, Sharifov put together a 1-1 showing competing against truly elite competition in #2 Mohammad Mohammadian (IRI) and #5 Alikhan Zhabrailov (RUS). Mohammadian would be a controversial 4-3 win while 92 KG world bronze medalist #5 Alikhan Zhabrailov (RUS) had made significant headway and avenged his past two losses to Sharifov with a 5-2 win. 2018 world bronze medalist Odikadze would avenge his quarterfinal loss from the world championships to Sharifov with a 5-2 win in the German Pro League and Sharifov would conclude his 2019 with a 14-0 win over Bekkan Nusulkhanov (KAZ). After not competing in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sharifov made his return to competition at the start of 2021, placing fourth at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix after a loss to 2018 U-23 world champion #13 Givi Matcharashvili (GEO). Another opening round loss would see Sharifov fail to place at his next tournament, this time in the form of 2018 world bronze medalist #11 Abraham Conyedo Ruano (ITA) at the Ziolkowski. Returning to form, Sharifov concluded his 2021 competition schedule before the Olympics with a title at the Yasar Dogu by avenging his loss to #13 Givi Matcharashvili (GEO) in the semifinals and beating Mustafa Sessiz (TUR) for gold. Though he began 2021 with a series of losses, #12 Sharif Sharifov should absolutely be considered as finalist material in Tokyo. Wins over #2 Mohammad Mohammadian (IRI) and #3 Kyle Snyder (USA) in 2019 showed that the Azeri veteran is still very much a live wire in the field. Will Sharifov be able to win Olympic title number two on his third try or will the reign of Sadulaev continue? Can #2 Mohammad Mohammadian (IRI) come through on his immense talent and breakthrough for gold? Will #3 Kyle Snyder (USA) regain the form he had from 2015-2017 and take World/Olympic title number four? How does #6 Suleyman Karadeniz (TUR) fare against the fearsome field? These are all fascinating questions that will be answered when the first whistle blows for the 97 KG Olympics.

The National Wrestling Hall of Fame on Tuesday announced the regional winners of the Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award (DSHSEA). The DSHSEA was established in 1996 to honor Olympic and World champion Dave Schultz, whose career was cut short when he was murdered in January 1996. He was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member in 1997 and as a member of the United World Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016. The award recognizes and celebrates the nation's most outstanding high school senior male wrestlers for their excellence in wrestling, scholastic achievement, citizenship, and community service. Winners are evaluated and selected on the basis of three criteria: success and standout performances and sportsmanship in wrestling; review of GPA and class rank, academic honors and distinctions; and participation in activities that demonstrate commitment to character and community. The national winner of the DSHSEA will be announced on August 10. The regional winners of the Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award (TSHSEA) are scheduled to be announced on Wednesday. The TSHSEA recognizes and celebrates the nation's most outstanding high school senior female wrestlers for their excellence in wrestling, scholastic achievement, citizenship, and community service. The TSHSEA national winner will be announced on August 11. The regions and the states that they are comprised of are: West (11) - Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming Midwest (10) - Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin Central (7) - Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas Southeast (10) - Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia Northeast (11) - Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont 2021 Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award Regional Winners Central Region: Tate Picklo of Mustang, Oklahoma, is a two-time Oklahoma state champion and a four-time state finalist. After losing in the state finals as a freshman in 2018, he won 118 matches in a row before being forced to injury default in the state finals as a senior after re-injuring his left kneecap and being unable to continue. The son of Brian and Betty Picklo, he will continue his wrestling career at the University of Oklahoma. In 2019, he finished seventh at the Cadet Junior World Championships and was second in Greco-Roman and third in freestyle at the Cadet Nationals. Picklo won the freestyle title and finished third in Greco-Roman at the Cadet Nationals in 2018. In 2021, he was named the Jim Thorpe High School Player of the Year for wrestling and earned all-state honors. Picklo was the Class 6A Outstanding Wrestler at the 2020 Oklahoma State High School Championships and was also named All-Big City Wrestler of the Year. He ranked first in his class and was valedictorian while also serving as a leader in his youth group at Chisholm Heights Baptist Church. Midwest Region: Alex Facundo of Davison, Michigan, is a four-time Michigan state champion who helped Davison High School capture the state team title in 2021, its first team title since 2006. The son of Pablo and Julie Facundo, he will continue his wrestling career at Penn State University. Facundo won the United World Wrestling Freestyle Championship in 2018 and 2019 and earned bronze medals at the Cadet World Championships in 2018 and 2019. He was the Freestyle Nationals champion in 2017 and won the Super 32 in 2018. He was academic all-state and selected as the Greater Flint Kiwanis Student Athlete of the Month. Facundo's invitation to train with the USA Wrestling EAP program for a full year before the Olympics was cancelled because of the pandemic. Facundo volunteers at Lighthouse Rehabilitation Center, an organization that is very important to him as his mother suffered a traumatic brain injury. Northeast Region: Shayne Van Ness of Branchburg, New Jersey, wrestles for Blair Academy and is a two-time National Prep Open champion. The son of Rodney and Dawn Van Ness, he will continue his wrestling career at Penn State University. Van Ness was 23-0 and won the Who's #1 and the National Prep Open in 2019-20 while finishing 36-1 and winning Super 32, Beast of the East and the Ironman in 18-19. In 2017-18, he was 24-1 and won four tournaments. Van Ness volunteers as a Big Brother leader while also working as a tour guide. Southeast Region: Caden McCrary of Cartersville, Georgia, is a four-time Georgia state champion who led Woodland High School to three dual and three traditional state championships. The son of Jason and Melanie McCrary, he will continue his wrestling career at the University of North Carolina. UNC is coached by Coleman Scott, who was the national winner of the Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award in 2004. McCrary had a career record of 182-2 while also capturing a Super 32 championship as a senior. He finished third in Greco-Roman and third in freestyle at Junior Nationals as a junior. McCrary volunteers with the United Way and his local church while also tutoring and mentoring. West Region: Richard Figueroa II of Sanger, California, is a three-time California state champion for Selma High School. The son of Richard Figueroa and Frances Santillan, he will continue his wrestling career at Arizona State University. Figueroa did not compete in the state tournament in 2021 because the California Interscholastic Federation did not host events because of the pandemic, but did capture the Junior National Championship. He won a silver medal at the World Cadet Championships in 2018 and returned to compete in 2019. He volunteers at Panda preschool and was a member of the honor roll throughout his high school career. Figueroa has received an academic and athletic scholarship and plans to get his bachelor's degree in criminology and his master's degree in education-counseling. The Hall of Fame accepts nominations for its high school excellence awards from state chapters and coaches. The nominations are reviewed by a committee, which selects state and regional winners. The committee then determines the national winners from the regional winners. National winners of the DSHSEA award have combined to win 20 NCAA Division I individual titles led by four-time champion Logan Stieber (2010), three-time winner Zain Retherford (2013) and two-time winners Steven Mocco (2001), David Taylor (2009) and Teyon Ware (2002). The 2018 winner David Carr won a title in 2021 while 2016 winner Mark Hall II won an NCAA title as a freshman in 2017 and 2015 winner Zahid Valencia won back-to-back championships in 2018 and 2019. 2021 Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award State Winners State - Name, High School, Hometown, College Attending Alabama - Mason Blackwell, Wetumpka High School, Wetumpka Alaska - Jared Hopkins, Colony High School, Palmer, Campbell University Arizona - Ramon Ramos, Casteel High School, Gilbert, Arizona State Arkansas - Caleb Winston, Greenbrier High School, Greenbrier California - Richard Figueroa II, Selma High School, Sanger, Arizona State Colorado - Vince Cornella, Monarch High School, Lafayette, Cornell Connecticut - Nico Provo, Greens Farms Academy, Stutford, Cornell Delaware - Kevin Hudson, Caesar Rodney High School, Dover Florida - Jaekus Hines, Osceola High School, Kissimmee, Appalachian State Georgia - Caden McCrary, Woodland High School, Dalton, University of North Carolina Hawaii - Branden Pagurayan, Kapolei High School, Kapolei, Wyoming Idaho - Drew Roberts, Coeur d'Alene High School, Coeur d'Alene, Minnesota Illinois - Dean Hamiti, Joilet Catholic Academy, Joliet, University of Wisconsin Indiana - Alex Cottey, Perry Meridian High School, Indianapolis, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Iowa - Drake Ayala, Fort Dodge High School, Fort Dodge, University of Iowa Kansas – Jared Simma, St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Shawnee, University of Northern Iowa Kentucky - Spencer Moore, Walton-Verona High School, Crittenden, University of North Carolina Louisiana - Peyton Ward, Saint Paul's School, Covington Maine - Joshua Cote, Noble High School, Lesanon, University of Southern Maine Maryland - Cooper Flynn, McDonogh School, Seymour, Virginia Tech Massachusetts - Max Leete, Danvers High School, Danvers, American University Michigan - Alex Facundo, Davison High School, Davison, Penn State Minnesota - Derrick Cardinal, Forest Lake High School, Forest Lake, South Dakota State Missouri - Nathan Pulliman, Rolla High School, Rolla, University of Missouri Montana - Cooper Birdwell, Fergus High School, Lewistown, Oklahoma State Nebraska - Evan Canoyer, Waverly High School, Walton, Cornell University Nevada - Devin Griffen, Spanish Springs High School, Sparks, Reinhardt University New Hampshire - Conor Maslanek, Pelham High School, Pelham, Campbell University New Jersey - Shayne Van Ness, Blair Academy, Branchburg, Penn State New Mexico - Alex Holguin, Cobre High School, Bayard, Colorado Mesa University New York - Stevo Poulin, Shenendehowa High School, Shenendehowa, North Carolina State North Carolina - Richard Treanor, William Amos Hough High School, Cornelius, U.S. Military Academy North Dakota - Reece Barnhardt, St. Mary's Central High School, Bismark, University of Mary Ohio - Padraic Gallagher, Lakewood St. Edward High School, Chesterland, Ohio State Oklahoma - Tate Picklo, Mustang High School, Mustang, University of Oklahoma Oregon - Chance Lamer, Crescent Valley High School, Corvallis, University of Michigan Pennsylvania - Alejandro Herrera-Rondon, Seneca Valley High School, Zelienople, University of Oklahoma Rhode Island - Nicholas Fine, Bishop Hendricken High School, Cumberland, Columbia University South Carolina - Chris Compton, James F. Byrnes High School, Wellford South Dakota - Sam Kruger, Winner High School, Kimball, South Dakota State Tennessee - Alex Whitworth, McCallie School, Dalton, Harvard Texas - Braxton Brown, Allen High School, Allen, University of Maryland Utah - Lucas Cochran, Box Elder High School, Perry, Penn State Vermont - Sam Worthing, Fair Haven Union High School, Poultney Virginia - Erik Roggie, St. Christopher's School, Smithfield, University of Virginia Washington - Steele Starren, Tahoma High School, Maple Valley West Virginia - Gavin Quiocho, Parkersburg South High School, Glenville State College Wisconsin - Matty Bianchi, Two Rivers High School, Two Rivers, University of Arkansas – Little Rock Wyoming - Analu Benabise, Kelly Walsh High School, Casper, University of Wyoming All-Time National Winners of Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award 