Top 5 Storylines At The Budapest Ranking Series Event - Men's Freestyle
Top 5 Storylines At The Budapest Ranking Series Event - Men's Freestyle
A breakdown of the biggest storylines ahead of the Budapest Ranking Series Tournament on July 13-16.
Team USA is set to compete in the 4th Ranking Series tournament of the year on July 13-16 in Budapest, Hungary. For most of Team USA, this will be the final preparation event before the senior world championship in September. There are a number of storylines that will unfold in Hungary but we highlighted the top 5 in the below article for Team USA’s men’s freestyle squad.
Can Vito Arujau Stay Hot Against A Loaded Field?
We’ve seen it over the past 4 months - no one is on a hotter streak in the United States than Vito Arujau. He had an incredible NCAA tournament with consecutive wins over Daton Fix and Roman Bravo-Young, cruised to a US Open Title by defeating Nahshon Garrett, Nathan Tomasello, and Austin DeSanto, and then won 2 straight over Garrett to make the world team. Arujau’s next test in Budapest will be a great preview for what we should expect from him at worlds in September.
After Arujau, there will be 3 other wrestlers in the field ranked in the top 20 in the world - #2 (at 57kg) Zelimkhan Abakarov, #5 Narankhuu Narmandakh, and #19 Shota Phartenadze. Abakarov and Narmandakh are the heavy hitters here. American fans will remember Abakarov for his win at last year’s world championship over Thomas Gilman in the 57kg finals. Narmandakh also had a breakout performance at worlds last year when he won a bronze medal at 61kg. Arujau will absolutely be tested in Budapest. If he can come through with gold, expectations should continue to build for him leading to worlds in September.
Zelimkhan Abakarov's win over Thomas Gilman in the 2022 World Finals:
Nick Lee Looking For Revenge Against Musukaev
This past February, Nick Lee competed at the Ranking Series event in Zagreb, Croatia but failed to place after running into Ismail Musukaev in the quarter-finals. In that match, Musukaev dominated from start to finish winning with an 11-0 technical superiority victory in the first period. We’ve seen Lee make notable improvements since that match after winning both the US Open and Final X. This will be a great opportunity for Lee to once again show off any improvements he’s made prior to worlds.
Nick Lee’s match against Musukaev at the Zagreb Open in February 2023:
It’s also worth noting that #3 Tulga Tumur-Ochir is registered to compete in Budapest. Tumur-Ochir has been one of the best 65kg wrestlers in the world over the past year. At the Zagreb Open Tumur-Ochir defeated Musukaev (6-2) and ultimately went on to win gold by defeating Joey McKenna in the finals (4-1). Along with those wins in Zagreb, Tumur-Ochir defeated Yianni Diakomihalis at the World Cup in December 2022. Tumur-Ochir is a threat to win a world title and will be a great test for Nick Lee should they wrestle in Budapest.
Tumur-Ochir's win over Musukaev:
79kg = World Championship Preview
Chance Marsteller shocked the world when he defeated Jordan Burroughs in a historic 3-match series at Final X. Marsteller will now test himself in Budapest against a field that includes 5 wrestlers ranked in the top 20 in the world including 3 wrestlers who have wins over Marsteller. The most notable of those wrestlers is Iran’s Mohammad Nokhodi who defeated Marsteller 10-0 back in July 2022 at the Ranking Series event in Tunisia. Nokhodi will be ultra-motivated in Budapest considering Iran is using this tournament to decide their 79kg world team spot. Along with Nokhodi, #3 Ali Savadkouhi will be in the bracket. Savadkouhi has two recent wins over Nokhodi and notably defeated Jordan Burroughs last December at the World Cup. Savadkouhi will also be looking for revenge against Marsteller considering Marsteller defeated Savadkouhi last July in Tunisia and kept him off Iran's 2022 world team.
Nokhodi's win over Chance Marsteller from July 2022:
Marsteller's win over Savadkouhi from July 2022:
Along with the Iranian hammers, Avtandil Kentchadze and Bolat Sakaev are the two other most notable contenders at 79 kg in Budapest who also have wins over Marsteller. Kentchadze, a 2018 world silver medalist, defeated Marsteller in the semi-finals at the Zagreb Open this past February, 4-1. Sakaev, this year’s Asian champ, beat Marsteller 6-1 in the semi-finals of the Tunisian Ranking Series event last July. However, Mastereller recently got revenge over Sakaev in the bronze medal match of the Zagreb Open in a tight, 2-1 bout.
