Wrestling 2016 Rio Olympic Review

Men’s Freestyle -57kg

Vladimer Khinchegashvili (Georgia) started the tournament well, progressing to the final with a series of good wins. The man that came closest to beating him was Nurislam Sanayev (Kazakhstan), only went down 4-3 in the round of 16. He was also 4-0 down to Vladimir Dubov (Bulgaria), before rallying to win 8-4. The other half saw a big semi-final as Hassan Rahimi (Iran) and Rei Higuchi (Japan) battled against each other after coming through the bracket with big wins. Higuchi managed to upset Rahimi to make his way through to the final, where he would again be the underdog. Higuchi actually led 3-2 as the bout went into its dying moments. However, Higuchi was penalised for passivity, allowed Khnichegashvili to seal the bout on count-back.

🥇Vladimer Khinchegashvili 🇬🇪

🥈Rei Higuchi 🇯🇵

🥉Hassan Rahimi 🇮🇷

🥉Haji Aliyev 🇦🇿

Men’s Freestyle -65kg

The reigning world champion heading into the event was Frank Chamizo (Italy), who made his way through to the semi-finals, edging the previous and next world champions in David Safaryan (Armenia) and Zurabi Iakobishvili (Georgia). In the semi-final however, he came up against the reigning Olympic champion Toghrul Asgarov (Azerbaijan) who defeated him 7-4. He matched up against Soslan Ramonov (Russia) who had been dominant in the tournament, winning all of his bouts comfortably. He continued his form in the final, getting a massive 11-0 win to seal gold, his second whitewash of the tournament.

🥇Soslan Ramonov 🇷🇺

🥈Toghrul Asgarov 🇦🇿

🥉Frank Chamizo 🇮🇹

🥉Ikhtiyor Navruzov 🇺🇿

Men’s Freestyle -74kg

The random draw was felt most harshly in this weight class, as the top two seeds Jordan Burroughs (United States) and Aniuar Geduev (Russia), came up against each other in the quarter-finals. Burroughs, entered the day having been successful in 129 of his 131 bouts. He first went down to Geduev, unable to claw back an early deficit and then he doubled the loss tally, with a shocking 11-1 loss to Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (Uzbekistan), which left him in tears. Two 2015 World Championship silver medalists were drawn in the same quarter. Purevjavyn Onorbat (Mongolia) was upset by Soner Demirtas (Turkey), who went on to meet Hassan Yazdani (Iran). Yazdani won 7-0 and then got a third whitewash in the semi-final. In the final, Geduev started fast, believing he needed to finish Yazdani as he was beaten up and worn down. He started fast but not enough to force a stoppage and as predicted Yazdani managed to come back towards the end and get the gold.

🥇Hassan Yazdani 🇮🇷

🥈Aniuar Geduev 🇷🇺

🥉Jabrayil Hasanov 🇦🇿

🥉Galymzhan Usserbayev 🇰🇿

Men’s Freestyle -86kg

Perhaps the most dominant winner was young Abdulrashid Sadulaev (Russia). Only 20 years old, he won this title in the middle of an almost four-year unbeaten streak. He dropped just one point, against 2012 Olympic champion Sharif Sharifov (Azerbaijan), collecting 28 of his own points. On the other side of the draw, the number four seed Selim Yaşar (Turkey) edged J’Den Cox (United States) due to a caution that Cox appeard unaware of. Cox sealed a bronze medal though, beating Reineris Perez Salas (Cuba). It was not without controversy though as he landed a two-point takedown with six seconds to go. Outraged by the decision, Salas walked off the mat, refusing to shake the hand of Cox.

🥇Abdulrashid Sadulaev 🇷🇺

🥈Selim Yaşar 🇹🇷

🥉J’Den Cox 🇺🇸

🥉Sharif Sharifov 🇦🇿

Men’s Freestyle -97kg

Kyle Snyder (United States) was drawn on the softer side of the draw and took full advantage, by winning through to the final. The smallest victory came in the semi-final, when only beating Elizbar Odikadze (Georgia) 9-4. The bottom half was more loaded and arguably the key battle came in the round of sixteen, as Khetag Gazyumov (Azerbaijan) beat Reza Yazdani (Iran) 2-1. In his following two matchups, he won by a combined score of 23-3 to make the final. In the final, it was Snyder who got the gold, edging a 2-1 victory.