2020 - Braxton Amos, Parkersburg South High School, Mineral Wells, West Virginia 2019 - Cohlton Schultz, Ponderosa High School, Parker, Colorado (Greco-Roman Cadet World Champion) 2018 - David Carr, Perry High School, Massillon, Ohio (NCAA Champion and Junior World Champion) 2017 - Daton Fix, Charles Page High School, Sand Springs, Oklahoma (Junior World Champion) 2016 - Mark Hall II, Apple Valley High School, Apple Valley, Minnesota (NCAA Champion and 2X Junior World Champion) 2015 - Zahid Valencia, St. John Bosco High School, Bellflower, California (2X NCAA Champion and Junior World Silver Medalist) 2014 - Chance Marsteller, Kennard-Dale High School, Fawn Grove, Pennsylvania 2013 - Zain Retherford, Benton Area High School, Benton, Pennsylvania (3X NCAA Champion) 2012 - Taylor Massa, St. Johns High School, St. Johns, Michigan 2011 - Morgan McIntosh, Calvary Chapel High School, Santa Ana, California 2010 - Logan Stieber, Monroeville High School, Monroeville, Ohio (World Champion and 4X NCAA Champion) 2009 - David Taylor, Graham High School, St. Paris, Ohio (World Champion and 2X NCAA Champion) 2008 - Jason Chamberlain, Springville High School, Springville, Utah 2007 - Zachary Sanders, Wabasha-Kellogg High School, Wabasha, Minnesota 2006 - David Craig, Brandon High School, Brandon, Florida 2005 - Troy Nickerson, Chenango Forks High School, Chenango Forks, New York (NCAA Champion) 2004 - Coleman Scott, Waynesburg High School, Waynesburg, Pennsylvania (NCAA Champion and Olympic bronze medalist) 2003 - C.P. Schlatter, St. Paul Graham High School, Urbana, Ohio 2002 - Teyon Ware, Edmond North High School, Edmond, Oklahoma (2X NCAA Champion) 2001 - Steven Mocco, Blair Academy, Blairstown, New Jersey (2X NCAA Champion and Olympian) 2000 - Ben Connell, Lugoff-Elgin High School, Lugoff, South Carolina 1999 - Zach Roberson, Blue Valley North West High School, Overland Park, Kansas (NCAA Champion) 1998 - Garrett Lowney, Freedom High School, Appleton, Wisconsin (2X Olympian) Justin Ruiz, Taylorsville High School, Salt Lake City, Utah (Olympian) 1997 - Jeff Knupp, Walsh Jesuit High School, Akron, Ohio 1996 - David Kjeldgaard, Lewis Central High School, Council Bluffs, Iowa

The 2016 Olympic Games (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The unbalanced bracket. Just reading that phrase raises blood pressures, starts rants, and makes folkstyle purists wear a smug smile. Ever since United World Wrestling (UWW) went to it for World Championship and Olympic competition, starting in 2005, questions have been asked and debates have raged. Today we'll take on one of those questions to see if it holds up to scrutiny. Does the unbalanced bracket often produce bottom-side bronze medalists that are stronger than their top-side counterparts? One aspect of the unbalanced bracket that some have highlighted as a potential benefit is that it would seem to make a fluke bronze medalist more likely, expanding the number of countries that have a chance to medal, which could benefit struggling or emerging programs. Whether you see this as a good thing or not might depend on your role in the sport. A fan of pure competition might already think the double-bronze is a handout. Those who support a wrestler stuck on the bottom of the bracket with the three best in the weight might rage at a top side with half as many competitors. Wrestling leaders from a country that snagged an unexpected bronze and have seen their funding rise since might sing the praises of the system. Regardless of where you fall, it seems obvious that the unbalanced bracket has the potential to skew competitions. For those that don't know, UWW uses a random draw system for most events. In the past, the Olympics and World Championships were a completely random draw as well, though some seeding has been introduced over the past five years. The unbalanced part comes into play with how the wrestlers are placed in the bracket after the draw. Effectively, the bottom of the bracket is filled first and it is filled from the bottom up. This means that in an unseeded bracket with 24 competitors, you end up with 8 wrestlers on the top side and 16 on the bottom. This is a worst-case scenario and seeding does help this a bit as the 2 and 3 seed now receive byes, pushing 2 more wrestlers to the top side of the bracket. Still, the bottom of the bracket is almost always larger, increasing the chances that the best wrestlers end up together down there. To highlight the issue, here are the chances of the best wrestlers being drawn into the same side of an unseeded bracket of varying sizes. 24 wrestler bracket, 8 up, 16 down 48 wrestler bracket, 16 up, 32 down These two are similar worst-case scenarios, but the numbers are slightly different. You won't see 48 wrestlers in any weight in Tokyo, but it does happen at the World Championships. With no seeding, we'd be looking at better than 1 in 4 of these brackets having the 3 best wrestlers on the bottom side and a greater than 30% chance of them being on the same side overall. There is greater than a 10% chance that the 5 best athletes will all be on the bottom. With the repechage system where any loss to a wrestler that fails to make the finals means no medal chance, having the 5 best on the same side is a disaster. 3 of the top 5 would fail to medal, even without any upsets, while the 6th and 7th best wrestlers might stand on the podium if they were bracketed up top. That level of imbalance doesn't happen that often, though, so let's look at something between a perfect bracket and the worst-case. 20 wrestler bracket, 8 up, 12 down 40 wrestler bracket, 16 up, 24 down In these two brackets, there are 50% more competitors in the bottom half compared to the top. All of the extra, in an unseeded scenario, would be in the same quarter, so we can again thank the addition of some seeding for avoiding that, at least. Still, though, we have a chance of the top 3 being on the same side that is around 1 in 4 brackets. The chance for the top 5 to all end up on the same side is higher than I'd like to see, but it is around half what it was in the worst-case brackets above. The 20 wrestler bracket is close to what we saw in Rio, with many weights featuring 19 competitors. To be fair, any bracket that is randomly drawn could result in a doomsday scenario. So, we need to also look at perfect brackets to see what the chances would be. 16 wrestler bracket, 8 up, 8 down 32 wrestler bracket, 16 up, 16 down As you can see, there is still a risk, especially of getting the top 3 on the same side. It is lower than with the other brackets we've looked at and both sides of the draw have the same chance, of course. The odds of the 4 or 5 toughest athletes showing up together is lower still, but it will never be zero without perfect seeding, which is likely impossible. Now, you might be objecting to the fact that I've been using unseeded brackets for my numbers when seeding is now happening at the World Championship and Olympic level. However, most of the tournaments in the unbalanced bracket era, top-level events included, featured no seeding, so I wanted to explore those odds so that we'd have a good basis for exploring the question of whether bottom side bronze medalists are, overall, stronger than top-side. The other issue in play is that the seeding UWW uses does not guarantee that the strongest athletes in a weight are rewarded. Comparing the men's freestyle initial seeds with Seth Petarra's June 4th MFS rankings, we find that just over half of the seeds will go to athletes ranked in the top 5 at their weights. At 57 kg, the top 2 in our rankings, Zavur Uguev (RUS) and Suleyman Atli (TUR), will be the 2 and 3 seeds, putting them on the same side of the bracket. Even worse, they'll be on the larger, bottom half. If Yuki Takahashi (JPN), 6th ranked, unseeded, and Bekhbayar Erdenebat (MGL), 8th ranked, unseeded, were to also get drawn into the lower half, it would have 4 of the top 5 ranked athletes who are eligible to compete. This is not a unique situation either. Only 97 kg with Abdulrashid Sadulaev (RUS) and Kyle Snyder (USA) has the top two ranked wrestlers in the world guaranteed to be on opposite sides. Having one or two of the best on the top side does help, given the lower number of slots available on that side, but even that is hit or miss with this seeding system. Having a system set up to encourage competition and eliminating subjectivity is, on many levels, a good thing. However, it doesn't always help separate the best in the end. While it is clear that the chances of a terrible draw increase with the unbalanced bracket and that the bottom side should see that happen more often than the top, we still need some hard data to investigate whether the bottom side bronze wrestlers are consistently tougher than their top side brothers and sisters. I've gathered data on the World and Olympic bronze medalists since the unbalanced brackets started. For each, I looked at how unbalanced the bracket was and what other World and Olympic medals the wrestlers won in their careers. I then compared medal totals, both weighted and unweighted, to see which side of the bracket prevailed. Factoring in all brackets, I came up with the following results: By pure medal count, the bottom bronze medal winners have an incredibly slim advantage, having won more than their top side competition in 134 cases, less 132 times, with 87 ties. Weighting the medals won in a couple of different manners increases the amount that the bottom side comes out on top, but it remains remarkably close. The other metrics I looked at saw the same trend. 96 bottom-side bronze medalists won a gold medal at the world level at some point during their career. 89 top-side bronze medalists accomplished that. 113 bottom-side bronze medalists never won another medal compared to 114 topsiders. While I would have expected a more pronounced difference, this data set does include many brackets which were either perfect or not unbalanced by much. So, I decided to look only at those brackets with at least 50% more competitors on the bottom side compared to the top. Here is what I found: This, to me, is stunning. In the most unbalanced brackets, the top side bronze medalist has had a more decorated world-level career than the other bronze medalist more often than the other way around. The fact that the bottom side leads overall means that the bottom side is dominating those brackets with the smallest imbalances. This is completely counter-intuitive. We do, once again, see that the weighted medal counts shift the results towards the bottom siders, but it isn't enough to see them prevail. In the other metrics, we see the same theme. Bottom-side bronze-medalists in the most unbalanced brackets count 34 gold medalists among their ranks while the top-side has 33. There have been 31 top-side bronze medalists in these brackets that never won another medal, while 37 bottom-side bronze medalists suffered that fate. What happened here? What seemed to be an obvious theory hasn't been backed by the data at all. There are several possibilities. It could be that measuring the strength of a wrestler only by world-level medals isn't accurate enough. We could also be seeing that the system does a decent job of identifying the correct medalists even with the imbalance. Perhaps investigating the fifth-place finishers or those who lost to the bronze medalists would have revealed something different. It is also possible that the unbalanced bracket has such a small effect that we'd need a much larger sample size to see it. I would have thought 15 years of world-level championships across three styles would have been a large enough data set, but that gets cut down quite a bit when you filter for only the most unbalanced instances. To be clear, this has to be a macro-level analysis. I would never want to besmirch those who won a bronze medal regardless of their path. To do so without investigating their bracket would be incredibly unfair. As we saw with the numbers, the top side can have the bad draw on occasion. It just happens less often than the bottom side, especially with certain numbers of competitors. That said, the theory that the unbalanced bracket can produce fluke bronze medalists isn't entirely debunked. It still stands to reason and the math doesn't lie. How often those flukes occur, though, should be in question. If we can't see a clear difference after 15 years, perhaps it isn't very likely. Add to that the Olympic brackets won't come close to the worst-case scenario sizing and it may not be worth worrying about in Tokyo at all. Until your favorite athlete gets the bad end, that is.

