Transfers at the 2023 World Championships
Saturday is the day that the 2023 World Championships kick off. In college wrestling (and college sports), one of the hottest topics is the transfer portal. This isn’t necessarily a new phenomenon for international wrestling as transfers have been relatively prevalent for some time now. While researching for previews, we’ve looked through the entries and found wrestlers slated to compete at the World Championships who have transferred at some point during their international careers.
Those transfers are below and sorted by weight class and style. Each wrestlers has the current country they represent first and their previous country second (first/second).
57 kg Men’s Freestyle
Zelimkhan Abakarov (Albania/Russia)
Darian Cruz (Puerto Rico/USA)
Levan Metreveli Vartanov (Spain/Georgia)
61 kg Men’s Freestyle
Stevan Micic (Serbia/USA)
Nikolai Okhlopkov (Romania/Russia)
Georgii Okorokov (Australia/Russia)
Joey Silva (Puerto Rico/USA)
65 kg Men’s Freestyle
Khamzat Arsamerzouev (France/Azerbaijan)
Islam Dudaev (Albania/Russia)
Josh Finesilver (Israel/USA)
Austin Gomez (Mexico/USA) … rest of story at … Intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/international/transfers-at-the-2023-world-championships
Six Women’s Freestyle Storylines To Follow At The World Championships
The star-studded American women’s freestyle team is headed to Belgrade with a squad filled with World champions.
The 2023 Senior World Championships begin Saturday, returning to Belgrade, Serbia for the second straight year. The U.S. women’s freestyle team will compete from the 18th through the 21st.
Here are six storylines to keep an eye on heading into Worlds.
1. Gray’s Pursuit Of Gold #7
In what’s already been a stellar and legendary career, Adeline Gray heads to Belgrade seeking her 10th World-level medal and seventh title. She’s looking to pass Kristie Marano-Davis for tops on the American women’s freestyle World medal list. Davis’ resume includes two golds, five silvers, and two bronzes. Gray’s resume boasts six golds, an Olympic silver, and two bronzes. Should Gray come home with hardware, she would also tie Jordan Burroughs with 10 medals. Legendary Bruce Baumgartner holds the top spot on the American list with 13 World-level medals.
2. Can Helen Maroulis Do It Again?
It’s a big story whenever Helen Maroulis is on the mat. The 2016 Olympic gold medalist made another World team and will head to Belgrade in search of her fifth World title. In all, she’s won eight World-level medals, including four golds. She’ll compete at 57 kilograms.
3. Amit Elor Seeking Second Straight Triple Crown
Returning World champ Amit Elor seeks to secure her second straight trifecta after winning the U20, U23, and Senior World titles last year. In Belgrade last year, she became the youngest wrestler in U.S. history to win a Senior World title at 18. She has a chance to do it again this year and she’s off to a good start, winning the U20 World title again last month in Amman, Jordan.
4. Three Seasoned Wrestlers Get Their First Opportunity At Worlds
After a lot of success domestically and internationally, Jennifer Page (59 kg), Macey Kilty (65 kg), and Emma Bruntil (68 kg) are each heading to the Senior World Championships for the first time.
Page, 30, broke through to earn the spot at 59 kg, where she looked tough at the World Team Trials and Final X. The Nittany Lion Wrestling Club member dropped from 62 kg at the U.S. Open to 59 kg at the Challenge Tournament, and dominated her way to earn the spot. Having made two Junior world teams almost a decade ago, she heads to Belgrade with a lot of experience under her belt and can certainly make some noise at this weight. … rest of story at … Flowrestling.org/Six-womens-freestyle-storylines-to-follow-at-the-world-championships
Ayres Named Matt Gentry Head Wrestling Coach
Joins the Cardinal after 17 seasons at Princeton
STANFORD, Calif. – Chris Ayres has been appointed the Matt Gentry Head Wrestling Coach, as announced today by Jaquish & Kenniger Director of Athletics Bernard Muir.
The 32nd head coach in Stanford wrestling history, Ayres comes to The Farm after spending 17 seasons as the head coach at Princeton.
“I am excited to welcome Coach Ayres to Stanford,” said Muir. “His success at Princeton speaks for itself and I believe he can take our wrestling program to new heights. We are thrilled to have him lead our student-athletes and be ingrained in the Stanford community.”
A four-time Ivy League Coach of the Year, Ayres has built the Princeton program into a conference and national contender. Among the many achievements, Ayres has produced just the second individual national champion in Princeton history (it’s first since 1951), the program’s first and second four-time All-Americans, and its first Ivy League championship since 1986.
“The most common question I have been asked during this process is, ‘Why would you leave Princeton?'”, said Ayres. “My answer is simply, ‘It’s time.’
“After 17 years of building the Princeton program I am ready for a new challenge. My experience at Princeton has uniquely prepared me to take the Stanford wrestling team to new heights.”
During Ayres’ tenure, the Tigers had their first NCAA finalist since 2002, producing two in the same season in 2022. They qualified a program-record seven wrestlers to the 2017 NCAA Championships, and, in 2019, had a program-record three All-Americans. In 2023, Princeton was 13th at the NCAA Championships – the highest finish in program history and its 10th top-25 standing all-time.
Under Ayres, the Tigers won 10 EIWA individual titles, all since 2016, and placed in the top 5 at EIWAs (when competing) from 2016-22. Princeton has earned 48 bids to the NCAA Championships since 2010.
“Stanford is historically the best athletics department in the country, consistently winning the most national titles of any school in the country, and there is absolutely no reason the wrestling program can’t do the same,” added Ayres. “I feel blessed that Stanford has chosen me to be the next head coach of its wrestling program and I can’t wait to get started on this new journey.”
A former EIWA champion and two-time recipient of Lehigh’s “Outstanding Athlete” honor during his undergraduate career, Ayres spent five years as an assistant for the Mountain Hawks before taking over at Princeton. … rest of story at … GOstanford.com/news/2023/9/11/ayres-named-matt-gentry-head-wrestling-coach
TDR blog
After 20 seasons of publicizing wrestling The TakeDown Report’s (TDR) focus has changed to the collecting of college coaching records from North America since 1903. We will continue to recognize and reward successful wrestlers in eastern North Carolina (east of Raleigh & Fayetteville), assist with schools in starting or re-starting a team and this blog. Join us on our FaceBook Page – “The TakeDown Report” for photos and news. Please send results, stories, links and news to pass along. E-mail us at takedownreport@gmail.com
Martin Fleming, Editor
Takedown Report
Takedown Report 