Kyle Dake at the 2020 Olympics (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Two-time 79 KG world champion #3 Kyle Dake of the United States highlights an absolutely loaded 74 KG field as he looks to rebound from his bronze medal finish in Tokyo with his first 74 KG world title. Dake is sure to be pushed by the likes of the relentless #6 Timur Bizhoev (RWF), European champion #14 Taimuraz Salkazanov (SVK) and past world champion #16 Khetag Tsabolov (SRB). 2018 world runner-up #8 Avtandil Kentchadze (GEO), #12 Azamat Nurikov (BLR), Nurkhoza Kaipanov (KAZ), Alipasha Umarpashsev (BUL) and Younes Emami (IRI) round out the field.
Title Contenders
#3 Kyle Dake (USA) was one of the hottest commodities going into the Olympic Games after beating out 5x World/Olympic champion #1 (79) Jordan Burroughs (USA) to make the team. The possibility of a match between the reigning two-time 79 KG world champion Dake vs. the reigning two-time 74 KG champ in #1 Zaurbek Sidakov (RWF) was one of the biggest storylines going into the Games.
Dake made the quarterfinals of the Olympics with a close win over Mostafa Hosseinkhani (IRI), but what would happen next would shock the world. A highly aggressive Dake bullied his way into a bodylock but was immediately countered ease by #2 Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (BLR). Not just simple exposure, but 4. Dake was reeling, but he had no other choice to keep charging forward. Chalk up another counter for Kadimagomedov as he used a Metzger to expose Dake again. A final takedown would seal the win for Kadimagomedov and sent the untouchable American star Crashing back down to Earth.
Rebounding from the thrashing by Kadimagomedov, Dake put together wins over Geandry Garzon (CUB) and #4 Frank Chamizo (ITA) to claim Olympic bronze. While Dake may be the highest-ranked competitor in the field, it's going to be no cakewalk as Salkazanov, Bizhoev, and Tsabolov are able to take advantage of Dake's weaknesses of giving up his legs, starting slow, and rushing ties.
#16 Khetag Tsabolov (SRB) made waves at the end of 2020 as the 2017 world runner-up upset the reigning two-time 74 KG world champion #1 Zaurbek Sidakov (RWF) in his second-round match at Russian Nationals on his way to the finals. Coming up short against #5 Razambek Zhamalov (RWF) and having been the returning two-time Russian Nationals runner-up in 2018 and 2019, Tsabolov made the choice to transfer to Serbia to get the chance to compete at the Olympic Games.
Tsabolov's first competitions with Serbia haven't been great as he has been upset by #8 Avtandil Kentchadze (GEO) at the European championships and #14 Soner Demirtas (TUR) at the World Olympic Games qualifier. Still, even with Tsabolov's rough start to the year, he should absolutely be considered one of the favorites to win gold here considering his past wins over Sidakov, #2 (IRI) Hassan Yazdani Charati (IRI), #6 Timur Bizhoev (RWF), #1 (86) David Taylor (USA) and #7 Magomedrasul Gazimagomedov (RWF). Factor in Tsabolov's fantastic scrambling ability and an exceptional leg lace off his knee pull single and if the North Ossetian standout is dialed in, he's my pick to win gold.
#14 Taimuraz Salkazanov (SVK) started off his 2021 on a rough note, being pinned by Alipasha Umarpashaev (BUL) at the European Olympic Games qualifier and looked to the European championships to rebound. Salkazanov has had his ups and downs, but as a 2018 70 KG U-23 world champion and 2019 79 KG world bronze medalist, it was well known he had the talent to hang with the best. But Salkazanov pushed himself to a whole new level at the European championships, upsetting #4 Frank Chamizo (ITA), #5 Razambek Zhamalov (RWF), #8 Avtandil Kentchadze (GEO) and Miroslav Kirov (BUL) for gold.
A semifinal run at the World Olympic Games qualifier put him up against #2 Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (BLR), who'd just upset two-time World/Olympic medalist #14 Soner Demirtas (TUR) his past match. As the reigning European champion and a favorite to medal in Tokyo at the time, Salkazanov was the favorite in the match, but as Kadimagomedov has done all year, he defied expectations as the underdog and absolutely destroyed the favorite Salkazanov, dominating the North Ossetian powerhouse 12-4 to qualify for Tokyo.