Sarah Hildebrandt (left), Jacarra Winchester (center), and Helen Maroulis (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Over the next six days, we will bring you weight class previews for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Each preview will include three Olympic weights. They will highlight notable past achievements of the competitors in each weight, the American entry, and what to look for during the competition. Today we'll move on to the women's freestyle competition with the first three weights (50, 53, and 57 kg). If you missed our Greco-Roman previews, they are below. Greco-Roman Part One (60, 67, 77kg) Greco-Roman Part Two (87, 97, 130kg) 50 kg Women's Freestyle Seema Bisla (India) - 2021 Asian Bronze Medalist Evin Demirhan (Turkey) - 2017 World Bronze Medalist, 2x European Bronze Medalist Yusneylys Guzman (Cuba) - 2019 Pan-American Champion Sarra Hamdi (Tunisia) - 2x African Silver Medalist Adijat Idriss (Nigeria) - Valentina Islamova (Kazakhstan) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist, 2021 Asian Champion Oksana Livach (Ukraine) - 2018 World Bronze Medalist, 2019 European Champion Tsogt-Ochiryn Namuuntsetseg (Mongolia) - 2018 U23 World Bronze Medalist Stalvira Orhush (Russia) - 3x European Champion Mariya Stadnik (Azerbaijan) - 3x Olympic Medalist, 2x World Champion, 6x World Medalist, 8x European Champion Miglena Selishka (Bulgaria) - 2020 European Champion Yanan Sun (China) - 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 2013 World Champion, 3x World Medalist Yui Susaki (Japan) - 2x World Champion, 2x Junior World Champion, 3x Cadet World Champion Alina Vuc (Romania) - 2x World Silver Medalist, 2016 Olympian, 2x European Silver Medalist Lucia Yepez (Ecuador) - The Seeds 1) Stadnik 2) Vuc 3) Livach 4) Islamova The American Entry Sarah Hildebrandt - Sarah Hildebrandt spent the bulk of the last quad establishing herself as a consistent medal threat at 53 kilos. She reached the medal stand in Budapest for the first time, taking silver at the 2018 World Championships. After missing out on placing in 2019, Hildebrandt decided to drop to 50 kg for the Olympic year. The leadoff weight (48/50kg) for the US has been one of the deepest, but has failed to yield a medal in World/Olympic competition since Alyssa Lampe in 2013. The move has been a sound one and Hildebrandt has been dominant at 50 kg. Hildebrandt's first competition at the new weight was the Matteo Pellicone and she came away with the gold medal in an impressive field. That gave her the nod to travel to Ottawa to the 2020 Pan-American Olympic qualifying event. There Hildebrandt demolished 2012 world champion Jessica MacDonald (Canada) to make the tournament finals and qualify America for the Olympics at 50 kg. Her performance in the qualifier led to a bye to the finals of the Olympic Team Trials. There Hildebrandt would square off with two-time world team member Victoria Anthony. Hildebrandt won both of her bouts via tech and had little trouble with the dangerous Anthony. Aside from the Trials, Hildebrandt has competed twice in 2021, winning titles at both the Henri DeGlane and the Pan-American Championships. Though the weight has some imposing threats atop class, Hildebrandt should be on the shortlist of gold medal contenders. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 3 (Stadnik, Sun, Susaki) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 8 (Demirhan, Hildebrandt, Islamova, Livach, Stadnik, Sun, Susaki, Vuc) The top seed at this weight, Mariya Stadnik, is one of the most decorated women competing in this tournament. She's also in the mix for the gold and figures to be here, again. Of course, her and the rest of this weight will have to contend with Yui Susaki. The Japanese sensation has never lost to an international opponent and won her first Senior world title at just 18 years old (in 2017). She'll get drawn into the bracket somewhere. Hildebrandt will, as well. Since dropping to 50 kg, Hildebrandt has a win over the second seed Alina Vuc (2020 Pellicone) and past world medalist Evin Demirhan. She also placed higher than the third seed Oksana Livach. The other non-seeded title threat is China's Yanan Sun. However, the bulk of her accomplishments were accumulated in the prior quad. 53 kg Women's Freestyle Tatyana Akhmetova (Kazakhstan) - 3x World fifth-place finisher, 4x Asian Champion Andreea Ana (Romania) - 2x European Bronze Medalist Rckaela Aquina (Guam) - 2x Oceania Champion Bat-Ochiryn Bolortuyaa (Mongolia) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist Joseph Essombe (Cameroon) - 2020 African Champion, 2016 Olympian Laura Herin Avila (Cuba) - Vanesa Kaladzinskaya (Belarus) - 2x World Champion, 2012 Olympian, 2x European Champion Olga Khoroshavtseva (Russia) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist, 2x European Champion Sofia Mattsson (Sweden) - 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 2009 World Champion, 6x World Medalist, 4x European Champion Mayu Mukaida (Japan) - 2x World Champion, 4x World Medalist, 2019 Asian Silver Medalist Qianyu Pang (China) - 2x World Bronze Medalist, 2016 Asian Champion Vinesh Phogat (India) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist, 2018 Asian Champion Maria Prevolaraki (Greece) - 2x Olympian, 2x World Bronze Medalist, 3x European Silver Medalist Luisa Valverde (Ecuador) - 2020 Pan-American Champion Roksana Zasina (Poland) - 2017 World Bronze Medalist, 2013 European Champion The Seeds 1) Phogat 2) Mukaida 3) Valverde 4) Pang The American Entry Jacarra Winchester - One of the most improved US women's freestylers over the past three years has to be Jacarra Winchester. From 2018 to 2019, Winchester went from losing in a bronze medal match to winning a 55 kg world title. Since 55 is a non-Olympic weight, Winchester had to move down to 53. That is a bit of a cut for someone who had been at 57 kg, even for the bulk of the 2018 season. Even though Winchester was a 2019 world champion, she still needed to qualify 53 kg for the US at the 2020 Pan-American Olympic Qualifier. In her first match at 53 kg, Winchester got by her stiffest competition, Lianna Montero Herrera (Cuba), 6-2. She then defeated opponents from Mexico and Canada to make the qualifier finals and ensure the US was going to Tokyo at 53 kg. Winchester confirmed she would be the one heading to the Olympics by holding off Ronna Heaton in two matches at the Olympic Team Trials. Heaton made things interesting in bout one, before falling, 7-4. In the second match, Winchester pulled away for a 12-2 tech. Winchester has competed twice in 2021, aside from the Trials. She was a silver medalist at the Henri DeGlane, losing in the finals to veteran Sofia Mattsson (Sweden), 7-4. While Mattsson's only world title came in 2009, she's typically in the mix for a medal at world-level events. Winchester also moved up to 55 kg and captured a Pan-American Championship. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 4 (Kaladzinskaya, Mattsson, Mukaida, Winchester) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 10 (Bolortuyaa, Kaladzinskaya, Khoroshavtseva, Mattsson, Mukaida, Pang, Phogat, Prevolaraki, Winchester, Zasina) You saw that right! 10 of the 16 entrants at 53 kilos have at least a world medal on their resumes. Some weights will have a "bad draw" or two based on unseeded stars getting paired up with seeded wrestlers. 53 kg won't have any of that. The outliers will be the lopsided first-round matches. The favorite, Mukaida, is seeded, but second. First seeded Vinesh Phogat defeated Hildebrandt at the 2019 World Championships, but still is considered a step or two behind Mukaida. Aside from a strong push from Mukaida, good luck at trying to forecast anything with this weight. Something to consider, though, is that some of these competitors (Mattsson, Kaladzinskaya, Zasina) are now a few years removed from some of their best performances. 57 kg Women's Freestyle Odunayo Adekuoroye (Nigeria) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist, 2016 Olympian, 5x African Champion Siwar Bousetta (Tunisia) - Fatoumata Camara (Guinea) - Alina Hrushyna (Ukraine) - 2020 European Silver Medalist Risako Kawai (Japan) - 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist, 3x World Champion, 4x World Medalist, 4x Asian Champion Boldsaikhany Khongorzul (Mongolia) - 2017 Cadet World Bronze Medalist Valeria Koblova (Russia) - 2016 Olympic Silver Medalist, 2014 World Silver Medalist, 2x World Medalist, 2014 European Champion Irina Kurachkina (Belarus) - 2x World Bronze Medalist, 2018 European Champion Anshu Malik (India) - 2021 Asian Champion, 2017 Cadet World Champion Anastasia Nichita (Moldova) - 2019 World fifth-place finisher, 2020 European Champion Evelina Nikolova (Bulgaria) - 2015 World Bronze Medalist, 2019 European Silver Medalist Mathilde Riviere (France) - 2017 World fifth-place finisher, 2017 European Bronze Medalist Ningning Rong (China) - 2018 World Champion, 2x World Medalist, 2x Asian Champion Alma Valencia (Mexico) - Jowita Wrzesien (Poland) - The Seeds 1) Kawai 2) Adekuoroye 3) Kurachina 4) Rong The American Entry Helen Maroulis - Five years ago, Helen Maroulis made wrestling history by becoming the first American woman to capture a gold medal in the sport. She also pulled one of the biggest upsets in women's wrestling history by knocking off three-time Olympic champion and 13-time world champion Saori Yoshida (Japan). The trip back to the Olympics has been anything but a smooth ride for Maroulis, though. In 2017, Maroulis absolutely dismantled the field at the World Championships for her second world title. After winning worlds in 2017, Maroulis traveled to India to compete in their pro league and suffered a severe concussion. That kept her out of action for the bulk of 2018 and delayed her Final X wrestle-off. When she did wrestle at the 2018 World Championships, Maroulis suffered a shoulder injury, which kept her out of action for 2019. Maroulis returned in 2020 to qualify 57 kg for the Olympics as she blew through the Pan-American Olympic Qualifier. That win gave her a bye to the finals of the Trials, where she met up with Jenna Burkert. In a series that will be remembered for the ages, Maroulis prevailed in match one, before getting edged by Burkert in the second bout. With an Olympic berth hanging in the balance, Maroulis used her signature footsweep to shock Burkert and pin her in :24 seconds. Since the Trials, Maroulis has competed once at the Poland Open. She did not look her usual self in a lopsided 13-0 loss to Adekuoroye. She is obviously a wild card. In top form, she is a threat to claim gold medal number two. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 3 (Kawai, Maroulis, Rong) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 7 (Adekuoroye , Kawai, Koblova, Kurachkina, Maroulis, Nkolova, Rong) As with most women's weights, you have to look at the entry of the home team Japan first and foremost. At 57 kg is Risako Kawai, who won Olympic gold in 2016 at 63 kg. Kawai has steadily moved down to 57 kg and has not lost at the current weight. The other past world champion in this bracket, Ningning Rong, is slated to meet Kawai in the semifinals, provided chalk prevails. Rong is a young start that has only lost a few matches since 2018. Of course, since Maroulis is not seeded, she could run into either of the two, as well. The two and three seeds Adekuoroye and Kurachkina both have world medals to their credit, but neither has higher than bronze. Could Adekuoroye's victory over Maroulis be a signal that she's ready to put herself into the upper echelon at this weight? Finally, look out for the 2016 Olympic silver medalist Valeria Koblova. She is unseeded and has not competed frequently over the past three years. She'll be a wild card here.

