Date of competition: Friday, September 11th

USA Wrestler: Kyle Snyder won two medals at the Junior level for the United States with one of them being a Junior title in 2013. He could have won a third this year since he's still Junior eligible. Instead, he elected not to compete in the lower age group and won the 97kg spot on the Senior World Team. No one in the modern era has been able to win a Junior and Senior Gold medal for the United States. Kerry McCoy and Stephen Abas were near misses for the United States losing in World and Olympic Finals after capturing Junior titles.

Snyder got past 2012 Olympic Champion Jake Varner for the first time at the US Open before beating him in two straight matches in Madison to make the World Team. He carried that momentum to the Pan Am Games where he struck gold once again in Toronto. Snyder might not quite be to the title contenders level yet, but don’t be surprised if he makes big headlines in Las Vegas.

2014 World Placements:
1. Abdusalam Gadisov, Russia
2. Khetag Gazumov, Azerbaijan
3. Javier Cortina Lacerra, Cuba
3. Valeri Andriitsev, Ukraine
5. Elizbar Odikadze, Georgia
5. Egzon Shala, Albania
7. Khuderbulga Dorjkhand, Mongolia
8. Reza Yazdani, Iran
9. Xueyi Zhang, China
10. Rustam Iskandari, Tajikistan

Notables that were not pulled into the repechage:
Reza Yazdani, IRI - Yazdani lost to Shamil Erdogan (TUR), who then lost to Gadisov, which eliminated him from the tournament. Erdogan was DQ’d when he tested positive for PEDs.
Varner, USA - Varner lost to Andriitsev (UKR), 5-3, who then lost to Gazumov in the semis eliminating Varner.

2013 World Placements(96kg):
1. Reza Yazdani, Iran
2. Khetag Gazumov, Azerbaijan
3. Pavlo Oliynik, Ukraine
3. Anzor Boltukaev, Russia
5. Dato Kerashvili, Georgia
5. Alexej Kruniakov, Kyrgyzstan
7. Kamil Skaskiewicz, Poland
8. Takeshi Yamaguchi, Japan
9. Nicolae Ceban, Moldova
10. Egzon Shala, Albania

Title Contenders:
Abdusalam Gadisov, Russia (UWW No. 1) - 2014 World Champ, 2015 Euro Games Bronze (lost to Gazumov), 2015 Yasar Dogu Champ, 2014 Yarygin Champ, 2014 Euro Championship Gold

Khetag Gazumov, Azerbaijan (UWW No. 2) - 2013 and 2014 World Silver, 2015 Euro Games Champ, 2015 Medved Champ, 2014 Euro Championship Silver

Medal Contenders:
Mohamedhossein Hossei Askari Mohammadian, Iran (UWW No. 9) - 2014 World Bronze (86kg), 2015 Asian Championship Gold, 2015 Stepan Sargsyan Champ

Elizbar Odikadze, Georgia (UWW No. 4) - 2015 Euro Games Silver, 2014 World 5th, 2015 Ziolkowski Silver (defeated Mohammadian)

Kyle Snyder, USA (UWW No. 15) - 2014 Junior World Bronze, 2013 Junior World Champ, 2015 Pan Am Games Champ

*Shamil Erdogan (TUR) - out after a positive PED test. He was stripped of his 2014 World bronze. Instead, the bronze was awarded to Cortina Lacerra (CUB).



Contender Commentary:
Three guys have dominated 97kg during this Olympic cycle. Reza Yazdani (IRI),Gadisov (RUS), and Gazumov (AZE) have each been world finalists the past two years. Gazumov fell to Yazdani in the 2013 championship and Gadisov in the 2014 finale. An injury will keep Yazdani out of this year’s championship. If paired in opposite brackets, I think we will see Gadisov and Gazumov in a rematch of the 2014 final. Don’t be surprised if young Kyle Snyder throws a wrench in these plans. He had a great showing against Gatsalov at the 2014 Beat the Streets Dual as a high school senior. He also defeated 2012 Olympic Champion, Jake Varner, three times en route to making the World Team.

Who does Brock like to win?
Gadisov is leading the series over Gazumov, but dropped the most recent match at the Euro Games in June. The key sequence in that bout had Gadisov getting over anxious on a go behind, and Gazumov was able to catch his legs and drive through to score the takedown. This match is usually a slow pace with some heavy hand fighting. I like Gadisov to take back the upper-hand in this rivalry and win his second consecutive title.

Check out the competion at some of the other weight classes here:
57kg UWW Senior World Championship Preview
61kg UWW Senior World Championship Preview
65kg UWW Senior World Championship Preview
70kg UWW Senior World Championship Preview
86kg UWW Senior World Championship Preview