Dlagnev shoots in on an ankle at the 2011 World Championships in Turkey. He has excelled on the World level when he is able to attack the legs effectively from his feet.
Tony Rotundo photo.
TERVEL’S TIME
World bronze medalist Tervel Dlagnev pushing toward goal of winning Olympic gold medal
By Craig Sesker Tervel Dlagnev had just pulled off the biggest win of his career.
Dlagnev dug down deep, pulling out a thrilling three-period victory over Uzbekistan’s Artur Taymazov, one of the best heavyweights of all-time. Dlagnev knocked off the powerful
Taymazov 0-1, 2-1, 1-0 in a thrilling quar- terfinal bout at the 2011 World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey. Taymazov won Olympic gold medals in 2004 and 2008, and captured an Olympic silver medal in 2000. He is a two-time World freestyle champion and had placed second at the 2010 Worlds. “It was a huge win for me,” Dlagnev said. “A lot of people picked him to win the tournament. After I beat him, I was on track to win it.”
But the grueling, back-and-forth match
with Taymazov took its toll on Dlagnev, a 2009 World bronze medalist. Dlagnev injured his neck in the hard-fought bout with Taymazov at 120 kg/264.5 lbs. The injury prevented Dlagnev, an offen- sive-minded, attacking wrestler, from wrestling the style he normally does in his last two matches.
He dropped his semifinal match to Aleksei Shemarov of Belarus 1-0, 1-0 before falling to Davit Modzmanashvili of Georgia 0-1, 1-0, 0-1 in the bronze-medal match. Shemarov, who Dlagnev has beat-
14 USA Wrestler
en, went on to win the World title. Dlagnev finished fifth, qualifying the U.S. for the 2012 Olympic Games in his weight class.
“The injury slowed me down in the semis,” Dlagnev said. “And then in the bronze match, I tried to shoot and he got me in a front headlock. I couldn’t do much after that and couldn’t get much going. My neck slowed me down.” Making matters worse, Dlagnev went 0-for-6 in ball draws at the Worlds. With his last two opponents wrestling defen-
sively and not shooting much, periods ended up scoreless and losing the ball draw gave Dlagnev’s opponents the edge in the leg clinch.
“I feel like I am a better wrestler from the experience I gained in that tourna- ment,” he said. “It was an encouraging performance because I know I can wres- tle with all of those top guys. I was pre- pared to wrestle, mentally and physically, but I didn’t get it done. I definitely need to keep improving. I need to get more con- Continued on page 15
Tervel Dlagnev (left) knocked off two-time Olympic champion Artur Taymazov of Uzbekistan at the 2011 World Championships. Tony Rotundo photo.
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