David McFadden (Graphic courtesy of Drexel Athletics) PHILADELPHIA - The Mert '67 and Joanne '69 Hill Head Coach of Wrestling Matt Azevedo announced today the addition of four-time All-American David McFadden as a volunteer assistant coach. A graduate of Virginia Tech, McFadden will bring knowledge and experience to help Drexel continue its climb up the national ranks. Drexel Wrestling has high expectations for the 2021-22 season and the addition of McFadden will benefit the already highly talented line-up. "David has had success as a competitor at every level and I know his wisdom and expertise will be a huge asset for our program," Azevedo said. "David brings passion and excitement to everything he does and more importantly he embodies what it means to Bring the HEAT. His energy is contagious, and I can't wait for him to get to work with our team." McFadden was a member of the Hokies' wrestling program from 2015 until 2020 and was a four-time All-American, a two-time ACC Champion and the 2016 ACC Freshman of the Year. In addition, McFadden was a part of the U23 World Team in 2018 and was a U23 National Champion in 2020. The West Milford, N.J. native, graduated in 2020 from Virginia Tech with a degree in human development and arrived in Philadelphia to pursue his goal of making the U.S. Olympic/World Team while training at the Pennsylvania Regional Training Center (PRTC). "I am super excited to join the Drexel wrestling program as the volunteer assistant coach," McFadden said, "Not only does this allow me to keep training and competing but allows me to impact the Drexel University wrestling team directly."

138 lb Junior National Champion Tagen Jamison of Texas (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The future of the Big Ten balled out in Fargo. The Junior men's freestyle and Greco national championships are often a proving ground for the nation's best wrestling prospects. It was even more so this year, with a record number of entries. As many as 17 wrestlers that have committed or signed with Big Ten programs earned All-American honors between the two competitions. Here's a lot at a few of the standout performances: ILLINOIS Two future Illini wrestlers won Junior freestyle titles. Christian Carroll, from Indiana, bulldozed his way to gold at 220 pounds. He went 7-0 and outscored his opponents 68-10 - and all 10 points he surrendered came in his one match that went the distance, a 15-10 quarterfinal win over Bennett Tabor. His other six wins: two pins in under 30 seconds, two technical falls in 40 seconds or faster, a 10-0 semifinal technical fall over Georgia's Noah Pettigrew, and a 12-0 finals win over Iowa's Ben Kueter. If not for Drake Ayala (more on him in a minute), Carroll had a strong case as the Junior men's freestyle Most Outstanding Wrestler. Kannon Webster was the other Illinois commit to win a title, dominating his way to first at 120 pounds. He outscored his seven opponents 79-11 en route to gold, and beat the wrestlers who finished second (Washington's Yusief Lillie), third (Tennessee's Cooper Flynn) and fourth (Colorado's Jett Strickenberger) by a combined 29-5. What's more, Webster also took third in Junior Greco at the same weight. He went 8-1 and won six wrestleback matches. His one loss, 8-7 to California's Paul Kelly, came in the Round-of-16, and he scored a revenge win over Kelly, 8-3, in the wrestlebacks. Across both styles, Webster went a combined15-1 overall with a 174-37 scoring advantage. IOWA The Hawkeyes had two future stars competing in Junior men's freestyle, and both brought their A-game in ridiculously tough brackets. Drake Ayala knifed through what many considered to be one of the deepest weights in the entire Junior men's freestyle competition, going 7-0 to win at 126 pounds. It was his second national title in Junior men's freestyle (he also won in 2019) and third overall (he won a Cadet title in 2017). Ayala registered six technical falls and one pin and outscored his opponents 72-4. None of his matches got out of the first period, and only three of them got out of the first minute. He was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler. Caleb Rathjen was the other, reaching the finals at 145 pounds. He went 7-1 and blew through his first seven matches by a combined 75-4 with six technical falls - including a 7-2 quarterfinal win over Maryland's Richard Fedalen, who finished sixth, and a 10-0 semifinal win over California's Nico Ruiz. Rathjen's only loss came in the championship match that was decided in the final seconds. He led Oklahoma's Jordan Williams, 3-1, when Williams scored a second-period exposure at the gun to win the match. It was Rathjen's second trip to the freestyle national finals. He also took second as a Cadet in 2018. MICHIGAN Rylan Rogers was the lone future Wolverine to earn All-American honors, third at 195 in Junior men's freestyle. Rogers, from Washington, went 8-1, with four technical falls and a pin and three wins over other All-Americans in the field. He avenged his one loss, to Pennsylvania's Kolby Franklin in the quarters, by winning 10-2 in a rematch for third. MINNESOTA A trio of future Gophers made the podium in Junior men's freestyle - including two in the same weight. At 138 pounds, both Tegan Jamison (Texas) and Blaine Brenner (Wisconsin) finished in the top six last week. Jamison went 8-0 and won the whole thing, outscoring his foes 79-8. That included a 10-0 quarterfinal win over Brenner, who ultimately went 6-3 and finished sixth, winning twice in the wrestlebacks after losing to Jamison. The third Minnesota recruit: big Bennett Tabor, who took fifth at 220. Tabor went 6-2 overall, losing to eventual champ Christian Carroll (Indiana), 15-10, in the quarterfinals, then 8-1 to New Jersey's Martin Cosgrove in the wrestlebacks. NEBRASKA Three future Husker wrestlers earned All-American status in Junior men's freestyle - and just like Minnesota, two finished in the top eight at the same weight. Antrell Taylor (Nebraska) and Adam Thebeau (Illinois) took fifth and eighth, respectively, at 160. They actually both lost to Iowa's Aiden Riggins, who made the finals. Thebeau lost to Riggins, 12-2, in the quarters, then Taylor lost to Riggins, 19-6, in the semifinals. Thebeau then rallied from down 6-0 to beat Indiana's J Conway, 9-8, in the bloodround before injury-defaulting to eighth. He finished 6-3 overall. Taylor actually led Riggins, 6-0, before losing. He ultimately slid to the fifth-place match and finished 6-2 overall. The third Nebraska recruit: Harley Andrews, eighth at 285. Andrews made the quarters, where he lost to Georgia's Chase Horne, the eventual runner-up. He rebounded with a wild 18-17 win over Idaho's Aden Attao in the bloodround to finish on the podium. OHIO STATE Seth Shumate made up half of the all-Ohio final at 195 pounds. He stormed into the finals with big wins over Oklahoma's AJ Heeg (8-1), Indiana's Evan Bates (11-0) and Pennsylvania's Kolby Franklin (10-10 thanks to a big 4-pointer in the first period). In the finals, Shumate ran into fellow Ohio native Dylan Fishback, who won by fall in the second period. Shumate actually led 2-0 in the first period, but Fishback led 6-2 after connecting on a big 5-pointer on the edge. Shumate came within 6-3 in the second, but Fishback took him took his back for the fall with less than a minute left. That epic final may not be the last time those two wrestle. At least we hope not. RUTGERS Brian Soldano, one of five Junior men's freestyle All-Americans from New Jersey, was the runner-up at 182 pounds. Soldano made the finals by winning his first six matches by a combined 66-17, which included a 13-11 quarterfinal win over Clayton Whiting (Wisconsin) and a 10-0 semifinal win over Bennett Berge (Minnesota). He fell only to Maryland's Thomas Stewart, 8-4, in the championship match. WISCONSIN We focused a lot on the men's freestyle side of the Junior national championships, but we'll close here with a shout-out to Cale Anderson, a future Badger who made the finals in the Greco-Roman tournament at 152 pounds. Anderson, who went 3-2 and made the Round-of-16 in freestyle, stormed into the finals by winning his first six matches - five by technical fall - by a combined 62-5. In the finals, he ran into Nebraska's Nick Hamilton and lost a nailbiter, 2-1. Anderson led 1-1 on criteria late, but Hamilton scored a reversal to hang on for the victory. Other Big Ten recruits: INDIANA CA's Henry Porter, 7th at 145 pounds NORTHWESTERN IN's Evan Bates, 7th at 195 PURDUE OH's Ben Vanadia, 8th at 220

