Craig Vitagliano » Geandry Garzon v. Irbek Farniev 2005 Aliev Tournament

Hi Mike -Of course I remember. My parents still have a few copies. I actually have a funny story about it which I will email to you.

1) I was very disappointed with the entire Cuban team. Each wrestler looked like they were missing a step. Garzon had a tough draw with Shahin first round. He then beat a very tough Iranian and then lost to the Georgian who is an excellent wrestler. IMO he blew the match against Shahin as he was leading and made a key mistake to lose the period and the match.2) To my knowledge Saitiev and Aldatov have not wrestled in competition. I think everyone was looking forward to the possible match up in Beijing but Aldatov lost first round to Gitinov.3) It varies but I usually rotate compilations of Fadzaev, Beloglazov brothers, Smith, Jordanov, Saitiev brothers, Aldatov, and Shahin. I like Alan Dudaev a lot too for positioning and defense.

Craig,I used to publish New York Wrestling News, and featured you on the cover once. Do you recall that? Sounds like you're doing well.Mike Moronemmorone@rochester.rr.com

1st of all, I feel like my prayers have been answered if you post an Elbrus Tedeev match. Couple questions:1) How surprised were you to see Garzon not medal at the Olympics?2) Has B. Satiev ever wrestled Altadov from Ukraine?3) Who are some your favorite wrestlers/or wrestlers you you spend excess of time watching and studying?

Love the Cuban coaches fighting for the call!

Great Match!

Thanks. Glad the reception has been so positive. I am going to try to post a match from every weight. I'll probably do Tedeev next week even though it's another 66 kg bout (though it may actually be from when he was at 63 kg) as a lot of people want to see more of him. There's not too many of his matches on the web.

Yes I will add to the list. Tedeev will be next I believe.

Nice match and your thoughts on this post are right on qs. I can't stand when kids get in the habit of cracking down. It is a very hard habit to break. It's lazy.Farniev is a gasser. Does he still gas as bad up at 74 kg? I saw he placed 2nd at the Yarygin at 74.

That was awesome craig!

Great match! It's amazing how good Irbek is at attacking and finishing to the right leg. You can tell that he feels confident in that one attack. Great job by Garzon of beating him in his best position. This is a great display of methodical and calculated wrestling.

Welcome to this week's installment of my own Match of the Week.This week I am choosing the 66 kg final from the 2005 Ali Aliev Tournament in Dagestan featuring Cuba's Geandry Garzon and Russia's Irbek Farniev.Why I chose this match:1) These guys get after it. Every time they wrestle there are several flurries and scrambles. Garzon is lightning fast with a strong underhook (also has an amazing hip toss, but I don't think it's used in this bout) while Farniev is extremely flexible with a great high crotch. Both wrestlers are incredibly difficult to score on.I won't say too much more about this bout except to point out that as soon as the whistle blows both wrestlers get head to head. I call this "head position" and it is something I am really trying to get my wrestlers to do. I see two important reasons for this. 1) when you make contact with your head to your opponent's head you are now at a safe distance to tie up, control a wrist, or whatever and 2) if he attacks you, you should be in good position since your head is your first line of defense.Secondly, the crack down off of the high crotch is a horrible position to use as your go to move for most people and Farniev is no exception. Too many wrestlers feel comfortable sitting on their hip (defensively) and in my experience, more often than not the offensive wrestler either gets scored on or it's a stalemate. I definitely found out the hard way in College. You should definitely spend some time drilling the crack down because you will find yourself there every now and then as sometimes the defensive wrestler might take you there on purpose, but in my opinion your go to move should always be to change off to a double.Also, for a World Champ, Farniev's conditioning is absolutely horrible. I don't know if it's primarily due to weight cutting, but the guy always looks gassed. It's pretty pathetic actually.Finally, I don't know who the little Cuban coach is, but I always get a kick out of him. He's so animated and passionate. Next time I'm in Havana I'm buying that man a drink. ;-)Enjoy.Until next week,Craig