GrandOlm

It looks like his page on wikipedia has a typo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Campbell_(wrestler). I have seen mistakes from them before, but they usually get things like this right. I looked at UWWs database and it lists it as 82 kg, so that's probably correct. I guess he is an example of a middleweight turned heavyweight who aged gracefully. Though his is still not what Kyle wants.

Campbell was a career heavyweight though (and even he only managed a bronze). He won gold at 1981 worlds at 90 kg and then the bronze in 1992 at 90 kg as well. The general aging progressions for Freestyle are Lightweights start declining in their late 20s, Middleweights in their early 30s, and Heavyweights in their mid 30s. There are exceptions, but that's the general trend. Dake is a natural middleweight who aged out of 74 kg (just like Boroughs) and is now trying to force 86 kg to work because he can't stand the cut and has lost a step or two.

Dake is old. He is older than Saitiev was when he retired. But he wants that olympic gold, the holy grail of wrestling, to complete his career. Dake made the calculation that a 37 year old him will have a better chance winning at 86 kg than 74. He's probably right, but I don't think he'll win at 86 kg either. He choked at the Paris olympics. That was his chance. I think he'll just have to be content as one of the many great wrestlers who never won the olympics. The sport may force him out soon.

Really? Who is there besides Zare that's really good? Akgul retired, Geno is taking the year off, and Massoumi can't make a team or get his transfer approved. Who's left from the actual field? Big boring Monkhtor and grandpa Deng? Russia is mediocre at 125 kg, they don't have anyone good. Heavyweight is not looking strong.

Yasmani Acosta transfered. He is now an Olympics Silver medalist and a World Bronze medalist. No one would know his name if he stayed in Cuba. He probably secured a nice pension with that Silver medal. If wrestling has this silly structure, that the theoretical second best in the world can't compete, then it's not the athletes who are the problem.

I wasn't making a moral judgement ("how could this happen to such a good person....."). I'm not that naive. I was more pondering the biological mechanisms of his conditions, since it seems that he either has something very rare or was just very unlucky. If Ben had gotten cancer, I would not be surprised at all. I think cancer is still like the 4th biggest killer in young adults.

I still don't understand why this happened to him. Just really bad luck? It sounds like his immune system catastrophically failed on him and now all these infections are wrecking his body? He was losing weight, watching his diet, is still youngish, was exercising daily, his parents are both still alive.

I don't think it's that long. He's 21 now. So he'd be 24 when he comes back. That's still young, especially for a heavyweight. I can't think of any heavyweight who was medalist level at 21 (like he is now) and then wasn't in his mid 20s, barring extreme injuries. Gable wasn't training full time and we don't really know if he could have won a medal since he never committed to being a world teamer again. He crushed Mason Parris the same year that Mason who won a Bronze medal at worlds, so evidence points to him being world level medal, but choosing not to participate. Masoumi will presumably be training FS full time during his 3 year hiatus, I'd think. What's the alternative, trying to age out Zare who is in his mid 20s? That might take forever and rob Masoumi of a career. No one is going to care about your loyalty when you're in your late 30s and have no world level medals to show for it. The nice jobs and perks will go to people like Zare, who have medals.

There has to be an out. Or Russia would have blocked most of these transfers. 3 years in the grand scheme of things would be nothing. Masoumi would be 23? That's super young for a heavyweight.

Wow, sudden pneumonia that is that severe? For someone seemingly healthy, physically fit, and at a relatively young age like Ben. Hopefully he pulls through, stark reminder of just how moral we are despite advancements in medicine.

Both folkstyle and freestyle are decadents of catch can wrestling. Modified to be safer or more viewer friendly. Catch can wrestling was an anglo country activity, but it died out in the 20th century and its descendants today include the aforementioned wrestling styles as well as professional wresting (WWE, some catch can wrestlers emphasized theatrics, entertainment values and that line eventually evolved into full blown acting, theater).

Hasn't that all turned out to be noise and meaningless grandstanding? The flo people seem very sure that the 86 kg transfer will continue competing. Bulgaria have been like this for 30 years, it's not going to be easy to change. Bulgaria is also an extreme case of going from the second best greco nation in the world, to a complete paper tiger that only stays afloat by buying wrestlers from foreign countries. I don't think Armenia has that freestyle wrestling tradition. They didn't even send anyone to 125kg at 2023 worlds.

Azerbaijan are one the biggest mercenary teams around. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up there.

It does border China, so....? The stan countries you listed range from ok to bad and one is primarily Greco. It's hard enough to get Japanese wrestlers to compete at worlds, let alone a ranking series. I would't say so. It's quite a bit farther east or just not close to the wrestling hotbeds. I guess the point was more for American wrestlers, since Mongolia is annoyingly far away with no real draw to it. I think it's understandable why most wrestlers skipped this one.

Do you blame them? Who wants fly all the way to Mongolia for a tournament no one will remember. There are like no good wrestling areas near Mongolia. And Mongolia is a Tier 2 or 3 wrestling nation itself. And for what, ranking points? They don't even matter since many of the best wrestlers go unseeded for Worlds and the Olympics.