2019 World bronze medalist Ravi Kumar (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) As of today, we under 50 days from the start of wrestling at the Olympic Games. Over the next 50 days, we'll bring you one profile per day of a decorated international contender. Make sure you get to know the wrestlers that Team USA will compete against in Tokyo. 7/20/21 - Zaurbek Sidakov (Russia) 7/15/21 - Taha Akgul (Turkey) 7/13/21 - Artur Naifonov (Russia) 7/11/21 - Vazgen Tevanyan (Armenia) 7/10/21 - Khadzhimurad Ghadzhiev (Azerbaijan) 7/8/21 - Ali Shabanov (Belarus) 7/7/21 - Gadzhimurad Rashidov (Russia) 7/6/21 - Suleyman Karadeniz (Turkey) 7/5/21 - Frank Chamizo (Italy) 7/3/21 - Yui Susaki (Japan) 7/1/21 - Amir Zare (Iran) 6/28/21 - Zavur Uguev (Russia) 6/27/21 - Zhan Beleniuk (Ukraine) 6/26/21 - Sergey Kozyrev (Russia) 6/24/21 - Kenchiro Fumita (Japan) 6/23/21 - Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (Belarus) 6/22/21 - Erica Wiebe (Canada) 6/21/21 - Myles Amine (San Marino) 6/20/21 - Sofia Mattsson (Sweden) 6/19/21 - Hassan Yazdani Charati (Iran) 6/18/21 - Tamas Lorincz (Hungary) 6/17/21 - Takuro Otoguro (Japan) 6/16/21 - Elizbar Odikadze (Georgia) 6/15/21 - Koumba Larroque (France) 6/14/21 - Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan) 6/13/21 - Ningning Rong (China) 6/12/21 - Bajrang Punia (India) 6/11/21 - Frank Staebler (Germany) 6/10/21 - Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) #5 Ravi Kumar of India had a pair of runner-up finishes at the 2015 Junior and 2018 U-23 World Championships that put his name on the map, but it would be his incredible run through the 2019 World Championships that solidified him as a talent to watch in Tokyo. An impressive 2020 and 2021 have seen continued momentum from Kumar, but will he be able to capitalize in Tokyo? Today's Olympic profile will look at the career of 2019 world bronze medalist #5 Ravi Kumar of India. The Stats #5 Ravi Kumar (IND)- 2015 Junior Asian champion, 2015 Junior world runner-up, 2018 U-23 world runner-up, 2019 Asian championships 5th, 2019 Medved bronze medalist, 2019 world bronze medalist, 2020 Matteo Pellicone champion, 2020 Asian champion, 2021 Asian champion, 2021 61 KG Ziolkowski runner-up. Key Wins: #6 Yuki Takahashi (2019 world championships, 2020 Asian championships), Arsen Harutyunyan (2019 world championships), #17 Reza Atri (2019 world bronze medal match, 2021 61 KG Ziolkowski), #9 Gulomyon Abdullaev (2021 61 KG Ziolkowski), #7 (61) Taras Markovych (2018 U-23 world championships), #8 (61) Nurislam Sanayev (2020 Matteo Pellicone, 2020 Asian championships, 2021 61 KG Ziolkowski), #15 (61) Jahongirmirza Turobov (2018 U-23 world championships), #16 (61) Adlan Askarov (2021 61 KG Ziolkowski), Makhmudjon Shavkatov (2019 Medved), #20 Stevan Micic (2015 Junior world championships), Zanabazar Zandanbud (2015 Junior world championships). Key Losses: Toshihiro Hasegawa (2018 U-23 world finals), #9 Gulomyon Abdullaev (2016 Junior world championships, 2021 61 KG Ziolkowski), Afghan Khasalov (2016 Junior world championships), #1 Zavur Uguev (2019 world championships), #17 Reza Atri (2019 Asian championships), Makhmudjon Shavkatov (2019 Asian championships), Vladimir Burukov (2019 61 KG Dan Kolov), Gamzatgadzhi Khalidov (2020 Individual World Cup), Vladislav Andreev (2019 Medved), Zanabazar Zandanbud (2013 54 KG Cadet Asian Championships, 2013 54 KG Cadet world championships), Andrey Yatsenko (2013 54 KG Cadet world championships quarterfinals), Daton Fix (2014 54 KG Cadet world championships), Daiki Araki (2017 Junior Asian championships), Makhir Amiraslanov (2015 Junior world finals). 2013-2018 Ravi Kumar's career began at the 2013 54 KG Cadet Asian Championships, where he finished runner-up to eventual world bronze medalist Zanabzar Zandanbud of Mongolia. The World Championships would come around and Kumar made the quarterfinals against returning world champion Andrey Yatsenko of Ukraine. Falling by pin to Yatsenko, Kumar was pushed into the repechage bracket, where he lost in a rematch of the Asian championship finals to Zanabazar Zandanbud (MGL) and was eliminated from the competition. Kumar only competed once in 2014, where he placed 17th at the Cadet World Championships after an opening-round loss to Daton Fix of the United States. Kumar's 2015 would be the most successful year of his young career as he made the move up to the Junior level and took gold at the Asian Championships and finished as a runner-up at the World Championships to Makhir Amiraslanov of Azerbaijan. Kumar was able to get his first real big wins at that event over #20 Stevan Micic (SRB) and avenging two past 2013 losses to Zanabazar Zandanbud (MGL) and really announced himself to the international scene. As the returning Junior world runner-up, Kumar was expected to contend for gold at the 2016 Junior world championships, but the Round of 16 would crush any title aspirations of Kumar, when he was tech-falled by Afghan Khasalov of Azerbaijan. With Khasalov making the finals and going on to win gold over Khasanhussein Badrudinov (RUS), Kumar was pulled into repechage where he'd face Gulomyon Abdullaev (UZB) in the first round. The counters of the Uzbek proved to be too much for Kumar and he would be eliminated from the World Championships after a 12-7 loss. Kumar's final year of Junior eligibility would see him compete once in 2017, taking ninth at the Junior Asian Championships after an opening-round loss to Daiki Araki (JPN). 2018-2021 Kumar's international Senior-level debut would be at the end of 2018 in November at the U-23 World Championships. Putting together an exceptional run through the tournament, Kumar beat #7 Taras Markovych (UKR) and #16 Jahongirmirza Turobov (UZB) in the quarterfinals and semifinals. In the finals against Toshihiro Hasegawa of Japan, Kumar's momentum would hit a hard stop as Hasegawa throttled Kumar from start to finish for a pin win and U-23 world gold. Kumar's 2019 campaign began with a 12th place finish at the 61 KG Dan Kolov after an opening-round loss to eventual bronze medalist Vladimir Burukov (UKR). Kumar's next competition at the Asian Championships would fare better as he took fifth with losses to champion #17 Reza Atri (IRI) and 2017 Asian Indoor Games champion Makhmudjon Shavkatov (UZB). Kumar's final competition before his first Senior World Championships would take place at the Medved, where he'd put together a bronze medal performance with wins over Petr Konstantinov (RUS) and Makhmudjon Shavkatov (UZB) to a loss to champion Vladislav Andreev (BLR). Kumar's 2019 World Championship would bring on a major transition in his career. In his first full year as a Senior, Kumar ran through his way to the semifinals, outscoring elite competition the likes of Kim Sung-Gwon (KOR), 61 KG European champion Arsen Harutyunyan (ARM), and 2017 world champion #6 Yuki Takahashi (JPN) 34-7. Against the reigning world champion #1 Zavur Uguev of Russia, Kumar fell behind 2-0 at the end of the first but roared back with four points in the second period. A big fireman's carry for Uguev would seal a 6-4 win and put Kumar into the bronze medal match. Kumar was in command the whole time throughout his match against Asian champion Atri, walking away with a 6-3 win and world bronze to establish himself as a contender for Tokyo. Kumar's 2020 campaign built upon the momentum from his 2019 world bronze medal, winning the Matteo Pellicone and the Asian Championships with wins over world medalist #8 Nurislam Sanayev (KAZ). With gold at the Matteo Pellicone and Asian championships with victories over elite contenders, Kumar was a lock for the finals of the Individual World Cup to get revenge against two-time world champion #1 Zavur Uguev (RUS). But that wouldn't happen. What would happen was a shocking upset to 2019 61 KG Junior European bronze medalist Gamzatgadzhi Khalidov (HUN), who pinned Kumar in the Round of 16 to eliminate him from the competition. 2021 began with Kumar winning his second Asian Championship title over Alireza Sarlak (IRI) and competing at the 61 KG Ziolkowski for his final competition before the Olympics. In a round-robin tournament format, Kumar avenged his loss from the 2016 Junior world championships to #9 Gulomyon Abdullaev (UZB) 10-1. Kumar's next match wouldn't come as handedly as against 2019 U-23 world runner-up #16 Adlan Askarov (KAZ), who was coming off a title at the Matteo Pellicone and silver at the Asian championships. A 6-0 lead at the end of the first period had Kumar on the ropes, but a furious second period for the returning world bronze medalist would net him a 13-8 win. US Olympic Trials bronze medalist Nathan Tomasello (USA) was a 9-5 win for Kumar that put him in the semifinals opposite Atri. In a rematch from their 2019 world bronze medal match, Kumar beat Atri 7-4 to make the against Abdullaev. Leading 2-1 at the end of the first, Kumar would fall to Abdullaev's counters and lose the finals match 5-3. Over the past two years, Kumar has taken over at 57 KG and established himself as one of the premier challengers to two-time world champion Uguev. As one of the leaders of the resurgent Indian wrestling movement, Kumar is a contender to watch in Tokyo.

