There was no shortage of competition from around the Globe this past weekend. The Dave Schultz Memorial, Dan Kolov- Nikola Petrov, Ivan Yarygin, Grand Prix of Paris, and Rio Test Event all were wrestled this past weekend. Here are the top six upsets in freestyle.

6. (Yarygin) Rustam Ampar dec #15-Nariman Israpilov 8-4

Rustam Ampar has been buried on Russia’s depth chart for the past few years unable to make a world team. He has bounced back and forth between 57kg and 61kg unable to break through. Is this the year for Ampar to break out? He took a step in the right direction at the Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix. A silver medal finish was highlighted by an upset win over 2013 World bronze medalist Nariman Israpilov. Israpilov defeated Ampar for a bronze medal at the 2015 Russian Nationals.

This was a marginal upset as Ampar has had flashes of brilliance and won the 2014 Yarygin at 57kg against an absolutely loaded field. Ampar caught my eye at the Bill Farrell in November where he wrestled up at 65kg. He expected to wrestle 61kg, but it was not contested. On the championship side there he pinned Kendrick Maple before losing a tight bout to Jordan Oliver.

Ampar’s counter exposure to open the scoring against Israpilov is beautiful. He exposes Israpilov from by grabbing a far wrist to roll through, as his ankle is shelved on the outside hip. You have to see it to believe it.

5. (Yarygin) Lubov Salnikova dec Chiho Hamada 8-1

Lubov Salnikova had not won a tournament since 2012 when she took home the title from the Grand Prix of Spain. She was a solid underdog to 2014 world champion Chiho Hamada. Hamada was a world champion in her only appearance at worlds for the powerful Japanese team at 55kg. In that championship run Hamada defeated American, Helen Maroulis, in the semifinal.

Salnikova used a counter crotch lift to score four points in the decisive sequence of the match. Originally it was scored as a two-point exposure, but Hamada challenged the call. The call was turned into a four-point exposure, and Hamada lost a point on the challenge. Either they had the scoreboard wrong, or I don’t understand how they changed the call and Hamada lost the point on the challenge. However, it was in Russia and she was wrestling a Russian. After the sequence Hamada was down 7-0, and she wasn’t able to recover.

4. (Yarygin) Khuresh-ool Donduk-ool dec #5-Ismail Musukaev 9-7

Ismail Musukaev was one of the hottest 57kg wrestlers in the world coming into the Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix. He was runner-up to Lebedev at the 2015 Russian Nationals, and just beat Dyamal Otarsultanov and Bekhbayar Erdenebat at the Golden Grand Prix in November. Musukaev had won three of his last four tournaments dating back to last July. In round one Musukaev was cooled off by fellow Russian Khuresh-ool Donduk-ool.

A great match throughout saw Musukaev trail 7-5 late in the match. Musukaev dug deep to score the takedown to put him ahead on criteria with short time left. However, Donduk-ool was able to score the winning takedown with just seconds left on the clock to pull the upset.

3. (Rio) Dorothy Yeats dec Natalya Vorobieva 7-5

Dorothy Yeats has a nice resume. She owns two junior world titles and a senior level silver at the Olympic year world championship from 2012. She isn’t an underdog in very many matchups. In Rio she drew reigning world and Olympic champion, Natalya Vorobieva, in round one. Vorobieva has medaled in every United World Wrestling  sanctioned individual event she has entered dating back to 2012.

Yeats pulled the upset and finished with a silver medal in Rio, as she dropped the final to world silver medalist Feng Zhou. Yeats will hope to keep the momentum moving forward as she tries to qualify Canada for the Olympic Games. She will get that opportunity the first weekend of March in Frisco, Texas. All action from the qualifier will be live on FloWrestling.

2. (Yarygin) Anzor Boltukaev dec #1-Kyle Snyder 3-0

Normally a 20 year-old American isn’t expected to go into Russia and win. That’s not the case for 2015 world champion Kyle Snyder. When Snyder’s championship run culminated with a win over Abdusalam Gadisov, expectations were set as high as any American teenager has ever seen.  

The upset was pulled by 2013 world bronze medalist Anzor Boltukaev. Boltukaev hadn’t participated in  United World Wrestling event since October of 2014. At that time he took home the title from the Ramzan Kadyrov Cup against a tough field. At last year’s Russian Nationals Boltukaev lost an early round match and did not make a medal match.

Boltukaev showed great strength and athleticism throughout the match as he defended multiple attacks from the young American. Was passivity called correctly in the match?  Did those calls play a role in the outcome?

1. (Yarygin) Orkhon Purevdorj tf Kaori Icho 10-0

This was clearly the biggest upset of the weekend. Icho had not lost in a contested bout since Sara McMann beat her at the Klippan in March of 2003. In that span she won 189 bouts in a row. She is the second most decorated wrestler of all-time with 3 Olympic titles and 10 world championships.

Purevdorj has wrestled down at 55kg for her entire senior career except for a Military Games appearance at 58kg. She hasn’t represented Mongolia at the senior level at the world championships yet, but she does have a junior world bronze on her resume. She is an accomplished wrestler. However, no one in the world would have picked her to beat Icho.

Purevdorj had an obvious game plan and stuck to it. She held ground and waited for Icho to attack. Purevdorj used an underhook to defend and throw Icho by for a step-out point after she defended the full thirty-second shot clock. She kept her hands down and effectivly defended her legs with the underhook and a left side whizzer as she pulled Icho up off of her legs. How many 58kg wrestlers are going to be watching the blueprint leading up to Rio?