The World Championships have become increasingly difficult as the former Soviet Republic countries have been steadily improving. The event now features multiple Russians as numerous countries field teams with wrestlers from Russia. One would think that this would result in more parity -- that the former Soviet Republics would trade titles each year -- but somehow Russia has continued to dominate since their third-place finish from 2003, when Georgia won the title in New York.
Technically, the Team USA winning one medal is an improvement, but America's overall history should not aim for, nor be satisfied with simply one medal.
One the other hand, to ignore Russia's shocking dominance at this event would not be realistic. Expecting to go from last year's performance to winning the title in one year -- while certainly possible -- seems unlikely. An acceptable performance lies somewhere in the middle.
Part of the problem is that the field is so difficult to handicap. Past performances mean very little and even performances within the tournament don't mean much. Obe Blanc's early-round matches last year indicated that he was capable of winning the title, but he was suddenly pinned in the quarterfinals in a match he was winning. In the 2004 Olympics, Sazhid Sazhidov entered the event with a 2-0 series lead against Cael Sanderson, but had no answer for Moon Eui Jae's trapped arm gut wrench in the semifinals. These results seem crazy at the time they are happening, but are part of what makes the event exciting.
Yes, Team USA should plan on being World champions. If it happens this year, great, but realistically, one would think we would get there incrementally. And important steps in the right direction have been taken.
There have been no excuses made for last year's results. The U.S. didn't perform when they needed to and there has been very little finger pointing to suggest otherwise. There was not much talk about bad refereeing or gamesmanship. American wrestlers simply need to wrestle better if we want better results.
The U.S. had looked at Russia's success and studied it. We have had an athlete train in Russia for over half a year. Flowrestling.com goes to Russian Nationals and records tons of matches. The techniques of the Russians are studied and dissected very carefully.
Beat the Streets Gala dual meet against Russia in Times Square was simply phenomenal. The U.S. team looked sharp both offensively and defensively. The meet was promoted amazingly well and the presentation was stellar. While the U.S. should take great pride in the 5-2 match victory, very few are overstating the significance in the win. These were not the absolute top Russian wrestlers and a knowledgeable fan base realizes and acknowledges this. Again, incrementally, these were the opponents our athletes needed to face at that time.
Cael Sanderson (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)Two U.S. team members, Cael Sanderson (84 kilos) and Jordan Burroughs (74 kilos), appear to have legitimate gold medal shots.
Cael Sanderson has not competed internationally since winning the Olympics in 2004, but looked sharp at this year's U.S. World Team Trials, as well as the Ion Corneanu Memorial in Romania last month. The 84-kilo field is pretty wide open, so Sanderson stepping in and winning gold appears realistic. Moreover, the rules have changed since 2004 and the addition of the pushout to the scoring appears to favor Sanderson's style.
Jordan Burroughs has excited U.S. wrestling fans in the short time he has been competing at the senior level in freestyle. After a dominating college season, Burroughs won the U.S. Open and U.S. World Team Trials. He looked very sharp against Aniuar Geduev of Russia at the Beat the Streets Gala. In addition, Burroughs walked through the field at the Outstanding Ukrainian Wrestlers Memorial International in July. In 1999, Stephen Neal double legged his way to a World title in Turkey and Burroughs appears capable of doing the same this year. However, the 74-kilo field features two-time World champion Denis Tsargush of Russia. A matchup between Burroughs and Tsargush would be one of the more anticipated bouts of the tournament.
Jake Varner has also looked very solid as of late, winning his match in the Beat the Streets Gala, and the Ion Corneanu Memorial, along with his training partner, Sanderson. The 96-kilo field, however, is easily the deepest in the tournament. Khadjimourat Gatsalov of Russia has won four World titles and one Olympic title. He lost in the finals last year in a thrilling bout against Khetag Gazumov of Azerbaijan. Veterans Alexey Krupnyakov of Kyrgyzstan and George Gogshelidze of Georgia are also very talented and dangerous. Varner should be considered a medal contender, but the draw will play a big part in his chances.
Tervel Dlagnev was a World bronze medalist in 2009, but did not make the U.S. World Team last year. He should be considered even money to match his 2009 performance, and improving upon it is certainly within reason.
Three-time World champ Beylal Makhov of Russia and two time Olympic champ Artur Taymazov of Uzbekistan are the two favorites, but both have lost within the last year.
Nick Simmons (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)Reece Humphrey faces one of the deepest weights in the tournament. His weight class, 60 kilos, features three-time World champ Besik Kudukhov of Russia, who appears at the top of his game. Vasyl Fedoryshyn of Ukraine, Morad Mohammadi of Iran, and Asgarov of Azerbaijan are exceptional too. Humphrey is making his debut at the Worlds this year and is arguably the best thrower on the team. His father, Jim, was a World silver medalist in 1977 and took fourth in 1975. Matching either of those performances in Istanbul would be something U.S. fans should be thrilled with, given the field.
Teyon Ware (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)What makes the Worlds so exciting is how unpredictable they are. Four medals with at least one gold is probably something that U.S. fans should not be disappointed with, but it is impossible to guess who is going to excel and who is going to fall short. If Humphrey and Ware won gold and Sanderson and Burroughs went out in the first round, that would feel like a disappointment more than if the results were the other way around, but that would be the most gold medals we have won since 1996.
What is an acceptable medal count and team finish for the U.S. is almost putting the cart before the horse. The thought process needs to be that the team has to wrestle well -- better than they did last year -- offensively and defensively. Our wrestlers need to eliminate errors, which result in them being countered, especially early in periods.
They need to be prepared for specific arsenals of moves and be able to capitalize on even the smallest of mistakes.
When that occurs, the results take care of themselves.
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