John Stefanowicz (left) and G'Angelo Hancock (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Over the next six days, we will bring you weight class previews for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Each preview will include three Olympic weights. They will highlight notable past achievements of the competitors in each weight, the American entry, and what to look for during the competition. Today we'll wrap up Greco-Roman with the final three weights (87 kg, 97 kg, and 130 kg). Greco-Roman Part One (60, 67, 77kg) 87 kg Greco-Roman Islam Abbasov (Azerbaijan) - 2x World fifth-place, 2x U23 World Bronze Medalist, 2019 European Silver Medalist Rustam Assakalov (Uzbekistan) - 2x World Medalist, 2x Asian Champion Bachir Sid Azara (Algeria) - 3x African Champion Atabek Azisbekov (Kyrgyzstan) - 2x World fifth-place, 3x Asian Silver Medalist Zhan Beleniuk (Ukraine) - 2x World Champion, 2016 Olympic Silver Medalist, 4x World Medalist, 3x European Champion Zurab Datunashvili (Serbia) - 2x Olympian, 2x World fifth-place, 3x European Champion Lasha Gobadze (Georgia) - 2019 World Champion, 2x World Medalist, 2019 European Silver Medalist Daniel Gregorich Hechavarria (Cuba) - 2x U23 World Medalist, 2018 Pan-American Champion Ivan Huklek (Croatia) - 2017 U23 World Silver Medalist, Denis Kudla (Germany) - 2x World Medalist, 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 3x European Bronze Medalist Viktor Lorincz (Hungary) - 3x World Medalist, 2017 European Champion Kiryl Maskevich (Belarus) - 2019 U23 World Bronze Medalist, 2021 European Silver Medalist Mohamed Metwally (Egypt) - 2x African Champion Fei Peng (China) - 2016 Olympian, 2x Asian Bronze Medalist Nursultan Tursynov (Kazakhstan) - 2014 Asian Champion The Seeds 1) Lorincz 2) Beleniuk 3) Assakalov 4) Gregorich Hechavarria The American Entry John Stefanowicz - When John Stefanowicz takes the mat for the United States, he'll become the first Marine to compete in wrestling at the Olympics since Buddy Lee did so in 1992. Much has already been made about Stefanowicz's rise from never qualifying for the Pennsylvania state tournament to competing on the biggest stage in the sport. Stefanowicz burst onto the international scene in late 2018 and made his first world team, just a year later, at 82 kg. Since 82 kg is not an Olympic weight, he needed to move up for the Olympic year. With 2016 Olympic Trials winner Joe Rau having already qualified the United States for the Olympics, Rau was awarded a bye to the finals of the 2020 Olympic Trials. That meant Stefanowicz had to fight through a challenge tournament field that included Senior National champion Alan Vera and three-time world team member Patrick Martinez. Stefanowicz got by Vera 6-3 before a 1-1 win over Martinez in the challenge tournament finals. Against Rau, Stefanowicz took a controversial match one 6-5, before claiming the series 2-1 in the second bout. After securing his spot on the Olympic team, Stefanowicz went to the Pan-American Championships and came away with his second career gold medal at the event. While no one in that field will compete in the Olympics, it was a good tune-up for the Marine. With his continued growth, don't be surprised to see him in the medal mix. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 2 (Beleniuk, Gobadze) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 5 (Assakalov, Beleniuk, Gobadze, Kudla, Lorincz) The seeding at this weight looks pretty good. The two favorites are split from each other and two of the top medal contenders inhabit the third and fourth seeds. Maybe the lone exception is Georgia's Lasha Gobadze. He is a past world champion, though his title came at a non-Olympic weight. He could be a bad draw for one of the top-four. While anything short of a Beleniuk/Lorincz final would be a mild upset, this could be a bracket where we see some younger stars emerge. Abbasov, Gregorich Hechavarria, Huklek, and Maskevich are all recent U23 world medalists. This could be the time and place for one or more of them to step up and become threats at the Senior level. 97 kg Greco-Roman Haykel Achouri (Tunisia) - 2x Olympian, 6x African Champion Artur Aleksanyan (Armenia) - 4x World/Olympic Champion, 7x World/Olympic Medalist, 5x European Champion Adem Boudjemline (Algeria) - 2016 Olympian, 4x African Champion Uzur Dzhuzupbekov (Kyrgyzstan) - 2019 Asian Champion Musa Evloev (Russia) - 2x World Champion, 3x World Medalist, 2x European Champion Cenk Ildem (Turkey) - 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 4x World/Olympic Medalist, 2014 European Silver Medalist Mikheil Kajaia (Serbia) - 2x World Bronze Medalist, 2018 European Silver Medalist Giorgi Melia (Georgia) - 2019 World fifth-place, 2x U23 World Medalist, 2016 Junior World Champion Tadeusz Michalik (Poland) - 2019 World fifth-place, 2016 European Bronze Medalist Kiril Milov (Bulgaria) - 2018 World Silver Medalist, 2019 European Silver Medalist Artur Omarov (Czech Republic) - Gabriel Rosillo Kindelan (Cuba) - 2019 Junior World Champion, 2019 Pan-American Champion Mohammad Saravi (Iran) - 2019 U23 World Bronze Medalist, 2021 Asian Champion, 2018 Junior World Champion Arvi Savolainen (Finland) - 2019 U23 World Champion, 2018 Junior World Champion Alex Szoke (Hungary) - 2016 Cadet World Champion The Seeds 1) Evloev 2) Aleksanyan 3) Saravi 4) Michalik The American Entry G'Angelo Hancock - The new face of US Greco-Roman wrestling, G'Angelo Hancock represents the best chance at a medal for any of the Americans in Tokyo. For the last quad, Hancock has been dominant domestically, making every Senior world team from 2017-19, and has rarely been tested. Hancock announced that he would be an international medal threat for the foreseeable future in 2018 when he pinned the second seed at the weight, the legendary Artur Aleksanyan (Armenia), in Poland. But in the following two World Championships, Hancock has not placed higher than 15th. Since Hancock was unable to qualify the weight for the Olympics at the 2019 World Championships, he was forced to attend the Pan-American Olympic Qualifier in early 2020. There he rolled into the finals, outsourcing his competition 35-0, before running into Gabriel Rosillo Kindelan (Cuba). He fell to the Cuban in that bout, though he beat Rosillo Kindelan at the Pan-American Championships earlier in the week. At the 2020 Olympic Trials, Hancock was paired off against upstart Braxton Amos. The Wisconsin recruit turned the rest of the bracket on its head and was a surprise finalist. That didn't bother Hancock, as he dispatched Amos like most other domestic foes, 8-0, 8-0. Hancock hasn't competed since the Trials. We've seen that when he's on top of his game, he can beat the best in the world at 97 kg. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 2 (Aleksanyan, Evloev) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 5 (Aleksanyan, Evloev, Ildem, Kajaia, Milov) The big takeaway from the seeding at this weight is that the two favorites Aleksanyan and Musa Evloev, are separated from each other as the top two seeds. Some top medal contenders with proven track records are going in without seeds, ones like Cenk Ildem (Turkey), Kiril Milov (Bulgaria), and Mikheil Kajaia (Serbia). They could be in for an unfortunate draw as at least one could meet one of the favorites. Like 87 kg, this weight has a lot of younger wrestlers that had success at the age-group levels. Saravi, Giorgi Melia (Georgia), Rosillo Kindelan, Arvi Savolainen (Finland), and Hancock are some that could step up and announced themselves as next-in-line at 97 kg. While those new faces, coupled with the veterans, could fight for the two bronze medals, it's hard to project anything other than an Aleksanyan/Evloev final here. 130 kg Greco-Roman Muminjon Abdullaev (Uzbekistan) - 2x Olympian, 2x Asian Silver Medalist Yasmani Acosta (Chile) - 2017 World Bronze Medalist, 2011 Pan-American Champion Alin Alexuc-Ciurariu (Romania) - 2016 Olympic fifth-place, 2x World fifth-place, 2020 European Champion Amine Guennichi (Tunisia) - 2x African Champion Iakob Kajaia (Georgia) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist, 2016 Olympian, 2x European Silver Medalist Riza Kayaalp (Turkey) - 4x World Champion, 2x Olympic Medalist, 8x World Medalist, 9x European Champion Min-Seok Kim (South Korea) - 2018 World Bronze Medalist, 2020 Asian Silver Medalist Elias Kousmanen (Finland) - 2017 U23 World Silver Medalist, 2x European Bronze Medalist Mantas Knystautas (Lithuania) - 2017 U23 World Bronze Medalist, 2014 Junior World Silver Medalist Mijain Lopez (Cuba) - 3x Olympic Gold Medalist, 5x World Champion, 8x World Medalist, 9x Pan-American Champion Amin Mirzazadeh (Iran) - 2018 Junior World Champion, 2020 Asian Champion Abdellatif Mohamed (Egypt) - 2016 Olympian, 2018 U23 World Bronze Medalist, 4x African Champion Eduard Popp (Germany) - 2016 Olympic fifth-place, 3x World fifth-place, 2021 European Bronze Medalist Sergey Semenov (Russia) - 2018 World Champion, 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 2019 European Bronze Medalist Eduard Soghomonyan (Brazil) - 2016 Olympian; 2016 Pan-American Silver Medalist Artur Vititin (Estonia) - The Seeds 1) Kayaalp 2) Mohamed 3) Abdullaev 4) Mirzazadeh The American Entry None - In 2019, American Adam Coon went 0-1 with a loss to Lingzhe Meng (China) at the World Championships. Though he was a world silver medalist in 2018, since he didn't finish in the top-five that year, he did not qualify the US for the Olympics. That forced Coon to compete at the 2020 Pan-American Olympic Qualifier. In the opening round in Ottawa, Coon drew former world bronze medalist Yasmani Acosta Fernandez (Chile). He was defeated 3-2 in that bout and settled for third place. Only the top two at that event qualified for Tokyo. Coon's last shot at qualifying came in Bulgaria less than a month after winning the Olympic Trials. He would go 1-1 at the event and was eliminated by Mykola Kuchmii (Ukraine) 6-3. The Ukrainian got a four-point arm throw on Coon and sat on that lead for the remainder of the bout. Since Coon fell before the finals, he did not qualify for the Olympics. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 3 (Kayaalp, Lopez, Semenov) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 6 (Acosta, Kajaia, Kayaalp, Kim, Lopez, Semenov) This weight class has the potential to be an all-timer. Two absolute legends of the sport in Riza Kayaalp and Mijain Lopez on a possible collision course. Between the two, they account for 12 World/Olympic gold medals and all but two World/Olympic titles since 2008. The pair have a long history with each other. Most recently, Lopez defeated Kayaalp in the 2016 Olympic finals. The two split in 2014 and 2015, with Lopez winning in the 2014 World finals and Kayaalp getting revenge the following year. In fact, Kayaalp got his first world title in 2011, by downing Lopez in the gold medal match. A year later, Lopez returned the favor in the semifinals of the London Olympics. Let's hope another chapter is written in the rivalry in Tokyo. The only problem is that Lopez, who has not competed internationally in almost two years, was not seeded, so theoretically, the two could hit in round one. Also, at 38, does Lopez still “have it”? A potential wrench into the Kayaalp/Lopez super match is Russian Sergei Semenov. Semenov is responsible for one of those two world titles not won by the pair, in 2018.

