U.S. receives Greco-Roman draws for World Championships in Belgrade
The World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, Serbia concludes with Greco-Roman competition, held September 21-24. The United States, which brings an experienced team looking to have a breakthrough at the World level, received its draws for the competition.
The U.S. team 2020 U.S. Olympians, Ildar Hafizov (60 kg) and Alejandro Sancho (67 kg). Hafizov is a two-time Olympian, having competed in the 2008 Olympics for Uzbekistan before emigrating to the United States.
Hafizov opens against 2022 Asian silver medalist Mehdi Mohsen Nejad of Iran, who is the No. 6 seed. Hafizov has landed in the bottom half bracket, which also has No. 2 seed Zholaman Sharshenbekov of Kyrgyzstan, the 2022 World champion, and No. 3 seed Kerim Kamal of Turkey.
Sancho has a bye, then will face the winner of 2019 U23 World bronze medalist Valentin Petic of Moldova and Switzerland World Team member Andreas Vetsch. He has landed in the bottom half bracket, which features No. 2 seed Husiyuetu of China, a 2022 World bronze medalist, and No. 3 seed Hasrat Jafarov of Azerbaijan. Olympic champion Mohammadreza Geraei of Iran is also on his side.
Joining Hafizov and Sancho as past Senior World Team members are Patrick Smith (72 kg), Kamal Bey (77 kg), Spencer Woods (82 kg), Josef Rau (97 kg) and Cohlton Schultz (130 kg).
Smith will battle 2023 European bronze medalist Kamil Czarnecki of Poland in his first match. Smith is in the top half-bracket, which features No. 1 seed Celcuk Can of Turkey, a 2022 World bronze medalist, and No. 4 seed Ibrahim Ghanem of France.
Bey, whose best finish at a World Championships was seventh, looks to start strong against Swiss World Team member Fabio Dietsche. Bey is in the top half-bracket, led by No. 1 seed Levai of Hungary, a 2022 World silver medalist, and No. 4 seed Malkhas Amoyan of Armenia, a World bronze medalist. Also on this side is 2019 World champion Viktor Nemes of Serbia.
Woods faces Individual Neutral Athlete Stanislaw Shafarenko, … rest of story at … Themat.com/news/2023/u-s-receives-greco-roman-draws-for-world-championships-in-belgrade
Joe Dubuque Named Head Wrestling Coach
Joe Dubuque, a three-time NCAA All-American and two-time national champion wrestler who has spent the last 10 seasons on the coaching staff at Princeton University has been named the 11th head coach of Princeton Wrestling.
“I’m thrilled to name Joe as the head coach of Princeton Wrestling,” said Ford Family Director of Athletics John Mack ‘00. “Rarely do you have the opportunity to hire a coach with Joe’s exceptional resume as both a coach and a wrestler. Most importantly, Joe has proven himself to be a tremendous leader for our wrestling program and someone who upholds the high values of our University.”
Since arriving at Princeton before the 2012-13 season, Dubuque has played an instrumental role in the recruitment and development of Princeton’s wrestlers. He has helped guide the Tigers to an Ivy League championship – its first in 34 years – in 2019-20 and has coached 14 All-Americans – including 2023 NCAA champion Patrick Glory.
Along the way, Dubuque has guided 10 Tigers to EIWA championships and four to Midlands titles. During his time on staff, Princeton has produced four of its top nine team finishes at the NCAA Championships including a 13th-place finish this past March in Tulsa to establish a new modern-day program record. … rest of story at … GOprincetontigers.com/news/2023/joe-dubuque-named-head-wrestling-coach
Micic Captures Gold; Amine, Parris Take Bronze at World Championships
By: Leah Howard
BELGRADE, Serbia — University of Michigan wrestling alumnus Stevan Micic captured the 57kg freestyle gold medal, while fellow Wolverine alums Myles Amine and Mason Parris claimed bronze at 86kg and 125kg, respectively, at the 2023 World Championships over Sunday and Monday (Sept. 17-18) at Stark Arena. With three medals, it was the most successful world performance in the history of the Michigan program.
Micic became Michigan’s first ever freestyle world champion and the program’s first champion since Joe Warren claimed the 60kg Greco-Roman gold in 2006. It was Micic’s second straight world medal after claiming 57kg bronze last year. It was the first senior-level medal for both Amine and Parris. Amine previously captured 86kg Olympic bronze for San Marino at the Tokyo Games, while Parris is a junior world champion (2019).
Micic and Amine both qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics — and their second straight Olympic Games — with their performances, while Parris also qualified in the weight class for the United States and earned an automatic berth to the championship finals at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials next April.
Representing Serbia in front of a spirited home crowd, Micic posted a 5-0 record and defeated world champions in each of his last three bouts, including a 7-4 win over Japan’s Rei Higuchi — the 2022 61kg world champion and an Olympic silver medalist at 57kg — in the championship final. After trading takedowns in the first period and giving up an early single in the second, Micic scored five unanswered points, taking the lead with a single-leg takedown of his own before countering a Higuchi shot to go up 6-4. He avoided giving up points on the edge on a deep single shot in the waning seconds of the bout and tacked on another point after a lost Japanese challenge. … rest of story at … Mgoblue.com/news/wrestling-micic-captures-gold-amine-parris-take-bronze-at-world-championships
Wrestling body explains why it let Russian champions compete at world champs despite pro-war rally
GENEVA (AP) — Three Olympic champions from Russia were cleared to compete at the wrestling world championships this week because they were judged to have been pressured to appear at a pro-war rally in Moscow last year.
The United World Wrestling governing body explained Tuesday why Zaurbek Sidakov, Zaur Uguev and Abdulrashid Sadulaev were among the Russian wrestlers who passed vetting to compete as neutral athletes in Belgrade, Serbia, and try to qualify for next year’s Paris Olympics.
All three won Olympic gold medals at the Tokyo Games held in 2021 and were paraded on stage at a flag-waving rally at Luzhniki Stadium in March 2022. It was attended by President Vladimir Putin three weeks after he ordered the military invasion of Ukraine.
The athletes’ presence there seemed likely to bar their return to competition with neutral status ahead of the Paris Games. The International Olympic Committee advised the governing bodies of each individual sport in March to exclude those who publicly supported the war.
However, a vetting process for the three wrestlers concluded “their participation in certain events is not (of) their own will,” United World Wrestling said in a statement.
The governing body’s vetting panel did bar 30 athletes, coaches and support staff from Russia and its military ally Belarus from coming to the Sept. 16-24 championships in Belgrade.
Their ineligibility was “based on evidence of an active support to the war on publicly available information or of a confirmed military activity,” UWW said in a statement. … rest of story at … CTpost.com/sports/article/wrestling-body-explains-why-it-let-russian
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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
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