The United World Wrestling Championships are being held at the Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada September 7-12 with the Greco tournament getting things started on the first few days. So we came up with seven, storylines to watch as you track the GReco action. And don’t forget to check out the schedule so you don’t miss your favorite wrestlers in action.

 

7. Can Lester Finally Get His Gold?

Since 2005, Justin Lester has made six World and one Olympic appearance for the USA. He tested the waters at 74kg in 2009, but the majority of those appearances were at 66kg. He also competed at 74kg the majority of the time outside of World’s on the back half of his career to only make the extreme weight cut a few times. Last year Lester wrestled the non-Olympic weight of 71kg. He is back at the more natural weight and I expect him to contend for the title. Lester claimed bronze medals in ‘06 and ‘07, but hasn’t taken home any hardware since then. Could Lester finally break through and capture gold?

 

6. Is the Six-Time World Champion the Favorite at 59kg?

Hamid Soryan is one of your all-time great Greco wrestlers. He broke onto the scene in 2005 winning both Junior and Senior World’s in the same year. He collected three titles in a row before his only stumble on the world stage at the Beijing Olympics to Makiev (RUS) on the championship side before losing to Park (KOR) for the bronze. He did not compete in 2011 and 2013.

 

You might expect the reigning champion, with his resume, to be heavily favored. Not so fast my friend (Lee Corso voice). He is currently ranked 12th by UWW due to losses he suffered at the Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov Tournament and Wladyslaw Pytlasinski Cup in July and April. His loss in April was to former World Champion Ivo Angelov (BUL) and he also lost to Russian Ibragim Labazanov in Poland.

 

It is certainly hard to pick against Soryan, but if there was ever was a time; it is now.
 

 

5. 7 World Teams: Is This Mango’s Year to Medal?

Spenser Mango has been the USA representative at 55/59kg since the 2008 Olympic Games. However, Mango has not come home with a medal from any of the seven championships. In 2013 and 2014 Mango wrestled for bronze, but fell in close matches both times (1-0 and 5-4). Could number eight be the lucky one?
 

 

4. The Field at 130kg

Beylal Makhov dropped a bomb on the wrestling world last week, announcing he will compete in Freestyle and Greco at the 2015 World Championships. He is a three-time World Freestyle Champion and a bronze medalist from the 2014 Greco Championships. With Makhov here at 130kg, all four medalists from last year will be in the field.

 

Mijan Lopez took the gold medal – you’ll read more about him later – and Riza Kayaalp (TUR) and Heiki Nabi (EST) stood on the silver and bronze platforms in Tashkent. Kayaalp and Nabi were both World Champions. Kayaalp was victorious on home soil in 2011, and Nabi won the 2013 title in Budapest. Nabi’s title did not have Lopez in the field though. Every World or Olympic Champion, dating back to 2006, will be present in this field by those three competitors.
 

 

3. Most Dominant Greco Wrestler of the Current Era, But…

7 World and Olympic Gold Medals headline Lopez’s resume, but it may not be what he is most known for in the wrestling community. He has demonstrated a dominance rarely seen when he chooses to wrestle…hard. However, it is his two losses in the ‘06 and ‘11 finals that draw the asterisk.
 

Lopez came onto the senior level scene as a 19 year-old kid at the 2001 World Championships. He didn’t find immediate success (success being a relative term) as he finished 6th, 13th, 16th, and 5th at the World Championships and Olympics between 2001 and 2004. He finally broke through in 2005 and hasn’t looked back. Well, except for those two losses in ‘06 and ‘11.

 

Let’s talk about those losses and you can see for yourself below in order to form your own opinion.

 

The 2006 final was against Khassan Baroev of Russia. This match is questionable in my mind, but not nearly as blatant as the 2011 final. Baroev has a great resume himself as two-time World Champion along with winning gold and silver medals from the Athens and Beijing Olympics. Now, this match most definitely could be legitimate, but Lopez’s effort in par terre, especially in the second period of forced par terre, brings doubt into my mind. You don’t just reverse lift Lopez like that. But, you make the call for yourself.