Kyle Dake at the 2020 Olympic Trials (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Wrestling odds for the Olympic Games in Tokyo are posted on several sites including Draft Kings, Fan Duel and Barstool Sportsbook. For the purposes of this article I used Barstools' the same logic applies to any similar set of odds on other books. Keep in mind that the American fans have drastically altered lines from their original open. For instance, Gable Steveson was +1100 and is now down to +200. Pay attention to the giant swings and check on updated lines often as plays - particularly for foreigners - became more enticing. Here's my top plays. Men's Freestyle 57 KG Best Bet - Zaur Uguev (RUS) -112 Uguev has owned this weight and is worth the price. I'd put a couple hundo on it. He won Yarygin in '17 and '18 and SR Worlds in '18 and '19. He's only lost twice during that time frame which is about as consistent as you get at 57kg in freestyle. He's not a lock because nothing at 57 is ever a lock (which the odds reflect because he's a massive favorite and a real value at almost even money. 57 KG Long Money - Nurislam Sanayev (KAZ) +2300 He's prone to take a loss here and there but he was Silver in '18 to Uguev and Bronze in '19 (to Atli) and with those odds: ten bucks to win $230, I'm in. 65 KG Best Bet - Rashidov (RUS) +100 I know. Boring pick. Rashidov has survived some scares but he's been one of the most consistent wrestlers in the World getting Silver at 61kg at Worlds in both '17 and '18 before moving up and winning the monster bracket at 65kg in 2019. He's susceptible, but he's the favorite for sure. I also like the fact that he's on the other side of the bracket from Bajrang (IND / +325). Having a day to scout benefits Rashidov more than Bajrang, in my opinion.If you feel differently, Bajrang is a great value as well at that price. I have to tell you though, both paths are scary. The way the bracket is set up, Rashidov has to get past Muszukajev (HUN / +700) in his semi and Bajrang will have Niyazbekov (KAZ / +1500). Last time these guys met, Rashidov beat Musz 3-2 and Niyazbekov beat Bajrang 9-9. 65 KG Long Money - Haji Aliev (AZE) +1500 He's getting old but he's still the filthiest wrestler in the world with a bag of tricks that awe you. He was Bronze in Rio and won Worlds in '17 but didn't medal at the next two Worlds. However in '19 he gave Rashidov all he could handle. Many would tell you he got hosed in that bout. I would also recommend Niyazbekov at the same price. 74 KG Best Bet - Kyle Dake (USA) - 125 I almost went with Chamizo here. But let's not get cute. Chamizo is the best value. But Dake is going to win. He's just too good and too smart. 74 KG Long Money - Frank Chamizo (ITA) +700 Ok so this isn't really a long shot as Chamizo is the third lowest price but +700? Look, I don't think he can beat Dake but Chamizo is the #1 seed so there's a chance he sees NO ONE that can go with him until the finals. Sidakov is the 3-seed. If Dake is on Sidakov's side, Chamizo walks to the finals. Chamizo at +700 to win one match? Sign me up. 86 KG Best Bet - Pick Your Poison - David Taylor (USA) -150 or Hassan Yazdani (IRI) +150 We've seen how this match goes - twice. Yazdani threatens early, DT grinds him into a pulp late. That being said, it's not a layup, and it's not a foregone conclusion. And then there is the draw. Yaz is the #1 seed which may or may not mean something depending where David gets drawn in. This is one spot where you pick who you think wins out of just two guys and bet a few units on it. I.E. if you think David beats Yaz, lay $450 or $600. 86 KG Long Money - No One There's no one, at any price, that I would risk money on to win the Olympics over DT or Yaz. 97 KG Best Bet - Abdulrashid Sadulaev (RUS / -286) Sadulaev has made the finals at the last 8 Worlds/OLY's he's wrestled in. And he won 7 of 8. He's the biggest betting favorite in all of Olympic wrestling this year. And the price isn't prohibitive. Laying $900 to win $300 isn't very scary. He's the top seed with Mohammadian (IRI / +400) on the opposite side as the 2. The only other guy you have to worry about is Kyle Snyder (USA / +450) who will be drawn in. It's possible that the most dominant wrestler on the planet has to see just one guy that's in his galaxy (if there is one) on his quest for another OLY Gold. 97 KG Long Money - No One Snyder has proven he can beat anyone (including Sadulaev). But are you picking it? I get going with it as a believer and an American fan. But that's it. If you bet on any other human to beat Sadulaev... 125 KG Best Bet - Geno Petriashvili (GEO / +145) Hold up. Geno, the winner of the last three World titles, is PLUS money?! WTF? Yes Taha has beaten him as recently as April of 2019 (at Euros), but Geno has made it clear that at this point he's the guy. Two of his last three titles went directly through Taha - he beat him in the finals in two of them. And in 2018 he beat the guy who beat him. They are on opposite sides of the bracket as the #1 and #3 seeds with only Gable as a possible threat. 125 KG Long Money - Gable Steveson (USA / +200) I really don't want to write this. Listing Gable as a good bet seems...I don't know...disrespectful to Geno and Taha who have been staples in World and Olympic finals. Gable just now made his first SR team. Frankly, Gable and Taha at the same price is lunacy. Gable's opening line was over +1000 and the American betting public bet the crap out of it to drop it to its current figure. That all being said, I'm 100% convinced Gable can go with these guys. But 'go with' and 'beat everyone in the field' are two different things. I'm not ready to lay money on it - Gable's never (ever. ever, ever, ever) wrestled guys as good as Geno and Taha. But he's also the only guy in the field outside of those two that's worth betting on. Other Plays In GR and WFS I Like WFS 50 KG Best Bet - Yui Susaki (JPN +125) 2019 World Champ Maryia Stadnik (AZE / -112) is the favorite and hasn't lost since the 2018 World finals to... Susaki. Who has never lost! Ever! In international competition. WFS 53 KG Long Money - Jacarra Winchester (USA +900) I don't get the odds at this weight. Vinesh Phogat (IND / +100) is the favorite and she's largely unproven. She's never won a World Championship at any age level and doesn't have an extensive hit list. Enter Jacarra who is the reigning World Champ coming down a weight. Yes, she's lost to Sofia Mattsson (at DeGlane) but +900 is absurd and I'm all over it. WFS 57 KG Best Bet - Risako Kawai (JPN -125) This is a sort of 'next topic' situation and this price is way too low. Jump on it. WFS 62 KG Best Bet - Aisuluu Tynybekova (KGZ + 125) The reigning World Champ and top price is plus money. I thought she was the most outstanding wrestler of the women's field at 2019 Worlds. It's no easy path. This weight is loaded. And she'll have Yukako Kawai (JPN +300) in the semi's. Kawai is the only human to beat Tynybekova in two years. But the value is nice. GR 60 KG Best Bet - Kenchiro Fumita (JPN -125) Won two SR Worlds and one U23 Worlds since '17. GR 67 KG Best Bet - Ismael Borrero (CUB -286) He's the P4P Greco king. Read what I wrote about Sadulaev above. GR 77 KG Best Bet - Aleksandr Chekhirkin (RUS +300) The tournament favorite is 2019 World Champion Tamas Lorincz (HUN / -143). But he's wrestled four tournaments since that time and lost in two of them. I like Chekhirkin with that price. GR 130 KG Best Bet - Mijain Lopez (CUB) +150 The greatest Greco wrestler ever? At plus money? He may be long in the tooth. He may have been inactive recently. And Riza Kayaalp (TUR / -250) has beaten him before. But still. He's a GOAT and he's plus money in what might be his last competition ever. GR 130 KG Long Money - Sergey Semenov (RUS) +1500 I think this weight is a two horse race with Mijain and Riza. But crazier things have happened. Mijain will be unseeded, which means he could be on the same side of the bracket as Riza, with a real possibility of Semenov avoiding both of them before the finals. Semenov went 0-1 at Worlds in 2019 but that was the single time he hadn't medaled in a major event dating back to 2015. He took Bronze at the Rio Olympics losing only to Mijain in the semi's. He's only lost three times in the five years since.

Ildar Hafizov (left) and Alex Sancho (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Over the next six days, we will bring you weight class previews for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Each preview will include three Olympic weights. They will highlight notable past achievements of the competitors in each weight, the American entry, and what to look for during the competition. We'll get things kicked off with the first three Greco-Roman weights (60 kg, 67 kg, and 77 kg). 60 kg Greco-Roman Meirambek Ainagulov (Kazakhstan) - 2x World Medalist, 3x Asian Bronze Medalist Victor Ciobanu (Moldova) - 2018 World Silver Medalist, 2019 European Champion Sergey Emelin (Russia) - 2018 World Champion, 2x World Medalist, 2018 European Champion Abdelkarim Fergat (Algeria) - 3x African Champion Kenichiro Fumita (Japan) - 2x World Champion, 2x Asian Champion, 2018 U23 World Champion Kerem Kamal (Turkey) - 3x Junior World Champion, 2018 U23 World Bronze Medalist Etienne Kinsinger (Germany) - 2016 Junior World Silver Medalist Haithem Mahmoud (Egypt) - 2x African Champion Armen Melikyan (Armenia) - 2019 U23 World Champion Alireza Nejati (Iran) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist Luis Orta Sanchez (Cuba) - 2x Pan-American Champion Walihan Sailike (China) - 2018 World Bronze Medalist Zholaman Sharshenbekov (Kyrgyzstan) - 2018 World Silver Medalist, 2018 Asian Silver Medalist, 2019 U23 World Silver Medalist Elmurat Tasmuradov (Uzbekistan) - 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 3x World Medalist, 5x Asian Champion Lenur Temirov (Ukraine) - 2020 European Silver Medalist, 2018 World Bronze Medalist, 2012 Olympian The Seeds 1) Fumita 2) Emelin 3) Kamal 4) ??? The American Entry Ildar Hafizov - Hafizov will be wrestling in his second Olympic Games. He competed in 2008 for his native Uzbekistan, before gaining US citizenship. Hafizov has made a pair of world teams (2017 and 2019) while competing for the United States. In early 2020, Hafizov went to the Pan-American Olympic Qualifier and qualified the country for the Olympics after making the finals. Along the way, he picked up wins over two-time Pan-American champion Andres Montano Arroyo (Ecuador) and former Asian bronze medalist Marat Garipov (Brazil). Hafizov's success at the continental championships allowed him to sit in the Olympic Trials finals and wait for an opponent to emerge. It ended up being 2019 World Team member Ryan Mango. Hafizov had little trouble with Mango and cruised to a 7-0 win in his first bout, before an 8-0 tech in the clincher. Since the Trials, Hafizov placed second at the 2021 Pan-American Championships. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 2 (Emelin, Fumita) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 9 (Ainagulov, Ciobanu, Emelin, Fumita, Nejati, Sailike, Sharshenbekov, Tasmuradov, Temirov) This weight class is extremely deep, with more than half of its participants already owning a world/Olympic medal. Even with seeding, we'll see some incredible matchups right off the bat. Speaking of seeding, we'll see who jumps up to take the fourth seed. Uzbekistan's Islamjon Bakramov earned the spot; however, he is not their entry, Elmurat Tasmuradov is. Though there are potential landmines around every turn, this weight class could be one where chalk prevails and the two top-seeds meet in the finals. Both are the only past world champions at the weight. If so, that would be a rematch of their 2019 world finals, who by Fumita, 10-5. 