From left, Thomas Gilman, Kyle Dake, J'den Cox (photos courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Another year, another world championship. Even without the inclusion of returning World/Olympic champions Russia, the competition in Belgrade will be excellent with headlining matchups brewing between 2021 Olympic medalists #2 Ravi Kumar (IND) and #3 Thomas Gilman at 57 KG and #1 Hassan Yazdani Charati (IRI) and #2 David Taylor (USA) at 86 KG in a rematch of the world finals won by Yazdani that avenged his Olympic finals loss to Taylor. Day one of the World championships for men's freestyle will see competition from athletes at the 70, 79, 86, and 125 kilogram weight classes. Read below to figure out who are the favorites, who's got the chance to medal, and who are the dark horses that could break through.
57 KG
Title Contenders
#2 Ravi Kumar (IND) - 2019 57 KG world bronze medalist, 2018 57 KG U23 world runner-up, 2015 55 KG Junior world runner-up, 2020 57 KG Asian Champion, 2021 61 KG Ziolkowski runner-up, 2022 61 KG Dan Kolov runner-up, 2021 57 KG Asian champion, 2022 57 KG Asian champion, 2022 61 KG Yasar Dogu champion, 2020 57 KG Matteo Pellicone champion, 2019 57 KG Asian championships 5th, 2019 57 KG Medved bronze medalist, 2022 57 KG Commonwealth Games champion.
Key Wins: Arsen Harutyunyan (2019 57 KG world championships), Yuki Takahashi (2019 57 KG world championships), Reza Atri (2019 57 KG world bronze medal match, 2021 61 KG Ziolkowski semis), Gulomjon Abdullaev (2021 61 KG Yasar Dogu finals, 2021 61 KG Ziolkowski rd 1), Nurislam Sanayev (2020 57 KG Asian championships, 2021 57 KG Olympics), Georgi Vangelov (2021 57 KG Olympics, 2022 61 KG Dan Kolov), Taras Markovych (2018 57 KG U23 world championships), Jahongirmirza Turobov (2018 57 KG U23 world championships), Alireza Sarlak (2020 57 KG Asian championships finals), Adlan Askarov (2021 61 KG Ziolkowski rd 2).
Key Losses: Gulomjon Abdullaev (2016 57 KG Junior World championships, 2021 61 KG Ziolkowski finals), Gamzatgadzhi Khalidov (2020 57 KG Individual World Cup), Zavur Uguev (2019 57 KG world championships semifinals, 2021 57 KG Olympics finals), Zelimkhan Abakarov (2022 61 KG Dan Kolov finals), Toshihiro Hasegawa (2018 57 KG U23 world finals), Kumsong Kang (2019 57 KG Asian championships), Yuki Takahashi (2019 57 KG Asian championships), Jahongirmirza Turobov (2019 57 KG Medved), Volodmyr Borukov (2019 61 KG Dan Kolov round of 16), Makhir Amiraslanov (2015 55 KG Junior world finals).
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