79 KG: Men's Freestyle 2019 World Championship Preview
Photo courtesy of United World Wrestling
The non-Olympic weight of 79 kg returns two out of four medalists from the 2018 World Championship. Reigning champion, the legendary American Kyle Dake will be back alongside the man he defeated to win his first title, the Azeri veteran Jabrayil Hasanov.
The most compelling contender at the weight in recent memory was Russia’s Akhmed Gadzhimagomedov, who held a win over Dake heading into 2018 Worlds. Dake would avenge the loss at Worlds in dominant fashion, but Gadzhimagomedov looked to be in fine form through 2019. Unfortunately, he blew out his knee in the 2019 European Championship finals against Hasanov and has withdrawn from competition for the time being.
Gadzhimagomedov will have a more than suitable replacement, but it appears that the juggernaut Kyle Dake has a second straight World title within reach. The medal race still promises to be interesting, there are a number of promising entries at 79 kg this year.
Top UWW Seeds
Seeds are determined by points earned by winning bouts at United World Wrestling’s Ranking Series events, held throughout the year. The one and four seed will be on one side of the bracket, the two and three on the other. At the top are:
#1: Kyle DAKE (USA)
#2: Jabrayil HASANOV (AZE)
#3: Muhammet Nuri KOTANOGLU (TUR)
#4: Bahman Mohammed TEYMOURI (IRI)
While these seeds are important for bracket structure, they do not necessarily reflect the actual standings of talent in the world. We’ll be referencing The Fight Site’s international rankings, compiled by Seth Petarra.
Title Contenders
The obvious favorite will be the folkstyle phenom turned international terror, Kyle Douglas Dake.
Dake made history when he won four NCAA Division 1 titles in four different weight classes, his last coming over another NCAA legend and now World champion David Taylor. On his quest to make his first freestyle World or Olympic team, Dake notched a few more wins over David Taylor, one over five-time World and Olympic champion Jordan Burroughs, one over World champion J’den Cox, and several against three-time NCAA champion and now #3 internationally ranked Alex Dieringer.
After finally making the team, Dake had an outstanding performance at the 2018 Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix, beating #4 Alan Zaseev and defeating #9 Rashid Kurbanov by technical fall. In the finals he was defeated decisively by Akhmed Gadzhimagomedov. Dake secured 2018 Yasar Dogu gold before heading to Budapest for the 2018 World Championship.
The rest is history, Dake went unscored upon and exacted revenge on Gadzhimagomedov by 13-0 tech in the semis. In the finals Dake played defense, shutting out Hasanov 2-0. American fans have seen little of Dake in 2019 due to injury, but he returned for a tune-up in the summer, winning the Grand Prix of Spain before denying Alex Dieringer in two straight matches to make the team once again.
Azerbaijan’s Hasanov has had a much longer road on the international stage since winning a Junior World championship in 2009. At 66 kg, Hasanov won World bronze in 2010 and 2011. Moving up to 74 kg, there was an adjustment period, major accomplishments were hard to come by until 2016 where Hasanov won Olympic bronze.
In 2017 Hasanov fell just short, taking 5th at the World Championship, but after move up to 79 kg in 2018 he proved himself to be elite once again. At the 2018 European Championship he took bronze, only losing to Gadzhimagomedov. He only took one loss at the 2018 Yasar Dogu, earning bronze after losing to Kyle Dake.
At the 2018 World Championship, Hasanov beat Ali Shabanau (now #7 at 86 kg) on his way to the finals where he ran into Dake once again. 2019 has been up and down for Hasanov, he was upset at the 2019 Takhti Cup, taking silver to #12 Teymouri. He rebounded well at the 2019 European Championship, beating #17 Nika Kentchadze then taking gold after Gadzhimagomedov’s knee injury.
Dake and Hasanov will repeat as the top two seeds. The field has some depth, but no one has quite shown form worthy of knocking off Dake quite yet.
Medal Contenders
Seeding aside, the highest-ranked contender outside of Dake and Hasanov is the Russian, #6 Gadzhi Nabiev. A 2015 Junior World champion, at 74 kg Nabiev was stuck behind #5 Khetik Tsabalov in 2017, and behind Akhmed Gadzhimagomedov and #11 Khusey Suyunchev in 2018 at 79 kg.