67 kg Greco-Roman Karen Aslanyan (Armenia) - 2x European Bronze Medalist, 2013 Junior World Champion Fredrik Bjerrehuus (Demark) - 2019 World fifth-place Ismael Borrero Molina (Cuba) - 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist, 2x World Champion Mohamed El-Sayed (Egypt) - 2x U23 World Champion, 4x African Champion Mohammed Geraei (Iran) - 2019 U23 World Champion, 2019 Asian Champion Julian Horta Acevedo (Colombia) - 2x Pan-American Silver Medalist Balint Korpasi (Hungary) - 2016 World Champion, 4x World Medalist, 2017 European Champion Souleymen Nasr (Tunisia) - 2x African Silver Medalist Mate Nemes (Serbia) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist, 2021 European Champion Han-Su Ryu (South Korea) - 2x World Champion, 3x World Medalist, 2x Asian Champion Frank Staebler (Germany) - 3x World Champion, 5x World Medalist, 2x European Champion Artem Surkov (Russia) - 2018 World Champion, 4x World Medalist, 2x European Champion Ramaz Zoidze (Georgia) - 2018 U23 World Silver Medalist, 2x European U23 Champion The Seeds 1) Borrero Molina 2) El-Sayed 3) Surkov 4) Nemes The American Entry Alex Sancho - Longtime domestic contender Alex Sancho seems to be continuing to evolve and wrestling at his best at the proper time. Prior to making the Olympic team, Sancho had never made a Senior level world team. He does have some world-level experience as he was on the Junior World Team in 2014 and the U23 team in 2017. Though this was his first world/Olympic team, Sancho has been on the cusp for years. Three times he finished as a runner-up at the World Team Trials. On two occasions, those losses came to 2012 Olympian Ellis Coleman. Sancho finally got his revenge at the 2020 Olympic Trials by winning a pair of close matches against Coleman, 2-0 and 3-1. Last year, Sancho got the call to travel to Canada to qualify 67 kg for the Olympics. He did his job and breezed by Enyer Feliciano (Dominican Republic) and Miguel Lopez Salcedo (Mexico) to make the finals and lock up a place for the US at the Games. His most recent competition was the Poland Open, where he finished in seventh place. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 5 (Borrero Molina, Korpasi, Ryu, Staebler, Surkov) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 6 (Borrero Molina, Korpasi, Nemes, Ryu, Staebler, Surkov) Compared to 60 kg, this weight class is extremely top-heavy. Having five past world or Olympic champions will have that effect! Now the first round could get dicey as only two of those past champions have seeds (Borrero Molina/1 and Surkov/3). While these well-established veterans have experience on their side, could the Games serve as a changing of the guard at this weight? Are recent U23 world champions like Mohamed El-Sayed (Egypt) and Mohammed Geraei (Iran) ready to take the next step and threaten to win their first Senior-level medals? Provided there is proper separation in the brackets, I wouldn't expect any darkhorse to come out of nowhere and medal, based on the strength of the upper echelon of this weight. But, we likely seed an unseeded wrestler or two in the finals. 77 kg Greco-Roman Jalgasbay Berdimuratov (Uzbekistan) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist, 2012 Asian Champion Alex Bjurberg Kessidis (Sweden) - 2019 World Silver Medalist, 2020 European Bronze Medalist Karapet Chalyan (Armenia) - 2019 World fifth-place, 2013 Junior World Champion, 2x European Bronze Medalist Aleksandr Chekhirkin (Russia) - 2018 World Champion, 2014 European Champion Mohammed Geraei (Iran) - 2x World Bronze Medalist, 2x Asian Silver Medalist Rafig Huseynov (Azerbaijan) - 2019 World Silver Medalist, 2x European Champion Alfonso Leyva Yepez (Mexico) - Tamas Lorincz (Hungary) - 2012 Olympic Silver Medalist, 2019 World Champion, 4x World Medalist, 3x European Champion Lamjed Maafi (Tunisia) - 2020 African Silver Medalist Akzhol Makhmudov (Kyrgyzstan) - 2x Junior World Medalist Aik Mnatsakanian (Bulgaria) - 2x World Bronze Medalist, 2019 European Bronze Medalist Zied Ait Ouagram (Morocco) - 2x Olympian, 10x African Champion Yosvanys Pena Flores (Cuba) - 2x Pan-American Champion Yabiku Shohei (Japan) - 2013 Junior World Bronze Medalist Bozo Starcevic (Croatia) - 2016 Olympian, 2013 European Bronze Medalist Demeu Zhadrayev (Kazakhstan) - 2017 World Silver Medalist, 2018 Asian Silver Medalist The Seeds 1) Lorincz 2) Bjurberg Kessidis 3) Chalyan 4) Geraei The American Entry None. Jesse Porter won the Olympic Team Trials, but this weight was not qualified for the Games. Porter went to the Last Chance Qualifier in Bulgaria and went 1-1, falling short of the finals. Our 2019 World rep at the weight, Pat Smith, finished 23rd at the 2019 World Championships and third at the 2020 Pan-American Olympic Qualifier. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 2 (Chekhirkin, Lorincz) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 8 (Berdimuratov, Bjurberg Kessidis, Chekhirkin, Geraei, Huseynov, Lorincz, Mnatsakanian, Zhadrayev) This is probably the most wide-open of any weight we've covered so far. The Russian, Aleksandr Chekhirkin, is one of only two past champions in the bracket. He gets the nod for Russia, rather than two-time Olympic gold medalist Roman Vlasov. He'll get drawn into the bracket somewhere. The second world champion at this weight is Tamas Lorincz, who won the most recent World Championship in 2019. Lorincz also has the longest track record in this field and was an Olympic silver medalist in 2016. As the top seed, he'll have an excellent opportunity to get a step higher on the podium this time. If there's a young face that could break through and knock off some of the more established veterans at this weight, it could be Akzhol Makhmudov (Kyrgyzstan). American fans probably remember him as the finals opponent for Kamal Bey in the 2017 Junior World Championships. Though he lost that time, Makhmudov came back the following year and defeated Bey for Junior World bronze.

2021 Cadet World silver medalist Cory Land (Photo courtesy of Josh Conklin; JoshConklinPhotos.com) The Men's Greco-Roman team wrapped up competition on Saturday from the Cadet World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Cory Land, at 55 kg, was the only American to finish with a medal. Two others fell in bronze medal matches today. All five of the team members that started competition on Saturday were eliminated from the competition. Land's run through the bracket was abruptly halted by Russian Valerii Mangutov in the finals via an 8-0 tech. Late in the first period, the Russian blew the match open by throwing Land for four points as he was defending from a quad-pod position. After the period break, Land came out strong and was pushing the pace. He tried for an arm-spin but was counted by Mangutov, who scored a takedown, then a gut wrench. That put the match into technical superiority territory and the Russian was declared the winner. After a heartbreaking loss in yesterday's semifinals, Otto Black dropped into a bronze medal contest with Faraim Mustafayev (Azerbaijan) at 48 kg. In the early going, Mustafayev was able to get a pair of takedowns and earned a 4-0 lead. Black quickly responded with a takedown via a duckunder. Unfortunately, that was all the offense he was able to muster and 4-2 is how the match ended, in favor of Mustafayev. Also wrestling for a medal was Jim Mullen at 110 kg. Mullen already claimed a silver medal in the freestyle portion of the event. Mullen was able to compete for the Greco bronze after coming back to defeat Lyova Sargsyan (Armenia) via fall. Sargsyan was up by six points and ready to earn a tech as he had Mullen in a gut wrench. The American stepped over the attempt and caught Sargsyan on his back where he stayed, resulting in a fall. The tables were turned in the bronze medal bout; however, Mullen had a 5-0 lead on Artur Sarkisjan (Czech Republic) and looked poised to capture a second world medal. Sarkisjan locked in an over/under lock and tossed Mullen to his back. Despite a valiant effort, Sarkisjan was able to gain the fall. Of the remaining five Americans who started their tournament today, only Kaedyn Williams at 51 kg was able to tally a win. He posted a 6-3 win over Iran's Abolfazl Shahrakiniya in the qualifying round. Saturday's Results Greco-Roman 45 kg - Bo Bassett (USA) (L) vs. Ruslan Lukiaev (Russia) 8-0 48 kg - Otto Black (USA) (L) vs. Faraim Mustafayev (Azerbaijan) 4-2 -- Bronze Medal Match 51 kg - Kaedyn Williams (USA) (W) vs. Abolfazl Shahrakiniya (Iran) 6-3 (L) vs. Kuvonchbek Yakhshiboev (Uzbekistan) 8-0 55 kg - Cory Land (USA) (L) vs. Valerii Mangutov (Russia) 8-0 -- Gold Medal Match 60 kg - Brock Bobzien (USA) (L) vs. Bagdat Sabaz (Kazakhstan) 10-1 71 kg - Braden Stauffenberg (USA) (L) vs. Ruslan Nurullayev (Azerbaijan) 9-0 92 kg - Nathaniel Wemstrom (USA) (L) vs. Rasmus Liisma (Estonia) 3-1 110 kg - Jim Mullen (USA) (W) vs. Lyova Sargsyan (Armenia) Fall 1:06 (L) vs. Artur Sarkisjan (Czech Republic) Fall

Brady Berge at the 2021 NCAA Championships (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) South Dakota State announced today that they have hired Brady Berge to fill the role of volunteer assistant for the 2021-22 campaign. "I'm from small-town Minnesota and Brookings made me feel at home," said Berge. "Not only that, but I am not too far away from my family which was important to me because I am very close with them. The staff has welcomed me with open arms and I'm grateful for the opportunity they have given me," Berge added. In April, Berge announced that he was retiring from the sport due to various injuries, including his widely known struggles with concussions. Berge was a two-time national qualifier for Penn State. Jumping into the coaching ranks in college wasn't necessarily a given for Berge, "I didn't have intentions of coaching college wrestling until this opportunity arose this summer." In both of those NCAA qualifying seasons, he finished sixth in the Big Ten and received the 12th seed at the NCAA Championships. Berge looked poised to make the NCAA podium in 2021 after a second-round upset of #5 Kaleb Young (Iowa). However, in his next match, Berge went down with an apparent knee injury against the eventual runner-up Jesse Dellavecchia (Rider). That injury forced him to default in the quarterfinals, then forfeit in the NCAA Round of 12. It allowed #33 Wyatt Sheets (Oklahoma State) to advance into the All-American rounds. Berge's final record at Penn State was 31-9 across two-plus actual seasons of competition. In addition to his win over Young, Berge also defeated All-Americans Pat Lugo (Iowa) and Jarrett Degen (Iowa State) at one point in his career. His win over Degen came during a third-place showing at the 2019 Southern Scuffle. Not only did Berge star on the collegiate scene, he also is experienced on the international stage. He made age-group world level teams at the Cadet, Junior, and U23 levels. In 2018, Berge came home from Trnava, Slovakia with a bronze medal at Junior World's. Berge fits in well with the Jackrabbits as they have a strong Minnesota influence already. Their 2021 team had seven of 29 members from the state. They also have a pair of top-100 recruits (Derrick Cardinal and Cael Swensen) headed to Brookings, too. Additional connections within the state, like the Mantorville native, can only help. This addition is also interesting on the current recruiting front as his younger brother, Bennett, is currently uncommitted and ranked sixth in the nation at 182 lbs and #36 overall in the Class of 2022. Earlier this week, Bennett was fourth in Junior freestyle in Fargo. Could the Jackrabbits be in the drivers seat for Bennett now?