57 kg FS - AUGUST 19 Three World champs to clash
A plethora of elite contenders will be vying for the 57 kg/125.5 lbs. men’s freestyle gold medal. Currently atop the contender list is 2015 World champion Vladimer Khinchegahsvili of Georgia. The top-ranked wrestler in the World has steadily improved since snatching a silver medal at the 2012 Olympics in London. Khinchegahsvili picked up his first
DANIEL DENNIS
Residence: Iowa City, Iowa Club: Titan Mercury WC High School: Ingleside, Ill. (Grant) College: Iowa Born: Sept. 24, 1986
Past Olympics: None Past Sr. Worlds: None UWW World Rank: No. 15
Career Notes • 2016 U.S. Olympic Team member • 2016 U.S. Open champion • 2016 German Grand Prix champion • 2015 Grand Prix of Spain champion • Second in 2015 World Team Trials • Fourth in 2015 U.S. Open • 2008 University Nationals champion • Fifth in 2011 World Team Trials • Two-time All-American for the Univ. of Iowa
College: Second in 2010 NCAA Championships and seventh in 2009 for Iowa, where he was coached by Tom Brands and Jim Zalesky… High School: Two-time state runner-up for Grant High School… Personal: Son of Tim and Jane Dennis… Dennis left wrestling in 2013 for a few years, to be in California, living in his truck and in a trailer with no TV or internet.
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12 USA Wrestling Rio Media Guide Age: 29
World title in Las Vegas last year with a thrilling last-second victory over Hassan Rahimi of Iran. While trailing by one point, the Georgian executed a picture- perfect superduck in the waning moments of the bout to strike gold. This year Khinchegahsvili suffered a loss to 2013 World champion Bekhan Goigereev of Russia wrestling up at 61 kg, but he has remained unscathed at 57 kg. This includes a gold-medal finish at the always tough European Champion- ships. He was a silver medalist at the 2014 World Championships. Rahimi has medaled at the last four
World Championships and was an Olympian in 2012. In 2013, Rahimi topped the World in Budapest, Hungary, to capture his only World title. He fin- ished with World silver last year and World bronze in 2011 and 2014. Azerbaijan standout Haji Aliev plans to make the drop from 61 kg for the Olympic Games. Aliev has won the past two World Championships at 61 kg and is ranked No.1 in that division, but is yet to compete at 57 kg internationally. Aliev and Khinchegahsvili met in the semifinals of the European Championships in March with the Georgian winning, 4-2. The stand- by for Azerbaijan is 2014 Junior World sil- ver medalist Mirjalal Hasan-Zada. 2014 World bronze medalist Yowlys Bonne Rodriguez of Cuba is a top star. Big things are expected from the high-fly- ing Cuban in his second attempt at an Olympic medal. He lost a controversial decision to Russian veteran Viktor Lebedev at the 2015 Worlds.
Lebedev was expected to be the fourth
World champion in Rio, but was pulled from the Games by UWW after the Russian doping scandal. Lebedev had tested positive as a Junior back in 2006. Russia did not get to enter anybody else. The spot was replaced by Belarus, who is sending Assadulah Lachinau. Bulgaria’s Vladimir Dubov won the
World bronze at 61 kg in Las Vegas. He also owns a World silver medal at 60 kg
Daniel Dennis: by John Sachs.
from 2013. The Bulgarian has won three international medals at 57 kg this year, including gold at the European Olympic Qualifier.
Bekhbayar Erdenebat of Mongolia has wrestled for a medal at the previous two World Championships and won a bronze last year. Four years ago, Erdenebat won a Junior World Championship. Senegal’s Adama Diatta will make his second trip to the Olympic Games this year. Diatta is a six-time Africa champion. Asian champion Sandeep Tomar of India has earned a medal at every inter- national event he has competed in since 2012, including a gold at the 2014 World Military Championships. Donning the Stars and Stripes at 57 kg in Rio will be Daniel Dennis. After finish- ing in second place at the U.S. World Team Trials at 61 kg in 2015, Dennis made the decision to drop to 57 kg. Dennis defeated two-time U.S. World Team member Tony Ramos in the finals of the Olympic Trials. The two were col- lege teammates at Iowa.
In his final Rio tune-up event, Dennis took first place at the Grand Prix of Germany. He also competed at the Freestyle World Cup in June where he went 2-2 with his only losses coming to Khinchegahsvili and Rahimi.
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