59kg & 75kg Bracket Breakdown
Aug 13, 2016
Full Olympic Brackets on FloArena here!
Brackets and draws are out for Jesse Thielke and Andy Bisek, here's how their roads set up for potential Olympic hardware.
59kg Greco-Roman: Jesse Thielke (NYAC) Germantown, Wisconsin
- 2012 Junior World bronze medalist
- 2013 world team member, 60kg
Thielke lands on the bottom half of the bracket with a very winnable first round match against El Mahadi Messaoudi (MAR); they have never wrestled. But the question then becomes if he will get pulled back in to repechage should he face some struggles after that.
The Honey Badger walks into his quarterfinal match as a decided underdog. On the other side of the circle will be two-time Olympic silver medalist Rovshan Bayramov (AZE), who was also silver last year at the world championships. Bayramov will be hoping to re-create his 2011 run, when he won his first and only world title.
Soryan gets DQ'd against Bayramov in Vegas
Bayramov’s incredibly strong for this weight, but rarely tries any attacks in neutral. He is similar to Roman Vlasov in that he uses his phenomenal strength to try lifts from par terre, and has great timing in his par terre defense. Thielke will need to rely on his creativity in neutral, using dynamic high dives and duck unders to rack up points.
The rest of the bottom half is completely ridiculous. Defending Olympic champ Hamid Soryan (IRI) drew Shinobu Ota (JPN) in the first round; Ota knocked Soryan out at the Asian qualifier.
The winner of that match could have three-time world medalist Almat Kebispayev, whom I picked at first to win this weight. Kebispayev drew Ibrahim Labazanov (RUS), who rarely leaves Russia, but lays waste to his countrymen. Both of these men had two of the best reverse lifts of 2015.
Kebispayev bloodies Tasmuradov at Golden Grand Prix
We have’t even mentioned Euro Games finalist Soslan Daurov (BLR) yet, who attacks in neutral more than any Greco lightweight. No matter what, Thielke will have his hands full. Should he lose, let’s hope Bayramov follows suit from Beijing and London to make the finals.
75kg Greco-Roman: Andy Bisek (Minnesota Storm) Chaska, Minnesota
- 2x world bronze medalist [2014-15]
- 2015 Pan Am Games champion
- 2x Pan Am champ [2012, 2014]
Bisek’s first round opponent will be a familiar one, Yurisandy Hernandez Rios (CUB). They met last year at Beat the Streets and Bisek came out on top in a tight 3-1 match. His road doesn’t get any easier from there.
Bisek defeats Rios at Beat The Streets
Should the stache take out Rios once again, he will likely have defending 80kg world champ Selcuk Cebi (TUR). Besides the obvious size disadvantage, Cebi has one of the best stepovers in the game, which should hopefully be negated because Bisek goes low gut around the hips.
Since he is on the top half, we already knew he would be on the same side as defending world and Olympic champion Roman Vlasov (RUS). After two tough matches against the Cuban and the Turk, Bisek will square off against one of two Olympic gold medalists.
Hyeon-woo beats Vlasov in the 2013 world finals
Vlasov’s first round opponent is London 66kg champ Kim Hyeon-woo (KOR). They met at the next year’s world championships in Budapest, with Hyeon-woo winning 2-1 in the finals. They have not met since then.
The one positive to having a three-time world champ and two Olympic gold medalists on his side: it drastically increases the odds of him making the bronze medal match should he lose.
Bisek’s road to the finals:
Yurisandy Hernandez Rios (CUB) - 2016 Granma Cup champ
Selcuk Cebi (TUR) - 3x world champ
Roman Vlasov (RUS) / Kim Hyeon-woo (KOR) - Olympic gold medalists
Olympic Wrestling Previews:
Men's Freestyle: 57KG | 65KG | 74KG | 86KG | 97KG | 125KGWomen's Freestyle: 48KG | 53KG | 63KG | 75KG
Greco Roman: 59KG | 75KG | 85KG (Coming 8/14) | 130KG
Top Matches Of Olympians:
Men's Frestyle: Daniel Dennis | Frank Molinaro | Jordan Burroughs J'den Cox | Kyle Snyder | Tervel Dlagnev
Greco Roman: Jesse Thielke | Andy Bisek | Robby Smith | Ben Provisor (Coming 8/14)
Women's Freestyle: Haley Augello | Helen Maroulis | Elena Pirozhkova | Adeline Gray
Know A Foreign Hammer:
Toghrul Asgarov | Roman Vlasov | Taha AkgulSaori Yoshida | Anzor Boltakaev | Abdulrashid Sadulaev
Anuiar Gedeuv | Erica Wiebe | Soronzonbold Battsetsegg
Hamid Soryan | Vladimir Khinchegashvili
2016 Olympic Wrestling Schedule
How To Watch Olympic Wrestling:
Day 9 (Aug. 14): Prelims : Mat A | Mat B | Mat C | Finals
Day 10 (Aug. 15): Prelims : Mat A | Mat B | Mat C | Finals
Day 11 (Aug. 16): Prelims : Mat A | Mat B | Mat C | Finals
Day 12 (Aug. 17): Prelims : Mat A | Mat B | Mat C | Finals
Day 13 (Aug. 18): Prelims : Mat A | Mat B | Mat C | Finals
Day 14 (Aug. 19): Prelims : Mat A | Mat B | Mat C | Finals
Day 15 (Aug. 20): Prelims : Mat A | Mat B | Mat C | Finals
Day 16 (Aug. 21): Prelims : Mat A | Mat B | Mat C | Finals