Big Seeding Implications At 86kg For Taylor & Yazdani
David Taylor and Hassan Yazdani have one of the best rivalries in all of wrestling dating back to 2017. However, the two of them will not be competing in Budapest. So, why is this a top storyline? The current UWW Ranking’s points have Yazdani and Taylor as the #4 and #5 seeds respectively. That means if nothing changes, the two could meet in the quarter-finals at the world championships rather than the finals.
That could all change depending on how the 86kg bracket unfolds in Budapest. There are two wrestlers that could move ahead of Yazdani or Taylor in the rankings and separate them in the bracket at worlds - Abubakr Abakarov (AZE) and Myles Amine (SMR). Abakarov will need to finish in the top 10 to pass Taylor in the rankings while Amine needs to finish in the top 8. If they don’t reach those respective finishes, then Yazdani and Taylor will hold their spots at #4 and #5 and likely meet in the quarter-finals in Belgrade.
However, if both pass Yazdani and Taylor that will push Yazdani and Taylor down to the #6 and #7 seeds at worlds setting up a potential semifinal match. For this to happen, Abakarov would have to finish in the top 3 while Amine would have to make the finals. It's a little confusing, so in order to simplify things, here are the 3 scenarios below:
1. Yazdani and Taylor stay at the 4/5 seeds if Abakarov finishes below 10th AND Amine finishes below 8th
2. Yadani and Taylor move to the 6/7 seeds if Abakarov finishes top 3 AND Amine makes the finals.
3. Yazdani and Taylor are separated in the world's bracket if Abakarov and/or Amine pass Taylor but both don't pass Yazdani.
Current rankings, with points, at 86kg:
- Boris Makoev - 56,200
- Sebastian Jezierzanski - 54,788
- Azamat Dauletbekov - 54,200
- Hassan Yazdani - 48,000 points
- David Taylor - 45,000 points
- Abubakr Abakarov - 38,900 points
- Myles Amine - 37,000 points
Rankings points awarded in Budapest:
- 1st - 13,000
- 2nd - 11,400
- 3rd - 10,200
- 5th - 9,000
- 7th - 8,520
- 8th - 8,200
- 9th - 7,800
- 10th - 7,480
7 Ranked Wrestlers at 97kg - Will Snyder Be Challenged?
The 97kg field in Budapest is filled with many of the top wrestlers in the world. Check out all of the ranked wrestlers registered to compete:
- #2 Kyle Snyder, USA
- #9 Givi Matcharashvili, GEO
- #10 Magomedkhan Magomedov, AZE
- #11 (at 125) Alisher Yergali, KAZ
- #16 Murazi Mchedlidze, UKR
- #18 Juwan Seo, KOR
- #19 Mahamad Zakariiev, UKR
Of the above wrestlers, Magomedkhan Magomedov and Givi Matcharashvili will likely present the biggest challenges to Snyder. Magomedov is a Russian now representing Azerbaijan who won a bronze medal at last year’s world championships. Snyder defeated Magomedov 10-0 in the quarters of 2022 worlds but the two had a much closer match at the Zagreb Open in February. In that bout, Magomedov held a 2-1 lead at the break and extended his lead to 4-2 early in the second period before Snyder responded with 5 unanswered points to win 7-4. Magomedov is still relatively young (25) and it will be interesting to see any adjustments he’s able to make against Snyder should they meet again in Budapest.
Snyder's win over Magomedov from the 2023 Zagreb Open:
As mentioned, Givi Matcharashvili will be another significant challenger to Snyder. Matcharashvili won bronze last year at the world championships and more recently won gold at Euros where he defeated the aforementioned Magomedov in the finals, 4-3. Snyder has 3 past victories over Matcharashvili over the past 5 years. At the 2018 World Cup, Snyder won a dominant, 10-0 technical superiority over Matcharashvili. Then in January 2021, Snyder defeated Matcharashvili 14-3 at the Henri Deglane tournament. However, Matcharashvili closed the gap significantly by only losing 5-0 last December at the 2022 World Cup. Snyder will be the favorite in Budapest but the contenders should not be underestimated.
Snyder's win over Matcharashvili from the 2022 World Cup:
The above are obviously just a few of the biggest storylines ahead of the tournament. See everyone who's registered to compete in all three styles here.