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Zagreb Open - Feb 5-9

AB coming back to the mat.

It’s great that so many top guys are going. It’s a ranking series event so it’s fairly important. The last few years it seemed like we didn’t always send such a large group and definitely not a ton of top guys. Going to these so you can get seeded at worlds is smart even if you are at AB or Snyders level
 
The US representatives:
57kg: Spencer Lee, Brandon Courtney & Daniel Deshazier (RBY for Mexico)
61kg: Nashon Garrett & Michael McGee
65kg: Joey McKenna & Evan Henderson
70kg: James Green, Jarrett Jacques & Alec Pantaleo
74kg: David Carr
79kg: Evan Wick & Rocco Welsh
86kg: Zahid Valencia, Trent Hidlay & Nate Jackson
92kg: Aaron Brooks & Michael Macchiavello
97: Kyle Snyder & Jonathan Aiello
125kg: Trent Hillger, Hayden Zillmer & Mason Parris

 
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57kg Semi-Final: Spencer Lee (USA) VS Roman Bravo Young (MEX)

Period 1:

The semif-finals just started, but the Flo feed is down. When the video appears it's 6-0 Lee & they're restarting in neutral. They're circling & Lee drives forward. RBY counters & gets a leg, but only for a moment before Lee fights out of it & they're back to circling & tying up in neutral. More circling & tying up as the period ends. 6-0 Lee

Period 2:
Circling, tying up & hand fighting to start the 2nd. RBY shoots, but no luck. Lee attacks, but RBY fights him off. They're on their knees tying up & then back to their feet. RBY pushes forward a little, but then Spencer pushes back. Lee shoots & misses. RBY counters, but can't finish & they're back to neutral. Lee drives forward & has RBY on the edge, but RBY circles back to center. Lee drops in on a leg, elevates it & tries to trip RBY to the mat. RBY gets to Lee's ankles when they hit the mat & they're head to feet now. Stalemate & restart, 53-sec left. RBY shoots off the whistle, but no luck. RBY shoots again & gets a leg. Lee counters with a whizzer & they go out of bounds, no scoring, 30-sec left. There's a long stoppage for something. I think RBY challenged the last exchange. He wins the challenge & gets a step out point, 6-1. RBY shoots off the whistle, but no luck. RBY shoots again & gets to Lee's legs. Lee tries to fight him off, but RBY keeps working & gets the TD, 6-3. RBY tries to flip Lee over, but no luck & time expires.

Spencer Lee DEC Roman Bravo Young 6-3
 
57kg Semi-Final: Spencer Lee (USA) VS Roman Bravo Young (MEX)

Period 1:

The semif-finals just started, but the Flo feed is down. When the video appears it's 6-0 Lee & they're restarting in neutral. They're circling & Lee drives forward. RBY counters & gets a leg, but only for a moment before Lee fights out of it & they're back to circling & tying up in neutral. More circling & tying up as the period ends. 6-0 Lee

Period 2:
Circling, tying up & hand fighting to start the 2nd. RBY shoots, but no luck. Lee attacks, but RBY fights him off. They're on their knees tying up & then back to their feet. RBY pushes forward a little, but then Spencer pushes back. Lee shoots & misses. RBY counters, but can't finish & they're back to neutral. Lee drives forward & has RBY on the edge, but RBY circles back to center. Lee drops in on a leg, elevates it & tries to trip RBY to the mat. RBY gets to Lee's ankles when they hit the mat & they're head to feet now. Stalemate & restart, 53-sec left. RBY shoots off the whistle, but no luck. RBY shoots again & gets a leg. Lee counters with a whizzer & they go out of bounds, no scoring, 30-sec left. There's a long stoppage for something. I think RBY challenged the last exchange. He wins the challenge & gets a step out point, 6-1. RBY shoots off the whistle, but no luck. RBY shoots again & gets to Lee's legs. Lee tries to fight him off, but RBY keeps working & gets the TD, 6-3. RBY tries to flip Lee over, but no luck & time expires.

Spencer Lee DEC Roman Bravo Young 6-3

Sounds like RBY had a decent match against him and maybe figured some stuff out in the 2nd period. Given that his freestyle career hasn't started all that hot, I'd think this is a pretty good outcome for him.
 
