All Activity

Lee absolutely dominated Gilman. The Gilman we saw at the OTT's isn't the same Gilman that was winning world/Olympic medals. I'm not sure he get by Zou at the last chance qualifier. Spencer Lee is clearly our best hope for a medal at 57 kg. Zain is the reigning world champ, albeit at 70 kg. He is also our best wrestler at 65 kg. As much as I love Nick Lee, he wasn't close to beating Zain. He also had an opportunity to qualify the weight and couldn't get it done. I'm not sure Nick would have qualified the weight at the last chance. Yianni looks done, McKenna isn't a serious threat. Mendez was a handful for Zain, but again, could he have run that gauntlet at the last chance? I'm not so sure.

In Hungary tournament. UWW says he’s being sent.

HSE has an old Resilite 3 piece that is decently worn that we need to move. Optionally, if you would prefer a giant 1 piece, we also have one of those that we could part with. If you have any interest, please reach out to Nick Brobst, Head Coach at nbrobst@hse.k12.in.us for specifics. The 3 piece, we're willing to donate to a club or family that would use it as it is pretty worn, the one piece we're asking $300.

I agree with you completely, and am still disappointed by the results. Lee may very well go on and win Gold in Paris but I would feel more confident if we were sending Gilman. I think we have 4 better wrestlers at 65kg than Retherford. I would feel more confident sending any of: - Nick Lee - Yianni Diakomihalis - Joey McKenna - Jesse Mendez I do not believe Aaron Brooks is at a level to consistently beat international competition. With that said I think he can win matches against superior wrestlers given he has the greatest sprawl I have ever seen of anyone at any level.

West Liberty University cordially invites female and male wrestling teams to our holiday classic December 21st (male) and December 23rd (female). Compete against teams from multiple states on a college campus with a finals presentation and experience unlike any other high school tournament. We welcome teams for the female division as well individual entries. Contact Coach Irwin to reserve your spot today! SAVE THE DATE xmas tournament (1).docx

Nationally recognized Danny Irwin Wrestling Camps is proud to announce a Girls' Wrestling Camp on campus hosted by West Liberty Wrestling staff and athletes July 7-10th. All girls grades 7-12 are welcomed. Entire girls clubs and teams should contact Coach Irwin for group pricing and arrangements. Don't miss this opportunity to learn and work with the best the sport has to offer.

Masoumi?

Still entirely possible that Reza Geraei doesn’t even go to Olympics, both him and Esmaeili are going to Hungary. Yazdani will be tested during Hungary too against quite good opposition. Masoumi will face all the heavy hitters and we can gauge their quality based of their performances against him.

Iran has 7 Freestyle Wrestling Olympic Champions: Emam-Ali Habibi (1956, 56kg) [4] Gholamreza Takhti (1956, 87kg) [3] Abdollah Movahed (1968, 70kg) [6] Rasoul Khadem (1996, 90kg) [3] Alireza Dabir (2000, 58kg) [2] Komeil Ghasemi (2012, 120kg) Hassan Yazdani (2016, 74kg) [4] 6/7 were also World Champions (only Ghasemi was not), with total number of Olympic/World championships indicated in square brackets. No Iranian wrestler has ever won 2 Olympic Gold medals. Yazdani can be the first if he wins gold in Paris. Contenders for Olympic Gold in Paris: Amouzad (20% chance), Yazdani (60% chance), Azarpira (15% chance), and Zare (80% chance). Amouzad will struggle against Mamedov but can beat everyone else (ideally someone beats Mamedov before Amouzad has to face him). Yazdani should be favourite if his recovery goes well (though Brooks is a wildcard and Naifonov and Kurugliev are at their peak). Azarpira is a dark horse and can beat most guys but will likely lose to Tazhudinov. Zare is a huge favourite for Gold and I think only a mistake against Taha or a fluke loss can stop him. Iran has 4 Greco Roman Wrestling Olympic Champions: Hamid Sourian (2012, 55kg) [7] Omid Norouzi (2012, 60kg) [2] Ghasem Rezaei (2012, 96kg) Reza Geraei (2020, 67kg) [2] Contenders for Olympic Gold in Paris: Reza Geraei (15%), Saravi (10%), Mirzazadeh (40%). Geraei is too unreliable in recent years with bad losses to guys he previously beat easily. Saravi can't beat Aleksanyan (0-4 H2H record) and will be underdog against Rosillo. Mirzazadeh has the best shot but will have to beat at least one of Kayaalp/Lopez/Semenov. Kayaalp is beatable and not at his peak. Lopez is a superhuman freak so can't bet against him although at 42 you would think he will slow down. Semenov pinned Kayaalp in Euro finals recently and is a contender too. Mirzazadeh is at his peak and should compete well against all three.

