Another stupendous Russian Freestyle National Championships is in the books. Here's what happened in the final of wrestling, featuring the finals at 61, 70, 79, 92, and 125kg.

#14 Magomedrasul Idrisov (Dagestan) defeats #3 Ismail Musukaev (Kabardino-Balkar) 8-3

Coming into RusNats following a dominant performance at the U-23 European championships that saw him tech-fall all his opponents, #14 Magomedrasul Idrisov was seen as someone with some major potential; however there were still questions about if the talented Dagestani was ready to take out the top tier of one of Russia’s most stacked weight classes. Idrisov showed that he more than ready as he hammered #2 Alexander Bogomoev 9-0 in the round of 16, beat #8 Zelimkhan Abakarov 1-1 in the semis, and took an 8-3 win over #3 Ismail Musukaev in the finals. 

The Musukaev match was not without controversy, though. Idrisov got away with multiple singlet pulls and scored a go-behind while Musukaev was in the midst of protesting a blatant yank by Idrisov. Additionally, Musukaev was put on the shot clock multiple times. This is not to diminish the obvious talent of Idrisov; it’s just stating that unsavory tactics that were at play in his finals match. Idrisov will have a later wrestle-off against #1 Gadzhimurad Rashidov to claim the starting spot at 61kg, and while Idrisov looked great here, I don’t expect him to beat Rashidov. I do think we’ll see Idrisov at the U-23 world championships in November where he will be the strong favorite to win the weight. 

70kg: #6 Magomedrasul Gazimagomedov (Dagestan) defeats Arpat Sat (Tuva) 9-0

Gazimagomedov’s run to the finals included ranked wins over the likes of 2016 Olympic champ #2 Soslan Ramonov, 2017 Junior world champ #10 David Baev, and this year’s junior national champion Razambek Dzhamalov. Gazimagomedov capped off his amazing run with a dominant 9-0 win over unheralded Arpat Sat, who had the upset of the tournament when he took out #1 Magomed Kurbanaliev 15-8 in the quarterfinals. 

Russia has a very good chance of notching four world champs this year at 70 KG: #6 Magomedrasul Gazimagomedov at the Senior level, #10 David Baev at the U-23 level, Razambek Dzhamalov at the Junior level, and #5 Evgeni Zherbaev at the University level. #2 Soslan Ramonov went down to #10 David Baev in the second round of repechage with an injury off a Baev ankle pick. Hopefully this injury doesn’t keep Ramonov out for too long. On the subject of Baev, his bronze medal match with Dzhamalov was incredibly impressive as both guys went at it. Baev needed a takedown with 0.7 seconds left to come away with the 3-3 win and his second straight bronze medal at Russian Nationals.

79kg: #1 Akhmed Gadzhimagomedov (Dagestan) defeats #10 Khusey Suyunchev (Karachay-Cherkessia) 3-2

Akhmed Gadzhimagomedov is one of Russia’s best wrestlers to never make a world team, with wins over the likes of three-time world champ Denis Tsargush, 2016 74 KG Olympic silver medalist Aniuar Geduev, and 2017 74 KG world runner-up #4(74) Khetik Tsabolov. Gadzhimagomedov showed just how good he was this year with titles at the Yarygin, the Dan Kolov, and the European Championships. The only tournament left for Gadzhimagomedov to win and get his chance to prove himself to be the best was the Russian national tournament. 

Gadzhimagomedov tore up his bracket with wins over past national runners-up #7 Radik Valiev and Gadzhi Nabiyev as well as 2017 Yasar Dogu bronze medalist Khalil Aminov. In the finals, Gadzhimagomedov avenged a 5-1 quarterfinal loss from the 2016 Russian Nationals to #10 Khusey Suyunchev. The match was a wild one that included multiple singlet pulling penalties, but it was Gadzhimagomedov who prevailed and won his first Russian National title 3-2. Akhmed should now finally get a shot at the world championships where he will be the favorite to win the title.

92kg: #8 Batyrbek Tsakulov (Ossetia) defats #2 Anzor Urishev (Kabardino-Balkar) 7-5

Tsakulov’s growth within the last year has been impressive, but doubts remained that he would reach the levels he has over the past three months. The 2017 Junior nationals runner-up finished off 2017 with a runner-up finish at the Stepan Sargsyan tournament and a bronze medal at the prestigious Alans tournament, where he notched his first big win by beating #8 Alexander Gostiev (AZE) in the bronze-medal match. But it wouldn’t be until May this year at the Ali Aliyev where Tsakulov announced himself as a contender at 92 when he beat #2 Anzor Urishev and #3(97) Aslanbek Alborov (AZE) to win the title. Getting pinned by #7 Shamil Zubairov at the U-23 European championships slowed some of the hype, but Tsakulov silenced all doubters this weekend by winning nationals with a dominating 9-1 shellacking over #6 Yuri Belonovski and another victory over Anzor Urishev in the finals. The finals match was back and forth but Tsakulov took out the former two-time National champ Urishev 7-5 to win the world team spot. With 92 KG being a new weight, it will be interesting to see how Tsakulov does as after his excellent performance at RusNats. Right now he looks every bit the title contender.

125kg: #16 Anzor Khizriev (Chechnya) defeats #10 Murad Kushkov (Kabardino-Balkar) 4-4

After losses this year in the Yarygin finals to #10 Murad Kushkov and an upset loss to #17 Tsybik Maksarov at the President Cup of Buryatia, Khziriev’s status at the top guy in Russia was in doubt going into Nationals. Khizriev erased any doubt to who was the best in Russia as he avenged his loss to Maksarov, beat returning bronze medalist Adlan Ibragimov, and pinned 2015 Junior world champ Said Gamidov. In the finals, Khizriev would come out on top 4-4 against Kushkov to avenge his loss in the Yarygin finals and take his career record against Kushkov to 3-1. So long as Khizriev has a good draw and maintains his current level of ability, he has a very solid shot at medaling in Budapest.