Semi-Finals:
57kg: Spencer Lee (USA) DEC (6-3) Roman Bravo Young (MEX)
65kg: Joey McKenna (USA) DEC (3-1) Goga Otinashvili (GEO)
74kg: David Carr (USA) TECH (12-2) Murad Kuramagomedov (HUN)
86kg: Arsenii Dzhioev (AZE) DEC (5-0) Trent Hidlay (USA)
86kg: Zahid Valencia (USA) TECH (12-2) Nate Jackson (USA)

The upcoming matches are listed here:
 
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74kg Semi-Final: David Carr (USA) vs. Murad Kuramagomedov (HUN)

Period 1:
Carr presses forward off the whistle, but can't find an opening & they're back to center. Circling & tapping at each other, but no tying up. Carr with a quick shot to the leg. He gets in deep, but Kuramagomedov fights out of it & we're back to neutral. Stoppage for something & restart. Carr drops in on a low single again. Kuramagomedov counters with a whizzer. Carr gets the leg elevated & tries to take Kuramagomedov to the mat, but Kuramagomedov counters & comes out on top for the TD, 2-0. Carr was in deep. I'm surprised he couldn't finish there. Kuramagomedov had a great counter. No turns & restart. Carr shoots again, but can't get there. Tying up & pushing in the center now. Kuramagomedov pushes forward & has Carr near the edge. Carr reaches for a leg, but no luck. More circling & tying up as the period ends. 2-0 Kuramagomedov

Period 2:
Carr is quickly in on a leg, gets the other & finishes the TD, 2-2. Carr has Kuramagomedov in a leg lace & adds a turn, 4-2, before they go out of bounds. Kuramagomedov was injured during the exchange & the trainer is tending to him now. It appears to be a knee tweak. Back to action. Circling & tying up. Carr drops in on another low single. Kuramagomedov is trying to fight him off with a shin whizzer. Carr gets the leg elevated & trips Kuramagomedov to the mat, 6-2. Carr has the legs laced & adds 3 quick turns for the 12-2 Techfall!

David Carr TECH (12-2) Murad Kuramagomedov
 
86kg Semi-Final: Zahid Valencia (USA) VS Nate Jackson (USA)

Period 1:
Circling & tying up. Valencia looks for double unders, but Jackson fights out of it. Jackson pushes forward & has Valencia on his knees on the edge. Stalemate & restart. Valencia pushes forward, shoots & takes Jackson out of bounds, 1-0, restart. Jackson deals with a contact lens after the exchange & the action is slow to restart. Circling, head tapping & snaps. Jackson drops in on a leg & finishes the TD, 2-1. No turns & restart. Valencia shoots quickly & drives Jackson out of bounds again, 2-2, adv. Jackson, restart. Circling & head tapping. Valencia drops in on a double & finishes with the TD with exposure, 6-2. No turns & restart. Circling, Valencia shoots, but Jackson blocks him off. The announcer just said Jackson is 30 & Valencia is 27 years old. Jackson shoots, Valencia counters & gets another TD, 8-2. Valencia has a gut wrench & adds a turn & then another for the 12-2 1st period Techfall.

Zahid Valencia (USA) TECH (12-2) Nate Jackson (USA)
 
The finals for today's weights are at Noon (Eastern). Here are the upcoming final matches:

Finals:
57kg: Spencer Lee (USA) vs. I. Bazarganov (AZE)
61kg: E. Khari (IRI) vs. A. Mohammadnezh (IRI)
65kg: Joey McKenna (USA) vs. A. Ebrahimzadeh (IRI)
70kg: S. Khalili (IRI) vs. K. Heybatov (AZE)
74kg: David Carr (USA) vs. T. Salkazanov (SVK)
86kg: Zahid Valencia (USA) vs. A. Dzhioev (AZE)
 
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Very interested to see Carr vs Salk. Will be a great test to see where Carr is at
 
RBY - Spencer



I thought RBY did some nice things in this match, but Spencer is clearly on a different level. The power is something else and RBY was very fortunate that the two takedowns were on the edge because that gut looked easy. RBY was pretty crafty on his feet and once Spencer slowed down, was able to put some stuff together. All in all, a pretty good match.
 
57kg:
Gold:
Spencer Lee (USA) DEC (6-2) Islam Bazarganov (AZE)
Period 1: Lee got a shot clock point & a TD. He was up 3-0 after the 1st.
Period 2: Early in the period Bazarganov picked up a TD to bring the score to 3-2. Lee added a push out & another TD for the 6-2 victory.

Bronze: Roman Bravo Young (MEX) DEC (11-2) Luka Gvinjilia (GEO)
 
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61kg Bronze: Nahshon Garrett (USA) DEC (14-9) Giorgi Goniashvili (GEO)

65kg Gold: Abbas Ebrahimzadeh (IRI) DEC (8-6) Joey McKenna (USA)
With around 30-seconds left in the 2nd period the score was tied 6-6, advantage McKenna. McKenna dropped in on a leg & was able to keep working in that position & burn 20+ seconds off the clock. With about 5-seconds left in the match Abbas countered & tried to come behind McKenna. During the scramble & with only a couple seconds left on the clock, McKenna caught Abbas' kneepad & held on too long. He was called for a caution +1, or something like that & lost the match 7-6. McKenna lost another point challenging the call for the 8-6 final. That's a tough loss for McKenna.

70kg Bronze: Austin Gomez (MEX) DEC (9-3) Ebrahim Elahichouran (IRI)

70kg Bronze: Vasile Diacon (MDA) OVER James Green (USA)
Green was injured earlier in the day & didn't wrestle in the bronze match.

