Leading up to the second Olympic Games World Qualifying Tournament from May 6-8, countries had to apply for licenses to be eligible for competition. United World Wrestling listed the eligible participants on their website, but for some reason, Bahrain (Adam Batirov) was removed. Georgia and Turkey also qualified the weight at the Mongolian Qualifier and remain on the list despite not having representatives in the field. Keep in mind that countries must make a selection as only one competitor from each unqualified country will be in the field. The complete, unedited list from the governing body’s website is posted below.

Let’s take a look at the 65kg field through American eyes. U.S. representative Frank Molinaro has some head-to-head history with a few of the guys, and the results are a mixed bag.

Most recently, Molinaro matched up with Meirzhan Ashirov of Kazakhstan at the 2016 Alexander Medved Prizes. Ashirov defeated Molinaro by technical superiority 12-2 in the first-round match-up. Ashirov was a 2012 junior world bronze medalist, but hasn’t been able to break through on the senior level yet. He was the representative for Kazakhstan at the Asian Olympic Games, but failed to qualify when he dropped his opening match to Adam Batirov in the Asian Qualifier.

Last summer, Molinaro took home a title from the Grand Prix of Spain. In the final, he defeated Seungchul Lee of South Korea, 8-0. Lee has been a solid performer on the senior level the past cycle and a half between 60kg and 65kg. Lee has been unsuccessful at qualifying the weight in two tries. He made the semifinal at the Asian Olympic Games Qualifier before dropping a match to Indian Olympic bronze medalist, Yogeshwar Dutt. At the Mongolian World Olympic Games Qualifier, Lee was in the same quarter as Molinaro, and suffered the same fate. He dropped the quarterfinal to Yakup Gor of Turkey and was eliminated from the tournament with Gor’s semifinal loss.

Borislav Novachkov is the final wrestler in the field that Molinaro has taken on head-to-head. Molinaro defeated Novachkov 8-4 in the quarterfinals of the 2013 NYAC International. Novachkov has enjoyed success on the senior circuit, but seems to fare better against international competitors rather than fellow Americans. He will compete for his native Bulgaria as he looks for Olympic qualification.

Azamat Nurykau (BLR) and Devid Safaryan (ARM) have both wrestled well at the world championships. Safaryan won the 2013 World Championship, and Nurykau placed fifth in 2014. He fell short at the European Olympic Games Qualifier, as did Safaryan in Mongolia. They are both expected to be in the field in Istanbul on Sunday.

Japan is another interesting story in the weight class as the home of reigning Olympic champion Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu. Adding to the intrigue, Yonemitsu is currently helping the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club and Frank Molinaro. Shogo Maeda has not been able to qualify the spot in two tries at the Asian and Mongolian Olympic Games Qualifiers. Japan has Masakazu Kamoi and Yuhi Fujinami on the registration list. Kamoi was fifth at the 2015 World Championships down at 61kg and Fujinami has earned world silver medals in both the cadet and junior age groups. They are to be respected in the final qualifier.

Men’s freestyle competes on Sunday in Istanbul, Turkey. Qualification rounds start at 10AM local time. That translates to 3AM EST for those of you looking forward to following along.

Complete List Of Participants Listed On United World Wrestling Coverage Page

Devid SAFARYAN ARM
Maximilian AUSSERLEITNER AUT
Azamat NURYKAU BLR
Lincoln MESSIAS MOREIRA DOS SANTOS BRA
Borislav Stefanov NOVACHKOV BUL
Haislan Antonio VERANES GARCIA CAN
Manuel Antonio ORTIZ FRANCO ESP
Iurii SIEMAKIN FRA
Zurabi IAKOBISHVILI GEO
Levan KELEKHSASHVILI GEO
Konstantine KHABALASHVILI GEO
Samet DUELGER GER
Niko AROUZMANIDIS GRE
Andreas TRIANTAFYLLIDIS GRE
Norbert LUKACS HUN
Zaid Hilal Majid GALEB IRQ
Emrach GASANOV ISR
Yuhi FUJINAMI JPN
Masakazu KAMOI JPN
Meirzhan ASHIROV KAZ
Dauren ZHUMAGAZYYEV KAZ
Elaman DOGDURBEK UULU KGZ
Seungchul LEE KOR
Bilal EL OUARRAQE MAR
Andrei PERPELITA MDA
Brandon Disair DIAZ RAMIREZ MEX
Dejan MITROV MKD
Jasin REDJALARI MKD
Qamar ABBAS PAK
Cristian Etpison NICOLESCU PLW
Abdullrahman Ibrahim A. IBRAHIM QAT
George BUCUR ROM
Jean Bernard Diadia DIATTA SEN
David HABAT SLO
Chamara Milinda Perera WEERASINGHEGE SRI
Steven GRAF SUI
Mykola BOLOTNJUK SVK
Saksit JANHOM THA
Sodiqkhoja ISMOILOV TJK
Batyr BORJAKOV TKM
Servet COSKUN TUR
Yakup GOR TUR
Mustafa KAYA TUR
Mark Allen MC KNIGHT USA
Frank Aniello MOLINARO USA
Xuan Dinh NGUYEN VIE
Ebrahim Abdullah Ali Hussein AL SHEBAMI YEM