🥇Kyle Snyder 🇺🇸

🥈Khetag Gazyumov 🇦🇿

🥉Albert Saritov 🇷🇴

🥉Magomed Ibragimov 🇺🇿

Men’s Freestyle -125kg

Once again, the top side of the draw was softer. It was the favourite Taha Akgül (Turkey), with his relentless style who came through, winning his three bouts 29-1 on the way to the final. On the other half of the draw, were the three medalists from the previous World Championships. The silver medalist Jamaladdin Magomedov (Azerbaijan) lost to 2012 Olympic medalist Tervel Dlagnev (United States) but the Americans' back gave out in the following round, ending his hopes of a repeat medal. Bronze medalists Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) and Bilyal Makhov (Russia) were due to meet in the round of sixteen, but Makhov was upset by Allen Zasyeyev (Ukraine). Petriashvili subsequently went on to defeat him and go on to face the 2012 Olympic champion, Komeil Ghasemi (Iran). Ghasemi edged the battle 4-4 and headed to the final. There it was the relentless nature of Akgül who won 3-1 to take the gold medal.

🥇Taha Akgül 🇹🇷

🥈Komeil Ghasemi 🇮🇷

🥉Geno Petriashvili 🇬🇪

🥉Ibrahim Saidau 🇧🇾

Women’s Freestyle -48kg

Eri Tosaka (Japan) was the favourite, given she was the reigning triple world champion. After an easy first-round win she came up against Haley Augello (United States), who had a big win over Jessica Blaszka (Netherlands). Augello led 2-1 in the second period, until a critical error which helped Tosaka take the lead and get the win before moving into the final by defeating Sun Yanan (China). On the other half of the draw, it was Mariya Stadnik (Azerbaijan) who went through the final, without dropping a point. In the final, it was Stadnik who led for the majority of the bout, until with three seconds left Tosaka landed a winning tackle. She celebrated by lifting her coach onto her shoulders.

🥇Eri Tosaka 🇯🇵

🥈Mariya Stadnik 🇦🇿

🥉Sun Yanan 🇨🇳

🥉Elitsa Yankova 🇧🇬

Women’s Freestyle -53kg

Saori Yoshida (Japan) was the heavy favourite as she had taken the three previous Olympic titles and was widely considered to be one of the greatest wrestlers ever. She did not drop a point heading into the final, winning three bouts by a total of 19 points. On the other side of the draw, Sofia Mattsson (Sweden) had the easier quarter and looked dominant on her way to the semi-final where she’d come up against Helen Maroulis (United States) who looked impressive on her way to the semi-final and even better when beating Mattsson 8-0. In the final, looking for a fourth Olympic gold medal, Yoshida was a heavy favourite. However, two takedowns in the final went to Maroulis, to crown the shock gold medalist.

🥇Helen Maroulis 🇺🇸

🥈Saori Yoshida 🇯🇵

🥉Sofia Mattsson 🇸🇪

🥉Nataliya Synyshyn 🇦🇿

Women’s Freestyle -58kg

Instead of Yoshida winning four gold medals, it was compatriot Kaori Icho (Japan) who won her fourth Olympic title to go along with her ten world titles. She was drawn into a tough half with two medalists from the 2015 World Championships in Elif Jale Yesilirmak (Turkey) and Yuliya Ratkevich (Azerbaijan), as well as double Olympic medalist Jackeline Rentería (Colombia). Icho overcame Yesilirmak and Ratkevich on her way to the final, with a combined score in her three bouts of 24-1. In the other half of the draw, Petra Olli (Finland) was featured as the only remaining medalist from the 2015 World Championship. She went out in the quarter-final though, losing 14-7 to Aisuluu Tynybekova (Kyrgyzstan), who was herself beaten by Valeria Koblova (Russia). Earlier in the tournament, Koblova had also defeated the woman who had most recently beat Icho in Pürevdorjiin Orkhon (Mongolia). Icho trailed heading into the final minute but landed a two-point score with five seconds to go handing her the win.

