Zain Retherford will wrestle in the 65 kg weight class at the Paris Olympics. Retherford will start his tournament on Saturday, August 10 with the opening rounds starting at 5:00 am (ET). Check out the below article for a full breakdown of Zain Retherford’s draw in the 65 kg Olympic bracket. 

65 kg Olympic Bracket

Round 1 Opponent - Rahman Amouzad, IRI

Zain Retherford’s first-round opponent is Iran’s Rahman Amouzad - the 2022 65 kg World Champion. Amouzad is one of the main title contenders in this bracket and will be an incredible test for Retherford. Amouzad has notable wins over Nick Lee (7-4) from the 2023 World Championships and Yianni Diakomihalis (5-4) at the 2022 World Cup and (13-8) at 2022 Worlds. Both Amouzad and Retherford are two of the biggest 65 kg wrestlers in the world and have significant weight cuts making this a really interesting match right off the scale. 

Amouzad's win over Nick Lee at the 2023 World Championships: 

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Quarter Finals - Dudaev, ALB / Gaku Akazawa, SAM

Dudaev is a Russian now representing Albania while Akazawa is from Japan and now represents Samoa. Akazawa hasn’t done much on the international scene and Dudaev should be considered the favorite in this match. Dudaev has never medaled at a worlds or Olympics - his best result came this year at the European Championships when he won gold by defeating world champion Gadzhimurad Rashidov. Dudaev is dangerous but it’s worth noting that Nick Lee defeated Islam Dudaev, 6-4 last year at the Hungarian Ranking Series.

Nick Lee's win over Dudaev:

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Semifinals - Musukaev, HUN / Akmataliev, KGZ / Aliyev, AZE / Gomez, AZE

The above four wrestlers are all legit contenders but Musukaev is the most likely to reach the semifinals out of this quarter. Musukaev is the reigning 65 kg World Champion and had an incredible run at worlds last year when he beat Sebastian Rivera, Rahman Amouzad, Shamil Mamedov, and Takuto Otoguro. On top of that, Musukaev has defeated Haji Aliyev the last 4 times they’ve wrestled.

Akmataliev is a bit of a dark horse in this bracket and usually wrestles up at 70 kg. He’s a two-time world medalist up at 70 kg winning bronze in 2023 and silver in 2022. Akmataliev is incredibly fun to watch with big move potential and the ability to end any match early with a pin. He’s certainly not the favorite against Musukaev but it shouldn’t shock anyone if he makes the semis. 

Haji Aliyev is the most credentialed wrestler of this bunch as a 3-time world champion and two-time Olympic medalist. Aliyev is 33 and this will likely be his last Olympics. Outside of the losses to Musukaev, Aliyev recently defeated Austin Gomez (12-3) and Kotaro Kiyooka (5-2) in June at a Ranking Series Tournament. Aliyev, similar to Akmataliev, isn’t a favorite but you can never count him out in big tournaments. 

Musukaev's win over Sebastian Rivera in the 2023 World Finals:

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Potential Finals Opponents

Vazgen Tevanyan (ARM), Tulga Tumur-Ochir (MGL), Kotaro Kiyooka (JPN), and Sebastian Rivera (PUR). Of those three, all but Kiyooka are past world medalists but Kiyooka has recent wins over world and Olympic champ Takuto Otoguro and Ismail Muskaev. Of these four, I’d pick either Tumur-Ochir or Kiyooka to make the finals. Tumur-Ochir recently defeated Zain Retherford in May and also has wins over Musukaev, Amouzad, Zagir Shakhiev, Nick Lee, and Yianni Diakomihalis. 

Tumur-Ochir's win over Zain Retherford:

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Kiyooka's win over Musukaev:

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