75 kg GR - AUGUST 14 Six World champs set to battle
Of the 19 wrestlers competing at 75 kg/165 lbs. in Greco-Roman at the 2016 Olympic Games, two are Olympic cham- pions, six are World champions and 10 own at least one World medal. The fully-loaded 75 kg category is per-
haps more up for grabs than any other Olympic bracket. However, the front-run- ner for gold is two-time World champion and 2012 Olympic champion Roman Vlasov of Russia. Since 2011, Vlasov has found a place on the medal stand in four of the five World Championships and Olympic Games in which he has competed. He won World gold in 2015 and 2011, Olympic gold in 2012 and World silver in 2013. His only losses at a World or Olympic competition have been to 2012 Olympic champion Hyeon-Woo Kim of Korea and two-time World bronze medal- ist Andy Bisek of the United States. At the 2015 World Championships in
Las Vegas, Vlasov went unscored upon throughout the tournament. He defeated past World champions Arsen Julfalakyan of Armenia and Peter Basci of Hungary just to make the finals. In the gold medal match, Vlasov picked up a 6-0 decision over five-time World medalist Mark Madsen of Denmark. A 2014 World champion, Julfalakyan
has four World medals and an Olympic silver medal to his name. He was unable to capture a medal at the World Championships last year after falling to Vlasov in the first round. Vlasov and Julfalakyan met in the finals of the 2012 Olympic Games with Vlasov the victor. After winning the Olympic gold at 66 kg in London, Korea’s Kim moved up in weight and took down Vlasov in a battle of Olympic champions in the 2013 World Championship finals. The stout Korean has been unable to medal at the World Championships since 2013. Basci, another victim in Vlasov’s his- toric 2015 World run, was a 2014 World champion. Basci won his World title at 71 kg/156.5 lbs. and has since moved up to compete at 75 kg. Three-time World champion Selcuk
Cebi of Turkey has made the move down to 75 kg for the Olympic year after win- ning Worlds at 80 kg/176 lbs. in 2015. In total, Cebi owns five World medals: three gold, one silver and one bronze. He com- peted at the 2012 Olympic Games. Rounding out the list of World champi- ons competing at 75 kg is 2011 World champion Saeid Morad Abdvali of Iran. Abdvali finished in fifth place at the World Championships last year. He was also an Olympian in 2012. Denmark’s Madsen owns five World medals and this is his third Olympic berth. Madsen has finished in second place at the World Championships four times but the gold has remained ever- elusive. After a five-year dry spell from 2009-14, Madsen made the World finals in Las Vegas last September. U.S. fan favorite Andy Bisek has won a bronze medal at the last two World Championships. He has been on every U.S. World Team since 2011, save the 2012 Olympic Games. At the 2015 World Championships, Bisek fell to Madsen in the quarterfinals, but wrestled back for the bronze medal by defeating two past World Champions, Yavor Yanakiev of Bulgaria and Abdvali of Iran. Kazakhstan’s Doszhan Kartikov won the bronze medal opposite of Bisek at the World’s last year. He defeated 2014 World bronze medalist Elvin Mursaliyev of Azerbaijan in the bronze-medal bout. Zurabi Datunashvili of Georgia and
Andy Bisek: by Tony Rotundo
Zied Ait Ouagram of Morocco round out the list of nine past Olympians that will compete at 75 kg this time around in Rio.
5 USA Wrestling Rio Media Guide
ANDY BISEK
Residence: Colorado Springs, Colo. Club: Minnesota Storm College: Northern Michigan High School: Chaska, Minn. Born: Aug. 18, 1986
Age: 29
Past Olympics: None Past Sr. Worlds: 3rd (2014, 2015), 17th (2013), 20th (2011) UWW World Rank: No. 5
Career Notes • 2016 U.S. Olympic Team member • Two-time World bronze medalist (2014-15) • Four-time U.S. World Team member • 2015 Pan American Games champion • 2015 and 2015 U.S. Open champion • 2012 and 2014 Pan American Championships champion • Second in 2012 Pan American Olympic Qualifier • Third in 2010, 2011 and 2012 U.S. Open • 2007 University Nationals champion
USAW Age-group: Seventh in 2004 Junior Nationals… College: Attended Northern Michigan University, where he was coached by Ivan Ivanov… High School: Attended Chaska High School…was coached by Jeff Tiatz…Placed third in State Championships in 2004 Awards: 2014 and 2015 USA Wrestling Greco-Roman Wrestler of the Year… Personal: Son of Tom and Kathy Bisek…Has two brothers Scott and Brian and one sister Stephanie…Married to Ashley Suggs Bisek… They are the par- ents of Jim and Molly Bisek… Hobbies include hunting and fishing… Note: Replaced the injured Jake Fisher at the 2011 World Championships…
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