What’s up brother? Special teams special players……

I don't disagree that returning medalist &/or team members shouldn't get such a huge advantage with byes. Just seed the tournament but then use normal brackets. Make even returning medalists earn their spot every year. But I would hate the idea of replacing an individual who earned their spot with someone else simply because the powers that be think they are better, more experienced or match up better.

My only beef there is that they've really mis-managed how they bracket the weights with the non-Olympic weight medalist getting a bye to the semi's. They should just empty out one quarter of the bracket, but they don't. They wrestle 2 regular bracket halves as normal--then give the 1-seed half a bye to the final and make the unlucky guys drawn into the other half face another match. So the 12 seed only has to win 3 to get to the final, but the 6 seed has to win 4? That makes no sense. I don't have a problem with them giving that bye to the semi's, but it needs to be done with an empty quarter and full bracketing of the other 3 quarters. All this to say...in a more equitable world, Mendez comes into the "semi-final" having only previously wrestled 2 matches instead of 3. His intensity, aggression, and physicality (the things that win him matches) were notably reduced by the time he'd finished 3 other wars and arrived at Zain in his 4th match. Meanwhile, Nick Lee is in the final having wrestled twice.

Perhaps but I am glad that our wrestlers have to earn their spot, and that the powers that be don't step in & decide this guy or that guy is going instead because "we think" they give us a better chance.

2024 Learn From The Best Wrestling Camps Sign Up Today! https://www.learnfromthebestwrestlingcamp.com Feature Clinician Announcements: JOE WILLIAMS 2X World Bronze Medalist 2004 Olympian 3X NCAA Champion - Iowa 12X US National Champion BRAYTON LEE NCAA All American 3X National Qualifier Junior National Champion Current Indiana RTC Athlete

Yeah, there are certainly arguments that Gilman's defense/physicality/senior-level experience, Mendez' pressure and athleticism, and Taylor's consistency and experience would have given us higher probabilities for success.

GIVE THEM TO ME

Legend. RIP Steve

Ton of rumors are starting to heat up in the FW semi-state

I think David Taylor would if competing be our best chance at a Gold. Given Brooks will be competing at 86, I believe Dake to be our best chance at a Gold, but find it most likely that we will have 4-5 medalist none of which being Gold. I was quite disappointed with the results of our OTT, thinking multiple wrestlers were beaten on the day by opponents that will not perform as well against the international competition.

OK thanks. Why am I not surprised. So even though Russia is banned as a team & their athletes must compete as individuals, they still hold spots as a team.

Had great times and memories with him on ISWA trips, do miss those orange pants. RIP

Even though they're labeled as "Individual Neutral Athletes" at the Games, Belarus and Russia are still being treated as if their nation qualified each weight and they can send whichever athlete they want at that weight, as long as they're approved by UWW and the IOC. Athletes forbidden to go are ones where investigations have found ties to or support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

@maligned You guys know a lot more about this stuff than I do, but how would he be allowed in now? The athletes from Russia & Belarus have to compete as Individual Neutral Athletes. Since Sadulaev was not allowed to qualify as an individual, what possible spot could he take in the Olympics?

Steve put a ton of time into the sport doing anything to help out and make the sport better. He will be missed by many.