Jordan Burroughs is one of the greatest American wrestlers of all-time, the man who ushered USA Wrestling into a new era.

This month he’ll be making his ninth straight appearance at the world championships or Olympic Games. On Friday, September 20th, Burroughs will begin his quest for a fifth world title, something no other United States wrestler has ever accomplished. For JB, it may also represent his final time competing at worlds.

World Previews: 57kg | 61kg | 65kg | 70kg | 74kg | 79kg | 86kg | 92kg

Currently tied with Bruce Baumgartner in terms of combined world and Olympic gold medals, this year and next represents one last push for Burroughs to exceed John Smith’s six total titles (two Olympic and four world). The quest for gold in Tokyo will be made all the easier if he medals this year, as that would guarantee him a bye to the Olympic Trials finals and qualify the USA at 74kg for the Games.

He will face stout competition in the form of Zaurbek Sidakov (RUS), the reigning world champ and Burroughs' current Russian Rival, as well as three wrestlers who train in America and are all past world medalists: Frank Chamizo (ITA), Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (UZB), and Franklin Gomez (PUR).

The American: Jordan Burroughs

If this will in fact be Burroughs’ last time wrestling at the world championships, I’d like to take a portion of this preview to look back on each of his four world titles.

2011: The match that changed it all. JB's second round win over two-time defending champ Denis Tsargush showed not only that Americans could beat Russians, but that the previous year's medal-less team was never going to happen again.

2013: The story didn't come out publicly until later, but Burroughs had broken his ankle less a month before Budapest. He miraculously recovered and won his third straight title, the first American since John Smith to do so. His semifinal against Ali Shabanau of Belarus was particularly contentious.

2015: This, in my humble opinion, was peak Burroughs. No one was beating this version of JB, not in America, not in a pre-Olympic year. Of course his semifinal win over Aniuar Geduev (RUS) set up the rematch a year later in Rio.

2017: The elder statesman put the team on his back and set up our first world title as a country since 1995. Of course it was Kyle Snyder who closed out the tournament, but every single member of the team had a role in the one point win over Russia.

That meant Burroughs had to be on point all day in Paris, going through Shabanau, 2014 world silver Sosuke Takatani (JPN), hometown stud Zelimkhan Khadjiev (FRA), and familiar foe Abdurakhmonov. He laid on the mat after beating Khetag Tsabolov, the latest in a line of Russians he's vanquished, and showing everyone that the 2016 version that failed to medal in Rio was long gone.

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You'd have a hard time convincing me that this version of Burroughs isn't past his peak physically, but he's more than made up for it with his mat IQ, positioning, and match tactics. No one is as precise with the hand placement on their snaps, no one is as smart in the seatbelt whizzer position, and no one wins chess matches on the edge like Burroughs.

He'll still occasionally break out his double leg, but more often now he uses a single to set up a double and vice versa, like a pitcher who can throw multiple pitches from the same windup. The 31 year old is also more reliant on stepouts than ever before, taking points as they come and trusting his ability to fend off attacks. He's still as good as ever at turning his defense into scoring opportunities, and has added a gut wrench to his arsenal.

The area Burroughs will need to focus on is stopping outside step singles, something he's expressed. Also very simply, he needs to keep his feet moving and his hands active. JB knows this, and his technique will carry him if he does that, but he's aware he is most vulnerable when in his eyes he becomes lazy. Year-over-year, his activity rate fell from Paris to Budapest, so expect an uptick once again in Nur-Sultan.

Top Four Seeds

Chamizo was extremely active this year, winning medals at three Ranking Series events plus his European title. He won Sassari, was second at Yasar Dogu and won bronze at the Dan Kolov. Burroughs did another two Ranking Series tournaments and also won the Pan Am championships. Sidakov only did Yarygin, but started off big by winning worlds last year. Kentchadze was bronze at Euros to add to his silver medal point total.

Breaking Down The Field

Defending gold medalist and #1 Zaurbek Sidakov (RUS) has been on a tear, showing to have that undefinable "it" factor, easily characterized as a winner. Since falling to Tsabolov in last year's Yarygin finals, he's won seven straight tournaments, and recently beat Magomed Kurbanaliev to win the spot once again. He will be tasked with qualifying the weight for Tokyo and once again beating Burroughs, something no man has ever done. Russia walks in to Kazakhstan as the favorite, and a huge part of that is Sidakov as they look to repeat and knock off America for the second straight year.

