130 kg GR - AUGUST 15 Lopez, Kayaalp top big men Two behemoths stand above the rest
as we venture into the 130 kg/286 lbs. Greco-Roman bracket for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The ageless Cuban Mijain Lopez will
ROBBY SMITH
Residence: Colorado Springs, Colo. Club: New York AC College: Northern Michigan High School: Danville, Calif. (San Ramon) Born: Jan. 30, 1987
Age: 29
Career Notes • 2016 U.S. Olympic Team member • Fifth in 2013 and 2015 World Championships • Three-time U.S. World Team member • Two-time U.S. Open champion (2014, 2015) • Third in 2015 Pan American Games • 2014 Dave Schultz Memorial International champion • Second in 2011 U.S. Open • 2010 and 2013 New York AC International champion • Three-time Junior World Team mem- ber (2005-2007) Past Olympics: None Past Sr. Worlds: 5th (2013, 2015), 11th (2014) UWW World Rank: unranked
Expected field at 130 kg/286 lbs. Australia - Ivan Popov Azerbaijan - Sabahi Shariati Brazil - Antoine Abou Jaoude China - Qiang Meng Cuba - Mijain Lopez Egypt - Mohamed Abdellatif Estonia - Heiki Nabi Georgia - Iakobi Kajaia Germany - Eduard Popp Iran - Amir Ghasemi Kazakhstan - Nurmakhan Tinaliyev Kyrgyzstan - Murat Ramonov Russia – Sergey Semenov or Bilyal Makhov
Sweden - Johan Euren Turkey - Riza Kayaalp Ukraine - Aleksandr Chernetski United States – Robby Smith Uzbekistan - Muminjon Abdullaev Venezuela - Edwin Caraballo Cabrera
10 USA Wrestler
look to win his third Olympic gold medal in his fourth Olympic Games. Lopez picked up the gold in Beijing and London to go along with his five World titles and three World silver medals. Lopez has won 10 World and Olympic medals since 2006. Riza Kayaalp of Turkey owns seven
World and Olympic medals. The Turk won the World title last year to go along with his World gold in 2011 where he beat Lopez in the finals on both occa- sions. In 2012, Kayaalp won bronze at the Olympic Games. Kayaalp also has two World University titles and two Junior World titles. Kayaalp defeated Lopez, 1- 0, in the gold medal match last year. Two-time World champion and 2012 Olympic silver medalist Heiki Nabi of Estonia is seeking redemption after fin- ishing in eighth place at the 2015 World Championships. Nabi fell to Lopez in the finals of the London Olympics. Russia will undoubtedly play a factor at
130 kg with either eight-time World and Olympic medalist Bilyal Makhov or two- time Junior World champion Sergey Semenov taking the mat in Rio. Makhov, a three-time World champion
in freestyle, picked up bronze in Greco- Roman at the last two World Championships. He pulled off the miracu- lous double medal at the 2015 Worlds by earning bronze in both Greco-Roman and freestyle. Mahkov is expected to be the Russian heavyweight representative in freestyle in Rio, but his Greco-Roman fate remains cloudy. The less experi- enced Semenov took top prize at Russian Nationals over Makhov. Ukrainian Aleksandr Chernetski won
World bronze opposite Makhov in Las Vegas last year. He posted a silver medal performance at the 2016 European Championships, losing to Kayaalp in the finals. Rio will mark Chernetski’s second Olympic Games. Kazakhstan boasts a strong medal contender with three-time World bronze medalist and 2013 World University Games silver medalist Nurmakhan Tinaliyev making a return trip to the Olympic Games. He won World bronze in 2010, 2011 and 2013, but has failed to reach the medal stand the past two
Robby Smith: by Tony Rotundo
years. 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Johan
Euren of Sweden has also gone two years without a World medal. He finished with World bronze in 2013, but has since been snuffed on the big stage. Fan favorite American Robby Smith is
looking to continue the momentum he gained after a fifth-place finish at the World Championships last year. Smith’s two losses in Las Vegas came at the hands of Lopez and Makhov, with the Makhov bout being praised as one of the best matches of the entire competition. Smith has been a member of every
U.S. World Team since 2013. He also represented the U.S. at three Junior World Championships. Finishing in fifth place at the Worlds
last year was Sabahi Shariati of Azerbaijan who picked up an impressive gold medal at the Golden Grand Prix Finals, placing ahead of contenders Tinaliyev, Nabi, Chernetski and Smith. Two wrestlers with potential to shake
things up at 130 kg are U23 European gold medalist Iakobi Kajaia of Georgia and Asian Championships gold medalist Amir Ghasemi of Iran. Muminjon Abdullaev of Uzbekistan and
Edwin Caraballo Cabrera of Venezuela round out the list of past Olympians.
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