Also a note about the wrestling brackets. As with most other head-to-head competitions at the Olympics, there are no seeds in wrestling. The entire pool of competitors in each weight class receive a random draw into a single elimination bracket.
Wrestling brackets are also uneven, so all the “pigtails” go on the bottom half of the bracket. For instance, in a 20 wrestler bracket, which we will see at the Olympics, 8 wrestlers will be on the top half of the bracket, and 12 on the bottom.
All to the point that picking place finishers before the weigh-ins are completed and brackets are released (which happens the day before the tournament) is a fool’s errand. Which is perhaps why I find it so much fun.
Greco-Roman 59kg
PICKS
GOLD: Hamid Soryan IRI
SILVER: Rovshan Bayramov AZE
BRONZE: Yun Won-chol PRK
BRONZE: Elmurat Tasmuradov UZB
CONTENDERS
The Rio Olympics kick things off with a great weight class. Iran’s 7X world champ and reigning Olympic Champ, Hamid Soryan, will be looking to cement his status as an all time great. Bayramov also has hardware from London as well as Bejing. Yun is a 2013 world champ and Tasmuradov has two world bronze medals to his name.
OTHERS OF NOTE
American Jesse Thielke Smooth is a few years removed from his world bronze he won at the junior level but he’s improved immensely over the last year and will be looking to make his mark on the senior level at Rio. Norway’s Stig Berge won bronze at the 2014 worlds, so a Rio medal is not out of the question. Plus my grandmother would be disappointed in me if I didn’t say something nice about the lone Norwegian Olympian. Cuba’s Ismael Borrero won the 2015 World Championship but many experts see a repeat, or even a medal, as an unlikely scenario.
RANKINGS
1 CUB Ismael BORRERO
2 AZE Rovshan BAYRAMOV
3 KAZ Almat KEBISPAYEV
5 PRK Won-Chol YUN
6 BLR Soslan DAUROV
7 KGZ Arsen ERALIEV
8 NOR Stig-Andre BERGE
9 UZB Elmurat TASMURADOV
10 EGY Haithem MAHMOUD
12 JPN Shinobu OTA
14 IRI Hamid SORYAN
15 RUS Stepan MARYANYAN
16 ECU Andres MONTANO
18 SRB Kristian FRIS
19 USA Jesse THIELKE
CHN Lumin WANG
KOR Jungbaik LEE
MAR El-Mahadi MESSAOUDI
VEN Raiber RODRIGUEZ
Greco-Roman 75kg
PICKS
GOLD: Kim Hyeon-woo KOR
SILVER: Roman Vlasov RUS
BRONZE: Andy Bisek U! S! A!
BRONZE: Arsen Julfalakyan ARM
CONTENDERS
Vlasov is the reigning world champ and the favorite going into the tournament, but Kim is a savvy vet that has given Vlasov all he could handle in previous meetings. Julfalkakyan is a former world champ and Bisek is the only 75 kilo competitor to medal in the past two world championships (he has two bronze medals).
OTHERS OF NOTE
This weight class is wide open, so don’t be surprised if someone comes out of nowhere to make the podium. Like Bozo Starcevic from Croatia. I’ve never heard of him before but with a name like that, you better believe he’s going to be one tough hombre.
RANKINGS
1 RUS Roman VLASOV
2 KAZ Doszhan KARTIKOV
3 DEN Mark MADSEN
4 KOR Hyeonwoo KIM
5 USA Andrew BISEK
6 GEO Zurabi DATUNASHVILI
7 SRB Viktor NEMES
8 HUN Peter BACSI
9 ARM Arsen JULFALAKYAN
10 IRI Saeid ABDVALI
11 CHN Bin YANG
13 AZE Elvin MURSALIYEV
17 CRO Bozo STARCEVIC
18 MAR Zied AIT-OUAGRAM
20 EGY Mahmoud SEBIE
BUL Daniel ALEKSANDROV
COL Carlos MUNOZ
CUB Yurisandy HERNANDEZ
TUR Selcuk CEBI
UZB Dilshodjon TURDIEV
AND NOW FOR A TASTE OF THINGS TO COME
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Let us know in the comments and claim your internet points when you inevitably prove me wrong!
Wrestling at Rio kicks off Sunday with 2 Greco-Roman weights. Here’s what you need to know.