The woes of Salkazanov continued on as in the a tightly contested semifinal bout at the Medved against 2019 Intercontinental Cup runner-up #13 Magomed Dibirgadzhiev (RWF), he would lose on a last-second takedown and continue to plummet in the rankings. Given Salkazanov's losses to Kadimagomedov and Dibirgadzhiev, there are those that would lose faith in him and say he was a flash in the pan. Salkazanov should 100% be considered a heavy medal and title threat and even given matches against guys with bad style matchups like Bizhoev, Dake, and Tsabolov; he should 100% be considered a favorite to win gold.
#6 Timur Bizhoev (RWF) has been one of the best in Russia not to wrestle at the World Championships or Olympics for a long time now. A standout from this quad who's beaten every Russian not named Sidakov, Bizhoev is coming off wins over past Russian world champions #7 Magomedrasul Gazimagomedov (RWF) and #8 Magomed Kurbanaliev (RWF) in the Russian world team trials wrestle-offs. Bizhoev is someone who doesn't quite boast the high offense the likes of Dake, Salkazanov or Tsabolov but is an incredibly solid defensive wrestler who can capitalize on the smallest mistake by his opponent and take over a match.
Medal Contenders
#8 Avtandil Kentchadze (GEO) is a 2018 world runner-up and one of the most fast-twitch, explosive guys at the weight. Couple that with his past wins over #12 Azamat Nurikov (BLR) and Alipasha Umarpashaev (BUL) and he should be seen as the favorite to break through out of this group.
#12 Azamat Nurikov (BLR) is coming off a strong tournament run, finishing runner-up at the 70 KG Ali Aliev and taking gold at the Medved over 2019 Intercontinental Cup runner-up #13 Magomed Dibirgadzhiev (RWF). Nurikov boasts a past win over Alipasha Umarpashaev at the 2020 Individual World Cup and while I don't think his chances of breaking through to the top tier are great, he's still a dangerous, counter savvy vet not to be taken lightly.
Alipasha Umarpashaev (BUL) had one of the most absolutely head-scratching tournament runs at the European Olympic Games Qualifier earlier this year. Beating eventual Olympic runner-up #2 Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (BLR) and European champion #14 Taimuraz Salkazanov (SVK) to make the semis, the talented Chechen transfer was leading 2018 world runner-up #8 Avtandil Kentchadze (GEO) 6-0 at the start of their match before getting doubled and failing on a boot scoot takedown to get cradled and pinned. Ditto for his bronze medal match against Giorgios Kougiomtzidis where Umarpashaev's match IQ (or the lack thereof) cost him again in a match he was winning, as his suspect defense cost him an 8-6 loss. Umarpashaev is a quintessential glass cannon front runner and he's got all the skill in the world, but being able to keep that up over 6 minutes has been an issue of his. Here's hoping that he puts it all together in Oslo.
Dark Horses
A pair of 70 KG world medalists from 2019, Nurkhoza Kaipanov (KAZ) and Younes Emami (IRI), have had up and down transitions to 74 KG. Kaipanov won the Asian Championships over Olympian Mostafa Hosseinkhani (IRI) but then bombed out at the Ziolkowski against Amir Hussen (EGY) and Daniyar Kaisanov (KAZ) was sent to Tokyo instead of him. That same issue arose for Emami, who was sent to the Ziolkowski to decide who'd go to Tokyo between him and Hosseinkhani and after his loss to Khadzhimurad Gadzhiev (AZE), he was left on the outside looking in.
Both men clearly have the talent and have put up wins against the middle top 20 of the weight (Hosseinkhani and Zelimkhan Khadjiev for Kaipanov, #8 (70) James Green for Emami) but putting together a full tournament against the type of field here is unlikely. Still, between the two, I think Kaipanov's counter-heavy scramble-oriented style could lead to early issues against the medal contenders and title contenders of the weight.
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