Still a young man, Nabiev entered the U23 World Championship at 79 kg, earning silver after a loss to #17 Nika Kentchadze in the finals. Nabiev grew enormously following that tournament, beating #7 Sanakoev to win 2018 Alans gold then repeating that performance against Sanakoev to win his first Russian National championship in 2019. Nabiev kept rolling at the 2019 Ziolkowski, winning gold. 79 kg is heavy with Russians near the top, but Nabiev is more than prepared to fight for a medal in Gadzhimagomedov’s place.
Originally from Dagestan, now wrestling for Uzbekistan, #9 Rashid Kurbanov has been a consistent threat as of late. A 2013 World bronze medalist, Kurbanov has made waves recently with a 2018 Asian Championship silver, 2018 Ali Aliev silver, 2019 Ali Aliev bronze, and 2019 Medved bronze. Kurbanov did not place at 2018 Worlds, but he’s been just a step behind the very best in the world at 79 kg this year.
Depending on how the brackets are drawn, Iran’s fourth-seeded and #12 ranked Bahman Teymouri could have a straight shot to a medal match, given he’s fated to meet Kyle Dake on his side. The Iranian has catapulted himself into the rankings with his win over #5 Hasanov at the 2019 Takhti Cup, he held on to his place by winning 2019 Asian Championship gold. He took bronze at the 2019 Yasar Dogu, only losing to Alex Dieringer. It’s worth noting that Teymouri suffered a loss to Georgia’s #16 Zurab Erbotsonashvili in August.
An exciting addition to the senior-level weight this year is #17 Nika Kentchadze, brother of 2018 World silver medalist Avtandil Kentchadze. Kentchadze became a U23 World champion in 2018, defeating #18 Omaraskhab Nazhmudinov and then #6 Gadzhi Nabiev in the finals. Clearly an athlete with potential, Kentchadze had a confusing year, he did not place at the Henri Deglane Challenge, then won Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov bronze by beating the #20 ranked wrestler at 74 kg, Zelimkhan Khadjiev, only losing to Alex Dieringer.
At the European Championship Kentchadze won bronze, his only loss coming in a tight 6-5 match to #5 Jabrayil Hasanov. Seemingly losing his momentum, Kentchadze did not place at the International Ukrainian Tournament.
While he’s competing up from his natural 74 kg, where he was ranked #11, Taimuraz Salkazanov is one of the biggest question marks of the weight. Originally from Ossetia, Russia, Salkazanov represents Slovakia. Competing even lower at 70 kg in 2018, Salkazanov won the U23 World champion with a massive victory over now David Baev, who is now ranked #1 at the weight. Not only did he win, Salkazanov dominated Baev 9-1. In 2019 up at 74, Salkazanov won bronze at the Yasar Dogu, defeating #12 Yakup Gor and only losing a tight 6-4 match to #2 Jordan Burroughs.
If Salkazanov’s ability can translate at 79 kg, he should be heavily favored to make a medal match.
Outside Threats and Dark Horses
One remaining ranked competitor is Romania’s #18 Omaraskhab Nazhmudinov. The Dagestan native has kept himself in major tournaments over the last few years. He took bronze at the 2016 Ali Aliev, then earned 2018 U23 World bronze, his only loss coming to a red-hot Nika Kentchadze. At the 2019 Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov, Nazhmudinov took out #7 Atsamaz Sanakoev before losing to #3 Alex Dieringer to take silver.
Strangely enough. Nazhmudinov did not place at the 2019 European Championship or the 2019 Medved, justifying concern over his current form.
One intriguing, albeit unusual entry is the likely eldest member of the weight, 2008 Olympic silver medalist Murad Gaidarov. A Dagestani transfer to Belarus, Gaidarov won his first senior international medal with a 2003 World bronze. Gaidarov was still in the mix by 2013, when he took 5th at Worlds, but has been retired for about five years.
Gaidarov wrestled in one minor tournament in 2019, where he won gold. Maybe Gaidarov has another medal run in him, but it’s a long shot.
Third-seeded Muhammet Kotanoglu has been conspicuously absent from this preview. The Turk has done well within the UWW Ranking Series, but has yet to establish meaningful wins over ranked competitors. He attended the 2019 Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov, taking 5th, earned bronze at the 2019 European Championship, bronze at 2019 Yasar Dogu, and 4th at the 2019 Ziolkowski. Kotanoglu has lost to many of the competitors featured in this preview, but it only takes one strong tournament to buck a trend.