🥇Kaori Icho 🇯🇵

🥈Valeria Koblova 🇷🇺

🥉Sakshi Malik 🇮🇳

🥉Marwa Amri 🇹🇳

Women’s Freestyle -63kg

Soronzonboldyn Battsetseg (Mongolia) was the favourite heading into the tournament after winning the 2015 World Championship, but struggled in her opening bout, barely edging Blessing Oborududu (Nigeria). That lack of form came back to bite in her next bout as she was defeated by Elena Pirozhkova (United States), a multiple world championship medalist who herself had beaten another multiple medalist in Taybe Yusein (Bulgaria), the round prior. Instead, it was, Mariya Mamashuk (Belarus) fighting her way through to the final. There she came up against Risako Kawai (Japan), who had cruised through with an aggregate score of 23-2. She defeated Inna Trazhukova (Russia) 10-0, who had overcome former world champion Marianna Sastin (Hungary) in the earlier rounds. The final went the same way as most of the Kawai fights in the tournament, as she dominated on her way to a 6-0 victory.

🥇Risako Kawai 🇯🇵

🥈Maryia Mamashuk 🇧🇾

🥉Yekaterina Larionova 🇰🇿

🥉Monika Michalik 🇵🇱

Women’s Freestyle -69kg

The reigning Olympic and World Champion Natalia Vorobieva (Russia), headlined the top half of the draw and came through relatively easily without facing another big name to reach the final. The bottom half was stronger but Sara Dosho (Japan) came through arguably easier, with an aggregate score of 37-6. Arguably the most intriguing clash came as Jenny Fransson (Sweden), former world champion, beat 2015 bronze medalist Aline Focken (Germany). In the final, it was a 2-2 draw between Vorobieva and Dosho, but Dosho won on count-back.

🥇Sara Dosho 🇯🇵

🥈Natalia Vorobieva 🇷🇺

🥉Jenny Fransson 🇸🇪

🥉Elmira Syzdykova 🇰🇿

Women’s Freestyle -75kg

Adeline Gray (United States) entered the tournament unbeaten in three years and looking to become the first American woman to become an Olympic wrestling champion. Overly cautious, Gray admitted to overlooking Vasilisa Marzaliuk (Belarus). She was herself beaten by Commonwealth Games winner Erica Wiebe (Canada), who overcame former World Champion Zhang Fengliu (China) earlier. The other half of the draw looked relatively open and the experience paid off as double Olympic medalist Guzel Manyurova (Kazakhstan) made her way through to the final, guaranteeing another medal. In the final, Wiebe kept her opponent scoreless, the third time in four bouts, to get the gold medal.

🥇Erica Wiebe 🇨🇦

🥈Guzel Manyurova 🇰🇿

🥉Zhang Fengliu 🇨🇳

🥉Ekaterina Bukina 🇷🇺

Men’s Greco-Roman -59kg

Ismael Borrero (Cuba) entered as the reigning World Champion and made his way through his half quite comfortably. The toughest challenge came in the semi-final against Elmurat Tasmuradov (Uzbekistan), who he could only beat 4-1. Borrero beat Rovshan Bayramov (Azerbaijan) in the World Championship final and Bayramov looked impressive on his way to the semi-finals, winning by a combined score of 17-0. The big threat was considered to be Hamid Sourian (Iran), reigning Olympic Champion and six-time World Champion. He was in the bottom quarter alongside Almat Kebispayev (Kazakhstan), who won a bronze at the 2015 World Championships. Instead, both men lost to Shinobu Ota (Japan), who then defeated Bayramov. His run was stopped in the final as Borrero beat him 8-0.

🥇Ismael Borrero 🇨🇺

🥈Shinobu Ota 🇯🇵

🥉Elmurat Tasmuradov 🇺🇿

🥉Stig-Andre Berge 🇳🇴

Men’s Greco-Roman -66kg

Frank Stabler (Germany) was the 2015 World Champion and came up against 2014 World Champion Davor Stefanek (Serbia) in a big quarter-final tie. The Serbian managed to get the 6-2 win. Also in that half was reigning Olympic champion Omid Norouzi (Iran), but he was upset by Shmagi Bolkvadze (Georgia). Also, a 2015 World Champion was Rasul Chumnayev (Azerbaijan), who cruised through to the semi-finals where he came up against Migran Arutyunyan (Armenia), who had beaten 2015 silver medalist Ryu Han-So (South Korea). Arutyunyann looked great in defeating Chumnayev 4-1 in the semi-final. Arutyunyan led in the final, but late on Stefanek was awarded a passivity point and being the last person to score was given the gold, despite Arutyunyan being the aggressor throughout the bout.