74kg Final: Tajmuraz Salkazanov (SVK) DEC (4-0) David Carr (USA)
Period 1: Nate Carr is in David's corner. Carr shoots, Salkazanov counters & drives Carr out, 1-0. Carr gets a passivity warning. Carr quickly gets a 2nd passivity warning & goes on the clock. He picks up his pace, but can't find an opening & Salkazanov gets a shot clock point, 2-0. Blood time breather for both. Salkazanov gets a passivity warning. Time expires shortly thereafter. 2-0 Salkazanov after one.
Period 2: Carr tries a super duck, but Salkazanov stones him & gets a takedown driving Carr out of bounds, 4-0. Carr picks up his pace & tries several shots, but has difficulty breaking through Salkazanov's defense. Salkazanov blocks off all of Carr's attempts & wins 4-0.

86kg Bronze: Nate Jackson (USA) TECH (12-2) Matthew Finesilver (ISR)

86kg Bronze: Trent Hidlay (USA) DEC (10-4) Tariel Gaphrindashvili (GEO)

86kg Gold: Zahid Valencia (USA) Arsenii Dzhioev (AZE)
Period 1: The feed was down for the entire 1st period.
Period 2: When the video began working, the score was 4-0 Valencia, they were circling in neutral & there was 2:23 left on the clock. Valencia shoots for a single, then transitions to a body lock & adds another TD for a 6-0 lead. Dzhioev picks up his pace & takes multiple shots, but can't find a way to penetrate Valencia's defense. Valencia counters a shot by Dzhioev at the end & adds another TD for the 8-0 victory.
 
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Bronze Medal Matches:
79kg
: Rocco Welsh (USA) DEC (9-3) Otari Adeishvili (GEO)
92kg: Michael Macchiavello DEC (9-1) Adlan Viskhanov (FRA)
97kg: Jay Aiello (USA) OVER (INJ) Andro Margishvili (GEO)
125kg: Hayden Zillmer (USA) DEC (10-3) Trent Hillger (USA)
 
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It is crazy to me that there's like 5 people in the stands. At least in the morning session. I haven't had a chance to flip on the afternoon session.
 
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It is crazy to me that there's like 5 people in the stands. At least in the morning session. I haven't had a chance to flip on the afternoon session.
I noticed that too when I checked in during the quarter-finals. Here's a screenshot.
 
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97kg Gold: Kyle Snyder (USA) Abolfazl Babaloo (IRI)

Period 1: Lots of circling, hand-fighting & tying up to start the match. Babaloo gets warned for passivity, but neither are doing much. Snyder hits a slick ankle pick for the TD, 2-0, but can't add any turns, restart. Snyder drives Babaloo to the edge. Babaloo counters & takes Snyder out of bounds, 2-1. Snyder hits a drag off the restart & comes behind for another TD, 4-1. Snyder has Babaloo's arm trapped & adds 4 turns for the 1st period 12-1 technical decision. Wow! That was impressive.

Kyle Snyder TECH Abolfazl Babaloo (12-1)

 
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125kg Gold: Mason Parris (USA) Amirreza Masoumi (IRI)

Period 1: Tying up & pushing. Masoumi gets double unders & easily drives Parris out of bounds, 1-0. Parris shoots, but Masoumi stones him. Masoumi goes back to an underhook, then drops to a leg & drives Parris out of bounds for 4, 5-0. Parris shoots off the restart, but Masoumi counters & comes behind for another TD, 7-0. Masoumi adds a turn, 9-0 & then another for the 1st period 11-0 technical decision. That was quick.

Amirreza Masoumi TECH Mason Parris 11-0 (2:18)
 
Wow. Masoumi absolutely destroyed Parris. 11-0 in about 2 min. Not close at all
 
Kennedy looked great. I can't believe she dropped 17.6 lb from her Olympic weight of 76 kg. It is a shame we have Amit Elor and Kennedy Blades at the same weight. My guess is Amit will wrestle at 72 kg in the non-Olympic years. The big question will be what weight will both of them go for 2028 since 72 kg is currently not an Olympic weight.

 
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I can't believe she dropped 17.6 lb from her Olympic weight of 76 kg.
I know! All the available evidence pointed to 76 being a very difficult cut for her. I guess despite our eagerness to make “informed” guesses, we never really know the full story….
 
Kennedy looked great. I can't believe she dropped 17.6 lb from her Olympic weight of 76 kg. It is a shame we have Amit Elor and Kennedy Blades at the same weight. My guess is Amit will wrestle at 72 kg in the non-Olympic years.

Saw an article where Blades said she was weighing between 72 and 74kgs during the Olympics. Perfect event to test the waters at the lower weight classs as they allowed +2kgs. Could see her and Elor swapping weights in '28.
 
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