Also a note about the wrestling brackets. As with most other head-to-head competitions at the Olympics, there are no seeds in wrestling. The entire pool of competitors in each weight class receive a random draw into a single elimination bracket.
Wrestling brackets are also uneven, so all the “pigtails” go on the bottom half of the bracket. For instance, in a 20 wrestler bracket, which we will see at the Olympics, 8 wrestlers will be on the top half of the bracket, and 12 on the bottom.
All to the point that picking place finishers before the weigh-ins are completed and brackets are released (which happens the day before the tournament) is a fool’s errand. Which is perhaps why I find it so much fun.
Greco-Roman 59kg
PICKS
GOLD: Hamid Soryan IRI
SILVER: Rovshan Bayramov AZE
BRONZE: Yun Won-chol PRK
BRONZE: Elmurat Tasmuradov UZB
CONTENDERS
The Rio Olympics kick things off with a great weight class. Iran’s 7X world champ and reigning Olympic Champ, Hamid Soryan, will be looking to cement his status as an all time great. Bayramov also has hardware from London as well as Bejing. Yun is a 2013 world champ and Tasmuradov has two world bronze medals to his name.
OTHERS OF NOTE
American Jesse Thielke Smooth is a few years removed from his world bronze he won at the junior level but he’s improved immensely over the last year and will be looking to make his mark on the senior level at Rio. Norway’s Stig Berge won bronze at the 2014 worlds, so a Rio medal is not out of the question. Plus my grandmother would be disappointed in me if I didn’t say something nice about the lone Norwegian Olympian. Cuba’s Ismael Borrero won the 2015 World Championship but many experts see a repeat, or even a medal, as an unlikely scenario.
RANKINGS
1 CUB Ismael BORRERO
2 AZE Rovshan BAYRAMOV
3 KAZ Almat KEBISPAYEV
5 PRK Won-Chol YUN
6 BLR Soslan DAUROV
7 KGZ Arsen ERALIEV
8 NOR Stig-Andre BERGE
9 UZB Elmurat TASMURADOV
10 EGY Haithem MAHMOUD
12 JPN Shinobu OTA
14 IRI Hamid SORYAN
15 RUS Stepan MARYANYAN
16 ECU Andres MONTANO
18 SRB Kristian FRIS
19 USA Jesse THIELKE
CHN Lumin WANG
KOR Jungbaik LEE
MAR El-Mahadi MESSAOUDI
VEN Raiber RODRIGUEZ
Greco-Roman 75kg
PICKS
GOLD: Kim Hyeon-woo KOR
SILVER: Roman Vlasov RUS
BRONZE: Andy Bisek U! S! A!
BRONZE: Arsen Julfalakyan ARM
CONTENDERS
Vlasov is the reigning world champ and the favorite going into the tournament, but Kim is a savvy vet that has given Vlasov all he could handle in previous meetings. Julfalkakyan is a former world champ and Bisek is the only 75 kilo competitor to medal in the past two world championships (he has two bronze medals).
OTHERS OF NOTE
This weight class is wide open, so don’t be surprised if someone comes out of nowhere to make the podium. Like Bozo Starcevic from Croatia. I’ve never heard of him before but with a name like that, you better believe he’s going to be one tough hombre.
RANKINGS
1 RUS Roman VLASOV
2 KAZ Doszhan KARTIKOV
3 DEN Mark MADSEN
4 KOR Hyeonwoo KIM
5 USA Andrew BISEK
6 GEO Zurabi DATUNASHVILI
7 SRB Viktor NEMES
8 HUN Peter BACSI
9 ARM Arsen JULFALAKYAN
10 IRI Saeid ABDVALI
11 CHN Bin YANG
13 AZE Elvin MURSALIYEV
17 CRO Bozo STARCEVIC
18 MAR Zied AIT-OUAGRAM
20 EGY Mahmoud SEBIE
BUL Daniel ALEKSANDROV
COL Carlos MUNOZ
CUB Yurisandy HERNANDEZ
TUR Selcuk CEBI
UZB Dilshodjon TURDIEV
AND NOW FOR A TASTE OF THINGS TO COME
DISAGREE WITH OUR PROGNOSTICATION?
Let us know in the comments and claim your internet points when you inevitably prove me wrong!