Sidakov has twice beaten #3 Chamizo, the two-time world champ for Italy who is originally from Cuba, has a Russian coach, and trains in the United States. Last year was Chamizo's first foray up to 74kg after winning world titles at 70kg in 2017 and 65kg in 2015. At the Sassari, he beat Tsabolov and Asian champ Daniar Kaisanov (KAZ), and he gave up just one takedown in four matches at the European championships. No one scores from bottom in par terre as often as Chamizo, and his ability to counter leg attacks, even while in a quad pod, is terrifying.

While he will come in as the four seed, Avtandil Kentchadze (GEO) is ranked just 11th after taking three losses since making last year's world finals. He won the U23 worlds a month after Budapest, but fell to Timur Bizhoev in the Alans finals, Zelimkhan Khadjiev in the Euro quarters, and Sidakov in the Euro Games quarters. He also won the Ukrainian Memorial in May.

Although he is ranked fourth, Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (UZB) finished fifth in seeding points so he'll be drawn in randomly. A past All-American for Clarion, Abdurakhmonov now trains at the Nittany Lion WC. He won bronze medals in 2014 and 2018, also wrestling for medals in Paris and Rio. He's won the past two Asian Games, as well as Asian championship golds in 2015 and 2017. Bekzod is dangerous in the far scramble, as we saw in his Kolov finals against Burroughs and won the Medved last month. He had maybe the match of the tournament last year against Kentchadze in the first round.

It is unclear who Turkey will be sending, #7 Soener Demirtas, the Euro Games champ who lost to Bekzod for bronze last year, or #8 Yakup Gor, a 2015 world bronze. Demirtas also lost to Bekzod at the Kolov and fell to Sidakov in the Euro Games finals, but split with Chamizo last year. He is the more accomplished of the two, having won the European championships and bronze medals in both Paris and Rio. So far this year, Gor has won the Ziolkowski, lost to Burroughs at the Dogu, fell to Kentchadze at Euros, and was beaten by Sidakov in the Yarygin finals, as well as losing to Bekzod in the Kolov semis.

In addition to his Burroughs loss, Gor also fell victim to Taimuraz Salkazanov (SVK). He's #20 in our final international rankings prior to worlds, but has only competed once this year, getting bronze at the Dogu. He beat 70kg world #1 David Baev last year for the U23 world title and is likely going to be someone's bad draw.

The only person Burroughs has seen multiple times this year is Franklin Gomez (PUR), who is unranked. Both of their matches came down to the final minute, with Burroughs scoring right before time expired at the Pan Am championships. At the Pan Am Games, JB led 2-1 with less than 30 seconds to go before he closed out with a takedown.

India is sending Sushil Kumar, a national hero but someone long past his prime. Iran is going with Reza Afzali, a two-time world University champ who Asians in 2014 but is not likely to medal. Belarus is once again rolling with veteran and #14 Azamat Nurikov, who has wrestled for a medal eight times between worlds and Euros, but only has one bronze, from the 2016 European championships.

Geandry Garzon will likely be going for Cuba. Mao Okui upset Yuhi Fujinami to take Japan's spot. Mongolia has several options, including #19 Bat-Erdene Byambadorj, mainstay Mandakhnaran Ganzorig, or Batsuuri Otgonbayar, who they sent to Asians.

The Contenders

#1 Zaurbek Sidakov, Russia

• 2019 Euro Games Champ
• 2019 Yarygin Champ
• 2018 World Champ
• 2018 U23 Euroepean Champ
• 2018 World Military Champ

#2 Jordan Burroughs, United States

• 2019 Pan Am Games Champ
• 2019 Dan Kolov Champ
• 2018 World Bronze
• 2017 World Champ
• 2015 World Champ

#3 Frank Chamizo, Italy

• 2019 European Champ
• 2018 European Bronze
• 2017 World Champ
• 2016 Olympic Bronze
• 2015 World Champ

#4 Bekzod Abdurakhmonov, Uzbekistan

• 2018 World Bronze
• 2018 Asian Games Champ
• 2017 Asian Champ
• 2014 Asian Games Champ
• 2014 World Bronze

#11 Avtandil Kentchadze, Georgia

• 2019 Euro Games Bronze
• 2019 European Bronze
• 2018 U23 World Silver
• 2018 World Bronze
• 2018 U23 Euro Bronze

Franklin Gomez, Puerto Rico

• 2019 Pan Am Games Silver
• 2019 Pan American Bronze
• 2017 Pan American Silver
• 2015 Pan Am Games Bronze
• 2011 World Silver