🥇Davor Stefanek 🇷🇸

🥈Migran Arutyunyan 🇦🇲

🥉Rasul Chumnayev 🇦🇿

🥉Shmagi Bolkvadze 🇬🇪

Men’s Greco-Roman -75kg

Another reigning Olympic and World Champion was Roman Vlasov (Russia). He was drawn against 2013 World Champion Kim Hyeon-Woo (South Korea), in the opening round but prevailed 7-5. On the other side of the half was Selcuk Cebi (Turkey), who was also a World Champion at a different weight. He was defeated by Bozo Starcevic (Croatia), who went on to lose in the semi-finals 6-3 to Vlasov. In the bottom half of the draw Mark Madsen (Denmark) and Doszhan Kartikov (Kazakhstan), who had both medalled in the Olympics, were on opposite sides. Kartikov was beaten by Elvin Mursaliyev (Azerbaijan) 5-1, who in turn lost to former World Champion Peter Bácsi (Hungary). It was a tight semi-final between Bácsi and Madsen, but Madsen scored a solitary point which was enough to reach the final. A repeat of the World Championship final, Vlasov was able to repeat, with a 5-1 victory.

🥇Roman Vlasov 🇷🇺

🥈Mark Madsen 🇩🇰

🥉Kim Hyeon-Woo 🇰🇷

🥉Saeid Abdevali 🇮🇷

Men’s Greco-Roman -85kg

Again, the reigning world champion and a favourite for the top half of the draw was dominant in making the final. It was Zhan Beleniuk (Ukraine) cruising through, only conceding one point in three bouts. The most notable aspect of the bottom half of the draw came as bronze medalists from the World Championships, Saman Tahmasebi (Azerbaijan) and Habibollah Akhlaghi (Iran), scheduled to meet in the round of sixteen. Instead, Davit Chakvetadze (Russia) defeated both men in a superb run to the final. He was just as dominant in the final, winning 9-2 over the Ukrainian.

🥇Davit Chakvetadze 🇷🇺

🥈Zhan Beleniuk 🇺🇦

🥉Denis Kudla 🇩🇪

🥉Javid Hamzatau 🇧🇾

Men’s Greco-Roman -98kg

Artur Aleksanyan (Armenia) took the favouritism, as the 2015 World Champion and cruised through the rounds. He won three straight to get to the final, with an aggregate score of 22-2. It was Cenk Ildem (Turkey), who he beat in the semi-finals after the Turk had upset 2015 bronze medalist Islam Magomedov (Russia). A host of former medalists were in the bottom half of the draw and in a tough opening bout Balázs Kiss (Hungary), a former world champion, beat 2015 bronze medalist Dimitriy Timchenko (Ukraine). Fredrik Schön (Sweden) beat Kiss and made his way through to the semi-finals, where he came up against Yasmany Lugo (Cuba). The Cuban also defeated 2012 Olympic gold medalist Ghasem Rezaei (Iran). Lugo defeated Schön 2-0 in the semi-final, continuing his run of not conceding any points. In the final though, he was held scoreless, going down 3-0 to Aleksanyan.

🥇Artur Aleksanyan 🇦🇲

🥈Yasmany Lugo 🇨🇺

🥉Cenk Ildem 🇹🇷

🥉Ghasem Rezaei 🇮🇷

Men’s Greco-Roman -130kg

It was inevitable that we would see a repeat of the World Championship final over the previous two years in Mijain Lopez (Cuba) and Riza Kayaalp (Turkey). In the six bouts it took the pair to reach the final, they managed an aggregate score of 31-0. To get through the final, Lopez had to defeat the other two medalists from London in Heiki Nabi (Estonia) and Johan Euren (Sweden). In the much anticipated final, Lopez got a quick start with a chest-lock and flipping Kayaalp to go 4-0 up. The final never became close again, as Lopez continued to nick points to get a 6-0 win and take his third Olympic gold medal.

🥇Mijain Lopez 🇨🇺

🥈Riza Kayaalp 🇹🇷

🥉Sabah Shariati 🇦🇿

🥉Sergey Semenov 🇷🇺